#am I mixing tumblr lore and greek mythology?

[badoccultadvice]

I carefully place a sponge cake, fresh strawberries and whipped cream on a napkin, then gently center the cake-laden napkin in the center of a paper plate. Placing this on a table, I fold a piece of printer paper in half and write a note on it. I then prop the sign next to the plate, which reads:

To the Greatest Trickster

[theladyofbloodshed]

So, I have a question. I am planning a new series with following a certain mythology. I know a lot of readers drag sjm through the mud about stealing names from mythologies (including myself), like the names of gods/goddess & places, and not coming up with none on her own.

How should I combat that?

Is it a tad bit better to come up with all new names and places but keep the mythology lore?

I am trying to avoid being like sjm. (Also, I am asking a bunch of other tumblrs this question so you might see it around).

Long post incoming...

I think the issue with some of sjm's mythology is that she rips it away from certain cultures and then does nothing with it or warps it to the point where she should have just invented her own name e.g. Morrigan is famous in Irish folklore as three sisters (who are also all the same goddess) who is associated with war, she can be seen washing the armour of soldiers who will die that day. She's also famous for trying to seduce/end Cuchulainn who was battling Queen Maeve. There is no way sjm just came up with the name, because there are some similarities with acotar mor... but then we've never actually seen her power in 5 books.

She just takes random bits from lots of different cultures. Acotar was supposedly inspired by Outlander which is set in Scotland. The Ballad of Tam Lin is also Scottish (but acotar really is not similar to it). We have Rhys/Amren/Nuala/Cerridwen which are all Welsh names. But then I've seen people interpret Nuala and Cerridwen as POC because sjm is so vague (not to say welsh people cannot be poc, but the clothing they - and feyre - first wear is more like Jasmine from aladdin). Morrigan is Irish. Azriel is Hebrew. Cassian is Latin. Nesta is Welsh. Elain is Welsh. Eris is Greek. Lucien is French. Puca are celtic. The bogge comes from old english for the bogeyman. The Weaver is based on strzyga which are slavic. Baba Yellowlegs is a rip off of baba yaga also from slavic folklore. Koschei is also a slavic legend along with the Firebird. Heck, just look at the Slovenian flag and you'll see three mountains with three stars above it. I've seen people theorise that Thurr is CC is like Thor and CC will be the norse ragnarok.

Calan Mai is a Welsh festival and the acotar version is a bastardisation of it. Fires are lit to ward off spirits and banish disease the night before. On the day, farmers traditionally took their animals out to pastures and singing/drinking happened to give thanks for a good season. A May Queen and King would be crowned and the village green opened. SJM took Calan Mai from welsh traditions and turned it into a giant orgy (of course). Thunderbirds are important to Native American mythology and sjm has just taken that yet again for a character. I've only read cc2 once but I feel like there was no description of Sofie whatsoever.

It's not wrong to borrow from mythologies and folklore. These stories have existed for thousands of years for a reason. My issue is the strange amalgamation of shoving so many together and snipping only the "nice" bits e.g. the Morrigan can transform into an eel and she loses an eye at one point and transforms into an old woman. Sjm cant have ugly main characters!

I think try and be consistent with the mythologies e.g. don't mix lots of different ones together if you're using "real" names because I don't think they gel well - this is my friend Thor, his brother Apollo, and their friend Anubis. There are sooooo many mythology/folklore books out there. I have a whole shelf because I love it. There are also so many websites. Delve into less commonly known mythologies/stories. Alternatively, be inspired by them and come up with your own creations. Or, come up with your own lore in general :-)

Ultimately, you are telling the story you want to write. Do what is best for you!

[alatismeni-theitsa]

So happy to find another greek tumblr with actual interesting content??? Just as rare as a thessalokia without makeup in the center 😂 ( a diss on myself tbh δεν πάω κέντρο χωρίς να ντυθώ λες και πάω για βάφτιση).

I was wondering what are your opinions on ( usually from US ) foreigners using greek deities for their paganism? It always sort of bothered me to see videos of a girl from Minnesota , say that the deity she works with is Aphrodite or something ( while pronouncing the name with the most americanized accent ever) and then go on and describe how they look and how they act as if the god is a original character of theirs rather than an actual deity. It just doesn't make much sense to me...do they do that with other pantheons? Like do they take Ra and be like " ah yes my spiritual god" ? ?

( ps. I'm so happy that another person on this app despises LO , it's refreshing to see people standing up to the massacre that the creator has done to mythology)

Hello dear Thessalonikia (complimentary)! Κοιτα καποια βαφτιση ολο και καπου στον κοσμο γινεται, οποτε πρεπει να εισαι προετοιμασμενη... Κι εγω βαφομουν, γι αυτο εκανα τοσο καιρο να απαντησω το ask. Δε μου εβγαινε το eyeliner 😁

As I've answered in the past, I don't have a problem with foreigners who worship the Greek gods. And now I won't talk about the ones who read ancient texts and try to be as respectful as possible, but the ones you mentioned.

It's not "a good look" when they don't do their research and just worship them because of "vibes". They haven't studied at all and think their own knowledge and intuition are enough. They worship or "work" with one deity and bash the rest or badmouth other deities (because they usually have a background in a monotheistic religion, they think polytheism works the same, that you just choose one god as your patron and that's it), they don't have an idea about how respect in the Greek culture worked/works, they don't even read about how these gods have been worshiped and what their domains ACTUALLY are (and not what American pop culture tells them).

And it's also weird that they don't research about the Greek names of the gods despite them being "obsessed" about them. Religion is not a hobby and gods are not OCs or your pals. (Idk if their old church told them something like that about Jesus and now they think the Divine is like this but it's not the same for the Greek pantheon).

Many pagans are extremely selective with their paganism, creating a mix and match of gods and attributes that don’t exist in Greek culture. (I guess they don’t feel the need to search further?) That’s not bad exactly, but it can be weird. Honestly, anyone can worship however they want, I am not the one to dictate that. But when you come from the Greek culture and know certain rules about worship and respect about certain gods, it’s off putting to be cut off by a foreigner who thinks they know better because of “feelings”. Especially if it’s obvious that person hasn’t studied that deity within the context of the religion at all.

Imagine me working in my paganism with Shiva just like some Americans work with Aphrodite, let’s say -- without any contact with actual Hinduism, its principles and how the different branches view Shiva, without the rituals, without his proper clothing and symbols. Everyone would be (kinda rightfully :p) raging at me. There is free will and rights, but we also must be thoughtful about our actions. Just because something is legal and within our rights, it doesn’t mean that it’s the best action xD For example, Hindus are the ones who worshiped this deity for millennia and have constructed a proper set of rituals and prayers in order for the person to reach him better. Now, we can’t have a random person from Greece saying “umm yeah let me throw all that ancient knowledge aside. I just need my crystals and some tarot cards”. And, on top of that, imagine me not giving him respect as the great deity he is, but constantly saying “ommg Shiva would love feta because I just KNOW he likes salty food! He would drink karpouzi chai with me on the beach and he would also wear crocks because he is dorky heehee”

Perhaps some Americans view the Greek gods as American property and that’s why they don’t feel the need to search further into a different culture and practice.

And because a LOT of foreign Greek pantheon worshipers are like that, many Greeks are like "uuugh" when they hear about foreign worshipers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the LO subject, you might have already found the anti lo tag (or anti lore Olympus) on my blog and on Tumblr in general. If you haven’t I urge to search it! There are many anti LO blogs. I don’t post as much but there are others who do. antiloreolympus is one of those blogs and has lists with other anti LO blogs!

[bywordofaphrodite]

Book Reviews 5&6: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan & Alpha Force: Survival by Chris Ryan

This review’s theme is action and adventure ! audience age range: roughly 12 and up !

For this review I’m using the first book from two action/adventure series, featuring the only male authors I've selected of the ten books chosen for these posts. Both are action-packed books with ensemble casts featuring boys and girls, though the similarities mostly stop there.

As a lover of Greek mythology and fantasy in general, Rick Riordan’s sarcastic and upbeat hero of Percy provided a hilarious new way to look at the more serious myths concerning the gods and enemies of Mount Olympus (his slightly inaccurate retellings made acceptable because the series was made for a younger audience, not to mention it’s funny so who cares).

Alpha Force is firmly set in the real world, no magic to be seen, just hardened survival skills that seem more sitting to the SAS than a bunch of young teens- but with the author Chris Ryan being a member of the SAS himself, it’s exactly what you’d expect.

Nostalgic review

Rating: ★★★★★

Percy Jackson is one of those famous book series in a long list of teen/YA fiction that has gripped teens by the throat on its basic lore alone. During class my friends and I would go on Tumblr and Pinterest to pass time, and as readers we always ended up on That Side of Tumblr- yes, the side filled with cheesy edits of all the popular main characters of the time: Katniss Everdeen of the Hunger Games, Clary Fray of The Mortal Instruments, all the usual squad, and of course Percy Jackson himself. In a sea of lead female characters, Percy was a fun male lead to throw in the mix. It felt special too, that Riordan continued to write Percy’s story ageing him up as the books went on. We grew up with Percy too. I still keep collect the series even now; my brother’s gift to me for my 21st birthday was the Heroes of Olympus collection, though I haven’t read the older books in several years. I’ve always thought Riordan’s writing style not only improved over the years, but also adjusted well to writing for an older audience in the newer books, which was impressive. Additionally, Riordan listening to his fans and adding in more and more representation through great diverse characters definitely sweetens the memories attached to this series.

Alpha Force is just so good. And so underrated. It was between Alpha Force and Alex Rider for the second book in this review, but ultimately I decided enough people know Alex Rider (there’s a movie and a new series about him, go check the series out, it’s great!) and Chris Ryan’s hidden gem was something I wanted to discuss more. I went through an Extreme Survival Adventures book phase during early high school, devouring all kinds of action from deep-sea diving to climbing Mount Everest and every shipwrecked story on the shelves. I’ve always been a huge fan of the ensemble character groups where everyone has a distinct role that no one else can fill; I find it prevents boring main character syndrome where one singular person never needs any help and therefore has neither character development nor conflict. The Alpha Force series managed to deliver fantastic action sequences, smart yet surprisingly realistic characters and somewhat rarely in my experience- incredible female characters who actually had real personality and arcs that belonged to themselves and not the male characters. Honestly, this assignment has been a great excuse to make myself read these books again!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: when struggling student Percy Jackson’s pre-algebra teacher transforms into a monster on school grounds and tries to kill him, Percy runs home to be told the truth by his mother about who he is: a demigod, and upon his arrival at the safe haven for demigods- Camp Half-Blood- Percy discovers he is the son of Poseidon, with water powers to boot. With the help of a satyr named Grover and daughter of Athena, Annabeth, Percy sets course for the Underworld to prevent a war breaking out on Mount Olympus.

(I wanted to make this four and a half stars, but I am incompetent at adding in the half, so if you’d kindly just imagine it is there that would be great.)

Okay! Let’s get into it!

With the first chapter titled ‘I ACCIDENTALLY VAPORISE MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER’, I think the tone for the story is established rather immediately. The first-person narrative allows the character of Percy to talk to readers directly, and it creates a very easy feeling of Percy recounting his feelings and adventures as if in a one-on-one conversation. I felt just as drawn in rereading as an adult as I did when I was in school. Percy doesn’t fit it in at any schools and has been kicked out of six when the first chapter begins. His ADHD and dyslexia make concentrating and studying hard, and he’s always restless. The only people he feels are on his side are his friend Grover and his Latin teacher, Mr Brunner, who seems to be the only teacher who doesn’t have it out for him.

As it turns out, neither Grover nor Mr Brunner are people! Grover is a satyr sent to watch over Percy until he reaches Camp Half-Blood, and Mr Brunner is the immortal centaur Chiron and the activities director at the camp, also watching over Percy. When the Fury Alecto- disguised as Percy’s pre-algebra teacher Mrs Dodds- tries to kill Percy on a school field trip, the satyr and centaur jump in to save him. Later at the camp, Percy continues to stay fast friends with the two and confides in them while they teach him everything about his new world. Percy meets many more kids at camp, all of whom struggled in the human world before finding their true capabilities upon discovering their status as demigods. Annabeth is one such kid, the daughter of Athena who is cold to Percy at first, out of loyalty to the history between Athena and Poseidon, but who ends up becoming fast friends with him, and later his girlfriend throughout the series.

Riordan’s writing is fresh, engaging and fun at every turn. His modern takes on the gods and their ancient stories and riddles makes for a terrific adventure, and the ‘quests’ undertaken by the demigods mimic the old mythology in a palatable way for young readers to digest easily and understand what exactly is going on. The best part about Percy Jackson for me isn’t the monsters and battles, but rather Riordan’s intentions when creating the series: he wanted to give his dyslexic son a hero he could relate to, and since the first set of books Rick Riordan has gone above and beyond expectations to create demigod heroes for kids spanning many different ethnicities, genders and disabilities. Of the many series popular among young people, I’m especially glad that this one full of so much representation is maintaining the hype it deserves.

Characters who aged well: Percy! At twelve years old in this first book of the series, and just the right combination of witty, kind, hot tempered, brave and cheeky to make a believable and lovable young protagonist; his diagnosis with ADHD and dyslexia not being portrayed as a weakness but rather a part of him makes Percy a special hero to neurodivergent readers. Annabeth, too, remains a great character, she’s intelligent, logical and ambitious in a positive manner, and never falls into the trap of being ‘not like other girls’.

Characters who aged badly: nobody! All the side characters are great, and even the villains are entertaining, especially alongside Percy’s ridiculous commentary. The gods are portrayed rather mockingly, which is a kindness really, compared to the awful acts they commit in the original myths.

Favourite scene/quote: ‘Deadlines just aren’t real to me unless I’m staring one in the face’ – I first read this book years ago and it’s still relevant. I can’t even be embarrassed to relate to it at this point.

My favourite scenes both centre on Medusa- or rather, her severed head. Furious with the gods- namely, Zeus, Athena and his father Poseidon- for sending himself, Annabeth and Grover on such a dangerous quest so quickly after his first day at camp, Percy stuffed Medusa’s head into a package and wrote the address of Mount Olympus on a delivery slip, ending with ‘best wishes, PERCY JACKSON’. To Grover’s distress at Percy’s being ‘impertinent’ to the gods yet again, Percy simply responded ‘I am impertinent’. 10/10 big mood.

The second refers to Sally explaining to Percy that she can take care of herself, and, leaving Medusa’s head in her fridge, Percy exits their apartment just as Sally’s abusive boyfriend walks in. The last thing Percy sees is his mother, ‘staring at Gabe, as if she were contemplating how he would look as a garden statue’. It’s a nice moment between mother and son, followed by Percy understanding the strength his mother has and how much she does for him.

Alpha Force: Survival Review

Post-read: ★★★★

Synopsis: Five teenagers end up stranded on a desert island after their sailing ship goes down at sea. Enthusiastic Alex, reluctant Amber and Hex and practical jokers Paulo and Li are all part of a ‘working eco-voyage’ that quickly falls apart, leaving them to survive on their skills alone against komodo dragons, sharks and modern day pirates somewhere on the Indonesian archipelago.

The story begins with Northumbrian boy Alex- the closest to a main character out of the five- scrubbing the deck of a ship called the Phoenix and lamenting the fact that he’s been lumped in with four people he would never have chosen to be in a watch with. Assigned to A-Watch by their mean supervisor Heather, Alex finds himself the unofficial watch leader… and the only person who really wants to be there. Also in A-Watch is Amber, the daughter of African-American software billionaires who recently died in an accident and left her the sole heiress to the fortune. Amber, still hurting from her parent’s death, is furious to be on board the eco-voyage organised by her Uncle John, who believes she needs to move on in a place outside her comfort zone. Amber spends a great chunk of time antagonising English hacker Hex, who was sent on the trip as a punishment by his school for ruthlessly hacking into the accounts of a teacher who bullied his younger brother. Rounding out the group are Paulo and Li, both of whom are very athletic and thrive in the outdoors, but also uninterested in doing any real work aboard the Phoenix. Paulo is a charming ranch hand from Argentina who loves food and flirting; Li is the Anglo-Chinese daughter of zoologists who enjoys testing out her martial arts on Paulo.

After an argument with their supervisor Heather, Amber decides A-Watch should steal food and relax in a small boat beside the ship to thwart her- a fine plan at first, which goes haywire after the rope frays and they awaken to find themselves in the middle of the Java Sea with no one knowing they’re missing. Tensions rise between the teenagers as they panic over food and safety as they work to survive. Hex just barely survives a Komodo dragon attack, and their hope for help in spotting a family aboard a yacht goes down the drain when it becomes clear they are hostages of modern-day pirates. Luckily, for the family- the Larousse family who were friends with Amber’s parents, no less- the members of A-Watch manage to put aside their differences and put together their skills to save the day.

By the end of the book, the group have outwitted the pirates, saved the Larousse family and successfully sent an SOS signal leading to their rescue. During their recovery in hospital, Amber learns the truth about her parents: behind their billionaire software company her parents worked as undercover agents around the world, fighting against corrupt governments, powerful cartels and other dangerous ventures. Amber’s Uncle John agrees to let the five carry on her parents work as a team, noting that five teenagers could easily slip into situations that adults can’t. Hex then announces he has a name for the five: Alpha Force, taking the first letter of all their names and representing the new beginning for Amber to move on from the Omega (ending) necklace she wears round her neck to remember her parents.

Characters who aged well: all of them!

Alex’s love of the outdoors is endearing, and he never underestimates anyone else’s skills despite being the most prepared for struggles in the outdoors; he is fairly introverted and thoughtful without being boring, I think he’s very sweet.

Amber’s presence as a billionaire black girl with great navigational skills was a fun subversion of the unfortunate stereotyped roles black characters are given; she has great character development without losing her sharp-witted personality and she’s very funny.

Hex plays off Amber’s banter with ease after their initial clashing, and I like that, though he loves his electronics, he never lets the team down by adapting to the outdoors.

Paulo is just adorable, a charming boy from a ranch who likes to flirt with the girls he likes but always respects their boundaries. His positivity is also very uplifting.

Li: ahh my cool favourite Li. Not just providing Asian representation, but also mixed representation, which I was very pleased about as a kid, and still am. Similarly to Amber, Li subverts a stereotype of her own- she’s knowledgeable about things without being a nerd, and gets to be the most playful character alongside Paulo. In my experiences with male authors, the girls rarely get to be the ‘funny’ character so I always enjoyed this!

Characters who aged badly: no one!

Favourite scene/quote: “‘Or was Heather right? Are you too good for us, Alex?’ said Li, slyly.”

This quote signifies when Alex properly commits to being a part of A-Watch, going along with Amber’s plan to ignore Heather’s disciplinary instructions in favour of ‘stealing’ food. It’s the first time the group work as a team, and his hesitation gives way to helping his new friends even though he never does anything against the rules. I also just enjoy Li’s sneakiness at any time, really. The following scene where the five relax under the stars eating food and getting to know each other before all hell breaks loose is nice to read, and all the action sequences are really great, especially Amber’s dive with the sharks while escaping pirates.

Overall verdict:

I wanted to give both of these books four and a half stars, so let’s pretend I figured out how to do that. The only reason they both don’t get five stars is because the following books in their respective series improve after the first ones- both in writing style and character development- and I’m allowing room for that.

Starting off with The Lightning Thief, the headlong dive into action from chapter one was so fun, and learning about the monsters and mythology in time with the main character is always a welcome addition. As someone who read the original myths before any Percy Jackson novels, hearing them retold from Percy’s humorous perspective is very amusing. Anyone familiar with Percy Jackson knows that the movies released a few years ago were kind of a major letdown compared to the books, so the fact that Disney+ has now taken the series on board and begun casting (worldwide!) is super exciting! In line with Rick Riordan’s mantra of inclusivity, anyone of any ethnicity or gender can apply for the roles, which I think really fits the concept of what Percy Jackson represents.

There were very few reviews for Alpha Force due to how underrated it is, and all I could find was a few comments on Goodreads. One person mentioned that they felt the beginning of Survival was slow. I personally don’t know what ‘slow’ refers to in this case, as I felt the introductions and set up all very natural and in a way, necessary before the serious action kicks in. However, I tend to enjoy a few quiet scenes focused on character development that might not be for everyone. I’m still pretty sad there’s literally nothing else about this series on any fandom pages or anything, but I suppose I’ll just have to resign myself to just me and my brother talking about it!

In the case of both books in this review, my memories of these series were not simply clouded by the rose-tinted lenses of nostalgia. I remain just as impressed and in love with the worlds and characters within the stories, and I hope other people enjoy them as much I continue to.

[lethesomething]

A writer tag thing

I was tagged by @tottwritesfanfic and it’s an excuse to talk about fanfic. Let's do this!

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

Uh. Um. Since I am an Old, this username has existed since forever, and acquiring it involved a goth themed IRC chat room and some virtual naked table dancing. The Lethe refers to the River of Oblivion in ancient Greek Underworld mythology, because again, I was Very Goth at the time. I'd… I'ma leave it at that.

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/subscriptions/hits/kudos).

That'll be Chocolate Hearts. It's not the one with the most hits, because it's not porn, but it's getting there, considering it was only posted in August. That whole fic was such an incredible experience, because I was getting daily feedback from people as I was writing publishing it.

3. What is your AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

It's Shimizu Kiyoko, because I still mostly write Haikyuu, and because she's awesome (and I, too, wish to be awesome).

Let’s put a cut here because this is Long.

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

I'd rather not name names, but I met at least one of my friends through AO3 comments. There's also a commenter whose style I liked so much that I started copying it for comments on other people's work. I absolutely notice when people drop by regularly, and I love every one of those people. I try to follow them back. There are few feelings more rewarding to me as a writer than seeing someone like one of my stories, and then go through the other ones I wrote for that fandom.

 5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I don't regularly re-read fics, because I have enough trouble keeping up with fiction I feel like I *should* be reading. In that sense, the ones I keep going back to are the long ones I'm subscribed to. Bell, book and candle is my go-to plane fic for when I'm travelling, for instance. It's a 1k page pdf on my phone and I try to go back and comment on the chapters I finished when I get to a computer (or like three months later, most likely).

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

*Opens statistics page* I don't so much subscribe to stories, as I do to people. And I'm apparently subscribed to 22 people. I have 33 bookmarks, but that's mostly because sometimes I'll go back through my history and bookmarks stuff that I still like a few months later.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

Urban fantasy. That seems to be the AU where my mind goes into every single direction and comes back with 60k worth of words every time. Also, a disproportionate amount of characters in my fics end up being bakers or baristas. So, uh, make of that what you will.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

Um, I have 36 user subscriptions. 299 bookmarks. And 117 subscriptions to various fics.

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

Well, there's always stuff you come up with that maybe shouldn't be put to paper. When it comes to very self-indulgent, or very smutty, I try to stay my hand. I struggled a long time with whether or not I should publish any smut at all, because I don't want like… my colleagues to find it. What I ended up with, was several fail safes, and the promise to myself that I would only write… acceptable smut (so no werewolf orgies for you! not that I, uh, would write them otherwise).

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

So, uh, the very specific reason I started writing smut at all, was because that is the hardest thing to do. For me. Sex is, a lot of the time, awkward and funny and feely and there's a lot of emotions and actions going on, and I very specifically do not want to write lifeless mechanical porn sex. Because that's not what I'm here for. But that's difficult. I write to have the kind of stuff I want to Read, and I'm very friggin picky when it comes to smut, so it takes me longer to write 1k of smut than it does to write 20k of teen rated fluff. I wish I was better on that front.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

It's a mixed bag. I'm pretty sure me and @leeva-art  are the pioneers of all ShinToko content. And I did that whole SugaTen one. Looking through the list, I actually did a fair amount of rarepair shorts. I kinda like writing rarepairs because there's a lot more of the dynamic for me to explore.  But I'm currently writing a series full of popular ships (YamaYachi, DaiSuga, KageHina, IwaOi), because sometimes, those are popular for a reason. To be honest, I think the ship I write most is 'x reader', and I'm fairly certain that's an under-reported popular ship.

12. How many stories have you posted on AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

I have 21 works on AO3 in total. All of those are finished one-shots or multichapters, except the one I'm currently working on. Yes, I'm proud of this :P.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

Oh god. So apart from the current multichapter one I have… one longish romance story that's been gathering dust for two years (The Aomine. I swear I will finish it one day), and… about four smut shorts in various states of unfinished-ness. And an Aizawa short that is like smut in the sense that it's a lot of action and feels and I'm Struggling.

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I do both. I'm a bit of a daydreamer, so I like to play ideas and scenarios in my head for a while, and then I jot them down when they've grown enough. But I'm also a talker, and anyone who has chatted with me for any length of time probably knows that an Idea can take root in a convo and I basically talk it out and two months later there's a massive fic brewing. My brain is an overexcited puppy.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Nope. It's not that I don't want to, I'm just not sure how that would work practically.

16. How did you discover AO3?

It's all Rin's fault. I pretty much only got into fanfic after watching Free! and discovering the joys of tumblr. Fairly certain I discovered AO3 while looking for Quality SouRin.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on AO3?

Ahahahaha…no.

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

That would be weird? I'm not Lady Gaga.

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

I've been writing since I was a little girl. So the first stories I wrote were probably inspired by that one teacher I had when I was eight, that kept saying I was good at this. But I remember in my teens, wanting to write like Anthony Horowitz, and later like Terry Prattchett, or Douglas Adams. As for writing fanfic, that is the fault of Aleramicci and A Shadow so Great. That was the first time I saw someone take that level of world building and lore creation and character development, and spin it into this… epic tale. Because I have always imagined scenarios and characters in my day dreams, I was creating alternate endings for the Three Musketeers at 13, but I didn't think anyone else was willing to read them. I thought fanfic was, well, smut. And she showed me that you can create worlds out of nearly nothing (please remember that 2014 League of Legends Lore was total shit), and do it Well, and write it well, and… ugh.

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

Ok, where's that meme. I think the main thing is… just do it. You've got stories, you write them. But know that it is work. Like every hobby, it takes time, it takes energy and effort. You need to Make that Time. Very few people can sit down and just have the words flow out of their fingers. For most, it's Work. Once you know that, and you make the conscious decision to do the work, you can get shit done.

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

I try to plot up to a certain level but I leave room for a lot of improv. Like especially for longer fics, I'll have a vague idea of where the characters end up and what needs to happen for the finale to… happen. The actual scenes aren't plotted though. I write better when I just let the scene take me where it wants to go. I've learned a lot from the Lock, the Key and the Sacrifice, in that it was my first Very Long multichaptered fic and it was Mostly Improvised. This meant that some character development got lost, and that I had to write myself out of some weird situations but also, some of the best scenes in that fic are complete bursts of random inspiration. Since then, I've gotten a bit more organized. I use OneNote to jot down 'spur of the moment' scenes to slot into stories later, and to make time lines and character profiles and all that. The actual fic is still me opening the Word doc and going 'ok, it's day six in this story, what should happen today'.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I don't think so? AO3 readers are very nice and disciplined, I think. Either that or I've been very lucky. All I've gotten were a few comments that left me flustered, mostly along the lines of 'when are you updating', when I keep a very tight schedule. That sort of thing. I just leave those be.

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

See above: smut.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Currently, My Girlfriend is a Goddess?!, which is a fantasy exchange gift that ballooned into a very long, multichapter and possibly trilogy book type thing.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

The Plan is to finish book one of My Girlfriend is a Goddess?! (the YamaYachi, aka the actual exchange gift), then take a break for some one-shots and whatnot, and then continue to book two (the DaiSuga one). So yes, I do try to stay somewhat disciplined. This isn't to say that inspiration can't strike like a vengeful god and I have to rearrange the whole thing. Chocolate Hearts happened while I was trying to work on the TenSuga, and it got written in like a month of furious typing. Shit just happens, man.

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

No. I have a very unstable work schedule, and sometimes I'm just tired. I try to get certain chapters finished on a weekly basis though. I learned with NaNo that when I try to write too much in one go, the output is also not that great. I need to write, and then do a whole bunch of editing, and then write again.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Things are certainly going smoother now than they did two years ago. It's a certain… confidence? I think? A rhythm you get into. I got wordier, too. Not sure if that's a good thing.

28. What is your favorite story that you’ve written?

This is hard. That is a hard question. For the longest time, my fave story was Balance. But if I read it now, it does show its age. So I'm going to say The lock, the key and the sacrifice. I will always be super proud of that, because that's my first and currently only 'book' and I worked a year and a half on it. Not every part of it is amazing, but there's some Pretty Good Parts and I just felt such an immense relief and… satisfaction on finishing it.

29. What is your least favorite story that you’ve written?

One of the first things I published was an Iwaizumi smut short. It's… ok, but it has some issues that I would iron out if I were to write it again.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

When I was little I had this Plan to write a bestseller and sell it to Hollywood and then buy a castle in Scotland and basically be JK Rowling, but I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. Goals, tho.

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

Coming up with random shit that blossoms into big, huge ideas and worlds and complicated plot lines. Like… that happens without me trying.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

The bit where you sit down to write through a part you've been struggling with. Those few paragraphs that you need to connect scene A and scene B, for it to make logical sense.

33. Why do you write?

Because I like it. Because I enjoy building worlds and scenes and characters, and sharing them. Because like all kinds of creative work, it has gained me relationships and connections to people I resonate with. Also, ngl, for the kudos and the comments. I get a lot of joy from seeing people enjoying my work.

 The tagging part. Um, I dunno if @skittidyne has done this one yet.  Also the usual suspects: @bsinoranges, @haruhi02 and @thekuroiookami   Consider it a subtle nudge if anyone else wants to do this.

[diiscordare]

really  LONG  CHARACTER  SURVEY.      RULES.  repost ,   don’t  reblog  !    tag  10  ! good  luck  !      TAGGED.   @vortship thank u !!      TAGGING. if u see it do it, say i tagged.

BASICS.

FULL  NAME :   adrastia dranias NICKNAME :   ad, addy, adra, lady ruin, patron wrath, empress of fire.  AGE :   ancient. BIRTHDAY :   --- ETHNIC  GROUP : yolgonian | closely reminiscent of greeks+sicilians. NATIONALITY :   yolgonian | arca’treskri LANGUAGE / S :  English+Omnilingual to a majority of earth languages -- fluent in primarily all romance languages, rusty in others | Draconic | Elven ( old & new ) | Dwarven | rusty Demonic SEXUAL  ORIENTATION :  n/a. the concept of sexuality & romance is different in her culture, and not bound to terms. Adrastia is, however, majorly interested in males with a few exceptions.  ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION :   see above. majorly male. RELATIONSHIP  STATUS :   verse dependent. main ship with alex mercer. HOME  TOWN / AREA :  Potestas, Capitol of the Yolgonik Empire on planet Arca’treskri. CURRENT  HOME :   Potestas, a few small locations scattered about earth.  PROFESSION :  Empress of the Yolgonik Empire | High Enchantress 

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : to her ankles, extremely thick and curly/wavy. often pulled into a half bun. varying shades of bright red, orange, yellow, and plum.  EYES :   black scleras, orange/red irises, yellow pupils. ring of red around irises. FACE :  oval-diamond. strong jawline & features. flat nose bridge, a similar trait in dragons & elves. LIPS :   full, upper lip tattooed black & lower lip tattooed with a thick line down the center. COMPLEXION :  taken care of, smooth and lightly freckled it appears.  BLEMISHES : none. SCARS : across the bridge of her nose, and one down her right eyebrow. various others scattered about, less noticed.  TATTOOS :  none yet. post-war, she’ll have one. HEIGHT :   6′6″ and growing. expected to reach 7′ by the time the war ends. WEIGHT :   400+, she’s heavy. BUILD :   slender, athletic/toned/muscled. curved hips, small bust, defined. FEATURES :  large horns that curve about her face ( think argali horns ), pointed ears, sharpened teeth, talon-like fingers. scales cover her body, though can be hidden at will by magic. sometimes a ridged back. four large wings. nipple piercings! common in her culture.  ALLERGIES :   n/a. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE :  let loose and wild, like a giant mane. USUAL  FACE  LOOK :  minimal eye makeup, usually black and sharp. lower lip stud, septum piercing.  USUAL  CLOTHING :   it varies depending on her duties. a mix of regal wear and battle armor, silks & leather combined with worn metal armor crafted just for her. plenty of jewelry ( rings & necklaces her favorite ), neck hoops, and anklets. headdresses even, adorned in feathers or scales, bones as well -- dependent on if it’s for war or for other occasions. war face paint, in black, and certain sections of her body exposed -- primarily back,though covered in scales. 

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S :   lack of control | lack of freedom | cold, open water | drowning | losing any more children | failing her empire | confined spaces  ASPIRATION / S : Succeed in the war, further strengthen the empire. Become a dragon sorceress and restore magical balance. return shiloh to the realm, so she can have an heir to the throne.  POSITIVE  TRAITS : Motherly | Brave | Intellegent | Confident | Passionate | Protective | Proud  NEGATIVE  TRAITS :   Manipulative | Explosive | Angry | Violent | Possessive | Stubborn  MBTI :   EXECUTIVE (ESTJ-A) ZODIAC :   Leo TEMPEREMENT :    Choleric SOUL  TYPE / S :   leader, performer, hunter ANIMALS :   lion, bearded vulture.  VICE  HABIT / S :   growling, eyebrow raising, nail tapping, facial expressions, eye rolling, joint cracking. fidgets with hair, ears twitch.  FAITH : believer & follower of the 9 Dragon Gods.  GHOSTS ? :   yes   AFTERLIFE ? :   varies REINCARNATION ? :   varies ALIENS ? : yes POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT :  n/a.  EDUCATION  LEVEL :   full education in her world. battle-trained and magic trained as well. 

FAMILY.

FATHER :   lykos mathisis MOTHER :   leukotheia dranias SIBLINGS :   kenos mathisis EXTENDED  FAMILY :   n/a NAME  MEANING / S :   adrastia ( adrestia/adresteia ) “she who cannot be escaped” “the inescapable” “the goddesss of righteous anger”, greek origins and tied to greek mythology. leukotheia chose the name to honor her daughter’s fiery and stubborn nature, as adrastia is truly inescapable. i chose it similarly when I was making her, as adrastia is known as lady ruin and patron wrath, a force one cannot escape. she is rutheless. HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? :   adrastia is written about in many ancient tomes in vague mention, never by name, but titles. she’s one of the many ancients to have roamed earth and influence human history, as was her mother. she was found and written about primarily in ancient greece, ancient egypt, and all over the middle-east -- though she does have some influence in scandanavia & asia when she was in search of shochraos ( second oldest of the dragon gods ). 

FAVORITES.

BOOK :  n/a. historical tomes native to earth and her world.  MOVIE : n/a 5  SONGS :  n/a. DEITY :   i associate adrastia with sekhmet a lot, though of the dragon gods she has always favored shochraos, who has close ties to aiding all royals.  HOLIDAY :   n/a. MONTH :   July SEASON :   summer PLACE :   deserts/anywhere hot or warm. hawaii is nice too -- she sleeps in the volcanoes.  WEATHER :   hot, dry or humid. SOUND : rumbling of volcanoes or fire crackle.  SCENT / S :   mulled wine. fresh meat. smoke.  TASTE / S :   raw meat. sweet fruits. blood at times. gems. FEEL / S : silk, chiffon, leather, soot.  ANIMAL / S :   caltixens, native to her world.  NUMBER :  n/a COLORS :  reds, oranges, purples. rich, warm colors.

EXTRA.

TALENTS :   super flexible/strong--well trained in fighting with hands and weapons, magical arts, leading,  BAD  AT : being nice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TURN  ONS :  biting, scratching, confidence, anger, violence lol gross ad !!, dominance...it’s difficult to say, there are a lot of lil things that get her going. TURN  OFFS : HUMANS. cold. idk. ad is weird. she hates being insulted, belittled, and disrespected--easiest way to lose her interest or possibly get eaten by an enraged dragon.  HOBBIES :   meditating, reading/researching/learning, singing, yoga/exercising.  TROPES :  n.a. too many. QUOTES :  “ Well-behaved women seldom make history. “ “ My touch is lethal, my touch is power. “ “ You philosophers are lucky men ; You write on paper, and paper is patience. Unfortunate Empress that I am, I write on the susceptible skin of living beings. “ “ Power without a nation’s confidence is nothing. “ “ Blessed be she who is both furious and magnificent. “ 

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC / S : wrathia bellarmina and gal gadot.  ALT  FC / S : OLDER  FC / S :   YOUNGER  FC / S :   VOICE  CLAIM / S : n/a. GENDERBENT  FC / S :  

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 :   if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?          A1 :  idk about a title but, lotr meets the magic of doctor strange, probably a series focusing on the world of arca’treskri and the 10 year war of yolgonik. probably an origin of adrastia and then the war. this story spans novels.  Q2 :   what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?          A2 :   reminiscent of dragon age: inquisition, audiomachine, and inspired by afro + aztec drumming. lots of instrumentals with intense sound and loud drums, chanting in draconic or elven.  Q3 :   why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?          A3 :   i wanted to branch into the world of tumblr rp with an oc, after writing a canon muse for a few months -- so i made a multimuse, which featured adrastia. she’s changed a bit since i first made her, but not too much. eventually she kicked all the other muses out and now I’ve had her for 4 years runnin’. i hope to write a series one day. if i get off my ass ! Q4 :   what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?          A4 :   she’s like...the embodiment of female power, strength, and raw emotion. i liked the idea of writing a character that embodied chaos, anger, and power, while still maintaining a regal & empiric poise. adrastia is very deadly, but very poised. i love her...... Q5 :   describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.          A5 :   i love adrastia excuse me. Q6 :   what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?          A6 :  im a firm believer in strong female power and being a bad bitch. im also angry 99% of the time. Q7 :   how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?          A7 :  she’d prolly dislike me bc im human but i’m her mom so she has to love me. Q8 :   what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?        A8 : she has interesting interactions with everyone i’ve threaded with -- i enjoy her interactions between nonhumans a lot, though, as she tends to immediately push away human muses. other dragons is always a plus too, seeing the different cultural interactions between my dragon lore and theirs.  Q9 :   what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         A9 :   dark, intense music -- instrumental and lyrical. watching/playing/reading anything fantasy-related, and reading lore, mythologies, and religions. i study that shit hardcore.  Q10 :   how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?          A10 : too long. this has been sitting in my drafts for a fuccin m o n t h.

[serenxdipitous]

— 8 PEOPLE I’D LIKE TO KNOW BETTER !

TAGGED BY: @novussolis ( thank you bb ) TAGGING:  (people I haven’t rped yet/view from afar) @blccdking / @wonderlcnd / @graphitecrystals / @mvxnn / @gallaxians / @mervcilleux / @themoonlitwitch / @theconsortiumrp​ / YOU MUTUAL BEING love me plz

ONE ( ALIAS / NAME )  Kei TWO ( BIRTHDAY )  May 1st THREE ( ZODIAC SIGN )  Taurus FOUR ( HEIGHT )  160cm FIVE ( HOBBIES )   Writing, watching Netflix, cuddling with my poodle SIX ( FAVOURITE COLOUR(S )   soft pinks, bright reds, and deep greens SEVEN ( FAVOURITE BOOKS )   The Night World Series by L.J. Smith EIGHT ( LAST SONG LISTENED TO )   Going Crazy by EXO NINE ( LAST FILM WATCHED )   Swing Kids TEN ( INSPIRATION FOR MUSE )   The witch; inspiration for this muse came from the Night World Series by L.J. Smith, I took the base of the witchy world / the soulmates from her books. Do Kyungsoo was the perfect match for my grumpy witch as he is king of the grump (but also the cute). I think it fits him very well and I don’t see this muse working with another fc. 

The deaf; inspiration fro this muse came after watching the television series Switched At Birth. He’s a mixture of the character Daphne and Emmett. Lost his hearing to meningitis as a kid (Daphne), but refuses to do speech therapy and learn to talk (Emmett). He’s the sweetest of sweets and I really am amused that Park Chanyeol has such big ears, but in this AU they’re not working, they’re just for show.

The bitten; wow-- she is an oooold muse back from my freshman year in college. She went through some wild times. I’m not sure what sprung the original inspiration for this muse, but I know I had a lot of werewolf au friends and I wanted a strong and powerful girl character. Nana is just that, strong, but also vulnerable once you get to know her. 

The cursed; There was this quick horror story short going around facebook and tumblr I’m pretty sure and it was about a woman going through her normal day as a grocery store clerk and then when she looked up to hand back the change or something she saw that the woman in front of her as her corpse in the future? It was really interesting. I’ll try and find it, but right now I can’t :(  The nurse; inspiration came from Grey’s Anatomy-- I used to be obsessed with that show, but I fizzled out. I didn’t really want a doctor muse, I wanted someone young and doe eyed. A MSN takes about half the time to get than a Doctorate, so I thought this was the best way for my trauma nurse to get into the ER without always needing a doc. I try and do a lot of research for him since I am not an expert in the medical field, so if something is highly inaccurate I apologize.

The rabbit; his story mimics the book The Velveteen Rabbit pretty identically. This muse used to be in a RP Directory and I went pretty inactive with him. He’s very niche since only those who believe in imaginary friends can see him. He holds a very special place in my heart so I thought it would be nice to bring him over onto the multi in case someone would like to rp with him.

The pup; inspiration for his lovely came from Teen Wolf. I absolutely loved that show in high school and I believe I had just started re-watching it when I first made the muse a few years ago. I just thought it would be EXTREMELY funny for a giant of a human to turn into the tiniest wolf pup and think that he is a cold blooded killer. It also brought on my favorite plot with him: find the pup wounded and then wake up to a naked man in your bed a few days later. 

The flower; my newest muse! My flower boy (literally). Inspiration came to me for this fella after reading the comic Olympus Lore. I love it and I am so excited for it to become a Netflix series. I took Greek Mythology in high school and college, I am absolutely fascinated by it. One of my favorite series in middle school was Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief so I tried to sorta kinda mix the two a little bit? Technically Kyungsoo is a demigod, but he’s born from a flower since Persephone is still considered to be a virgin Goddess by some myths. I’m really excited to have him around and can’t wait to create more threads with him.

ELEVEN ( MEANING BEHIND YOUR URL ) Oh I can’t even remember how I came up with this, I think I was searching the web for interesting adjectives and the x infix between the seren and dipitous worked really well to form: serenxdipitous~ But it worked well with my muse cause I feel like they’re little treasures that no one really looks for? Or well they all try and keep themselves hidden even I’ve noticed just by writing this (except for the deaf), so I hope when others rp with them, they find them precious.