#The odyssey does not happen in this au

[1000cavalry]

Odysseus of Troy au

A friend of mine misspoke and said ‘Odysseus of Troy’ instead of ‘Ithaca’. 

And thus, this au was born:

What if Paris had chosen Athena in the Goddess’s beauty contest to receive her offer of wisdom and battle tactics?

Instead of giving these qualities to him directly she has him kidnap Odysseus as an advisor.

Who would go:

Penelope would organise for the forces of Ithaca to travel to Troy under Eurylochus to retrieve her husband. I also imagine that Agamemnon and Menelaus would bring some forces as a favour to Penelope (they have family connections to her through Clytemnestra and Helen). Achilles and the myrmidons might still show up for glory, despite not having personal stakes. Overall there are way fewer people going to Troy as Odysseus is not Helen. 

The gods’ favour:

Assuming the Trojans refuse to hand Odysseus over in diplomatic talks, they go to war. 

Athena favours the Trojans in this version. Hera favours the Greeks. Aphrodite really wants Paris dead so generally supports the Greek warriors but she doesn’t hate all the Trojans and still protects her son Aeneas. The other Gods fill pretty much the same roles.

Odysseus’ experience:

In this version of the Iliad, Odysseus would make several escape attempts throughout the story but would be thwarted by Athena and the Trojans. 

Odysseus would also be uncooperative in supplying the Trojans with strategies. They consider just handing him over but fear going against Athena’s will and losing her favour. There would be an interaction between Odysseus and Athena similar to the moment in book 3 when Aphrodite threatens Helen.

The war’s end:

The war would probably end diplomatically as ,after a time, it becomes increasingly pointless for all involved. Odysseus would be of no use to the Trojans while being uncooperative. Priam, feeling guilty about keeping a father from his wife and son, would decide to return him. Paris would put up less of a fuss about losing a prisoner than a bride.

Athena out of spite at the outcome would guide some Greeks into Troy to steal some prizes. It would not be a full scale sacking of Troy due to having fewer troops, but it would satisfy them to be happy to return home. 

If anyone has any ideas they’d like to add I’d love to see them

[druidshollow]

"what would your character be like without their trauma?" is such a hard question for me because it makes me feel like a massive asshole LMAO

(im attaching a picture of a tundra literally to add context to my ramble in the tags because my posts are structured by a sane person) (you should read the ramble in the tags i talk so much about rivers fsr)

[yujateaandpi]

Gravity Falls Thirty More Years AU and Art Masterlist

Here's all the pages of the comic in order plus some of the other GF stuff I've made. I'll keep updating this list to make it easy on y'all.

Edit: I have a new tagging system! All asks will be tagged #thirtymoreyearsau without spaces, and all comics and fic updates will be tagged #thirty more years au with spaces. If you want the whole story together, then you can filter using this tag on my account! Filtered link here.

If you like the comic and would like to support it, here’s my tip jar!

Thirty More Years AU Comic:

Page 1

Pages 2 and 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Pages 8 and 9

Page 10

Epistolary Prequel Companion/ Dipper's Diary Entries:

"Dear Mabel, I Miss You"

Answers to Common Questions:

What is the Thirty Years AU?

A Gravity Falls fan story and comic about what would happen if Mabel and Ford both fall into a leftover multiverse rift at the end of summer. They experience a week of silly adventures but return to a world where 30 years have passed and Dipper + co have aged without them. Told as both a comic and a companion fic.

2. How old are the characters?

Answer

3. When does the story take place relative to the show?

Answer

4. Where's Bill?

Answer

5. Where else can I read the comic? Will you distribute it on a site?

Releasing it on my Instagram (but Tumblr gets the pages earlier cause y'all are special). As for releasing it on a site, answer here.

6. How many pages/ how long will the comic approximately be?

Subject to change, but here's my answer for now.

7. How often will you post/ when will you post again?

Here's my answer for now, but if there's delays between posts please don't spam me with questions on when I'll post again. The updates will come when they come and I'm trying to keep this flexible.

8. Is this Drifting Stars AU/ Other Similar AU?

Answer

9. Someone's reposting on TikTok/ Other social media! Are you okay with this?

No, and please report them if you can. Answer here.

11. Will you tag me/ make a tag list?

Answer

12. Why haven't you answered my question?

Answer

13. What art program/ brushes do you use?

Answer

Other Fanart

Twin Glare^2

Kitten Sweater

Pines Pines Pines

Happy Birthday Twins

Gravity Falls The Odyssey AU

Sona Shenanigans

Fiddleford to the rescue

mystery trio eizouken

Stan Pines Mini Character Analysis Essays

Apparently I do this a lot, so collecting them in one place:

Poll thots

Rough and tumble little Stanley

Stan Appreciation

that magic 8 ball man…

off topic Billford thots

off topic Fiddleford thots

[cuppajj]

Beast Ancients AU FAQ

I’ve seen a lot of asks in my inbox that are identical to each other, so I decided to put em all in one post and then some. This’ll be updated the more I develop the AU and the more info we get.

As a disclaimer, I am very new to CRK (as of December 2023) and I haven’t gotten to all the game or story modes yet (notably odyssey), so things are definitely bound to change + be elaborated on more! Anyway without further ado:

General

What are the Beast Ancients’ themes?

Vanilla is Penance, Lily is Sovereignty, Dragonberry is Pride, Cacao is Solitude, and Cheese is Conquest. I tried to keep them within the realm of their original meanings

Essentially my philosophy is: Penance is the acknowledgment (truth) that sins such as deceit exist in the world and must be cleansed. Sovereignty is an extreme form of freedom where one can have all the agency they wish, but can be just as silent about their presence/power as well. Pride is a byproduct of passion or sloth, boiling down to the adamancy of the subject. Solitude is a choice made with both resolution and apathy in various degrees, and lastly Conquest promises an abundant future at the cost of untold destruction.

If the ancients are bad, are the beasts good?

No, the old Beasts are still a threat. With a total of ten beasts to worry about, the situation on Earthbread is very dire. However, there is still hope left, and hope can go a long way.

Is there a new set of ancient heroes with soul jams?

No, and there likely won’t be. The Neo Beasts and first Beasts still have their respective soul jam halves, and both want each other’s.

Where’s Gingerbrave and his party?

Likely the Crème Republic, which becomes a refuge for many cookies after the rise of the neo beasts. They’re at the front of the resistance movement, working with Clotted Cream Cookie to plan how the beasts will be taken down.

What do the Neo Beasts think of their past selves?

Generally they see themselves as improved or improving. The only one who doesn’t feel that way is Frigid Cacao, who doesn’t reflect on himself that often.

Did they all corrupt at the same time?

Still working on that part. The timeline for beast ancients is a WIP, but for now, it’s likely that while they didn’t corrupt at once, they corrupted pretty close to one another. Cheese was likely first, followed by Lily. Vanilla was among the last to fall and evidently had it the worst.

Do the Neo Beasts still have kingdoms? How is life like there?

Answered here

What are the cookies of darkness doing?

As of writing (5/31/24) we don’t have a lot of info on the cookies of darkness in beast yeast, but at the very least I can say Dark Enchantress cookie may or may not know about Midnight Lily’s plan to destroy her.

How would legendaries react?

I admittedly don’t know everything about the legendaries to say yet, but they’re all alarmed to some degree. I can flesh them out the more I learn about them

Individual Neo Beast questions under cut!

Saint Vanilla Cookie

How do his powers work?

Answered here

Does he know he’s killing cookies?

Nope, he doesn’t see it as that and it would pain him to. He sees purification as a form of transition or ascension in itself, to put it simply; he might even envy those he turns to stardust, knowing his own tainted soul will be so much harder to liberate.

Why is he constantly crying?

He’s just like that. He’s just that big of an empath.

Has his relationship with Lily changed?

Saint Vanilla still cares very much about Lily, and may even be more open about his feelings towards her; but he admits the only reason why she’s still alive is because she convinced him to leave her for last. Lily very well knows that Vanilla, in his mind, wants to purify her more than anyone else. Vanilla often pities her choice to stew in her tainted soul, but he respects her decision… at least the alternative is that they’ll someday be the only two cookies on Earthbread.

What happened to Black Raisin?

As the very first to witness his rise, she inadvertently became his very first martyr.

Where’s Custard Cookie III?

With his relatives in the Crème Republic, alongside the rest of Gingerbrave’s party. The kid has a hard time wrapping his head around what happened to Pure Vanilla, and it may be a blessing that he’s been largely focused on worrying about the well being of his uncle, Clotted Cream Cookie. As the head of the resistance, he’s been working tirelessly… is this what a king goes through too?

Shadow Milk’s opinion on Saint?

To put it simply, he starts out thinking that a confused Vanilla will be easy to manipulate, but he soon finds out that Saint Vanilla is way smarter and more aware than made out to be. He knows Shadow Milk is with him, and he wants to purge him from his soul; but that is a process that may be harder than anything else. So in the meantime, Shadow Milk can watch as he continues on his path of Penance towards ascension, fighting back the resistance he creates before it can truly harm him. Essentially, Saint Vanilla isn’t trapped with Shadow Milk, Shadow Milk is trapped with Saint Vanilla.

Dragonberry Cookie

Is the skull on her head real?

Yes! It comes from a nondescript monster.

If Pitaya is imprisoned, where is Snapdragon?

With Tarte Tatin and/or Royal Margarine. Dragon City likely got taken over by Dragonberry’s kingdom, but they noped out of there as it happened. The two of them might’ve been the first few to recognize Hollyberry’s spiral into corruption and where it was headed

How is her family doing?

Alright for the most part, but they can feel Dragonberry’s influence in every aspect of their life now. While Royal and Jungleberry are technically still the king and queen, it’s only a figurehead role as Dragonberry is the true ruler. She still cares about her family very much, but she’s controlling and good at keeping them under her thumb. Dragonberry’s granddaughter Princess Cookie is the only one who objects this new way of life, and runs away from the palace.

How would the other dragons react?

The other dragons aren’t canon to CRK so they’re not canon to the au by extension, but just for this question, they’d be different levels of alarmed or concerned save for maybe Longan. I could see Ananas wanting a word with Dragonberry in particular esp since they’re both prideful cookies

Frigid Cacao Cookie

Does he ever go outside?

Very rarely, but it’s usually to observe the licorice sea or meet with the few denizens he has left.

Where is Dark Choco?

Still working on this part (waiting for Apathy pt 2 to come out so I have a better idea), but he’s likely alone by himself. He heard wind of his father’s corruption though and took it less well than he thought he would. Perhaps he’ll run into someone who feels the same?

Is his permafrost truly permanent or can the frozen citizens be thawed?

Technically yes, the permafrost can be thawed, but it’s a meticulous process since Cacao’s ice isn’t normal ice. It’s a cure that Crunchy Chip is looking for to save Caramel Arrow.

How does the licorice sea work for him and how did he come to tame it?

I can’t say how yet outside of the fact that it was a definitely cool and heroic thing for Dark Cacao to do, on the scale of taming the Black and White dragons. The sea, arguably a sentient monster in itself, and all of the creatures within it came to follow Cacao and Cacao only. Now it almost acts like an extension of himself: the beast can make the sea do whatever he wants, like acting as his shield, arms, or barrier, and the licorice horrors will vehemently defend him. There are tons of monsters roaming his frozen kingdom now.

Mystic Flour’s opinion on Cacao?

Working on it, but to some degree she knows Cacao is much stronger than he looks. She might see his apparent apathy for his frozen kingdom with fondness though.

Celestial Cheese Cookie

Is the Golden City still running or did she leave it to die?

It may still be running but in a scaled-down beta form. Cheese learned to accept the fact that what she’d built was entirely fake, but she didn’t move on from regaining what was lost. Her virtual Golden City serves as a blueprint for the kingdom she wants on Earthbread, and then some; with nothing in the barren desert to grow her kingdom, her brightened eyes turn elsewhere towards civilizations that could be brought into the fold. Such is the beginning of the Beast of Conquest’s terror.

She does sometimes visit her golden city, only sometimes. It doesn’t look the same; it’s not a paradise for her to escape to, but it is a promise of what she will have someday. This time, it will be no mirage, and there will be no one to threaten its destruction ever again.

Midnight Lily Cookie

What is her opinion on dark enchantress cookie?

DE is the source of insecurity for Lily, who regards herself as the weakest among all the beasts. Because she’s half of a complete whole, who was already half of another whole, she is passionate about reuniting her souls. While she is focused on expanding the influence of the faerie kingdom, her true goal is to track down Dark Enchantress Cookie and destroy her; but she knows she will need more help than just herself, and has considered asking for help from other vengeful allies.

Does she still guard the silver tree?

Yes, she still fiercely honors Elder Faerie’s wishes.

Have her relationships with the other neo beasts changed?

Ish, most notably her and Celestial Cheese are a little more on speaking terms; but they’re connecting through their potential partnership as Lily hopes she can help her take down Dark Enchantress. In return, she might help her expand her kingdom and take down Burning Spice.

If more FAQs come up, I will make a part two. Thank you for your interest!

[musetember]

your generation has, like, zero attention span for epic tales

Questies! Welcome to Musetember, our prompt challenge during September based on the Ancient Greek muses and the ways their stories and themes can inspire fanfiction and art. 

We have nine different themed prompts and a special tenth - The Chorus - that invites you to participate through commenting or lists of recommendations.

Unfamiliar with the muses? We’ll take you on a journey through them all. Every muse inspires, but each has a domain that resonates with her the most. Write a story that embodies the muse who speaks to you most strongly, or write something inspired by each one in turn. You can interpret their domains as broadly or as literally as you like; the main thing is to create in whatever way feels best to you. 

Calliope invites you to tell us an epic tale. Whether it’s the final battle between good and evil on Andowyne or a re-telling of an ancient legend from the old gods and heroes of our world, this is your chance to go ageless and big. What’s an epic tale? Classically these were long works like The Odyssey, passed down in stories upon stories. Don’t have the attention span for a tale quite that epic in length? Maybe your tale is epic in scale or ambition, rather than word count.

Melpomene looks deep into your heart and asks you, what is the worst that could happen? The muse of tragedy, she has seen over and over again the ruinous and inescapable paths people create for themselves and the ones they love. How could Sorsha doom her daughter to a loveless marriage? When hope is lost, what survives?

Thalia is here to make you laugh. With her, it’s time to embrace the most ridiculous premises, the silliest goobers and the bawdiest jokes you can imagine. Really revel in the humorous side of Willow, a comedy of errors, even a vaudeville au - just don’t forget that happy ending. 

Erato - more like E-rated! Erato is the muse of erotica, so it’s time to get your smut on. Write a moment of intense passion, of aching desire, of the deepest, horniest bond imaginable. 

Clio is your invitation to look into the past. As the muse of history, she’ll be with you whether you’re exploring the story of the first six fey to be cast out of the Grove, or if you’re deep in the research for a historical au in our world. 

Polyhymnia welcomes you to explore religion and ritual. Speak to us of the Order of the Wyrm, of beliefs that shape the lives of the Bone Reavers… or of Catholic schoolgirls just trying to catch a moment together. 

Euterpe sings. The stage is set and the orchestra is waiting - it’s time to celebrate music. Embrace the inspiration found in song lyrics, in band dynamics, in a brand new video edit, or ask yourself: does Kit really know how to play those instruments in her room?

Terpsichore extends her hand to draw you into a dance. From sexy grinding in a modern au to an aching slow dance in the rain, dance can be about self-expression or tight, rigid control. 

Urania looks far beyond this world and draws your attention to the stars, to the two moons lighting up the sky. The muse of astronomy is as present in the far reaches of the galaxy in a sci-fi au as she is in the constellation of Jade’s freckles.

Finally, we come to the Chorus. In Ancient Greek works, the Chorus often represents a voice speaking to or with the audience, a bridge between the world of the story and the world outside it. The Chorus is vital. Without their commentary, something important is lost from a story. Those who comment on fanfiction as just as important - you readers are part of this challenge too! Tell the writers what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling. Leave a comment on a favourite story that fits the thematic domain of each muse. Write up a rec list for your favourite muse, and share your favourites so that others can discover them and dive in.

Rules and some specific writing challenges below the read more!

Writing Challenges: 

Still needing more inspiration? There are different ways you can approach this. You can write whatever style your heart wants, or you could try your hand at one of these challenges that interpret the muses’ calls in different ways. 

The Fragment Challenge Write a drabble of 100 words, or write multiple drabbles as if they were glimpses into the same story with missing pieces in between. For artists, share a fragment of a work in progress - anything unfinished!

The Epistolary Challenge Write in the form of letters, a diary, newspaper clippings, social media posts… Or how about Nockmaar’s trip advisor?

The Lost Scene Challenge Write or draw a scene we missed out on in canon, or a scene that gives the impression it is part of a longer, unwritten fic.

All of these give you a fun way to explore the things you choose not to tell the audience, and play off the Ancient Greek theme that our muses inspire. 

Rules/FAQ

How long does the challenge last?

From September 1, 2024 until Oct 6, 2024.

How do I share my cool stuff?

If it's a fanwork appropriate for AO3, we'd love it if you added it to the challenge AO3 collection, which will be open until the challenge ends!

What pairings apply? Is this just Tanthamore?

This challenge is open to all Willow fanworks! You can create things for any prompt with any character or characters from Willow, you can write different pairings, you can do whatever you want forever. Just make sure that your fics are tagged appropriately!

Can my work be any rating?

Yes absolutely! Write the most E-rated thing your little heart desires, just tag it as such so readers can decide for themselves what they'd like to engage with.

Can it be any length?

Sure! There is no minimum or maximum word limit.

Does it have to be based in Willow canon?

Nope - it can be canon, canon-divergent, or any kind of AU you would like to write!

Does it have to be finished?

Nope, not at all. If one of the prompts inspires you to start a long fic, you are still totally welcome to add it to the collection during September and carry on working on it after the challenge is over.

[little-cereal-draws]

Nobody AU

I had the most delicious angsty au idea to torture poor Ody even more >:)

Basically everything's the same as the odyssey: he gets lost, fights a bunch of gods and monsters, and kills the suitors. But now comes the twist! Some god (Poseidon? Idk, it doesn’t matter) cursed him so as soon as he reunites with his wife, he forgets everything. Penelope gives him the riddle about their bed, he answers it, she’s like “You are Odysseus!” and then boom! He forgets everything.

He doesn’t remember his house, his kingdom, his friends, his family, his name. He doesn’t recognize anything. His family is heartbroken because they just got him back and now he’s gone again but there’s not much they can do. Athena tells them to try to jog his memory but she can’t guarantee that it’ll work.

He doesn’t remember Telemachus at all because he doesn’t look like an adult in all the memories he had of his son; he’s trying to find a baby. He vaguely remembers Penelope; how much he remembers fluctuates from day to day. He thinks she’s very pretty but doesn’t believe that he’s her husband. He insists on sleeping in a different room and avoids her during the day.

He starts actually going by Nobody because it’s all he can think of when people ask his name. Eventually, he starts letting Penelope hold his hands and caress his face. Letting himself be loved a little bit. He still doesn’t believe they’re married but he’ll let himself have this. It feels so good but makes him cry with longing like he’s missing something that’s right in front of him but he doesn't know why.

I don't think he ever gets his full memory back but he does eventually let himself be a part of their family, even if he doesn't remember everything they claim happened. He dies somewhat happy; he's glad that he had them with him but still feels like he's missing something important, something that could've made him happier.

This was inspired by the song Mr. Forgettable if you want to feel even sadder :)

[nonbinarylocalcryptid]

I'm gonna give you all (and at the same time, write It all down for my future self) an inside of how my writing process works feat. ADHD and sponsored by the autistic hyperfixation of the moment

*insert Professor Layton puzzle music*

Picture the #daddy Odysseus AU/Astyanax lives, now think about the timeline, how does that work? Allow me to bring up the following points/establish some sort of timeline:

-The kid must be ten years old by the time Odysseus reach Ithaca or the math won't be mathing and we can't have that

-This whole scenario must be as much Canon Compliant as possible. "But Morgan, the Odyssey has many adaptations!" Well my fellow Tumblr users, that's why we are sticking to Epic: The Musical; that, greek mythology and the power of fanfic make a dangerous yet powerful combination. And memes, a lot of memes.

-Keep in mind Zeus wants Astyanax dead because "it's the will of the gods", aka I'm inmortal and bored and it's way more dramatic this way

-Poseidon wants him dead because Zeus wants him dead. Odysseus, dude, how do you dare to defy a god's orders by keeping a baby alive???

-So the father and son duo has pissed off two major gods, Eurylochus is having an aneurism, Polited welcomes the kid with Open Arms (evil laugh)

-The musical goes as we know but with a toddler, chaos guys, chaos everywhere, so much things to write...

-My brain keeps telling me Astyanax starts teething by the time they leave the island in the sky, so not only have Odysseus to keep an eyes on the bag-that-does-not-contain-treasure he also is kept awake by a crying baby

-Tiresias is quite surprised that Odysseus keep the kid but this is greek mythology and at this point, in John Mulaney's wise words, this may as well happen.

-Little Astyanax can't not hold a sword because it's way too heavy for him, but the Odyssey is dangerous so let's give him a KNIFE and a BOW

-Also he's sassy, like, really sassy

-Odysseus is doing what he can, but lmao, try to raised someone in the middle of the Odyssey

-Let's pepper in some beautiful moments of paternal love because that's why we are here

-Odysseus has the mission to raise this kid with the perfect balanced of the Ruthlessness nad Open Arms philosophies, which is complicated because he is busy dealing with crysis after crysis and it's also hypocrital of him, he's way more ruthless with every day it passes.

-To maximize ✨DRAMA✨, Astyanax must learn about what happened in Troy and who he is (because guys, this is greek mythology, let's make it dramatic)

-Astyanax's opinion of the gods is quite cynic (can't blame him *cough cough* Zeus *cough cough*), but he still likes a few

-Because of the point above, this smol boy filled with rage and raised by Odysseus (dangerous combination) it's going to have a certified teenage rebellion and flee away in the middle of the night™ after facing Scylla and right before Mutiny and Thunder Bringer. This way, he can have a yelling match with his father figure, and Odysseus will face his crew alone etc

-I'm still working out in the how, but Astyanax will go back to Circe's island, and Circe will give out some really good advice and a power up, maybe even Hermes would stir up the pot a bit because damm, this shit is hilarious may as well fuck it all up a bit more.

-Astyanax reunites with Odysseus while he is fighting Charybdis, beautiful father and son moment blah blah blah, Astyanax is still salty (cuz they are in the middle of the sea hehe) but the time away has allowed him to rethink stuff. He is also a little shit and always has been so expect a lot of jokes and dark humour about Troy (coping mechanisms and all that). Odysseus could barely handle his sarcasm before, now he has no chance, he rather fight Poseidon blindfolded.

-Talking about Mr Why Did You Blind My Son, they faced him together.

-As the chaotic little shit he is, Astyanax assists Telemachus in his fight against the suitors. Telemachus does not know who this feral kid is but this is not the moment to ask questions.

-Athena loves the little shit, much to her surprised.

-Angst with Happy Ending because of the power of fanfic and headcanons

-Everything else after this point is slice of life feat. comedy

-Odysseus and Athena reconcialiation of we riot feat. Telemachus' face when he realizes who his friend was.

-Maybe a young man Astyanax decides to reclaim his throne helped by Telemachus and backed up by Ithaca?

[desiredcaramellatte]

Do you think you could do some crk self aware au stuff?? The tag is painfully dead.. if not feel free to delete lmfao

That aside, during Cookie Odyssey, I was **convinced** that soulstones we're going to come into play somehow, it was like my major theory during ch.2, and nobody could convince me otherwise but it never happened. Giving the soulstones an in lore explanation would've been fricking awesome imo..

Can we get some HCs of the player (or their in game kingdom) basically having a monopoly on soulstones while the cookies are left scratching their heads as to not only how they work, but also how the reader got what is technically a part of their souls.

Write for anyone really, idm that much. I generally like the Creme Republic though-- whether reader is still behind the screen or knows the cookies are self aware is up to you really.

That would be very cool if they actually had a lore explanation :0 I thought the soul jams were soul stones first time I heard about them tbh, they just linked together in my mind, also reader is so real for trading monies for souls

I have never written self aware before so apologies if it sucks-

Anyways enough of my ranting, hcs yes

Self aware cookies & reader

(Who has a soul stone monopoly)

Gingerbrave & friends

Gingerbrave is one of the least confused cookies regarding this, to be honest. Mainly because he doesn't really care enough/doesn't notice to really question it. You gather these little trinkets that make him stronger! Cudos to you from this boy.

Wizard, on the other hand, is confused as hell of this process. Where do these stones come from? Are they truly linked to the Cookie's souls? Does that mean that they are not fully themself and/or complete until they are fully leveled, even if they only materialize with twenty of them?

Wizard just wants to know. He has asked you multiple times over, getting confused by your answers and delving in deeper whenever he can. Exactly WHERE do they come from? He's obsessed with finding out by this point.

Strawberry really doesn't mind. She's a little confused where they come from, but, like Gingerbrave, she doesn't question it too much. She does like to occasionally made theories, but she doesn't really like to share them.

If you're good friends with her she may share some of her theories with you, but none of the wild ones, and only if you ask.

Clotted Cream

WHOLE ASS ENGROSSED. He wants to know everything about the soulstones. Where do they come from? How would one even 'farm' these and how does farming a soul even work?

More specifically, he is trying to find a connection between soulstones and souljam. They do almost the same thing and have very similar names- they're both linked to the soul, and make cookies stronger.

He has spent many restless nights awake thinking about this.

Much like Wizard in that he's harassing you for answers, but he does asks questions more subtly.

Clotted Cream has flipped a few tables (with occasional assistance from Financier) before, mainly when he gets annoyed enough at not having a verifiable answer to this.

Financier

It is what it is. She accepts this. She's got dragged into the theorizing by Clotted Cream.

Chilling, mainly. She doesn't really mind not care. Likely to thank you for doing your best to collect them and to make everyone, including her, stronger.

Black Raisin

Intrigued by the sparkliness of most of these soulstones. Much like a crow, she is attracted to shiny objects. Her crow friends are too.

Black Raisin has a small hoard of soulstones that she's occasionally found, of all different sorts of cookies. The sparkler the soulstone, the likelier she and/or her crows are to snatch and hoard. If the soulstone is just a pretty rock then she'll also hoard those too.

If you really need a soulstone she will likely give one to you. How often and/or how many depends on her connection to you.

She's farming them with you by this point.

Oyster

Yoinks you.

She wants to have conversations about this. She wants to know what they are and where they come from. She will offer you tea and scones while the two of you converse.

When she first found out that her stones are Super Epic, she was very proud of herself.

Probably sends you back with some every time you come visit her.

Captain Caviar

Doesn't believe they exist. They're just rocks. Nothing more.

He will stand by his claim to the death. This WILL be the hill he died on. Captain Caviar does not believe soulstones exist.

Probably has made some propaganda about soulstones being fake. Socks, hats, jackets, you name it, he's likely made it with the words "Soulstones do not exist, numbskull" in big letter on it. Except shirts.

Pure Vanilla

Very much like Oyster. Will likely join in on your conversation time and/or will invite the two of you over for his homemade tea and treats!

Most likely to understand how Soulstones work due to him wielding Souljam, which is the most similar thing to them. Also the fact he has lived for a long time and has gathered many knowledge on the subject.

Probably has a book on the subject somewhere.

He likes to sit and watch the Ferris Wheel Landmark rotate. He likes the motion.

[conceptofjoy]

17776 Au idea below

Immortal Dirk would be a miserable man. It’s like he just kept waiting and waiting for SOMETHING his whole life, and it just never got to him. He can’t die respected or acknowledged like he thought he would get to be so he keeps living as nothing.

He was happy to work at NASA, he worked hard for his career. When the immortal thing happened, he was part of the lucrative team of scientists that did everything they could to research the reasoning of it and then after, he worked on making everything run smoothly for humanity. Then it just. Teetered off.

He and Roxy made a pact to check up on each other every other year. Then five years, then ten. They would drag each other out of their respective spirals, but Roxy broke out of the pattern. Dirk did not. He refused to reach out to her every time it happened. Roxy doesn’t want to be caught in the past by Dirk who is unwilling to get better. Lord knows she tried everything, but he has to wake the fuck up. If Dirk gave her a call ONCE, she would welcome him with open arms.

Once upon a time, he strictly followed an image of masculinity. He carried Cal around, worked his 9-5 (and more) without fuss, and he was PROUD of it. When the evolution of societal norms left him in the dust, he was shaken. He calls himself a man but he doesn’t know what that means. His self doubt runs deep, and the doubt is the reason why he ends up deeming himself not worthy of self care. He lets his hair grow exceedingly long, doesn’t shower as much as he’d like to, doesn’t eat beyond what the nanobots give him, he does the bare minimum to survive. He hasn’t left his apartment in decades, and frankly, he's afraid to leave.

==> Enter Hal. He’s New Horizons. I was going to choose Mars Odyssey, but the Hal thing would then not be something he chose. There’s a probe called MUSE and Roman which could be the cherubs, but I think they could also be non-probe tech that gained sentience. 

It’s something Dirk had done, he had developed a special interest for New Horizons. Roxy shared with him different files that NH had made, since it had become somewhat of a special interest. As the years went by and NASA tech wasnt so heavily guarded, she had given him access to the probe as like, a semi live feed. There wasn’t a ton to watch obviously, but he enjoyed scrolling through the data that it sent back. He became overzealous though, poking around in the software, he developed a rudimentary AI like it was one of his bots. Now instead of just inputting a command to receive data, he was able to actually converse with NH to get them as well as have conversations about the findings. He was eventually caught and reprimanded, but in the greater scale of things happening in the world, it wasn’t too bad, I guess? He became part of a team to develop other AI for the public to talk to because it’s VERY important to encourage hobbies or new careers in an environment like this. He helped draw out some plans, but didn’t actually work on other AIs because, creating varied ‘fake’ personalities didn’t appeal to him.

That AI became the basis of the ego that NH formed. Thus Hal came to be. It’s also the reason why he immediately seeked out Dirk to shake all the answers he could from him. He absolutely caught Dirk’s attention, his speech patterns being familiar to him, he set up the quantum messaging immediately. Hal here doesn’t aaaactually have his memories, but his “inimitably rad typing style, tone, cadence, and personality are pretty damn indistinguishable from DS's native neurological responses”.

They talk for a while, and then Dirk literally fucking passes out because that’s like the most his body has done for years. Hal is like oh shit did I do that??? And feels guilty so he texts Roxy. She’s HYPED that he’s a sentient probe too like another one she chats with, but becomes wistful because of how much Hal reminds her of Dirk. Hal is surprised that they don’t talk until he isn’t. Hal is two seconds into awareness and is already plotting shit. He doesn’t want Roxy to deal with his issues again, so elects to help him by hacking into one of the bots he’s made. They’re like all mirrors of his younger bro-ish self but in various levels of damage because he’s just a fucked up dude. It’s also the reason why none of his bots gained sentience, all too broken internally to do so. He couldn’t touch NH because it technically didn’t belong to him.

Hal is pre-disillusioned Dirk. He gets that he has a fuck ton of illnesses and neurosis unchecked, but like he could have never guessed as to why he fell THIS hard. Why he stopped taking his fucking testosterone too? Bc he’s like always strived to atain this ‘peak’ level of masculinity. It takes a while for Hal to mentally be on the same page as him bc of that dissonance. It’s what Hal does in the au, he takes it upon himself to be his therapist (bro doe NOT know what he’s doing) and helps him recover as well as reaches out to his old friends to see if they’d like to talk to him again. Dirk’s fuckin terrified by the idea, but it goes slowly. Jane’s up first, then Jake and Roxy.

Dirk also confronts Hal about his own anxieties about being alone. He’s one of the pinnacles for pre-immortal earth, but does he feel obsolete? He is also unable to die a hero, immortal until… Well I guess forever. Earth will move on without him, and he’ll stay frozen like a prehistoric bug trapped in amber. Both of them are dissociated from greater society.

[pirateshippotato]

My take on a polites lives au

I've seen a bunch of polites lives aus, so here's a way I think that could go down

During the Cyclops attack polites is spared. There's a chance that Odysseus does kill the Cyclops here because he's not trying to honor polites, then Poseidon never comes up and they make it home easily, but we're gonna say that he does so this is longer than two sagas. So the fight goes the same except that polites lives. Afterwards polites would probably be like "I'm proud of you Captain, any other man wouldn't have shown mercy to the Cyclops" and ody would be like "any man besides you, my friend"

The storm hits and they see the floating island all the same. I feel like luck runs out might turn into an argument between ody and eury with polites moderating. Polites would go with Odysseus up to aeolus, so he would know the bag isn't treasure. I've seen versions of this where the bag never gets opened so, again, no Poseidon, but then this is only three sagas so we're gonna do something different. Polites tells Odysseus to put his faith in the crew, so ody and him go to bed, but the bag gets opened. I don't think it was eurylochus in this au, cause if Odysseus AND Polites are telling him it's not treasure I think he'd believe them, so some other random crew member opened it. Ody would be mad at polites for letting him go to sleep. Poseidon still happens, but he has to change the lyrics of ruthlessness a bit cause "47 left under your command" doesn't fit as well. Maybe polites could also get a verse in this song arguing with Poseidon about their very different views on mercy.

They end up on Circe's Island and ody is still a bit mad at polites. Eurylochus goes off, and polites probably goes somewhere else on the island. Ody and Circe still have their battle all the same. Polites meanwhile saves Elpenor (cause I'm just trying to save as many crew members as I can at this point). At the end of the Circe saga ody and polites make up (maybe in a reprise of open arms or something? I know there aren't really reprises, but some song that uses the same melody. It would be called 'my friend' or something).

They go to the underworld still, but obviously polites didn't die so that doesn't happen. It's also only "556 men, who died under your command!" Polites is there to support ody when he sees his mom and the rest of the crew. They meet up with the prophet, and that's probably pretty similar, but maybe there's some lines about how polites (who's standing there too) "wasn't supposed to make it this far" (cause, y'know, polites actually dies). Odyssey doesn't have Monster, and instead maybe just talks to polites about how they're gonna get home.

When dealing with the sirens polites probably encourages ody to not kill the sirens, and maybe they realize they should keep some to feed to scylla. No casualties happen during scylla, and cause eury didn't open the wind bag there's no fight that happens between ody and eury. Because of that no cow stabbing would happen, so no Zeus happens either. They make it home 7 years earlier, and I think there's 48 of them, so that's pretty good. Ody beats up the suitors (there's probably less of them than in the wisdom saga) and they all live happily ever after.

@cr4zy-cycl0n3 made good points about the scylla encounter in the reblogs

[telemy]

Completely on yours and hers(?) side in all of this. IK the main complaint is that Ant wants to rape Penelope but that wasn’t even in the original story. In an au you can change whatever you want and Jorge did exactly that w Epic as well (how the sirens look, the fact that Odysseus had wax in his ears in the song but in story was tied to the mast pole to listen to them, the ant wanting to rape Penelope etc). “It’s disrespectful to Jorge” my brother in Zeus Jorge didnt make the original story. In the shipping au I could totally see Ant going “damn can’t convince this woman to be my wife guess I gotta put the moves on the heir of the kingdom. Gonna be king one way or another” cause bro doesn’t care abt her as a person even in the story he just wants the power which is where the idea comes from and it’s a fun idea to explore!

For the age thing: Tele is 20 theres no exact age for Ant in the book but he didn’t go to war w the others 20yrs ago so he had to have been somewhere between 0-10 so at most there’s a 10yr age dif which isn’t that bad (my own parents have a 16yr age dif) Penelope is around 39 cause she got married to Odysseus at 18 and had Tele at 19 (if I’m doing the math right) and then Odysseus immediately went to war soon after his birth and took all of age/able bodied men w him (I couldn’t find the exact age of when men in Ancient Greece were “of age” but it’s gotta be somewhere between 10-16 (puberty age range).

IK google sucks recently Yall but it doesn’t take too much effort to look into this - sincerely a half Greek a half Italian that used the original Greek myths to bind w her culture cause her immigrant parents wouldn’t teach her their native language

Its good to see people from greek culture Agree with all this :]

Every Au changes depending on the creator, in my Au the only difference is that he actually does love Telemachus (and grew up with him). Its a shame that i can't know about Elian's Au because all what happened, and It hurts.

I also think that they shouldn't speak in the place of Jorge. Talya (Wich is literally Jorge's girlfriend) supported Elian and loved her art, wich doesn't give "the creator hates this' vibes..

Also, i noticed non-greek people saying stuff about greek culture and involving it on all of this, wich isn't cool..

(Im not greek, but im an Hellenistic Pagan, and i seen people say that changing myths affects the religion and offends us, wich isn't true. Thats like telling a Zeus devotee that they can't worship Zeus because he did bad stuff in the myths. Myths are myths, fictional, and they are NOT related to the religion.)

Also! In the book 22 of the actual Odyssey, wich is practically before he died, Antinous is called "Young man" wich means that he was still a Young man before he died. This in ancient greece was really Young, probs between 16-21/22/23 or so, wich means he could even be Telemachus' actual age. (Altho, i believe him being atleast 1 year older, he gives off the vibe)

Regardless, thanks for sharing your opinion on the subject, me and more people getting cancelled from all of this apreciate it, we love you 🫶

[dootznbootz]

I'm not very fond of Epic AUs where Odysseus adopts Astyanax.

It's fine for a one-off joke or comic and ofc this is just my opinion but... if Astyanax lives (like in Racine's play), he should always stay with Andromache. His actual mother, yk. Not with one of the men who sacked Troy. Zeus' prophecy is bound to happen and Odysseus knew keeping the infant around was a bad idea.

If Astyanax dies, I want to see him in Elysium with his father, finally in a peaceful place and having all of eternity to catch up. Then Andromache joins them (sending her to Asphodel would be too cruel) and they finally reunite.

Would anyone picture Neoptolemus adopting Astyanax ? The son of Achilles, who dragged Hector's body in a chariot. No ? So Achilles' associate doing the same would be weird.

And Odysseus ? I want him CRAVING for a son, waiting for so long until he can express his paternal affection (and always cursing Palamedes even after his revenge 😂).

Him meeting Telemachus all grown up should be his first real shot at fatherhood. It'd be underwhelming if he already had a little boy with him. If Telemachus has a little brother, Penelope should be the mother. Or they adopt another baby together afterwards. No Astyanax and ESPECIALLY NO TELEGONUS !

So yeah, imo Astyanax and Odysseus don't belong with each other. Any thought ?

Headsup: This is just an opinion. My opinion does not matter. If you like this AU, PLEASE don't let that stop you from creating! Just because it's not for me, doesn't mean it's not for you or for someone else :D

I absolutely agree and you absolutely put into words WHY.

There's the term "woobifying" and in some cases...I think that's what people just often do with Epic/The Odyssey. (especially from Epic) I'm saying as someone who is a very soft and fluffy person. I love soft and sweet fics and ideas. I love stuff that makes me smile. But I almost feel as though with certain soft things, you're taking away what makes characters who they are. which DOESN'T make me smile lol

like I think there's more fun in simply a "no-war AU" than the "Astyanax lives AU" xD like, that way, Odysseus is with his family, gets to be a dad, Astyanax gets to live (let's not think too hard about how "no war may have meant no Astayanax")

As that way, they still get to be in character as well.

Penelope and Odysseus for example, are scallywags lol. They scheme and swindle. They giggle and kick their feet when they get extra cattle. They hold grudges. They can be snooty and prideful. They're as full of love as they are full of hate. Odysseus, during the Sack of Troy, in both the Odyssey AND Epic, will do whatever it takes to get home. Like yes, in Epic, Jay has it where Odysseus has to "become ruthless" but I can understand what he's doing with the narrative. Odyssey Odysseus? Um...Iphigenia is proof that Odysseus is already ruthless.

Btw, why is Astyanax the only one Odysseus would want to save with these AUs? What about Iphigenia? Is it because of Epic?

Yes, I DO think Odysseus (and Penelope for that matter) have a lot of parental instinct. I plan to write Odysseus carving lil wooden toys for random kids just as something to do. He does tricks. (ngl, while it seems they weren't around in the Mycenaean era, Yo-yos were a thing in ancient Greece. I just KNOW Odysseus would be the type to do so many tricks. (also string and wood🥹)) He has a soft spot for Greater Ajax's boy. My goober was friends with Menelaus and Agamemnon even before he met Penelope (he saw two exiled guys take back their kingdom and thought "hm??? vulnerable state??? They're very rich?? hehe >:3" but then became fond of them. The reason why he went to Sparta was to help Menelaus with Helen but fell in love himself.) and he's carved lil toys for Agamemnon's kids

He's carved lil Iphigenia toys. She likes Dolphins. He still helps sabotage the letter in some myths and even hypes up the crowd.

Even if it IS just based on Epic, "The Horse and The Infant" and "Just a Man" are HUGE turning points for Odysseus. Or even just a show of character. Like yes, "Odysseus is learning ruthlessness" but he already is ruthless. He literally says "I would trade the world to see my son and wife". AND HE STILL DOES THE DEED! HE WAS RUTHLESS SINCE THE BEGINNING! The Second song in the Musical and it already tells you about Odysseus and what he is willing to do. Is he sad and haunted? Yeah. Still did it.

And I really love that as that's Odyssey Odysseus as well! Odysseus isn't an unfeeling violent villain. He's just a man.

Also...What happens in the Odyssey is no fucking place for a child. ;~; The cyclops, the Goddesses, the monsters? Why should a lil boy be anywhere near that? How did he survive while drifting to Ogygia? Does Poseidon try to keep them together? As no one would be in the state to take care of each other together for that many days.

And in general, in the Odyssey, to me, it's such a huge thing that he literally lost EVERYONE. THAT HE IS ALL ALONE. All of the people who were with him are now dead, and there was nothing he could do. It was already fated.

It's horrible but there's something so poetic in him being the "Sole Survivor", especially after all the hell he went through.

Also yeah, I DO really hate the thought of Telemachus knowing "You took care of this baby when I needed you?". Like my OdyPen have a daughter after he returns as the whole "only one son" and that's already really hard for Telemachus to watch Odysseus be a father for her, regardless of how often and how adamantly Odysseus reassures him that Odysseus desperately wished to do the same with him.

[lyculuscaelus]

Hold Him

(Inspired by this ask of my moot @jarondont; changed a little something though; an AU partially based on Epic and partially on the Odyssey)

Telemachus was just making sure the ship was fully docked when the sound of breaching came.

Slashes of metal bit through the hull as his comrades cried out in terror—fear seized them all. Telemachus quickly issued the order to take arms, while he himself picked up a spear and a handy shield, fearful uncertainty brewing in his eyes. His young companions did the same—Ctesilaus, Amphidamas, Polyalus…all twenty of his childhood friends. But they did not have the time to put on the armor when the dreadful war-cries burst out, catching all of them off guard.

“Get ready, everyone,” Telemachus warned. “Here they come.”

Twenty well-armed warriors stormed into the hollow ship, charging on board. Javelins flew across the distance, hitting the shields and decks, chewing into bands of their shields with fierce force. Ctesilaus yelled out in pain as a spear found its way to his human heart, spilling out dark blood and agony. Amphidamas blocked a blow in time and returned with a thrust of his spear, ending his opponent’s life in an instant. Telemachus raced to the crowd of fighters, his spear never relented in striking. He managed to take down five warriors before the spear in his palm was knocked off by a heavy blow, while another clash of shields sent him flying to the edge of the deck, dropping his shield in the process. Pain swarmed up in his spine as he landed heavily.

Ouch.

Where was the strength of the son of Odysseus?

It’s just like the last time. Or all the times before that. I never really stand a chance in any fight, and maybe never will.

Telemachus struggled to get up again. Before his blurry vision, warriors continued to falter. People continued to fall.

People that he called friends. People whose survival relied solely on him—

The son of Odysseus, the leader of men.

And he could only watch them fall.

Ctesilaus was lying on deck, his breath already left him; Amphidamas was no longer wielding the spear in his hand, for it had already loosen its strength; Polyalus was still holding on, protecting the injured Anticlus, as those dreadful warriors continued to press on, and press on, and…

And all Telemachus could hear, were the screams of the fallen. The screams of his friends.

They were dying, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

How did I allow this to happen?

“Odysseïdes…”

Eurylaus let out his one last moan and crumbled.

I failed them. I failed them all. In the end, I was too incompetent. They should never have placed their trust in me in the first place.

“They’re too many—”

A slashing sword found Polymedes on the neck as the rest of his body fell to the deck, his sword rolling out from the palm of his motionless right hand, finding its solace.

I am not a good leader. They are dying because of me.

“My prince…”

Telemachus found Theodices holding the right side of his stomach, the chiton was already drenched in red. But it was a smile that came to Theodices’s lips. A smile that was trying to take away the prince’s sorrow. A smile that was blaming him of nothing, yet everything.

In the end, I was too inexperienced, too incapable, too weak.

“Goodbye…it’s an honor to serve you.”

And then Theodices, the last remained, crumbled silently. Behind his fallen body, a group of twelve warriors were standing still. The smirk on their faces was proudly claiming their victory.

It was then did Telemachus recover from shock, realizing his plan to flee—

—And run into a taller figure. His helmet spoke of nothing but malice.

“Where do you think you’re going,” Telemachus heard him saying. But that voice…it can’t be… “Little wolf?”

All of a sudden, Telemachus felt his heart stopped.

So it’s him.

The figure removed his shining helmet, revealing the scarred face of a man Telemachus knew so well. A man Telemachus hated so much.

Antinous.

But does that mean…

Other warriors were doing the same now, he noticed. They were all taking off the helmets to show their faces: Eurymachus, Agrius, Eurynomus, Ormenius…so they have finally come to this. Murder and taking over. Telemachus clenched his fists, feeling so sick.

“What a fine day to take a trip, wouldn’t you agree?” Antinous continued as other suitors behind him were approaching. Telemachus tensed himself. But desperation was growing like a cancer inside. How could I possibly even fight them all…

“You mother must be worried sick.”

“That’s none of your concern,” Telemachus retorted. “Now just leave me alone—”

“Alone? Alone, did you say?” Antinous simply laughed. “But you are alone, little wolf. You are always alone. Nobody will care about you. Not your people, not your friends, not even your family—”

“This isn’t true,” Telemachus shook his head in protest.

“—You really think your mother cares about you?” ignoring Telemachus’s retort, Antinous continued. “What a joke. She must’ve known so well you’re just a failure trying to become your father, and always failing. She must’ve known so well you can never be king.”

Telemachus glared at this man in front of him—that smirk on his face never faded. This isn’t true. Don’t listen to what he says.

But he had to— “And where’s your father when you needed him?”

The world felt like spinning now.

Telemachus hissed, feeling his throat tighten. The sense of suffocation slowly swarmed up as Telemachus gasped heavily, trying to forge a response, trying to find an answer to Antinous’s taunt. But deep down, he already knew. Antinous was speaking the truth.

No one will come and help me now.

His eyes felt like burning.

In the end, it’s just me, myself, and I.

It’s just me against the suitors, against the tides…against everything. Gods, I am so alone.

“So you see? Nobody cares if you’re alive or dead, little wolf,” Antinous sneered, driving Telemachus’s thoughts back to reality. “So when you die, no one will shed a noble tear. Only silence will lament you.”

Maybe it’s time to accept reality now, Telemachus. There is no hope. There never will be.

Antinous was turning around, gesturing the rest of the suitors to move forward. Only one sentence could Telemachus make out—yet one sentence was more than enough—

“Hold him down,” Antinous ordered.

The suitors rushed to the prince, their weapons ablaze. His hands empty, Telemachus didn’t even bother to make any move. He was only watching silently as the suitors came, grasping his arms and shoulders, kicking his knees, forcing him to yield before this towering figure of Antinous right in front. Telemachus didn’t even bother to struggle.

For he had already accepted everything—his failures, his loneliness, his life…his fate. Fate of death. It was neither rage nor sorrow that was gripping him now. For the first time in his life, Telemachus felt relieved.

Relieved of this life he was struggling to suffer.

Just let the end come, swiftly, silently.

Antinous pulled out a dagger from his girdle, playing with it fluently in his palms. “Tell me, little wolf: do you prefer a quick death,” he was flipping the dagger when asking. “Or a fulfilling one?”

“Just…do what you want of me,” Telemachus spit out blankly. “I don’t care now.”

“Very good, then,” an ominous smile slowly crawled to Antinous’s lips. “Then perhaps I can spare you your throat.”

He kept his gaze at the dagger for a while before plunging it into Telemachus’s chest. Dark blood was streaming from his torso, turning the white chiton into a blossoming crimson. Agony enshrouded him as Telemachus cried out weakly, his voice already failing him.

He didn’t hear the sound of an arrow as he crumbled.

He didn’t see how Antinous fell, his hand still holding the shaft that pierced through the chestplate and the flesh inside.

He didn’t notice the arrival of another ship, as torrents of arrows sliced through the air, finding their aim at the suitors’ body, taking them down one by one, until no one was left standing.

Someone had stepped on board, rushing at the faltering Telemachus in haste. Telemachus felt the touch of human warmth holding his body as he struggled to open his eyes, finding the familiar face of a boy he once knew. It belonged to…

“Peisis, you came to me,” Telemachus muttered weakly. “You finally…came to me.”

“Yes…” the young prince of Pylos whispered, tears already forming in his eyes. “But I took too long. It’s my fault—”

“No, Peisis,” Telemachus smiled sadly. “No…don’t blame yourself. I…it…it doesn’t matter now.”

Peisistratus forced a smile, but tears were already dropping from his eyelids. “I’m sorry I can’t get to you in time,” he replied.

“But still…” Telemachus continued. “How…why did you come? I thought…I thought I’d asked you to stay.”

“And stay I did,” Peisistratus answered. “Until a friend came to me, asking me to bring a ship here.”

“Friend?”

“Your friend,” Peisistratus continued softly. “Maybe you know her better as, well, the bright-eyed goddess.”

“Athena?” Telemachus gasped. “But…how?”

“She said she didn’t make it in time either,” Peisistratus replied. “Someone delayed her for a while, and she had only recovered from her wounds just now…”

“Wounds?”

“It’s a long story—at least that’s what she said,” Peisistratus answered quickly.

Telemachus didn’t reply. His breath was already running short. Peisistratus only took up his right hand, and handed him something.

Telemachus opened his palm to find a golden necklace sitting inside. It was a beautiful gift, a chain of gold leaves all carved with the letter Τ—all on the left side of the chain. And then Peisistratus showed him another necklace, with the letter Π carved on every gold leaf on the right side. Telemachus mustered the strength to grin.

“They’re matching ones,” Peisistratus explained. “For our friendship.”

Telemachus nodded satisfyingly. “Thank you, Peisis.”

“And…you must have many things to say to your mother…and father too, I guess,” Peisistratus continued, changing the topic. “Do you want me to…”

“Yes—it’ll be great,” Telemachus coughed. “Just tell my mother, I love her, and, I’m sorry…”

“Wait, sorry?” Peisistratus couldn’t help but ask.

“Yeah…I’m sorry. I failed her, after all…”

“But you didn’t fail anyone,” Peisistratus replied quickly. “You have fought bravely, and no one should take that honor away from you.

“You truly are the son of Odysseus,” Peisistratus gave his shoulder a squeeze. “And I’m honored to have you as my friend, even just for such a short moment in my life. I’m glad to have known you, Telemachus.”

“Thanks…” Telemachus said. His sound was softer than a whisper now. “You too, Peisis…I’m honored, to have, known…

And then Telemachus let another smile play on his face. “Time to meet you, father…”

Peisistratus never forgot that day when Ithaca lost its prince, when he lost his best friend…when a father lost his son, missing the entire life of his son, all in twenty years of wandering.

It was hard to accept, Peisistratus admitted. Not even gods could plan things this cruel, to shatter a reunion with the pain of death. Fates had done this family unfair…

But then, there were times when he would hear whispers of a certain figure that would show up when people were planning or scheming, when they were working with their mind thinking quick. These reports of a certain figure that resembled the prince of Ithaca himself intrigued Peisistratus deeply. Maybe this was why he had never got to see his friend’s body for one last time, when the entire form of Telemachus had suddenly faded in front of his eyes.

For rumors had it that the figure was always accompanying the Ithacan king Odysseus—finally returned in the twentieth year, whenever he planned for stealth or plunder. There was no way for Peisistratus to confirm it, of course—until that very day, when he came across his friend once again, in the realm of quick thought; when he spoke with him once again, learning that neither his father nor he would be alone now—for in the domain of thoughts they would forever be together, as decreed by Athena, where they would be exchanging stories, talking of their past, planning for a future that only one would witness, the other behold.

Then Peisistratus knew it all: how Telemachus was brought to the domain of Quick Thought, for he was Athena’s friend; how he in his divine essence still missed his father, and thus became the patron of the mind of resourceful Odysseus. They’re holding fast to each other’s memory now, Peisistratus thought. Maybe it’s for the better. For after all, isn’t to fall, to learn one way?

And what a great way it is to have their reunion, at last.

[sleepingbeautysammy]

a list in no particular order of wincest/spn fics that i want to crawl inside and never leave, that really pinpoint what i like abt samdean or spn etc etc just like. hits the nail on the head for me:

(btw if you have any fics that are kind of like these or u think i would like please let me see please)

dead unfinished selves by hathfrozen 

 i love cannibalism and horror and codependency and this hits all the marks for me!! so well written too. 

credence by road_rhythm 

sleeping beauty references 😍 somnophilia 😍 i loveeee this one sm. 

easy access by edwardina 

i love sam in skirts and i love breeding what can i say? 

good girl by blindswandive

this literally makes me short circuit so hard i love girlsam

the very first stone by road_rhythm 

every single chapter with the different povs stunned me. everything about this is perfect and sucks you right into their world. i cannot stress it enough i LOVE this fic. 

splinters by morgan

COWBOY SOUTHERN GOTHIC AU PREACHER JOHN FIRE STARTER SAM!!! god this fic is beautiful and stunning amazing i love it

distance swimmer by lichenthrope

god. f/f samdean does smth to me dean in this is sooo hot 

the palm oasis by fictionallemons

the world building in this is immaculate, the setting and mood sucks you in so deep i feel like i’m there with them. one of my fave eras too. 

wolfpack by tabaqui

okay this whole series really does it for me cause i love scary winchesters. there is a part with a mary prayer card in the second part that i cannot get out of my mind ever. 

they then ate the sailors by coyotesuspect

case fic that rattles my brain it’s so well rounded and thought out. i adore the apartment, the water, everything. 

tape by franceshouseman 

the voyeuristic quality and dirty talk in this fic is incredibly hot, i think about it a lot.

odysseus, american by coyotesuspect 

i love love loveeee classical references in fics, and the idea of dean listening to the odyssey delights me to no end. this fic brought a tear to my eye. love you dean 

show me again, shame takes hold by objectlesson

BUTCH DEAN. BUTCH DEAN. BUTCH DEAN. she makes me melt. 

squint into the sun | glare into the gloaming by dyed_red

god this one is good. i love the slow burn i love sam’s inability to be ashamed. loved the john pov. love a good john finds out fic please read this one

brother only wants by hathfrozen

god this slow burn is so so delicious it really pays off and all their little moments it’s like it really has all the aspects of their obsession w each other and their dynamic like the sex isn’t even the main point (tho when it finally happens 😍 fucking fireworks) so good

the blood in your mouth by hathfrozen

dean has cannibalistic thoughts about sam and they fuck nasty about it. i s2g idgaf i WILL rec individual fics by the same author if i see so fit.

an act of faith against the night by hathfrozen

this one is hot and heartbreaking at the same time. love it when sammy cries. s3, sam is upset about deans deal and they fuck nasty about it.

[cuppajj]

Don't mind me as I found out this AU a day ago and heard you're waiting for BY ep 4 to form stuff w Dark Choco and Frigid Cacao and BOY do I have ideas.

(This is going to be a long ask, it's been cooking for a while and I need to ramble abt it, hopefully Tumblr won't eat it. Also a little spoilers about ep 13 & 14 and odyssey ch 1 if you're not there yet)

So, we're not talking about Dark Choco's perspective just yet (I'm also waiting on BY ep 4 for that) but from Cacao, we can establish stuff about how he feels about Choco in canon and go from there and speculations on BY ep 4.

Canon Cacao very clearly loves his son and truly longs for him back in his life. But, as referenced from the Hollyberry interaction, he's very reluctant to seek him out, preferring Choco approach him first instead.

One of the ways Cacao shows his love is how he respects the boundaries of those close to him (and, in turn, expects the same for them to him. That's why he violently snaps at Clotted Cream and feels very betrayed by Vanilla for keeping Lily a secret in Odyssey) and I feel this applies to Choco the most. He understands Choco needs his time and space, especially after the whole ep 14, and won't feel comfortable around him or his kingdom for a while. There's also the chance that Choco may not want to have him in his life again (untrue) and he'd rather not risk finding out that's true by personally seeking him out and further upsetting his son. (That last one was just my interpretation but AUGH)

This is the building blocks I found for forming Frigid Cacao's side of the relationship. Should Dark Choco return to the kingdom, Frigid Cacao would feel Very Much Conflicted™️ about having him back, but for different reasons.

On one hand, he would be relieved and overjoyed to sense his son's return. There's so much lost time, so much regrets, he wanted to make up for it and rebuild his relationship anew. But on the other hand, this clashes with the Soltitude he built for himself. Accepting his son back in his life would mean breaking down his walls, thus tearing down everything he built and betraying his own light. Perhaps that part of him would also be angry that Dark Choco would impose this on him. But it saddens him to turn him away. And so on and so forth it cycles.

This duality is the internal conflict that, while it opens the gate for redemption (or at least loosen his terror and maybe actually get him outside), is also very hectic for Choco himself because it also manifests in his powers.

The licorice monsters are noticably more docile around him, but they can just as soon lash out randomly, coming in big waves and heading for only one target. The weather is constantly shifting from mild snow to freezing blizzards in minutes. The paths feel cleared out but it feels like there's always something out to get him.

That's assuming Choco didn't return to the kingdom after the Beast Yeast expedition (bc I'm assuming you're setting Cacao's fall after BY ep 4). But if he did, there's two possibilities. One is the more boring Frigid Cacao's reign didn't last really long bc Choco was there from the beginning. The other one, ooh the other one also works as a bad ending for the first scenario.

(I ended up writing a full oneshot for it. If you want, I can send it in another ask, hahaha)

As someone who hasn’t gotten to that chapter in odyssey yet (i really oughtta watch a video on it bc these quills brake for nobody), this is a really good reference for Cacao and Choco in beast ancients!! I won’t say much about Choco since yeah I’m waiting for apathy pt 2 but I’ve definitely been wanting him to be a huge source of conflict for frigid cacao in the au, and this helps describe it pretty well. Cacao’s fall is being worked on because the timeline of beast ancients is a WIP, it does come after BY 4 for all I know atm, and whatever happens to Choco in that episode will determine where he is and how he affects his dad when he becomes a beast. But the bottom line is that it is not gonna be easy for either of them either way :D

Would love to see your one shot btw!

[unknownchoatic]

im not the first person to use this idea and people have probably come up with the same thing… BUT!:

Odyssey au where when they’re fighting the cyclops Odysseus takes the hit for Polites and somehow hes not immediately dead. so like Eurylochus and Polites and all the other guys have to make an escape plan and as they’re hiding and trying to figure out what to do Polyphemus just drops to the floor (lotus eater wine moment). So as they’re trying to stop Odysseus from bleeding out he overhears the ideas for the escape plan, decides that each plan is shit and so from his position (laying on the cave floor bleeding out) hes like “sharpen the club into a spear and blind him” and Eurylochus is like “great idea Captain” so they do it.

and then its like normal escape except for the whole Odysseus doxxing himself part (yk cause at this point hes lost so much blood and is hurt and probably isn’t even conscious). so they get on the boat and sail while trying to heal Odysseus. but like… healing doesnt happen and the wound gets infected or smth (idk some kind of complication). so Odysseus is in his cabin (? room? idk) all fever-y and delirious and Eurylochus and Polites visit but they don’t tell the rest of the crew (other than the doctors) how bad his condition is getting.

and so the journey home is actually a lot smoother (yk cause Odysseus isnt being a boyfailure) and from the cyclops’ island they go back to Ithaca. and like at some point when they’re still a few days away Odysseus really starts dying. like he’s hallucinating and in so mych pain and he does even rlly recognize Eurylochus or Polites and like they both know that he is probably gonna die. so like in his final moments Polites holds him and is like “you can relax my friend,”

thank you for coming to my ted talk

(also alternate ending where by some miracle he hangs on until they get to Ithaca and there (where theres like good medical supplies and actual doctors he recovers)