#imeda answers asks!!

[maruyaaya]

OHMYGOSH A SIMPLE LIFE FIC FROM U WUD ACTUALLY MAKE ME DIE NGL.

ur so right. they realy dont know how to be enemies, i fear they're obsessed.

they give me ethubs in a different shade ngl. they're always coming back to one another, equals. they've hurt each other, irreparably even. they know they shoudln't trust each other, yet they'll always come back to one another because thats what they know. they're the only people that they can truly show every ugly bitter part of themsleves and not worry they'll leave.

like. they want to move on, but they can't. they'd kill and die for each other but they hate it.

they're the same amounts of bloodthirsty, almost the same person. if not for the fact, grian will put himself first, and joel will put anyone but himself first.

sighhh. i love them and i hate them so much and they're just dropping lines left and right . like we're getting whole loaves of bread here forget crumbs. they just never leave each others orbit.

sigh some people headcanon joel is a blackhole in the celestial symbolisms and i think thats so perfect what with grian being the sun. they're the same, and yet wholly opposite.

they’re obsessed with each other genuinely they can’t stay away from each other :/ i’m still waiting for a confrontation to the hermitcraft blackmail bc i just know they’re gonna be mad at each other for like 5 minutes and then go back to their toxic yaoi

I REALLY DO SEE THE ETHUBS COMPARISON!! i’m crazy multishipper so i ship gribeans smalletho ethubs gritho shortgrass whatever it is, i probably ship it and IVE BEEN SEEING GRIBEANS/ETHUBS A LOT RECENTLY AND I TOTALLY GET IT??? they’re both pairings that know each other better than anyone else—they’re sickeningly codependent. they rely on each other in an unhealthy way, but they don’t know how not to rely on each. it’s just so much codependency. there’s nobody in the world who will understand them better than the other will so they keep going back to each other

and that’s really the gribeans thesis, isn’t it? grian and joel get each other. they understand each other. they don’t have to pretend to be anything else around each other bc they know that they’re the same. they can actually be themselves without being afraid of being judged and i see that for ethubs too. it’s both comforting and horrifying to recognize that someone understands you down to your very soul.

like gosh just thinking about simple life. “we could just go under and sit there and win” “nah we’d get bored and just kill each other” because that bloodthirst is part of both of them. they both love winning. they like a fight. they like to scratch and bite and kill. and they can be violent with each other because they know that the other will understand. this little convo almost feels like a callback to wild life for me because in wild life, they were the last two left—the only people left after they’d killed everyone around them—and they killed each other with no hesitation. because love is violence for them and they can only perform that violent love around each other. when grian and joel kill each other, it’s essentially the same thing as a kiss.

THEYRE DROPPING LINES LEFT AND RIGHT see i will never understand why gribeans isn’t a more popular ship in the fandom because there is so much content??? like grian and joel are always interacting and being gay as hell why don’t more of you ship this?? like every life series, i don’t have to worry about gribeans interacting because i know that at some point, they’re going to end up on a team together. that’s just what they do. they’re drawn to each other. they can’t escape it. they weren’t soulbound in double life, but that’s only because they literally share the same soul—they didn’t have two souls to connect because they’re sharing the same one.

IM ACTUALLY A HUGE FAN OF BLACKHOLE JOEL i think its my fav celestial symbol for joel (i like comet as well but i prefer blackhole because i think it really shows his thirst for blood and destruction) AND I DIDNT EVEN CONSIDER THE GRIAN SUN / JOEL BLACKHOLE COMPARISON. oh my god i can’t believe this didn’t come to me. this is sickening. they’re he same person, but somehow still different. they share the same soul, the same blood, the same heart, but they’re going to consume each other one day until there’s nothing left. every time they touch, the universe is screaming that they shouldn’t be allowed to do so. there are only two endings to this story: they destroy themselves or they destroy everything around them.

[totally-correct-idv]

What's your opinion on Hastur/Yhidra as a ship?

good in theory because two gods just decide to fuck but bad in reality because yidhra is a lesbian

[sunsumu]

HEY um ok so I dont usually request things but can I have one of nekoma x manager reader where the boys are in charge of their managers hamster and they took her out of the cage for a couple minutes and lose her so they freak out but really the hamster is chilling somewhere (obviously they find the hamster in the end)

i rlly am just using this account to get myself out of my writing slump. i’m just answering old reqs now lol if anyone wants to send new ones now i’ll try and get to those first 👍

the nekoma boys lose your hamster <3

it’s lev’s fault.

it’s always his fault

look, he just wanted to take the thing out of its cage and maybe pet it or hug it for a bit

how was he supposed to know that yamamoto was gonna choose that moment to send a volleyball flying at his head

the poor hamster got all spooked and it ran away

lev screamed

kai had to calm him down so he’d stop crying about how you were gonna hate him for losing the hamster

kuroo immediately took charge and split the team into multiple groups to search for it

too bad you chose that moment to walk into the gym asking about your hamster

“hey guys, i can take my hamster back now?”

“NO”

“what? why not?”

“what lev means to say is that we are having too much fun with him to give him back. yeah, OH and inuoka wasn’t there something you wanted to show y/n? y’know, very very far from here?”

“there was? OH there was! right, kuroo, i’m just gonna take y/n with me for a bit”

so inuoka (who’s now on distraction duty) was dragging you halfway across the school on a wild goose chase

yamamoto sprinted through the whole school to try and find the hamster

kenma just kind of sat there, still playing his game and pretending he was looking

yaku took it upon himself to crawl through all the tiny spaces the hamster could be hiding

sometimes being short is okay

about 15 minutes passed with no luck in finding your hamster

that’s when you returned with inuoka who was desperately hoping that they’d already found it

“hey uh, we’re back!”

“oh, hi y/n. i have your hamster here”

kenma held up his hand and your hamster was just chilling there watching him play on his switch

the whole team glared at him for a few seconds

“aw, kenma, i think he likes you”

“does he? he’s kind of cute”

as soon as you left, kuroo started yelling at kenma

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US YOU HAD THE HAMSTER?”

“well you didn’t ask”

“IT SHOULDVE BEEN OBVIOUS”

“eh, it was funny to watch you guys run around”

kenma’s kind of a dick when he wants to be

-admin imeda 💞

[nightfuryobsessed]

I’m here for you {Short Story}

Summary: After the events of your heist, a friend from prison is let out on parole. With his nerves so shot, he needs a bit of help.

Tag list: @clanwarrior-tumbly @markired @whatsthepointofthisbloganyway @shannons-fucked-life @bribrifeefee @scarletender @rats-this-username-is-taken @ghosting30s @bumble-bitch-sanders @friendlyphantom @lildevyl @lum1natrix 

If enough people like this I might do another part

I drove through the long grass, the one that the prison was obviously too busy to deal with. I rolled my eyes before parking the car and got out, leaning against the hood of the car and played with the fairly large key that now hung around my neck. 

I looked up when I heard the doors of the prison open and watched as the Greeser themed male walked out of the prison. I smiled before standing up, lowering the key and walked up to the nervous male. I held my hand out to him before smirking and flipping him off, making him give an offended huff.

“It’s been a long time,” he says smiling and rubbing the back of his neck.

“A long time? I talked with you two days ago,” I say laughing before patting his head, watching as he huffed and blushed.

“Come on, you’re gonna be in my place for a while. At least until you get a job, savings account, checking account, and a house.”

“Wait, why so long? And why with youse, ain’t that kinda weird,” he asks before I turned and got into my car. I started it and unlocked the passenger side door, watching as the newly freed man ran to get in. I waited for him to buckle up before pulling away from the prison, turning on the radio before finally answering his question.

“You need all that stuff because otherwise, you’ll end up homeless with nothing else. And you’re staying with me because I don’t want you in a hotel, or worse, and it’d be nice to have a guest. I’ll teach you how to make some chicken and dumplings.”

The raven-haired male was quiet before I heard him mumble about how he liked chicken and dumplings. I laughed softly before hearing a song come on, one that I felt matched Yancy very well.

“I think this’ll be your song. If you ever feel upset, you can listen to this one,” I say smiling, singing along to House of Memories and eventually, Yancy and I got into a singing competition.

By the time we got home, it was dark and the stars were muted by the city lights. Compared to by the prison the sky seemed empty, though I didn’t mind. I turned off the car and got out, helping Yancy with his things before walking him into the house, opening the door with my skeleton key, then helped him put everything away.

“Okay, tomorrow you have a day off so you can do what you want. But, after that you gotta get looking for a job, okay?”

I had turned away to face the closet, pulling out a blanket and pillow before turning and noticing the ex-inmate holding his knees close to his chest and tears streaming down his face.

“Hey, are you okay,” I asked worriedly, sitting next to him and putting the materials down. I gently put my hands on his face before making him look up at me, frowning when I saw just how upset he was.

“Why does yous care? Ain’t no body cares ‘bout me. Not my pops, not my mom, nobody. Why ca’e ‘bout me,” he asks, his voice breaking from his sadness and pain.

“Yancey Imeda Plier, I care about you and I will not give up on you. I know how much it hurts, and I’m sorry that they left you behind, but in my power to give you the family that you think you don’t deserve, because you absolutely do.

“You are my family Yanc, I don’t care what you might say, you are my friend and family. I will never, abandon you. I have hope for you. You have to trust in me okay?”

The larger male was quiet for a bit, spar the loud sniffles, before nodding and held me close, hugging me and making me smile. I wrap my arms around the other, gently running my hand through his hair and hummed softly, gently rocking him with a hum.

I could hear his soft sobs but sometimes people just needed a good cry to help get over whatever they’re going through. I didn’t mind either way, as long as he knew that I am here for him.

“I love you Yancey, and I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

[maruyaaya]

neo = mitski, do u agree

ABSOLUTELY!! in fact, i’ll take it one step further and say his favourite album is probably lush or retired from sad, new career in business and his favourite song is definitely door bc are u telling me u can hear the lyrics “there is a door to me, i’ve never seen it. sometimes i get closer to it, but i’ve never found it” and “a hopeless violence, i named it love” and not think about neo???

[maruyaaya]

wait wait wait so like simple life right. grian and joel created pathways under the flat world and they continually called it the underworld. now just bear with me here: grian and joel but it’s hades and persephone. i have not thought more on it but oh man,

this ask just made me stand up and start shaking oh my god this is like my two biggest hyperfixations combining

actually slightly not related but i already have a jizzie odyssey au (its actually more an epic the musical au but tomato tomato) where joel is odysseus, lizzie is penelope, and i have assigned grian as athena (trust me it would make sense if i explained it to you)

ANYWAY LMFAO okay so my thing about hades and persephone. i do not agree with most of the romantic retellings of this myth (it was a kidnapping. it was not consensual. yes, it did eventually lead to persephone and hades falling in love and them being in a very equal relationship, but the kidnapping should not be romantic to me) but I THINK THIS WORKS BETTER FOR GRIBEANS TO ME (i like when gribeans are evil and toxic).

like listen hear me out: joel as hades and grian as persephone and joel like manipulates grian into joining him in the underworld but grian actually realizes that he likes the underworld a lot better than he does the above ground. he likes being in charge of the dead and ruling as an equal next to joel. joel trying to use the pomegranate thing to trick grian into having to stay, but grian realizes what joel is doing and purposefully eats 6 so that he is obligated to stay in the underworld 6 months a year while still doing his job for the other 6 months in the overworld. and then that obligation to stay in the underworld becomes grian wanting to stay in the underworld bc he chose to eat those pomegranate seeds. and joel was trying to manipulate grian, but grian realized exactly what he was doing and played along with it because it would get him one step closer to getting what he wants: being able to rule over the underworld. ugh this would be so good oh my god??

just grian and joel ruling over the underworld would be SOOOOO <3 like i'm obsessed with that. the underworld is theirs. they are equals. they will always be equals. i'm so sick

actually on a similar vein when we're thinking about grian and joel in the underworld... has anyone considered gribeans as orpheus and eurydice?? that would be crazy to me actually and i'm kinda obsessed with that

[maruyaaya]

*holds smol water gun to ur head* gimme some neomachus

hiiii i hope ur doing well and taking care of urself :D!!!

*throws blueberry muffin at u and leaves*

LMFAO well since i’m being threatened i suppose i must!! i think ive posted parts of this scene before, but never the full thing! it’s not completely finished (esp the ending which i want to add more onto bc i feel it ends very abruptly) but ive had no time recently so… this is what we’ve got

luckily my last final is dec 15th so i will be much more free after that. i’ve been missing the boys sm i’ve barely touched their google doc in all of december. i srsly need to stop procrastinating bc i have GOT to finish this research essay on queer exile bc that and my final exam are the last two things plaguing me for this semester

I HOPE YOURE DOING WELL ALSO!!!! rooting for you and hope everything is great!! i will take the blueberry muffin gleefully bc coincidentally, i baked a batch of chocolate chip muffins a few days ago

[maruyaaya]

very close to de-anoning to continue this convo but tumblr intimidates me greatly. but ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE GRIBEANS WOULD BE KILLER. god that would be so good like. bro. tumblr user mitakesgf pls share your thoughts with us pretty please. loove greek myths but underworld myths (orpheus and eurydice esp) are always my bread and butter and jam and toast and like someone in the notes got what i was thinking about with hadestown hades and persephone also. i love love what you’ve come up with too. they are EQUALS they rule TOGETHER!! ooouuhjjgjhg! to go along with how they kind of build the paths underneath the ground in simple life, i think they would build up the underworld, they’d remake their kingdom not from scratch but to be greater and grander (cuz yknow they gotta build the most insane shit that would translate into this). JIZZIE ODYSSEY AU?? incredible. please do tell more if you’re willing... i’ve only skimmed through the odyssey but i’ve been meaning to sit down and finish it for real this time. man i havent written anything substantial in literally years but i fear i am Inspired to give it another shot thank you :D

i hope i'm not intimidating to you anon bc i am literally a 20 y/o who writes fanfiction. that makes me inherently a loser LMFAO but if you dont wanna go off anon and still wanna be recognizable, you could always sign off with an emoji or smth! up to you, anon <3

ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE GRIBEANS IS SOMETHING I'VE BEEN THINKING ABT A LOT RECENTLY. i was thinking of joel orpheus and grian eurydice (but tbh could totally swap them around too. gribeans are versatile like that) and just the idea of it makes me so sick (tbh kinda obsessed with jizzie orpheus and eurydice too??? that would genuinely make me insane i could probably see that more than gribeans). joel trying to save grian, but he looks back because he doesn't trust that grian is still there, because he hears grian begging for him to turn, because he thinks they're both safely out, the reason doesn't matter. he turns around bc he is, at his core, a loyal person and he loves grian too much not to turn around. he turns around because of his love. its sickening to me. i HATE gribeans!!! tumblr user lisa mitakesgf can u reply to this post can we be gay about gribeans rn i forgive you for all your transgressions against me <3

HAHA honestly idk why i didn't think of hadestown hades and persephone first. i'm so nerd brained LMFAO but yes theyre so perfect for hadestown. THEM BUILDING UP FROM THE UNDERWORLD and making their kingdom together as equals. i'm so thinking bout gribeans singing how long? but it's grian as hades saying "you and your pity don't fit in my bed. you just burn like a fire in the pit of my bed and i turn like a bird on a spit in my bed" to joel oh i'm so sick

wait i'm thinking about hadestown again but back on the orpheus and eurydice train and i can't stop thinking abt joel singing wait for me oh my god i'm sick. him going into the underworld for grian because truly, they can't live a life without the other. when one of them dies, the other feels that bond snap. and this is the first time when grian was the one to leave joel because in every other universe, joel dies first and grian is left to grieve him (#widowscurse) but this time, grian dies first and joel can't handle it. he hasn't had the time to prematurely grieve like grian always has to. so he goes down into the underworld because he just can't see any other options

JIZZIE ODYSSEY AU i am so willing to talk about bc i love it sm. so like... technically it's more based on epic the musical than it is the odyssey because i was first thinking about it while listening to wyfilwma and thinking about lizzie singing that to joel so it would probably take more inspo from epic than the odyssey BUT SIMILAR ENOUGH ANYWAYS

my cast for it is ofc joel as odysseus and lizzie as penelope. for telemachus, i think it would be really fucking funny to make that jimmy, but i like the idea of it being an oc potentially based off of meri. like i said, grian is athena bc i can literally see grian and joel having the my goodbye argument. like grian telling joel "you were reckless. sentimental at best. that's not a teaching of mine. you've grown soft. your dead friends can attest" and then joel retaliating with "since you claim you're so much wiser, why's your life spent all alone? youre alone!" IS CRAZY TO ME!!!!

gem is circe and etho is calypso and these two are SO real to me i refuse to see any other interpretations. gem turning men into pigs <3 and etho being obsessed with joel like the whole "who's penelope?" "she's my wife" ".......anyways!" is so funny to me

hermes is scar bc you can't tell me he wouldn't EAT up wouldn't you like??? that's the most scar song to have ever scarred. i think martyn is eurylochus and i have two options for polites: if i'm putting jimmy as telemachus then i have mumbo as polites, but if jimmy isn't telemachus, then jimmy is polites.

i haven't quite thought out the other gods yet but i think i'd put ren as zeus (theatre kid tendencies) and if i hadn't pegged martyn as eurylochus, i'd definitely assign him to poseidon but potentially cleo as poseidon? i had a really funny thought about bdubs being poseidon and polyphemus being a horse LMFAO. i also just think scott should be hera bc he'd eat that up!!

the whole thing is also so funny to me bc joel wouldve gone insane sm faster than odysseus did LMFAO he would not have let anything stand in the way of him and lizzie. it'd be like poseidon: ruthless is mercy upon ourselves- joel: yep cheers mate totally agree and then he'd just sail away like joel would DROPKICK that baby NO HESITATION

anyways even tho this whole thing was about epic, i'd totally recommend reading the odyssey. i love greek myths sm theyre genuinely so fun <3

[maruyaaya]

hihii im here again i wanted to ask if how do you depict iliad characters really? bc ive been planing to make a fic whereas the paris tm and epic tm react to eachtohers musicals.. and i wanted tips to enhance their characters cause i may be and may not be absulotely clueless (i am new to greek myth)SOSOO if you have tips how to write complex characters like agamemnom, achilles menelaus, even andromache or the gods and godess, it would be appreciated if you can give, please i love you so much (i lit stalk your account every hour)

YOU'VE GIVEN ME POSSIBLY THE BEST EXCUSE TO YAP EVER i hope you don't mind an essay of an answer bc idk how to stfu

idk if you want more general advice on characters or specifics on how i write the characters you mentioned but i'll do a bit both i guess? ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO ASK MORE THIS ASK WAS SO FUN TO ANSWER

so i'm actually gonna start off by saying i don't think you always have to be completely historically accurate. obviously you can be if you want to be, but i think it's more than fine to take creative liberties like these myths are so old. it's impossible to write them exactly the way they were written back then so why not have a little fun with it?

i think one of the most important things about writing greek myth characters (and honestly just any complex character) is don't be afraid to make them hypocritical. all these characters are written as being very human. they're going to contradict themselves. they're going to do things that don't align with their general viewpoints. don't be afraid to write them as nasty people. theyre going to be contradictory and hypocritical and selfish and that's okay!! that's what makes them complex characters

something i do while writing complex characters is i try to figure out their motivations first and foremost because what they want to get in life is going to influence every action that they make. for every action they make, there needs to be a reason for it. why are they having this argument? why are they doing this specific thing? and their motivations don't have to be morally correct or even good for the character, it just needs to explain why they're making the choices they do. using my neo as an example, he refuses to let telemachus be nice to him, but it's because he thinks he doesn't deserve it. as a character, his motivations are (in the most simple words possible) "i shouldn't let anyone get close to me because i will hurt them" and that explains why he acts the way he does around telemachus. it's not good for him, but it explains his actions.

i also like to think about relationships that the character will have whether platonic or romantic because i like to have a general idea of who the character is before i put that character in any situations. before i write about a character in a specific scenario, i like to think about how they would act if they were just like... in a void of nothingness (if that makes sense). what is their relationship like with their parents? do they have siblings? how do they view love? once i have a general idea of how a character behaves, i start putting that character in situations

moving into more specifics, i'll start with achilles. i write achilles very similarly to how i write neoptolemus, but there are stark differences between them. achilles was born gentle and was then forced into war that ruined him. neo was not born gentle; neo was born with blood on his hands. achilles did not want to fight. he wanted glory and fighting was the only way to achieve that. neo, on the other hand, wants to fight. he does not feel like himself unless he is on a battlefield. he does not want glory like achilles does, he wants recognition. but for achilles, that desire for glory is at the centre of all of his actions. achilles wants his name in lights. he needs to be known. obscurity is worse than death. what good is a life that you waste? achilles values patroclus above everything in the world except his own pride. he would sacrifice the world for patroclus, but he would hesitate because if he sacrifices the world then who is left to remember him? because as much as i love patrochilles, patroclus' recognition alone has never been enough for achilles.

but achilles also values his pride above all else. the iliad opens with achilles being disrespected by agamemnon and achilles eventually decides to take all of his soldiers and leave the war. he wants glory, but is willing to sacrifice it in order to keep his pride. achilles is also very hypocritical; he believes that he deserves better than other people because of his status as the best of the greeks. the things that achilles does to others, he would not approve of them being done to him. i think that's something you have to consider when writing achilles: what is he valuing the most at this moment? is he thinking about his pride? is he thinking about glory? you also do have to recognize that achilles has a lot of pride in his abilities but that pride is earned. achilles genuinely is the best of the greeks. though he has an ego, that ego is rightfully earned and i think that's something to consider with him.

going off achilles, i want to briefly discuss patroclus. you didn't mention him in ur ask, but i just wanted to say that something i see people do with patroclus a lot is that in an attempt to not... twinkify him, they go the completely opposite direction and make him not gaf about achilles. patroclus should have reverence for achilles. he should look at achilles like achilles put the stars in the sky. like patroclus isn't achilles dog or anything like that—we see patroclus argue with and insult achilles many, many times in the iliad—but he has to have a certain reverence for achilles. he won’t shy away to telling achilles that he’s wrong in not wanting to fight, but he will always stand by achilles’ decision. he’ll beg achilles to fight and tell him that he’s going to lose the war because of his useless pride, but he’ll don achilles’ armour and risk his life pretending to be achilles just to save achilles’ reputation. patroclus basks in achilles' greatness. he likes to watch achilles shine. he likes to watch when achilles decimates an entire battle field. he likes hearing both armies sing achilles’ praises. he internalizes those praises as if they’re directed at him too because he and achilles are just extensions of each other. for patroclus, watching achilles be great is just as good as being great himself. he doesn’t need to create a legacy for himself because achilles having one is good enough for him. patrochilles are so fucking codependent. this is why patroclus’ admiration of achilles is so important. he basically lives vicariously through achilles. there is nothing he wants more in the world than to watch achilles tear through a battlefield and leave a trail of bodies in his wake. both achilles and patroclus have some ulterior motives in loving each other, but that doesn’t mean they love each other any less.

there's a quote from emily brontë’s wuthering heights that (if i can recall off the top of my head) goes something like this: “he is more myself than i am. whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. if all else perished and he remained, i should still continue to be and if all else remained and we were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger. he’s always, always in my mind; not as a pleasure to myself, but as my own being” (wow i think i remembered that better than i thought i did) AND THIS IS SO PATROCHILLES TO ME. they know each other better than anyone. they’re hardly even two separate people. they’re achillesandpatroclus before they’re achilles and patroclus (note that they’re always achillesandpatroclus, never patroclusandachilles. both of them prefer it that way).

SORRY I GOT CARRIED AWAY YAPPING BOUT PATROCHILLES i could talk about them for so long i have so many more thoughts on them but let me move on

for agamemnon and menelaus, the most important thing for both of their characters is that they're brothers. agamemnon is the one who leads the war and he does it for menelaus. the trojan war is a war fought for love; paris kidnaps helen (or she goes with him willingly depending on your translation) because he loves her, menelaus wants to get helen back because he loves her, and agamemnon leads the war because he loves his brother. agamemnon has many, many faults, but at his core is the fact that he loves his brother and will win this war for his brother. agamemnon is very prideful (very similarly to achilles) and he thinks himself better than most people. he always thinks that he knows best. he likes to win, he likes to be in charge, and he likes when people do what he says. he's also stubborn. agamemnon is very "the ends justify the means". he sacrifices his own daughter because he believes it is the only way to get what he wants. agamemnon is kinda the punching bag in that every greek mythology fan nowadays fucking hates him (and for good reason) but i think he is an interesting character to explore. agamemnon is one of the biggest victims of hubris. he believes that consequences should not apply to him—people should just do whatever he says because clearly, he knows better.

but agamemnon is also a coward. these things can coexist. when the war starts to get really bad, he is the first one to say "guys, let's just go home" and diomedes has to convince him to stay and fight. this is what i mean by don't be afraid to make your characters contradictory. agamemnon likes winning and he likes being in charge, but he's also afraid of dying so he's willing to run away from the war if he gets to survive. because he's selfish and cowardly, but he believes he isn't. agamemnon hates having to face consequences for his action which is what makes his fate of being killed by clytemnestra for sacrificing iphigenia so much more satisfying. because agamemnon's death is a direct consequence of his actions.

mentioning diomedes real quick to say that his characterization should basically be "guy who does all the work in a group project". he's so funny to me i love this guy

menelaus has two very different characterizations depending on how you want to write him. you have to decide whether his love for helen is genuine before you begin writing him. do you want to write menelaus as someone who really loves his wife and is willing to fight this whole war to get her back? or do you want to write menelaus as someone who views helen as a prize—as his property—and is only fighting this war to get helen back because he feels like he was disrespected? this is the first thing you have to decide for menelaus. once you've decided this, you can characterize menelaus accordingly.

actually this is one of my favourite advices for writing characters: ask yourself questions about them. what is their motivation for doing this? how would they react if [insert thing] happened? would they agree or disagree with this? if someone told them something, would they react differently differently if they were told by someone else? also thinking bout what-ifs is very important to me. this character is reacting a specific way to something, but what if this situation was slightly different? how would that change their reaction? even if it isn't relevant to what you're writing, i think it can help give you a sense of the character

andromache is so so interesting to me because in greek myths, she was supposed to be a representation of "the perfect wife". she is loyal to hector, takes care of his son, and is mild-mannered and polite. even after hector's death, she continues to make offerings to him. she's supposed to represent all of the trojan women during the war. she is a character who should be full of grief—she loses absolutely everything. she loses her husband, her son, and her autonomy. andromache is a queen who is forced to become a slave when troy loses the war. i think it would be really interesting to characterize andromache with a lot of rage. rage at having everything taken from her. rage and vengeance. after neoptolemus' death, she marries her ex-brother in law and i think this can be seen as her trying to get back a sense of normalcy. helenus is the only thing that can bring her back to her old life. so she marries helenus and maybe even considers it a betrayal to hector, but she does it because she doesn't know how to live her life otherwise. it is the closest she can get to being okay again and she has to look for something that will make her life worth living again. she is a character who i think is always looking for somethings. like "sure, almost everything sucks, but at least i have something" and she needs to do that in order to live instead of just surviving because she's been in survival mode for so long.

THIS HAS GOTTEN SO LONG IM SO SORRY I REALLY DONT KNOW HOW TO STFU i hope this helps at all! i have a lot more general advice on character writing if thats more what youre looking for and i'd be happy to share if you'd like! i also would be happy to discuss more specific characters as well! i love yapping it's like my job

[maruyaaya]

I'm the rent-free teleneo asker and i also wanted to say that "cry, wolf!" by mollyofgeography feels like their vibe, can't quite explain why

AND YOU WOULD BE RIGHT!!!! oh this is so neo are u kidding me oh my god i just put this on my neomachus playlist bc oh my GOD???? “hunger is want set in motion and i’ve been starving, just starving, all year, laid low by voracious devotion. hunger eats caution and caution eats fear. hunger eats caution, the snake in a sphere” ME WHEN I START PUNCHING MY WALLS

[maruyaaya]

"Skyros isn’t home. It never has been. Neoptolemus’ home has never been anywhere except for the battlegrounds." WERE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?? YOU DIDNT HOLD MY HAND YOU JUST LITERALLY THROW THE BRICK INTO MY FACE 🙁🙁 (but srsly tho, IT WAS SO GOOD had me crying, shsjsns have i ever told you i love u so much)

FAKDHSADA IM SORRY (no im not) I COULDNT RESIST!!! i can confirm things are going to get better after this point (then theyre going to get worse again LOL) BUT THANK YOU SM i love u too <3

[maruyaaya]

hihi ime (if u dont mind me calling u that) but once again i need ur help, so as you can i am making a fanfic in modern au (kinda filipino highschool love vibes) andndndnd i need your opinions on the characters from greek myth i will using (writing)

the character includes

neoptolemus telemachus peisistratus orestes nuisicaa electra iphigenia hermione nicostratus

andand if yk ppl from greek myth that like in the afterwar of trojan war plsplspls tell me so i can add them :3333 should i add the gods also? (also can i add on how would you think writing them i mean the other characters esp the women?) btw, im making this fanfic fluff and cheesy (NO ANGST!! i have enough of them) thank you mwamwamwaps

HELLOO!!! i absolutely do not mind you calling me ime!! my name is very difficult to pronounce for english speakers so i basically go by every variation of it ever LOL anyways i digress

so surprisingly enough, i actually haven't reread the odyssey in a very long time (i'm an iliad girlie at heart i'd sleep with that thing under my pillow like alexander the great) but, to nobody's surprise, i have a lot to say so i'm going to do my best!!

THIS IS A BANGER CAST THO the dynamics between them will be so fun thats so exciting. i love that its kinda a "younger gen" bc so often you see a focus on the achilles/odysseus/agamemnon generation and a lot of the children get ignored so this is really fun!!

maybe im dumb and stupid but i think youre asking abt how i write those characters so ill yap about that and if thats not what youre asking then idk me and my iliterate ass will just go fuck myself i guess? LMFAO i have written so many essays in the past week april is the worst month of the year i'm so dumb right now

neoptolemus is so... ugh i did not care for him at all until i started writing senses and then suddenly he became one of my favourites. neo is typically written as very abrasive with a short-fuse. he's very arrogant in his abilities, but like achilles, that arrogance is earned as he's written as a very good fighter. i think he should be written as very emotionally stunted—he doesn't understand other people's emotions but he also doesn't understand his own. this could be hilarious to me in a modern au because that man just does not understand anything that anyone says to him. he should have a resting bitch face. he always looks angry and he probably is angry. his self-esteem should be crazy wacky like he should be constantly telling people "i am the best and you are nothing compared to me" but at the same time, he should be constantly afraid of disappointing people. neo's characterization is really interesting bc most of the myths portray him as being needlessly brutal, but then you have ones by sophocles or euripides who portray him as actually having a lot of remorse for what he does and only does them because he thinks he has to. i think you could have a lot of fun deciding which of these characterizations you want to lean into.

telemachus is, to put it in the simplest words possible, a brat. he's very pessimistic and he's convinced everything sucks. basically in a modern au, he is your typical 16 year old going through an emo phase. i like to write him as very emotionally intelligent. he knows exactly what to say to piss someone off and he won't hesitate to do so. his favourite hobby is pushing at people's insecurities and seeing how they react. he also has a temper and he's very emotionally driven though i do think he's better at regulating his emotions than neo is. he's also very insecure. he is constantly afraid that he isn't good enough and i think that's very clear in his actions. he loves being annoying he's my fav brat and his words shoot to kill when he's mad (taylor swift reference even tho he would lowkey fucking hate taylor swift)

peisistratus is gay as hell (he and telemachus canonically share a bed in the odyssey btw). telemachus canonically refers to him as "joy of my heart" like i am so glad i'm a multishipper bc i could not come out of the odyssey and not ship telemachus and peisistratus. peisistratus has a fairly small role in the odyssey so you have a lot of free reign in how you want to characterize him (i'll be honest, i'm not 100% sure what fandom characterization of peisistratus is bc i've never been too into the telepeisi ship). in the odyssey, he's very well-spoken and eloquent. i like to think of him as kinda being impulse control for telemachus—he's better at controlling his emotions and not flying off the handle like telemachus does. he's also very horrendously down bad for telemachus. that cannot be ignored. he wants to hit so bad. he will laugh at so many bad jokes just to get a chance to hit.

orestes is so interesting to me! i think he's very logical and serious. i think he has a strong moral compass and gets very conflicted about whether he should stick to his moral compass or be loyal to the people around him. like after clytemnestra kills agamemnon, orestes doesn't want to kill his mother, but he does because he feels obligated to out of a sense of justice. he sees it as an act of loyalty to his father and the gods. and after killing his mother, orestes basically goes insane because he has so much guilt about it. i think he definitely does value justice. he wants to do what he thinks is right and he is willing to sacrifice himself for that . he's a very conflicted person. personality wise, i do like to think of him as relatively serious and not someone who flys off the handle or gets angry easily. i think he definitely thinks with his head, not his heart.

if you do want to include another character, there's pylades, who is orestes' cousin (and also rumoured lover (as is ancient greece) they could be written just as cousins tho or as romantic lol up to u. i’m pretty sure there’s some myths where they’re romantic where they aren’t even cousins at all and they’re just friends so u can do whatever u want really). when orestes can't decide whether or not he should kill clytemnestra, it's pylades who convinces him to go through with his plan. i kinda view pylades as being the impulsive side of orestes. they play off each other and where orestes is careful and logical, pylades is the guy who goes "fuck it we ball". orestes and pylades can have such a fun friendship. their relationship is very pylades: i'm gonna cut the sleeves off all of my shirts iphigenia: why? pylades: orestes isn't here and he's like 95% of my impulse control

(also btw orestes and pylades is where the “i’ll take care of you” “it’s rotten work” “not to me. not if it’s you” quote comes from so yeah. homosexual)

NAUSICAA MY BELOVED <3 some myths have her marrying telemachus after the events of the odyssey. she's extremely kind and compassionate. i like to think of her as being very trusting and like, she would give her life for anyone. she's definitely fairly emotionally mature, but i really like to think of her as kinda a hopeless romantic. she loves romance novels and daydreaming. however, this is not to say that she's naive bc i think the odyssey portrays her as pretty much the opposite of that. she's very aware of societal expectations and such and she knows how to carry herself in a way that ensures people will think of her positively. she's socially aware and intelligent. despite her hopeless romanticism, i think she's also pretty good at reading people and i like her and telemachus having that in common. they're both very good at reading each other. i think nausicaa's compassion and kindness should be some of her main traits when writing her. she should always be thinking about helping others out of the genuine goodness of her heart. i actually think in a modern au i would love to write telemachus and nausicaa having embarrassing puppy love crushes on each other like theyre so cute

ELECTRA IS SO INTRIGUING i'm honestly very attached to the electra, orestes, iphigenia sibling trio theyre so cute and tragic to me. as an interlude, i recommend the book clytemnestra by costanza casati! its a retelling of clytemnestra's myths and though the book has its flaws, i really love the way casati writes the dynamics between clytemnestra and her children. def worth reading it's very very good.

anyway electra is so <3 to me. she's one of my fav mythology figures. i think that she, orestes, and iphigenia should all be very close as siblings. that's what makes their myths all the more tragic. like not a day goes by that i don't think of the orestes: how could you recognize me after all these years? electra: what a stupid question. i was born knowing you exchange like oh my god it makes me sick. i think electra should be very emotional and that should be a point of conflict between her and orestes. orestes thinks things through logically, but electra follows her heart for better or for worse. electra feels things very intensely. she wants vengeance. she gets consumed by her grief and rage. i think of her as someone who very badly wants to understand the world. she wants to know everything. she wants to understand why she feels things so deeply. i'm very influenced by the way casati writes electra in her novel, but i love seeing electra portrayed as someone who is a little unsettling. like you look at her and you cant really tell what's going on in her head. there's a quote from casati's clytemnestra that says "sometimes electra says things that make [clytemnestra] suffer, and she wonders if her daughter does it on purpose. it seems unlikely, but a thought creeps through her mind, making her restless: what if electra can be as unkind as her father? what if she is not quiet because she is shy but because she is crafty?" and later in the novel, electra tells clytemnestra "broken people fascinate me". i love electra being portrayed as someone who is a little shy and quiet, but it's because she is feeling all these emotions so vividly and passionately and she doesn't know what to do with them all. and she wants to understand the world because she thinks it will help her understand herself. she can be purposefully cruel if she thinks it will aid her

on the contrary, i like writing iphigenia as someone who is very bubbly and outspoken. i like her as being very optimistic and likeable. she's charming and you can't help but fawn over her when you meet her. she and electra act as foils in this way in my head bc iphigenia is someone that you can't help but love while electra is someone who is very difficult to love (i say this in very simple words). i think iphigenia is very compassionate and also feels emotions deeply, but in a different way than electra does. iphigenia, i think, is very empathetic and likes to help people. i think she is objectively, the kindest and most likeable of her siblings which is what makes her sacrifice even more tragic. but i really do like writing iphigenia and electra as the extrovert/introvert duo. i think the orestes/iphigenia/electra trio is so fun to write because they all have such complex issues and i have so many thoughts on them. in a modern au, iphigenia is probably the popular girl of the school, but the popular girl who is actually really nice and everyone loves her. like she's head cheerleader, but she's also saying hello to everyone in the hallways and all the teachers love her and it leaves electra in her shadow a little bit. ugh i could talk abt electra, orestes, & iphigenia for so long theyre so <3 to me

hermione! i think you have to give hermione mommy issues. it would be really fun to explore how hermione is affected by having the most beautiful woman in the world as her mom and how it felt to have her mom leave her (or kidnapped depending on interpretation) when she was just 9 or so. i really like to write hermione and orestes' relationship as one based on love. i think they really do love each other and it's why orestes fights neo for hermione. i think hermione can def be entitled and a lot of it stems from her parents (her mother is literally helen of sparta like cmon now i don't blame her). hermione can be jealous and i love to write that as coming from insecurity—hermione grew up with the most beautiful woman ever as her mom. her self-esteem has to be insane like no wonder she's jealous; she probably thinks she can never live up to her mother. i think hermione probably lashes out emotionally because of that jealousy. a lot of her characterization has to stem from her circumstances—she's used as a political pawn for most of her life and that def affects the way she views herself. she needs so much therapy. if anyone has seen saiki k, i actually think of teruhashi a little bit when i think of hermione. hermione is definitely her mother's daughter and i see has as very similar to helen. i think hermione is definitely someone who acts as if she is much more confident than she really is—it's kind of a mask. you guys know the song oh no! by marina? the line that says "cause i feel like i'm the worst so i always act like i'm the best" that's so hermione to me.

now, i won't lie to you, i don't know much about nicostratus. i don't think there's many famous myths on him at all iirc? or at least, i can't think of any off the top of my head. i think he's probably a character you can have fun with it and shape how you like. you can def give him the same kind of parental angst from helen and menelaus that hermione has and giving hermione a sibling dynamic is so funny. but yeah, i don't know much about him so i'm not going to just lie to you and make stuff up LMFAO

as for other characters, clytemnestra has a few other kids you could include though they're not as interesting as the main 3 to me. there's also pylades that i mentioned earlier. there's polyxena too! she might be a bit older as she's a daughter of priam, but she is the youngest one. off the top of my head, i think she's described as being 18 in the final year of the war? this would make her a couple years older than neo who is typically between the ages of 12-15 in the final year of the war. so she could be included albeit she is slightly older (she was promised to achilles tho so again, she might be too old for the story you want to write). on a similar vein, there's cassandra and helenus who are in a weird age range of likely being younger than the achilles generation, but quite a bit older than the neo/telemachus generation. i love cassandra sm tho (i named my dnd oc after her LMAO) she's one of my favs ever. those two could be included if you want, but are older than polyxena who is already older than neo so idk if that's too much of an age range for what you want.

okay so as for the gods, one thing i really like doing is that in modern aus where they go to school, i love writing the gods as their teachers LMFAO. idk if that's what you wanna do, but i think it's so funny. like can you imagine poseidon being your gym teacher. or athena teaching you math or something??? it's hilarious. so that is definitely an idea

ALSO LOVE THAT THIS WILL BE FLUFFY AND CHEESY too much angst in this fandom LMFAO (i say, as i write my mcd neomachus fic)

I HOPE THIS HELPS i think this answer might be even longer than the last ask you sent which is genuinely a feat. oh my god i fear i have mental problems. VERY EXCITED TO SEE WHATEVER YOU WRITE <3

[maruyaaya]

hi!! was wondering, in your gribeans cinematic universe (can’t call it an au cuz it is pretty canon compliant not sure what else to call it lmao) how would you interpret their relationship in secret life? overall not a ton of interaction but they had some moments. i rewatched that one funny scene of them exchanging hearts other under the cherry tree in front of lizzie and thought about your fics lol. i also was thinking about how that task where grian and joel were essentially soul bound and what fun interactions that might cause with your interpretations of the characters! just curious if you have any thoughts!!

HELLOOO!!! oh i absolutely have thoughts on gribeans in secret life and i will take any excuse possible to yap

honestly idk what i’d call my gribeans fics either LMAO i feel like gribeans cinematic universe works best bc i try to be canon compliant while also letting them be gay as hell 🔥🔥

OKAY SO lisa mitakesgf and i have discussed grian & joel’s relationship across every life series season extensively (take a shot every time i mention lisa on this blog) and the way i view gribeans across the seasons is that they have a very positive relationship in every single season (whether that’s being allied or just being on friendly terms) except for perhaps double life and even there, though they’re not spending as much time together, they still have that little scene where joel & grian make a deal so joel won’t kill him (which to me, is a big deal for joel bc he’s so bloodthirsty)

anyways getting to secret life, one of the most interesting points to me is that grian and joel aren’t on the same alliance and yet, they’re still very friendly with each other throughout the whole life. i also really do like to consider the fact that secret life comes directly after limited life where grian & joel are officially allied and are very gay.

something i think abt for grian & joel is that they're drawn to each other in every universe. they're always on good terms. as soon as something goes wrong with their teams, they're always immediately running for the other. it's second nature to search for each other because they just know that they understand each other better than anyone else.

what i think of immediately is that throughout secret life, grian & joel are constantly gifting each other their hearts. idk what the exact calculations are but im sure someone could work out how often they give each other hearts vs giving other people hearts. for example in grian's episode 8 (i hate that i knew exactly which episode this was off the top of my head) when grian needs hearts desperately and he immediately decides to ask joel and says "joel's my go-to. he always gives me a heart" because they're always drawn to reach other. regardless of if they're officially teamed or not, the second something goes wrong that means they need help, they'll go to the other.

it's basically my grian/joel thesis that they understand each other better than anyone else. that's at the core of all of my gribeans fics. they get each other and that's why their relationship can never be entirely happy either because they understand all the awful parts of each other and they accept it rather than asking them to change.

and the soulbond episode GOD the soulbond episode. i swear to fuck that episode was made for me specifically. i see them as being fated—cosmically intertwined. my favourite grian/joel metaphor is that they’re parallel universes that have somehow collided. they were never supposed to be together and yet somehow, they found their way to each other and they should have destroyed everything when they touched, but somehow they didn’t and now they’re in this precarious state where everything should be gone, but it isn’t. the episode where they’re soulbound is, to me, an extension of the way they are connected down to their souls and this is the universe making that a reality.

in a more metaphorical sense, i like to look at it with the idea that joel & grian weren’t soulbound in the season with actual soulmates, but rather, they carved that soulbond themselves in a season where that wasn’t supposed to happen.

in order to really understand gribeans in secret life the way i view them, i think you have to look grian and joel in all the other seasons as well because personally, i’m not really a fan of the “only the winners remember the previous seasons” headcanon and i prefer to write with them having full knowledge of every prior season because i think the angst is sm better (so basically in my gribeans cinematic universe (LOL) it is canon that they all remember every previous season).

gribeans in 3rd life is the beginning of them realizing that there’s some connection there and then in last life, that’s where that connection morphs into the codependent “nobody understand you except for me.” dynamic that we see in my fics. last life is incredibly damaging for them (3rd life & last life go hand in hand to me bc it’s essential to their dynamic that joel sees grian and scar in 3rd life and sees how close they are and believes that grian is just using him as a replacement in last life) and yet it’s also what gets them to be so close because they’re stuck together and they can’t escape. last life is definitely the season where i would write them as the most toxic (funnily enough, secret life is probably their most healthy dynamic to me). we then move onto double life where grian and joel distance themselves from each other because there’s so much hurt when they’re together. they find their way back to each other in lim life which is both healing and destructive. having jimmy with them in lim life does help with them getting healthier which is what leads to secret life.

so essentially in secret life, they don’t officially team up because they just did that in lim life, but now that things are a little better, they continuously search for each other and hang out. they forge that soulbond themselves. this is the season where they’re allowed to imagine what it would be like if they were somebody else.

problem is, they’re not anybody else. they’re grian and joel and that means that they’ll never be happy together, but they’ll be worse if they’re not together. it means nobody will ever accept them except for each other because they’re monsters and a monster is only really at home with another monster. and this hangs over their heads throughout secret life. every time they try to pretend that they’re not just blood, they’re reminded that that’s all they are and it’s the reason why they’re together.

though i do say that this is the healthiest of their dynamics, they’re still not healthy healthy because i won’t let them be LMAO there will always be some underlying tension between them bc they are all teeth and claws and they find home in each other. the only love that they know is carnage and secret life is no different. when joel and grian gift their hearts to each other, it’s not the same as it when gifting a heart to someone else. it’s an extension of truly bearing your heart to someone—of ripping it straight from your chest and placing it in someone’s hands because it belongs there more than it does in your ribcage.

i actually talked with lisa a few days ago about something in my gribeans yellowjackets au and without spoilers, grian essentially saves joel’s life and instead of being thankful about it, joel is pissed at him and it’s because he feels like he owes grian now and that’s not how they’re supposed to work. they’re supposed to be equals. there’s a sense of that in secret life to me in the way they’re always gifting each other hearts. in episode 8, joel gifts his heart to grian after grian asks and in episode 9, the first thing grian does it gift his heart to joel because they don’t have debts between them. they’re equals. they don’t owe each other anything. they’re mirrors.

the scene with lizzie that you mentioned is so funny to me and i honestly love it bc it’s just another show of the way they match each other’s freak and they make it everybody else’s problem

actually my big plan rn is to write at least 1 fic for each life series season centred around grian & joel just to showcase how i view their relationship in each (so far we’ve got wild life & lim life done) so there is def a plan for a fic focused around gribeans in secret life (though this plan will not come to fruition until im less busy with uni bc oh my god 😭😭)

the tl;dr of all this is that i view secret life as the healthiest of grian & joel’s dynamics. they don’t owe anything to each other but they know that they will always have each others backs. it’s a season where their dynamic hinges on their mutual respect and understanding of each other and the soulbond episode is really just a show of how connected they really are. they weren’t supposed to be together, but now that they’ve clawed their way to each other, they’re stuck together because otherwise the universe might fucking implode

and i’m so sorry for yapping this long LMFAO this is my curse i am incapable of shutting the fuck up this is the imeda maruyaaya experience

[maruyaaya]

neomachus was already on my mind because i had just read chapter 2 of your fic, but i came across this song and when i listened to it i felt that it fit your characterization of neo so well i was actually shocked so i was compelled to share dgshdgjhfs

silver spoon demo be erin lecount (on youtube - i couldn't send the link here :'] )

I KNOW THIS SONG AND IM SO OBSESSED WITH IT!!! oh it's such a neoptolemus song honestly it makes me sick. the part of it that really gets me is "you were kind, i was cruel. in another life maybe i was you and i grew up into something good, somebody who could swallow love" because this is EXACTLY neo's view of telemachus and himself to me. neo intrinsically views himself as being incapable of love and that he ruins everything he touches and he looks at telemachus and he wishes that was him and in another life, maybe it could have been, but in this one, it's not possible. the whole sing fits so well i could honestly write a whole line by line analysis THANK U SM FOR SENDING THIS BC I HONESTLY HADNT EVEN CONSIDERED IT BEFORE NOW BUT OH MY GOD IT FITS SO WELL????

[maruyaaya]

this is both the best and most cursed thing ive ever made. goodnight

emo neoptolemus. based on this gem. he sends this to tele who either straight up dies or falls madly in love. or both... >:3

OH MY GOD???? HE’S SUCH A LIL EMO FREAK 😭😭😭😭 HES SITTING IN HIS ROOM BLASTING MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE i just know telemachus sees this and has a heart attack. this is the best thing ive ever seen in my life and im so serious

[maruyaaya]

ur so obsessed w me imeda leave me alone omg ur like obsessed w me its kinda weird we r like etho and joel in hc10 but im not actualky obsessed w u ur the obsessed one :/

ummmmmmmm im filing a restraining order as we speak leave me alone ur obsessed with me what the hell we’re literally like etho and joel but im joel and you’re etho because you’re obsessed with me FREAK!!!!! you want me so bad it makes you look stupid you want me sooooooo bad