#they're like 5 years into the trojan war

[thhouseofblack]

the feminine urge to write a reaction fic of the men of the iliad watching epic the musical

[dootznbootz]

While their stories are different , Helen and Odysseus are very similar in "roles" of their narratives

Sounds nuts but hold on. I'm also probably wording that weird. but here we go.

Obviously with the time, the culture, and their genders to consider, they ARE very different but there's just...something that's been ITCHING me about them and their stories.

1.) Both of their homes/lovers are "fighting for them". Obviously the Trojan War is about bringing Helen home through the Oath of Tyndarius. (Also, "You kidnapped my wife, wtf?") Menelaus LITERALLY fighting to bring Helen back home. Penelope is fighting so that Odysseus has a home to come back TO.

2.) Paris/Calypso: Cause them both to weep in their stories, literally keep them captive through the means of an immortal/magic for YEARS. People will fight about how "willing" they are

3.) Deiphobus/Circe: Another "lover" where both were just...going through the motions. Trying to survive. Just another day in hell. Shorter amount of time. Both Deiphobus and Circe "defeats" involve someone's "rescuing" (Odysseus rescuing his men, Helen herself being rescued)

4.) Taken away from their home that they didn't want to leave

5.) Missing most of their only child's childhoods unwillingly

Even then, they are technically the CAUSE of each other's circumstances in life. Odysseus made a deal with Tyndarius to marry Penelope. Helen only got to choose Menelaus because of Odysseus' idea. Odysseus had to leave home because of said oath and still tried to resist leaving. Helen is only able to go home (aka the war is over) because of Odysseus' idea again. Both Penelope AND Menelaus leave the place they were born in (Sparta and Mycenae) to rule with their spouses in THEIR homelands. Even with how they're both an "enigma" could be something.

Obviously, they are not each other's "center of the world" but they both have affected each other with their actions (or actions under duress) Same with their spouses.

JUSt... SOMETHING'S ITCHING MY BRAIN WITH THIS skldjf klsdjf MAybe it's a whole "This is how men and women both "fight"" with their expected roles at the time and comparing the two? IDK I feel like there's something there.

I would even say that since Ancient Greece was patriarchal, the reason why Odysseus is abused by goddesses while Helen was abused by immortals who had the HELP of a goddess is because of the notion of "Men cannot be victims unless it was an immortal". Both went through the same horrifying experience regardless however.

Feel free to say something about this if you know more about this topic or shed some light on this or if you just want to chatter about this.

[littlesparklight]

The year Hektor, as well as Paris, got married.

(I, too, wanted to do a lineup of the main Trojan royal family/the children of Priam and Hecuba. So, here it is! Nineteen sons as the Iliad decreed, plus a handful of daughters. Everyone's loosely grouped (or not) according to in which set of multiples they were born. Lore and secrets under the cut.)

I've tried to only use names that either explicitly are called offspring of Priam and Hecuba, or implicitly so by the Iliad saying they're legitimate. The only exception being Chromios and Echemmon, of whom the Iliad doesn't say either way and who in later sources are named as sons of some mother(s) not Hecuba. I've ignored this, prioritising the Iliad's non-specificity. Partly because I'd long since decided they were sons of Priam and Hecuba when I realized that other sources made them not so. Of course, the Iliad doesn't name enough sons, so the rest come (mostly, exception Idaios) from Hyginus' list via cross-referencing with the Bibliotheke, to assure I picked names from the former the latter didn't say were illegitimate.

Everybody's ages and the timeline used does rely on ~5 extra years between Paris coming back with Helen and the Achaeans landing at Troy.

Ilione and Laodike are both already married by this point. I don't think we actually know how Bronze Age proto-Thracians were dressed, so I just tried to deck her out in something a little different from the rest.

Paris gets a white leopard pelt to make it a little more ~extra. The half-wrap sort of thing he's wearing about the hips technically come from a few hundred years later, I think (if I remember correctly), from the neo-Hittite era, but shh.

Eurydike is Aeneas' wife in the Kypria (so, she's equivalent to Kreusa), and though we don't know whether this Eurydike was a daughter of Priam and Hecuba, but I'm going with that she was (as Creusa was made so as well).

I've gone back and forth on how old Polyxena is supposed to be, and initially she has been a twin with Polydoros (mostly because I liked the matching names), but for my latest iteration I went with making her part of another mortal-demigod twin pair with Troilos as often happens, because of how her story intersects with both Troilos and Achilles. You can really see who Troilos' father is. :)

The number of daughters in addition to the Iliad-given nineteen sons have been decided by going by who has been given as Priam and Hecuba's daughter in some source, and then adding on Eurydike to that list.

I do have an alternate arrangement for ages/births (basically to be used in versions of fics that use the funeral games as background for how Paris gets reunified with the rest (when he's 16 instead), which is one where Kassandra would be old enough to have been cursed by Apollo right before Paris comes back, though this one gives the ages for the last year of the war: Hektor, 40 Ilione, Laodike, Antiphos, 38 Helenos and Kassandra, 36.5 Paris, 35 Deiphobos [Kreusa/Eurydike, Pammon and Polites], 34.5 This would also work out to have Deiphobos younger than Helenos, as some versions note as he is a strike against him in his fight over Helen with Helenos, who is said to be older.

[phantombluego]

Do you have anything more about Eurynomus? His hair is so long i love it

Running on one hr sleep and typing on my phone but he'll yeah let's do this. Eurynomus!! I love him, the story I came up for him actually made me pity the poor guy and now he's in my top 5 favourite suitors. And I have no regrets! I think about him a lot.

Let's start with his story!!:

Eurynomus of Ithaca, son of Aegyptius, and brother to Antiphus — who accompanied Odysseus in the war, dying to Polyphemus — was a simple farmer boy. He had his father and 2 older brothers, and certainly some mother, who all worked on a small farm. His brother Antiphus fought in the Trojan War, and somehow when he died the news got back to Ithaca, and Eurynomus went into deep grieving, taking over the main priorities of the farm (until he became a suitor, that is). He blamed the king for his brothers death, it even being told that he might have cried for weeks upon weeks, and never getting over his brothers death. As a suitor, he followed Antinous, then Agelaus once Antinous died. He threw a spear when called upon, fighting back, which presumably got thrown back at him and he died, but he is the only suitor of the 15 mentioned that doesn't get a stated death. Poor guy was forgotten.

Love him so much. NOW HCS:

- BACKSTORY!! Eurynomus grew up on the farm with his brothers, they're family people they care about each other deeply. He usually tended to the animals while his brothers did the tougher work with carrying heavier objects until he was grown enough.

- He was super close to his siblings, more to Antiphus. He liked his hair long, despite how impractical it was, so Antiphus would often braid his hair or help tie it up.

- He waited out by the shore year after year waiting for Antiphus to return home, never wanting to believe him to be dead. His other [unnamed] brother had to fetch him home sometimes cause he'd fall asleep there.

- After taking on other duties he still refused to cut his hair, claiming it was in memory of his brother.

- When the news got home that his brother wouldn't return, he didn't leave the house for weeks.

- On top of that already bad news, his father fell ill and was bedridden. His other brother had to take on most of the duties, and his mother spent every day looking after their father. They didn't have access to medical, so they couldn't even find out what happened.

- the offer of the suitors came around, and Eurynomus jumped to the chance. He was warned off to not do it, but eventually pleaded that the rule and power of Ithaca could give them access to care for his father, eventually being allowed off to do so.

- He was quieter at first, but eventually adopted the bad habits of his new friends Ctesippus and Amphimedon, becoming just like any other suitor in the palace.

- When the king returned home alone, the realisation set in for him. What he had done, what he'd become, and how he lost touch with his own family in pursuit of the throne. He wasn't even aware his father passed away in the years he was in the palace, and had ignored his brothers requests for him to come home.

- He wanted to give up at the end and accept fate, only really following Agelaus' orders due to it being such a sudden attack.

- Was struck down by Odysseus in the end. His brother was apart of the rebellion to retaliate against the king for killing everyone, but he also died, his mother dying from grief shortly after, and the farm being abandoned.

- Like to think perhaps the farm grounds were put to use to bury the suitors, turning into their grounds, but still playing with the idea!

- shorter HCs: got along with the calves the most, as a kid got attached to one that was slaughtered for food and cried about it.

- Had 2 pet dogs that worked on the farm.

- Looks like he wouldn't be strong, and beg the shortest he can be easily underestimated, but can and will take on the strong suitors in fights to prove his strength. And he was strong and nimble.

And a bonus old sketch of him and his brother

[twosidedcherrytrees]

THE OBSESSION HAS STRUCK AGAIN SO I REDESIGNED MY KID ICARUS OC

There's a bit of stuff about canon characters if you're interested but be warned this is mainly about my OC(s)

Info about her under the cut!

Aera is an ex servant of Aphrodite that defected during the Trojan War. She was a part of an elite group of Cupids (Basically Aphrodite's Angels? Im workshopping it) before joining Palutena's army, eventually making her way up to an army general. She defected because she fell in love with the Goddess of Light. She stole her bow when she left, and it's actually the Angel's Bow you use in Kid Icarus: Uprising!

Cupids are kinda like angels, but with hollow bones and dove wings, which are weaker. They were also, for the most part, free to do as they please as long as it fell in line with Aphrodite's mission statement of "causing love and problems". Aera argued that her leaving the army to elope with another goddess participating in the Trojan War did both and that she should've gotten a severance package for it.

That's not all- she's also Pit's mom! Kinda. She's not quite.. sure how he got there. She just kinda found him in a fruit basket full of Quince and Figs one day when he was a baby (hence the name Pit!) with a note attached saying it was hers. She didn't really question it since she just thought that's how angels were born. In all actuality it was Aphrodite in an attempt to get her taken off of Palutena's guard. It did not work.

The reason I believe Pit can't fly (at least in my lore) because his wings are dove wings, but his bones aren't hollow and therefore the wings cant support his weight! When a god grants him his flying abilities, they're really just temporarily granting him angel wings instead of his dove wings, and you could hypothetically do the same spell with any human.

Oh yeah in this lore I've created Palutena is Pit's other mom. She is not aware of this. Aphrodite never told her this. Love wins in strange ways. At least Palutena gets to keep Aera's statue-d corpse from Medusa's first invasion to Skyworld all those years ago? Silver linings people.

Facts about Aera that are more about how she affected the world around her than her:

She's the reason Palutena dresses the way she does now and not like she did back in the first game! Once Pit saved Palutena and they made their way back to the temple, Palutena... borrowed some of Aera's clothes. Over the years, it just became her fashion sense! Not like Aera needs them anymore.

She shared a house with her friend named Ivory! During the invasion of Skyworld, Ivory had managed to escape on a cloud, since they were actually one of Hermes's servants who had been negotiating sky travel with Palutena in the messenger god's stead. They had tried to take Pit with them when they fled, as of Aera's request, but they failed. I don't have any NEW art of Ivory, and some of their old art gave them wings, but I do have some old photos of them, which I'll show along-side the other photos! All that matters is that they're still alive!

Pit doesn't actually remember her! I imagine he was a bit young when the invasion happened (4/5) and that he was in the underworld for at least a year until Palutena called for his assistance. I'm allowed to mess with the timeline a little. As a treat. But anyways yeah he doesn't know she was his mom or that she had dove wings, which means he doesn't know HE has dove wings since they look pretty similar and he doesn't really have any other angels to compare them to.

All the art shown down here has outdated designs but the jokes are still the same.

Okay bye see you when I eventually have normal Kid Icarus art that isn't of my OCs okay bye 👍

[ammstify]

Welcome to part 2 of my completely self indulgent Persona AU I made for my friend and I’s silly, gay, adult men ocs because I’m obsessed with this franchise!

Why don't we begin, shall we?

(**NOTE: This is part 2 of my Persona OC AU long post! You can find part 1 in the links down below! Also, I will be referring to my best friend and I's characters by their first name initials, sorry!)

PART 1 -> HERE!

PART 2 -> YOU'RE ON IT!

PART 3 -> HERE!

Also obligatory tag for my awesome mutual, @greetings-inferiors! (Btw, love what you've written so far for Persona Green, keep it up!!)

When we last left off, I discussed in full about my best friends special boy and oc, F, and his own Persona Achilles!

Today, we'll be discussing my character this time; My handsome man N! (Completely unrelated to N from Pokemon Black and White, love that depressed prince though <3)

N is a 25 (if 2002) year old, or 30-31 during Persona 3's time (2009-2010), or 39 during Persona 5's time (2016). Regardless of age though, he's a handsome Mexican lad, who despite being just a smidge shorter than his lover F, is a pretty tough and strong dude! He's a masc brunet with a love for Greaser and biker fashion, who loves reading cheap romance novels, working on cars and motorcycles, exercising in the morning, and listening to 80's rock. He is very calm, cool, suave, and a really chill guy despite his sometimes pessimistic attitude!

Though like F, he too struggles with his own trauma and demons. But, through F's love and support, as well as his high-on-life attitude, N overcomes it one day at a time, healing their scars together while living with their heads held high.

N's chosen Persona of course is the other Mythological hero of the Trojan war, and the major supporting character of Homer's Iliad, Patroclus! Or Pátroklos, depending on the version/language used!

Unlike Achilles, who takes a human-like form, Patroclus takes a more robotic shape, resembling that of a transformer of sorts. Its big yet sleek, with parts of it reminiscent of both a badass old style sports car, like a 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans-am, and some of the sickly designed cars from Mad Max!

The torso is big and bulky, with a leather jacket-like shape forged from the black steel cover the silver-blue metal skin below, with thick spikes similar to the ones on Achilles armor. Only instead of silver, they're a gold-ish tinted bronze. Its arms are thick and bulky too, with transformed metallic parts lining it all the way down to the hands.

Within its forearms, a pair long of bronze spear-like blades lie within, which can be ejected out similar to stiletto blades, or the Mantis blades in Cyberpunk 2077! This represents the two spears Patroclus had taken while acting as Achilles, in order to fight off the oncoming Trojan's! From its stomach, up, and hanging over its shoulders lie thick pairs of silver pipes, two on each side, resembling exhausts that pump out thin wafts of silver smoke. When the Persona is engaged though, it puffs out big plumes of black exhaust, revving up as it prepares to attack!

Connecting down from these pipes, to the topmost area of its stomach, also known as the Sarpedeon's midriff, a large furnace like hatch lies there, with a large visible hole piercing through the grating, lined with that same bronze-gold. This represents the fatal wound Patroclus had received from the Hector, the Trojan prince, while disguising as Achilles!

And not only that, but the blue flame that floats within the furnace-like engine that fills the torso. Despite its appearance, the area around the flame is cold to the touch, and will instantly freeze you if touched. This represents not only Patroclus' life force, but also his still existing soul even after death, and being set free by his boy being burned upon a pyre! Not only that, but it represents the damage N has faced in his own life, with the metaphorical cover over his heart/soul damaged and scarred.

For Patroclus' legs, much like its arms, they are made up of transformed metal parts laid over bronze wire-like thigh muscles, and hefty metallic calves with two deep azure blue motors. The right motor has the name "BALIUS" printed in bold black, while the left has the name "XANTHUS" printed in bold white.

The names and motors themselves reference quite a few things actually! Firstly, the names reference the two immortal horses Balius and Xanthus, who, while not chosen to pull Patroclus' chariot, were very close to him and only allowed him to touch and care for them. During his death, it was even said in the Iliad that the two horses wept for him!

Alongside that, it also references Patroclus' own love for horses, and a slight connection to the symbolism of dice that is often associated with him. Whereas the motors themselves on the other hand connect to N's love for engineering and his connection to being a car mechanic, which happens to be a big part of his life!

Anyway, the two motors connect down to a large pair of wheels for the feet, which allow Patroclus to zip around fast! Upon its back, it probably has a place for N to grab onto and catch a ride on the Persona if needed. Lastly, for its head, it has a metal drill-like Greek olive wreath headpiece, its mask-like silver head similarly shaped to N's while partly protected by the exhaust pipes. Its eyes glow a deep blue, and its hair is shaped similar to N's, resembling a layered slickback undercut, with a pair of thin metal strips resembling twisted overhanging strands!

Similar to Achilles and F, I'm not entirely sure was Patroclus and N's Arcana would be persay? Maybe the Moon, or the Emperor? Heck, maybe even Death or the Hierophant! But I do know that much of Patroclus' skills would focus on Bufu/Ice magic, a few healing spells, and a signature physical move! Think kinda like Morgana, Yosuke, or Makoto's Persona kits!

Also, can you tell I've thought about this one a LOT in-depth?

Anyway, now we can FINALLY GET TO THE CHARACTER DETAILS FOR N!

For his SEES gear, it would be a bulky black leather jacket with a blue or white tanktop underneath, zipped up partway for protection, but also comfort! He likes to have his chest show a little :3c Ofc, he'd have the signature SEES special armband on his shoulder. N would also have a pair of off-black pants, with pair of solid leather gloves, his white Evoker holster wrapped around his right thigh, aviator goggles, and a pair of big bulky combat boots equipped with steel tips!

That's right, his weapon are boots! Unlike Chie though, whose style of fighting mimics the kung-fu and karate films she loves, N's is a combination of Kickboxing, Muay Tai, and Jeet kune do! He strikes with his fists before delivering a combination of 1-3 big, badass kicks to knock out his opponents! Think kinda like how Spike Spiegel fights in Cowboy Bebop!

Anyway, for his Phantom Thieves costume, its a lot similar to his SEES outfit and normal war, but with a twist. The main inspiration for it is none other than the outfit of the protagonist of th Mad Max film series, Max Rockatansky! More specifically, the outfit he wears within the 2015 video game. N dons a wholly leather outfit like Max, and surprisingly, Makoto! (btw can you tell she was an inspiration for this? Like a LOT?!)

Between a leather jacket, with a single leather pauldron, leather belts, leather harnesses, leather jeans, leather boots, leather gloves, how many times can I say leather? And of course his mask, which unlike F's, is an ornate metal mask like this one, but yknow with the bottom half cut for his face, giving a strangely elegant appearance to this overall tough and rough outfit!

And last but not least, N's codename.... Fury, named after the "Furies", also known as the Erinyes or Eumenides, the Greek goddesses of death and vengeance who punish the wicked and sinners!

Yes, I know N is a cisgender man, but I thought it'd be a really cool name and tie-in, given that Patroclus' death is avenged by Achilles!

"But, Ammy, wait-" I hear you say as you look down, "Why is there another part???"

Well my dear friends and readers, due to the big size of this one too (and because I'm a sneak), I'm doing a part 3 where I'm going to discuss the 2nd Evolution/Ultimate Personas of F and N, as well as some fun miscellaneous stuff! Maybe even answer some questions, so I hope you look out for it after enjoying this one!

[markantonys]

Do you think they'll start to get into the fear and hatred of the Dragon as a figure in s3? Cause right now that's one of the most glaring things that's missing from Rand's arc currently. And I worry they won't do it at all cause they introduced the idea that the Dragon could be a woman and since Saidar isn't Tainted there wouldn't be any reason to fear a female Dragon. They could frame it as whoever was LTT reborn would be feared just cause of what he did or the Dragon being feared regardless cause they signify the end of the Age. But if they don't introduce it at all I feel like it would be a mistake cause it's such an integral part of Rand's arc

i feel like i've gotten this question 1 Million Times already, so let me pose you a question right back: do you in the year 2023 spend every day of your life fretting about how scary achilles was and how destructive the trojan war was? no? then why do you expect the general population of randland to be constantly hung up on something that happened THREE THOUSAND years ago?

there has been no opportunity or reason to get into societal fear of the dragon in the first 2 seasons because no one has any CLUE that he's been reborn (bar the like 7 specific characters in the know, all of whom know rand personally and don't have reason to be afraid of him just yet). the figure of the dragon is SO FAR REMOVED from anyone's everyday life at this point in the story. LTT and the breaking are to them what the trojan war is to us - something that they know probably did really happen, but it was so fucking long ago and there have been so many stories spun about it since then that it feels more like myth than history. and it CERTAINLY doesn't feel like something they need to be concerned about in any way.

people have been whining that the show's making it out like only aes sedai hate/are scared of rand, but that is because they are the ONLY people so far for whom the dragon is a present and pressing reality. we will see wider societal reactions to the dragon once rand has been Public Dragon for more than "5 seconds in front of people who are just happy their city's not getting blown up anymore." (plus, it's safe to assume that Average Joes don't know or don't care about vague prophecies of the dragon being reborn, Someday, and causing more problems, in the same way that aes sedai know and care. Average Joes need concrete evidence that this is a current, real problem for them personally before they will start to get worried.)

at risk of sounding like a broken record from my 1 Million previous responses to this question, just because the show hasn't gotten to a certain Theme yet doesn't mean it never will. the early books were focused on rand's internal struggles with being a male channeler, and we did not start seeing much in terms of societal reactions to the figure of the dragon reborn until rand became Public Dragon starting in book 4. the show hasn't gotten there yet. relax. something isn't "missing" if it was barely a thing yet at this point in the books either. people really need to stop going IT'S MISSING when later-series things haven't yet appeared in the first 2 seasons. now, if we get to season 4 and everyone is holding hands and singing about how much they love the dragon reborn, then feel free to say "i told you so", but you know as well as i do that that is most certainly not going to happen.

also, the show suggesting that the dragon could be a woman is irrelevant. people don't go around every day saying "i'm so worried about 3000-year-old mythology repeating itself again Right Now, but oh! the dragon might be reborn a woman, so it might all be fine!" like no. NONE of this is on their radar WHATSOEVER at this time. and sure, IF they heard "the dragon has been reborn and it's a woman" then maybe they'd be less afraid. but that's not what they're going to hear, so it's irrelevant.

(besides, the mythology is that the dragon could save or break the world. a female channeler could turn to the dark and could break the world just as easily as a male one, even if she isn't affected by madness. or since last time the dragon was male and the dark one corrupted saidin, maybe this time if they were female then he'd corrupt saidar and the events of 3000 years ago would repeat. the show suggesting that the dragon could be a woman does not in any way lessen the inherent danger of the figure - in fact, the show implies even more strongly than the books do that the whole dragon-breaking-or-saving-the-world thing has happened infinite times. and maybe only 2 of those times had saidin madness as a factor.)

[neonmetro]

I just want to say that I LOVE DECO AND EVE SMM AND I'M GLAD I'M GOING TO SEE MORE OF THEM AND THE APOCALYPSE HORSEMEN LOOK SO BADASS, THIS OC WORLD LITERALLY HAS ME IN HEADLOCK

Also, Ulysses, my baby, he needs all of the love in the world. I feel so bad for him, WAHHHHHH.

-Ulysses loving anon(Ty I am SO well fed)

WAHOO !!! i've got a few horsemen pieces that are wips at the moment... when i finish them i'll post em here :))

don't let his never ending misery and torment fool you he is still an bitter old asshole...

BG INFO the founding are all the roman olympians but as just The government its essentially just a bunch of old money nepo babies. menelaus and agamemnon thought if they just killed them the problems with the current government would be solved because all the members of this one particular family was involved with the gov, if they just killed them then there can't possibly be more corruption in the government. right? right? a note is that the founding had ampules that made them effectively immortal because they just used soul gems to repair their own bodies

idk what is Going On With troy yet but during the founding it was pretty fucked with laws (absolutely having no regulations with contracts/magical girls/vagabonds) and even though there was a central government, essentially every district was for themselves because of the major language and cultural barrier.

1st 5 years of the illium war was just general destruction in an attempt to harm the founding (didn't really work), 2nd 5 years was espionage and trying to find ways of killing the founding (events of the odyssey), and last 5 years was erasing any memory of the founding (destroying every statue, memorial, and work depicting them) + trojan horse was let into a section of the city that housed solely government buildings and it turned all the founding into vagabonds and provoked them into killing each other with no thought of using those ampules

i did adapt almost all the monsters so when you see that. they're all just vagabonds (though kalypto is not included)

lotus eaters are eta vagabonds, though just a hivemind trying to recruit more people into their hivemind peacefully

cyclops is a herder and still the son of neptune (who controls the sea mechanically with like. tuning forks)

land of the giants is just. giant vagabonds

circe permanently turns a few of ulysses' men into vagabonds and feeds them to him (including polites), perma killing them

ulysses shoots with his gun to get the herb moly from the ground instead of mercury giving it to him, circe tells him to go talk to the former magical girl tiresias, which she heard that some of the souls revived so they should probably go check up on that

hades is just a part of the chastise district where through all of the achaean's destruction, has actually led some of the dead souls buried to revive and turn into vagabonds (later novaturi government fully prevents this by having undertakers at its graveyards) tiresias is the one who tells him the only real way to prevent the founding from reforming their flesh with souls is to hurt the souls directly and ulysses interprets that as MAKE A TOY HORSE AND MAKE THEM GO ALL INSANE.

tiresias recommends he listens to the calls of the siren to get a feel of how he should create the silly little horse and so he does. hallucinates penelope and is fucking losing it while tied to the mast

SCYLLA AND CHARBYDIS. VAGABONDS AND JUST MORE DEATH. (similarly to the odyssey he tries to fight scylla but fails regardless and almost gets another 6 men killed)

they drop off to get some supplies, turns out the village is cursed and every one who ate beef fucking burns alive right in front of him and all his remaining crew die. tragic

he skedaddles on his own, meets with kalypto who saves him from the shore and he stays for 7 weeks before returns to the main military base and they start planning on erasing the founding entirely

he doesn't get the same help he does in the odyssey, with the exception of minerva, but she kinda. always thought he was her little guy and while she did help him, she didn't fully understand his intentions was to fully wipe her and her family out. like, she's the person that got him into the high military position he was in, and she was actively helping him out of sticky situations with her family and he still indirectly killed her

[pomegranatepip]

so cute!! ty for the tag @deusfoundry and @lavlynyan <3 finally getting around to doing this xD

answers under the cut

• how do you spend your free time?

i spend most of my free time gaming, reading, playing chess or watching stuff like science vids (big astronomy nut here as well as quantum physics even though i understand NOTHING about it 😭) and I'm slowly filling more of my time with writing as well

• what are your hobbies and how did you get into them?

reading, first and foremost. I got into it when I was like. 4 or 5 when my mum got me those enid blyton books and I've been hooked since then, expanding my reading list perpetually. then we have writing, which I've been doing since like 7th grade? my stories were silly at first but there was no mistaking the joy i derived from it and that helped me stick to it even though it got harder later 😭 and then we have gaming, which I got into when i first played solitaire on the family computer as a kid 💀 but I started properly gaming when I got into stardew valley a couple of years ago. I'm especially huge on indie games. some of my all time favs apart from sdv are the cosmic wheel sisterhood, the red strings club and gris

• what book or movie left a lasting impression on you?

ohh this is tough. if I had to pick amongst books, I'd say beyond the wall by tanya landman (absolutely loved the story i should really go reread it, it's been a while), silence of the girls by pat barker(retelling of the trojan war but from the perspective of a slave girl) or (bear with me) the pjo series (shaped my personality growing up, as cliche as it is)

amongst movies, i would say the chronicles of narnia series (LISTEN i enjoyed them growing up and they stuck with me :( idk they're just so nostalgic and also. ben barnes) harry potter (again: grew up with them also screw JKR while we're here), greta gerwig's little women, and nolan's interstellar

• what kind of music do you enjoy?

my music taste is literally anything I enjoy listening to xD pop, rock, classical, r&b, whatever suits my fancy

• who is your favorite character (atm or all time) and why?

idk if I can pick an all-time fav 😭 but right now it's the l&ds men, specifically rafayel. I could list all the characters that have had a profound impact on me instead but we'd be here all night then

tagging @its-de @bunmallowish @zylusmusings @valstmblrart and anyone else who's interested 🤍

tag + q&a game ₊˚ෆ

hello! i thought it would be cute and exciting to do a tag game with all my mutuals to not only talk about themselves, but have fun! so here is my short little game:

alongside this picrew, share 5 things about yourself!

• how do you spend your free time? • what are your hobbies and how did you get into them? • what book or movie left a lasting impression on you? • what kind of music do you enjoy? • who is your favorite character (atm or all time) and why?

i will start first!

my name is rurumi and i enjoy spending my free time writing!

some of my hobbies (outside of writing) includes: drawing, building gundams and keyboards, and fashion! i got into most of them on a whim and became instantly hooked. aside from self-expression, being into fashion also helps with making friends in college because you always have something to talk about!

a book that left a lasting impression on me would have to be either kafka on the shore by haruki murakami or before the coffee gets cold by toshikazu kawaguchi. both stories have kept me up at night thinking a lot about the 'what ifs' in life.

i enjoy soul/r&b alongside anything of jrock influence, but i will basically listen to anything that sounds good. i am currently listening to 'so what' by lucy!

my favorite character at the moment is rin itoshi from blue lock because hes so ridiculously edgy, but at the same time i sympathize with him a lot. on the other hand, my favorite character of all time is suletta mecury from the witch from mercury series, she's an absolute ball of sunshine that i aspire to be.

tagging (+ no pressure) ₊˚ෆ

@kaiser1ns @naenaex0xx @shomatoriashi @choccorin @ryescapades

@rindreamery @soleillunne @kissxcore @rainswept @mitsvriii

[littlesparklight]

I got an idea to collect some quotes (from the Iliad and the Bibliotheke, specifically) on how the war was conducted pre-Iliad. So, here, with some comments!

"For it was in the second year after the abduction of Helen that the Greeks, having completed their preparations, set out on the expedition […]" Bibliotheke, Epitome, 3.18

I think this, having 1-2 years before the Achaeans are ready at the first muster at Aulis makes a lot of sense.

Regardless so of whether you go along with both Helen's statement in the Iliad (Book 24), and the Bibliotheke (I didn't include the rest of the quote that mentions it, but it's attached to the quote above) that it's been twenty years in total, ten of fighting, ten between Helen leaving Sparta and the Achaeans landing at Troy or not. Giving them some time to like, gather resources would be kind of necessary.

"Putting to sea from Tenedos they made sail for Troy, and sent Ulysses and Menelaus to demand the restoration of Helen and the property." Bibliotheke, Epitome, 3.28

The Bibliotheke has the embassy be after they're reached Tenedos; in the Kypria it's even after they've managed to land at Troy's shores, and thus after the first battle. Some (much) later sources (Dictys and/or Dares, I believe) have the embassy be sent before the Achaeans leave the first time.

"A period of nine years having elapsed, allies came to join the Trojans[…]" Bibliotheke, Epitome, 3.34

This one's interesting, I think! I have no idea if this late arrival of the allies is because no other source at all mentions any specific time and thus this hinges on that in the Iliad, there are some very late arrivals. (The Paeonians under Asteropaios and Pyraechmes, having arrived eleven days ago by the last day of fighting in the Iliad, so during the twelve days of waiting after the plague, and Rhesus, the same day as the embassy to Achilles and Diomedes and Odysseus' night raid is on.) The Kypria had a "Trojan Catalogue" like appears in the Iliad, basically at the end (which led into the Iliad), which would add to an impression that the allies arrived closer to the Iliad than not.

On the other hand, I do think it'd be weird if all the allies have only been present for a month at most, by the start of the Iliad. A year before (so, eight instead of nine as the Bibliotheke has it) might make more sense, because otherwise Sarpedon's talk in the Iliad looks more like whining than reasonable complaint.

"You used to say that you would hold the city without an army, without allies, you alone with your brothers-in-law and your blood brothers [...]" Book 5, Sarpedon

If we take the above quote from the Bibliotheke into account and so go with that most (but probably not all, some of the allies from within the Troad, which falls under Troy's remit, would/could reasonably have been present for most if not all of the ten years) allies arrive late, it makes Hektor's "boast" a statement of fact. Of course, in the current circumstances that Sarpedon brings this up, he can well use this as a rebuke! But if the Trojans fought alone for most of the war, then... yes, Hektor has been able to do this!

"During the time Achilles the godlike came to battle, never did the Trojans go beyond the Dardanian gates […]", Book 5, Hera

"[…]but so long as I was fighting among the Achaeans, Hector was not minded to stir up battle beyond the wall, but used to come only as far as the Scaean gates and oak tree. There he once stood up to me alone, and barely escaped my onslaught." Book 9, Achilles

"Now Zeus has given us one day worth all the others, to seize the ships, the ships that coming here against the gods' woll has laid much suffering on us, through the cowardice of our elder counselors, who kept me from fighting when I wished to by the ships' sterns, and checked our army. […]" Book 15, Hektor

These three gives us a rather good idea of how the Trojans have been fighting up until the Iliad/the arrival of the allies. Which, again, if they were alone for most of the war, it'd make a lot of sense.

You do not want to fight an overwhelming force face to face, down on open ground where you can be easily mowed down. Hektor's complaint is a bit foolish in that case, but he's also talking from the current circumstances of the Iliad and having had some (if variable) rousing success. And even if the elders have championed a perfectly reasonable and much safer strategy than Hektor's desire for glory and to finally drive the invading enemy out might prefer, Hektor's frustration is pretty reasonable too. You also have Achilles' mention of him and Hektor having met in a duel once before!

"Station your men by the wild fig tree, where the city is easiest to scale and the walls can be overrun. Three times they came there and tested it […]" Book 6, Andromache

This could be on either side of the city; I would make a guess and say it's at the point where the city walls would be joining up with the citadel walls. In general that is a weak point, but both of those spots would be where the god-built walls are joining up to perfectly regular, mortal-built walls. Of course that would be a weak point. It's also happened three times, so you could put them at any point during the nine years previous. Obviously, by the earlier quotes, the Trojans have been fighting on/next to the walls either way, but these three assaults were clearly different, so they'd be of particular note and probably drama, for both sides.

[littlesparklight]

<3 thank you @papillon82fluttersby :D

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four ships:

Zeus/Ganymede: feel like it'd be a crime not to start here, haha. I've always been into mythology, but randomly thinking about Ganymede's myth a couple years ago now (that long!!) got me wanting to read Greek myth stuff, and I started with the Iliad (for the Trojan-related angle) and the Bibliotheke, and so. I might currently be more focused elsewhere but this is still my beloved ship <3 You can do so much with them, and, especially, I'd say, by interpreting them as mutually in love. There's obviously other m/m couples in Greek myth and even one of those that at first looks tragic doesn't need to end that way (Apollo/Hyacinthus) but there are so many reasons Zeus/Ganymede is the one that has me by the throat.

Menelaos/Paris: Honestly, looking back I'm not quite sure how I didn't zero in on this one from reading the Iliad itself the first time, because this is definitely one of the flavours of ships I love. This ship is also what led to, first, Helen/Menelaos/Paris for me and then Helen/Paris, because 99% of the time I just don't care at all about het ships. This ship is also why I currently am like I am about Paris! Make no mistake, I didn't hate or dislike him before that, either, like the majority of Tumblr (and elsewhere) seem to do; reading the Iliad I mostly thought him kinda hapless and inoffensive, so going from there and liking him wasn't that big of a step. The possibility of them having bonded during those nine days in Sparta (or in Troy!), going from friends (or more) to enemies with complicated feelings still in the background is just so damn juicy to me.

Carmilla/Laura: original novella flavour! One day I hope to do a rewrite/retelling of my own, that would definitely end with Laura going or otherwise together with Carmilla, one way or another. The way Carmilla talks to/about Laura and what they feel for each other is just. so great. The caterpillar quote. The one about Laura loving her or hating her, and especially "love will have its sacrifices; no sacrifice without blood". And you know. The boob-biting to feed is extremely inspired and very hot, even if Le Fanu undoubtedly didn't mean it that way. I don't care. They're mine now. :)

Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker: Since I am so deeply into gen&family ships aside from romantic/sexual shipping, it feels, again, like a crime not to mention these two. The ST might have broken the back of my fannish engagement in SW currently, but these two? I love them. I love Luke's impossible and earnest belief in his father's inherent goodness, I love that fucking scene at the end of ESB where Vader reaches out and Luke reflexively, despite everything, says 'father?' HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT???

Last song: Oh, uhh... I don't remember, but it's possible it was Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer (happens to be one of my Helen/Paris songs for late war lol). I end up listening to a row of songs while drawing, sometimes (which is the only time I can listen to music and actually do something else at the same time), but it could have been another one, just as well.

Currently reading: Iliaden - en cover, by Dimitrios Iordanoglou, which is a (pretty heavily, sometimes) abridged and modernized version of the Iliad where the language is extremely slangy sometimes and the setting has been moved into "present day". Everyone uses guns and stuff. Apollo's main epithet is now "the Bomber" lol and he uses bombs and grenades. It's both extremely fun(ny) and really interesting, even if the language used sometimes make me wince even when I get why he's chosen it. But it's exactly because I know the changes he's made etc. that makes it extra interesting. When he keeps lines word-for-word from the Iliad they both stick out and fit in very well and it's interesting to see that, too. Also, and much longer than the above, is Paris in the Epic Tradition : a Study in Homeric Techniques of Characterization by Roberto Nickel, his thesis from 1997! I've mentioned it before; Nickel is exploring the possibility of the Iliad having changed/presented Paris (a lot) differently from how he might have been in traditional oral epic material. It's really interesting!

Last movie: Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! Loved it, a lot of fun, and despite how long it was, it all moved along at a good clip, nothing dragged.

Craving: Uh... :C Fics/art for my rare pairs? lol

Tagging: @a-gnosis @battlinghurricanes @crowlilies @my-name-is-apollo @scribeprotra @kebriones

[tiddiesoutwhenthetisout]

how can someone explain my thoughts better than i can with much-needed brevity? (verbosity is my weakness lol)

btw, extraversion and extroversion are basically the same. just a spelling difference that is creating a rift between people who think they know better and people who actually do know that the intended spelling by its pioneer, carl jung, was extraversion (not O, which was something written by... some other person later on in a case study iirc, probably to give it a nice ring when placed side-by-side with introversion.)

if we go by jung's definition of an extrovert, it's being outgoing, sociable, expressive, assertive, and really just has no problem approaching a person and talking to them. introversion is the opposite (calmer, less unhinged really but can also be a piece of shit; prime example being patroclus). these concepts, though, have evolved over time, as does everything under the sun and even above it. we all know academic subjects involve a lot of proving and disproving, adding, subtracting, and deconstructing. with respect and honor of course (most of the time). psychology especially loves the usage of the word "multidimensional", which basically means that we cannot really define things in black and white. we're no longer in the 1950s < 3 (throwing shade at other dichotomies lol)

if you're familiar with the OCEAN (big 5, used in employment, fun little test like the MBTI but is more considerate of other traits), you'll know what i'm talking about. but it's a test measuring your scores on 5 traits, namely openness (opposite of stubborn, so definitely agamemnon has a low score here), conscientiousness (being organized and put together; good example is not me as you can see from this text), extraversion (ah, our honorary member-- important to note that a definition by mccrae and costa, pioneers of the OCEAN test, is seeking stimulation in the company of others), agreeableness (the ability to get along with people but not being a human doormat in order to achieve that), and neuroticism pertaining to how close you are to reaching psychoticism. not to scare you, but in eysenck's diagram, being an extroverted neurotic has you in line for the next vlad the impaler. jokes aside, it's being high-strung, anxious-- you're more of the mom who worries about everything than the dad who says "let them live" as he sips beer and watches his kids try to touch an electric fence. (somehow this makes me think of thetis and peleus lol)

so since we're here anyway, i think tsoa achilles would score on the OCEAN test:

*i initially thought of doing all three, but i don't want to be overconfident in my abilities (they're weird in the first place) to hop onto a characters head without getting to know them since i haven't finished iliad nor hades.

*note that i took this test for him from my pov as an outsider/3rd person pov, so of course it disregards his self assessment.

(just for fun, here's tsoa patroclus and i think i got something muddled up-- i didn't know whether to take the test as him in his childhood or him in adulthood so do with this what you'd like)

*i think, though, most of that agreeableness comes from his time in the latter half of the trojan war. the neuroticism i believe is mostly from his younger years, also that middling openness is just clashing worlds. conscientiousness; i agree it's quite high because of how he grew up and it's part of his personality but i'm not sure how high it should be bc i somehow believe he can also be a messy guy from time to time, or in other aspects (like his clothes on the floor).

funny how these show how much patroclus has matured compared to achilles lol he's like that one guy who peaked in highschool (sorry)

anyway,

slight BS because i tend to overanalyze but,

i haven't played hades myself, though i've read articles about it and seen some of its scenes. so correct me if i'm wrong, and know that in the next few sentences i will probably wear clown pants. all i could say about its achilles was "resigned". he carries more guilt than rage, hesitation from uncertainties instead of thinking everything will work out anyway, because it's him.

casually inserts the tsoa thing where he sincerely said he could not imagine others would bully him.

he slows down to think about consequences. takes a step back and considers the entire situation. it's like baby's first taste of "being restricted by your circumstances (besides the idea of dying young)", but it's also because he no longer thinks of himself and none other. he's probably tired of the idea of glory and just wants to spend the rest of eternity in peace with patroclus. he seems attached to the main character (they have a mentor-mentee relationship apparently?), and he seeks no other company but patroclus (who he doesn't bring up until you do?).

as far as i've seen, it's like he's slightly anxious, now somehow unsure of himself, but of course it's not equivalent to having dogshit self-esteem. i guess you can say he's not hardcore defending his skills because he's secure with them (and has no problem admitting something is out of reach), but he's shaky about his own character and capability of getting things done. like he's aware of his abilities (and that no matter how good you are at fighting, it won't solve everything), but now he understands that you can be worthy as a person without medals and gold stars and that awards and pins are just not priority anymore. the fact that this was the cause of his grief in life seems to have taught him to chill out.

i know there's an entire thing about arete which will probably require a whole other post if i had to integrate that into my analysis, so i'll skip it. but know that he's acting like the kinda guy who had his ass handed to him and got absolutely humbled. i would be too if i was shot by fucking paris.

i have a lot more to say honestly (probably to justify myself) but i don't want to make this too long. so, moving on,

TSOA achilles. my favorite part was him ignoring deidameia (i like her, and when i say favorite, i mean that in the sense that it gives me such good insight into his character and not that i condone his actions).

"are you well?"

nothing. no light in his eyes. responding only when patroclus asked him in her stead. considerate, considerate man, an absolute feminist too.

btw, happy birthday patroclus!

🎉🎉🎉

i'm sitting here trying to take apart your boyfriend's interesting personality because you wanted people to remember him for who he is instead of merely as a great warrior.

continuing,

"the princess wants to know if you are well."

"oh. i am well."

and then he goes back to eating.

oh our little golden boy was such an asshole here, but in all honesty i can't blame him. thetis kinda held them by the neck and made them kiss like my childhood barbies. though, we get a general idea of his lack of interest in other people besides his already-established connections (and he seems very picky too). he listens to odysseus yap because he is interested in the stories, trying to find a way to cheat the prophecy. to defy the fates. to change the course of his life, and interested in doing this only because patroclus exists.

he loves the attention (definitely licked his lips while he stood there above the people at aulis), and, once again omitting arete from the equation because that would send me flying off to a whole other tangent, didn't mind that the other boys back when he was a baby in pthaia were "drooling over his attention like the dogs who fought for scraps under the table" - patroclus. but he wasn't interested in any of them, and was in his own little world most of the time. conking out as he greeted a visitor (agreeableness: minus 50), barged into peleus' throne room without knocking, juggling when he feels like it then leaving when he feels like it, answering the call of whimsy (he's tbh right for that)... babyrdie correct with "between extra and intro".

he doesn't need the existence of others to enjoy himself because he has his own pace, but he appreciates the presence of someone he truly considers a close companion. he doesn't mind the attention either, and has zero issues with public speaking, nor with speaking to people. approaching them and striking a conversation when he wants to. but he doesn't share unnecessary details, he keeps things to himself (especially on his meetings with thetis) and he does seem to mull things over before saying them (as for frequency, idk). he listens when patroclus yaps. he's probably spontaneous so people will have a hard time keeping up if they aren't acquainted well enough with him.

tldr: living in his own world and talking to you only when he's interested in your existence are good tells of introversion (from a very simple standpoint), but craving the attention and validation of others shows his extraverted side. ambivert, a lot of people would say, but definitely leaning more towards introversion.

Iliad Achilles

i tbh dk much except that he's very dramatic (he is all throughout but maybe the long, winded monologues enhanced this flavor).

he has more friends there. not like his friendless fuck status in tsoa (sorry). he socializes more than he did in tsoa (and hades too, i think, but bros literally in the underworld). he feasted and drank with his soldiers. not sure if holding the funeral games counts, but i think he was outwardly expressing his grief for his dead lover so that's extroversion. although it's also a customary practice when someone falls in battle if i'm correct. although, he is doing a lot of things for himself and his own satisfaction, drawing from himself the inspiration for doing things. mourning alone as well. not explaining himself when he doesn't see the need to. being so fucking stubborn and this is not related to his I or E tendencies but i have to call him out on it every opportunity i get.

all of them, though, are very disciplined. attending practice and training on their own despite the fact that he can tbh just shirk the responsibility lol. chiron's cave too. curious, inquisitive, adherence to principles that were a part of his culture (except that time with hector). he would also believe things people tell him, not because he's naive but because he trusts them to be sincere and pure in their actions and words. it's the ultimate bro code (am i using that right? probably not). i think that's why he scored high on openness (he would be open to new ideas and would have little reservation to try them out if applicable (he got that from peleus), unlike patroclus who would probably be a little more hesitant with accepting the shit that come out of people's mouths --sorry odysseus-- which essentially allows him to be creative and see escape routes that others normally wouldn't. he's more neurotic too because a lot of thoughts occupy his head and he had this... this really bad childhood lol. achilles is an orange cat.

funnily enough i recall patroclus likening him to a cat twice (stretched like a mountain cat, faced him with his cat's smile). so there we go (lol). it's a funny detail sorry, i find it cute. they're already playing the "which animal reminds you of your boyfriend" game hahaha- ahhh youth.

also, menoetius and his one-track mind, which probably stuck to his son one way or another (not completely, but some principles do originate consciously or unconsciously from your main parental figure).

once again there are many different definitions of things nowadays, so of course we can't classify things under a certain category and call it a day, but it's always fun to use your imagination < 3

and why?

i'm interested because i see him interpreted as an E in pdb (which can be unreliable) so drop your thoughts? indicate if you're sourcing from TSOA or the iliad too (because there can be differences, such as him leaning towards extraversion in the iliad and intraversion in tsoa imo). sure, the hades game too.

[fandomchaosposts]

Disclaimer: I can not guarantee that you will not have read the recs nor that they will be your cup of tea

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (more like all the riodanverse but chronogically it's before the Heroes of Olympus and the Trials of Apollo series so I'll just mention this one, really nice books, some people think they're childish but I think as long as you're into Greek mythology you're not too young to read them, there's actual representation of not white cishet ppl later on - I don't remember about the first one sadly - , written but Rick Riordan, pretty popular so they won't be hard to find), plot: Percy Jackson is a half blood, son of a Greek god, monsters are after half bloods, there's a camp where they're safe, he goes on mythology-related quests with his pals, number of books (nob for short): 5

The song of Achilles (written by Madeline Miller, what can I say about this book I've only read it once but I absolutely loved it, if I didn't have such a big tbr list I'd have already read it again) plot: set in ancient Greece at the time of the Trojan war, it's a retelling of the story of Achilles and Patroclus' relationship from the time they met until their deaths, nob: 1

Arena 13 (not very famous, I was actually gifted the first book and it sucked me in, written by I-don't-remember-who, has kind of an open ending so if you don't like that kind of thing better not to read it, personally thought it was brilliant, am not 100% about the representation tbh) plot: set thousands of years after our times when we're considered ancient, tells the story of a world where machines have taken over and the humans are only allowed to be in a small island, the protagonist trains to fight in the Arena 13 in order to kill he who killed his father - who coincidentally is the one appointed by their oppressors to govern them, nob: 3

Good Omens (also a tv show on Amazon, written by the amazing Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, is really awesome, has a huge fanbase) plot: a demon and an angel are basically trying to stop Armageddon from happening because they got too emotionally attached with Earth and humans, nob: 1

Inkworld series (originally written in German by sadly-I-don't-remember-who, doesn't have a huge fanbase, was originally meant to be a single book so you can read the first one on its own, I recommend reading all of them tho, they are worth it) plot: protagonist's father has the ability to bring characters to life when reading books out loud, he is kidnapped from the villain in order to help him - the villain - , all main characters are later pulled into a book and have to beat the villain there as well, nob: 3

I'm adding 5 recs but if you - or anyone else - wants more feel free to ask!💜

Reblog if you want some book recommendations because I'll be in a ship for four hours and I'll be pretty bored