On that trojan war au thing you're writing. 1. What are the tags for it, cause I'm super interested! And would love to read what you have so far!
2. "And Odysseus is a much grimmer darker man due to his home being one of the places that were first swallowed up by Erebus" - I wanna know more about this. Please tell me more.
Oh , wow, I'm so flattered! I'm very happy it sounds appealing to you <33 This work is a huge passion project of mine so I'm always glad to talk more and more about it, especially since there are many aspects occurring in the background (such as the alternate fates of the main players of the Trojan Conflict) which I cannot properly cover or even explain within the events of the novel itself.
That said: 1) If you mean tags as in ao3 - unfortunately, this work isn't on ao3 my friend :( As I said above, these are elements and concepts in the greek mythology based-fantasy novel I'm currently writing (the concept of which I outlined here in the introductory post of my novel concept!) As for wanting to read whatever writing I currently have available: I currently have three fics available on ao3 that are written in my Pursuing Daybreak verse!
The Prince and Princess series deal with a young Apollo and Artemis and the many consequences they face after Apollo has slain Python. The two works uploaded right now are Exeunt Phoebus Apollo which covers the murder trial of Python and Manent Apanchomene Artemis which covers the intense feelings of helplessness and alienation Artemis experiences after Apollo returns from his banishment and is completely changed. Both of these have themes of family, grief and relationship exploration at their heart.
The third bit of writing I have up is quite outdated but does cover the immediate aftermath of Hyacinthus' death. It's called A Petal Falleth and features Apollo making one of those Big Silly Decisions that have completely unintended but extremely important consequences: namely, instead of the larkspurs being made of Hyacinthus' spilt blood, Apollo anchors the boy's soul to the flowers so Thanatos wouldn't take him. Like the Dawn is also set in this world but because it is nsfw in nature, I wouldn't recommend it as easily as the other three bits of writing. If you don't mind the whole naked men thing though, I'd definitely suggest reading Like the Dawn for a better idea of what my current writing is like (along with eventually getting to see characters like Hector, Andromache and Cassandra/Helenus) Like the Dawn's themes are also different to the other three works with it focusing more on the power dynamics of a god/mortal relationship, exploring masculinity and masculine sexuality and self discovery.
The running theme here, of course, is that all of these bits of writing are centered on Apollo/Artemis or Hyacinth because my novel itself is centered around them. There are, of course, other important characters and figures like Eros, Psyche, Penthesilea and Iaso (one of Asclepius' daughters) but while there is the definite presence of characters from the Trojan War they most certainly aren't at the center of the novel (and the ones that are aren't the Greeks but rather the Trojans i.e Hector, Alexander, Andromache, Cassandra, Helenus, Aeneas, so on and so forth.)
2) The basis of the apocalypse in my work is cosmological! Due to Apollo's err-- untimely departure, there's no longer anyone maintaining the axis of the heavens or the navel of the earth. Because of this, Erebus - whose darkness is usually kept firmly in the spaces between the realms - begins to spill out into both the heavens and the earth. The beasts of Erebus (referring primarily to the Seven Curses - Old Age, Misery, Deceit, Violence etc etc) consume, torment and destroy whatever is inside of Erebus' darkness and Ithaca, as one of the islands on the far edge of the world, was one of the very first places that were devoured in this manner. Odysseus was visiting the Argives at the time for a festival and had left the pregnant Penelope at home since he didn't want her to suffer through the voyage in discomfort. He only finds out about the destruction of Ithaca after it had already been consumed when Athena personally interrupts a feast to warn both him and Diomedes. Needless to say, Odysseus, like everyone else, assumes that everyone on Ithaca has died and thusly is a very, very different man in terms of humour and comport. A part of him still stubbornly clings to the belief that Penelope managed to escape - that she was smart and resourceful enough to see the end approaching and do her best to escape - but that doesn't stop him from being dour for the majority of the time. Diomedes does his best to keep his spirits up in the meantime. Without him around, Odysseus is something of a black hole when it comes to the oppressiveness of his discontent though he does manage to lighten up when in the company of Helen, Clytemnestra and even Menelaus on occasion.
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I think the break up idea would make a good ao3 content
Always love your work btw ~
Thena's head tipped to the side as she laughed, her hands clasped around her cup of decaf latte. Just like she always had. God, she really looked the same, and sounded the same, and felt the same.
Gil stared, blatantly enchanted by the woman across from him. He had moved swiftly from not wanting her to know how pathetically he had spent the last year and a half to telling her about his one miserable attempt at a relationship. "Yeah, I didn't even realise what made her storm out like that until the guys told me."
Thena gave him a chastising look over the rim of her cup. "Gilgamesh."
"I know, I know, it's bad," he admitted while also smiling into his own cup of coffee. He shouldn't make light of having called the last girl he was with the wrong name. But he couldn't help but be glad it was good for something (making Thena laugh).
"If it were me, I would have done the same," Thena offered in his poor ex's defense.
Not that he would have really called her his girlfriend, all things considered. Maybe if that was the only name for it, but he had made it clear at the time that he wasn't looking for anything that serious. Not after Thena.
"I don't blame her," he shrugged, still too preoccupied with the woman in front of him. It was as if he were in a dream and she might vanish at any moment.
"Did you ever apologise to her?"
"'Course," he huffed. He leaned forward on the table, sitting his cheek against his fist. "I have some decency, y'know."
"I know." The quick and familiar rhythm of their conversation stumbled. It had done so a few times, now. For the most part, they felt like themselves three years ago. Things flowed easily between them. But this was the third time now that Thena had said something a bit more pronounced, or more softly, or wistfully.
He looked at her, although as soon as he did her eyes darted down to stare into her mug again. He could feel them circling something. He faked taking another sip; his mug was smaller than hers and he was already done, but he didn't want another cup, and he didn't want to leave, either.
Thena put her mug down, freeing one of her hands to tuck some hair behind her ear. She was still feeling a little restless. "And how has work been?"
It was a very mundane question after the last. But that was okay, she could ask him all the boring shit she wanted. "Restaurant's good--I finally found some good guys for the kitchen so I can take off earlier or take a day off here and there."
Thena merely nodded, appearing to be out of commentary. Her eyes darted down to her mug.
"You out?" he asked directly. It wasn't the most charming way to ask, but he was curious. She nodded, her lips pinching sheepishly. He smiled, "want more?"
She hook her head.
"Yeah, I guess I'm all coffee-d out," he sighed, standing from the little stool. The tall, metal stools always did feel somewhat uncomfortable the longer spent on their square forms. Thena showed no signs of butt fatigue as she also stood. He held his hand out, "bus or uber?"
She tilted her head, but took his offered hand, "taxi."
He grinned; she was still like an old lady with technology. She knew what an uber was but she had probably never ordered one in her life. His hand closed around hers, "there's a spot where they all park that's just around the corner. Probably quicker than calling one."
Thena followed him silently, but he was fine with her silence. It was another thing that felt terribly, painfully familiar to him as he walked out with her hand in hand.
"What about the museum?" he asked in a bit of a rush, reminding himself to ask about her work and her interests.
She smiled as they took slow, tiny steps in the snow. "Quite the same, I believe. Kingo is attempting to convince upper management that he should be in charge of the social media accounts."
"He'd probably do pretty well at that, actually," Gil muttered mostly to himself. He had always liked her friend from work, Kingo. Well, once he had learned that he wasn't interested in Thena, of course.
He snuck his eyes over to her. He caught her doing the same before she rushed them away again, her other hand reaching for her scarf.
There was even less street noise than before they had gone into the little cafe, most of the city asleep and avoiding the snow. Those who were out were probably a few blocks away in the pubs, like his friends whom he had abandoned. He looked over his shoulder.
"Ah, shit."
Thena blinked, still following him silently but now as he dragged her to the corner and around it. "Gil?"
"The guys," he grumbled as he pulled her around the corner of the building, just out of the streetlight enough that they might not recognise him with his back turned. "I, uh, kinda left them in the bar back there."
"Gilgamesh," she chided him again, but she was obviously amused by it.
In fact, he could hear them as they got closer. Were they always so loud and obnoxious? Maybe he just noticed it less when he was getting drunk, too. But he had to admit, that was appealing to him less and less these days. He had chalked it up to getting older.
But looking at Thena, that wasn't it. It wasn't that he just didn't like going out with the guys anymore, it was just that he would rather just be at home, enjoying a quiet night instead. He wanted to be horizontal on the couch, the tv playing whatever. He wanted to have his back against the back of the couch, and what he really wanted was a smaller, lighter frame to be lying in front of him, his arm draped over her because it made him feel big and strong and protective. And she would doze off because she found what he liked on tv uninteresting. But they would lie around together like that for hours.
"Gil?"
He shuffled them closer to the wall as the voices got closer and closer. Even if they did manage to overlook his huge frame, even from the back, they would most certainly recognise Thena. It was impossible not to.
Thena let him guide her closer to him as he raised his arm up against the snowy building's facade. To a passerby, he would probably just look like he was leaning, maybe they would think he was putting the moves on someone, if they could see her past him at all.
He all but held his breath as his drunk asshole friends yapped their way down the sidewalk and past them completely. He knew those idiots wouldn't notice him. He was surprised they had even gathered that he left. He looked down at Thena, tucked against his chest, "sorry-"
She tilted her head up, catching his lips with her own. But it wasn't that accidental. She was definitely kissing him. His hand moved to her cheek completely on its own, like damn sense memory or something. But it made her kiss him again, so maybe it wasn't that bad.
They pulled apart slowly. He wanted to kiss her again. He wanted it as if he had been starving the past two years of his life and was finally given some good fucking food again.
Thena's cheeks took on a shade of rouge that stood out against the snow and her general pallor. She slid back half a step. "S-Sorry, I-I shouldn't--it's-"
He caught her hands again before she could slither away in embarrassment. Her eyes avoided his again but he was happy to stare at her blatantly, reciprocated or not. "Don't be sorry."
He pulled her in again, kissing her more properly. It really was like sense memory, but it was better than any memory he had been mulling over for the past however long. Their lips fit together naturally, Thena melted into him like she was the better atop a thick stack of fluffy pancakes. His arm wrapped around her, holding the smallness of her waist, even in her heavy white coat.
They parted again. He moaned quietly and she let out more of a gentle purr. Her hand had slipped up the front of his coat and halfway inside his lapel, although she snapped it back to herself. He blinked, feeling more dazed after that kiss than any number of shots the guys would have told him to get. "See?"
Thena's eyes drifted down again, still blushing, much to his delight. "I didn't plan this with this in mind."
No, she wouldn't have planned to kiss him outside, under the cover of shadow, snow falling on their heads. But that was okay. He dusted some snow out of her hair again. "I know."
She stepped back from him more properly, in a physical declaration that no more kissing would be taking place. She gripped the ends of her scarf. "I should get home."
"Okay," he smiled, although he had to admit that his first instinct was to ask her to stay. He just wanted another hour, just five more minutes. Just one more kiss before she left again.
She took his hand again, letting him lead her to her ride home. Her hand flinched in his before giving it a quiet squeeze. "Next week is a long weekend."
His eyes sparked. She wouldn't bring it up just to make conversation. But he was curious if she would ask him for herself or if she would end up making him ask her out. To be honest, he was okay if that was what she wanted. He had plenty of experience in it. "Oh, yeah."
Her hand was still holding onto her scarf for dear life. But she braved on, "the museum will be closed on the monday. If I recall, so will the restaurant."
She still knew the restaurant hours. His heart leapt in his chest, "yeah."
Finally without any cover left, she managed to squeak out, "if you like, we could-"
"Love to," he blurted out, even stepping on the end of her question. Maybe it was overeager. Maybe it was even more pathetic than admitting he hadn't even come close to moving on from her. But he didn't care.
Her eyes darted up to his one last time before shyness took over and she looked away again. "Hm."
That was her way of sealing the deal, and the nostalgia of her quiet 'hm's and 'indeed's warmed the tips of his fingers. "It's a date."
The glow of the taxi numbers came into view. He had to let her go again. But Thena gave him one last - beautiful - smile. "Then I'll see you monday."
She left his side to cross the street, one of them having already started up their engine at the sight of her. He watched her, from being the only person in sight to getting in. She gave him one last wave before her carriage took off for her side of town.
Neither had asked if their numbers were the same. Maybe that meant that she hadn't wanted to change hers either. He wondered what the background of her phone was now (it had also been of their trip to Australia, once upon a time).
He also tried not to obsess over the kiss. It didn't mean this was anything more serious. They were just two old friends catching up, he told himself. Although his fingers were tingling, eager to hold her like that again.
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I came across this really short thing in my drabble folder and figured I might as well share it, so I present:
Hearing aid shenanigans (The Golden Girls)
“You know, back in St Olaf…”
Dorothy doesn’t even try to hide the fact that she reaches over to her hearing aid to turn it off as Rose speaks. She thinks it might discourage her from going on with that damned St Olaf story, but of course, it was too much to hope for. Rose, who has definitely seen Dorothy reach for the off button on her hearing aid, isn’t deterred in the slightest. She just keeps chatting away happily.
Dorothy catches the words herring and waffle stand suspiciously close together (she tries not to consider the implications), reads something that looks like hurgenfnurgelkunken on Rose’s lips, and is pretty sure she finishes with the words great big SPLASH — accompanied by a grand gesture with her arms, which really looks more like she’s talking about an explosion, so maybe it was a great big KABOOM instead. Or a very, very big splash.
She wonders whether or not to turn her hearing aid back on after she’s pretty sure the story is over. For all she knows Rose will take it as as sign to repeat her story, this time with proper sound, and really, the world is kind of nice and peaceful this way. With the volume turned down a notch.
Her decision was for the best, though, because Rose is back at it at full speed only a minute or so later. Something about an Uncle Fenderbender — or something along those lines — who (judging from the way Rose points at her own ears), was deaf as a doornail. Dorothy decides not to tell Rose that she can, in fact, still understand most of what she’s saying if she tries her best and focuses — but she simply doesn’t want to.
Blanche comes walking in a few minutes into Rose’s new story, whatever it might be, and takes one look at Dorothy before she walks over to Rose, putting a hand on the blonde’s arm to make her stop talking for a moment.
“Rose, honey, you know Dorothy can’t hear you when she has her hearing aid turned off, right?” Blanche asks. Dorothy catches this because she’s actually paying attention to what Blanche is saying, focusing on her enough to make out most of the words — and to fill in the rest with a bit of lip reading.
“Oh, I know. I don’t mind!” Rose smiles happily up at Blanche. “I still get to tell all my stories, and Dorothy doesn’t even complain about them now!”
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