gingermintpepper

[gingermintpepper]

Recently, I've been thinking about my MonHun Hyapollo AU again which led to me making silly approximations of them in the SunRise character creator,,,

I'm... probably going to talk a LOT about this AU over the coming days.

[gingermintpepper]

Absolutely insane, but thank you very much for the tag!

I'm just playing a lot of HypMic right now lol

Tagging: anyone who feels like it honestly.

tagged by @nothoughtsjustmhaandotherthings!!!!!!

this picrew + the song you last listened too!!

answered this RIGHT after listening to KPop Demon Hunters for the first time haha!! I'M ON A HIGH RIGHT NOWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@alollinglaughingcat hiiii!! also gonna nab @please-help-this-little-lesbian @gingermintpepper @theballadofthesunandthestars @ameliaandreas3

[gingermintpepper]

Rereading Murder at Thymbra for a review and GOD even after almost five years, this fic still hits so hard it leaves me emotional. On the downside, this document is almost 5k and once, again, I am reminded about why I never originally wrote a comment for this fic despite my long, storied history with it LMFAO

[gingermintpepper]

the twins ☀️ (wip)

[gingermintpepper]

So, I'm starting to assemble things for my (first ever!! Wahoo!!!) published work - which is set to be an anthology of Apollo-focused myth retellings! There are quite a few parts I'm still plonking away at because they're so incredibly beefy - namely Cyrene, Zagreus and Orion (don't even know if I'll finish that one bc it's disgustingly complex, go figure) - but I am also short about three tales to make the anthology a nice round ten so I wanted to see if anyone had any specific Apollo tales they wanted to see adapted or retold since, ultimately, I'm hoping for fans of mythology to pick up my works and enjoy it.

There are a couple caveats - his love stories with mortals are off the table and by extension, a lot of his tales regarding his children are also not up for consideration at this time. Cyrene is a really important keystone character for Apollo's development and Aristaeus is a very important god, so it wasn't possible for me to leave her out, but the main focus of this anthology isn't about romantic love but rather an establishing and exploration of different facets of a young Apollo. A lot of my inspiration comes from texts like Calimachus' Hymns, Liberalis' Metamorphoses, Hyginus' Fabulae and Astronomica and Apollodorus' Library for an idea of what kind of tales I've been looking at.

I also want to make it clear that I'm still working on my Hyapollo novel, it's just also an incredibly big project with a lot of moving parts so I'm taking my time to work it out and ensure that I'm really pleased with it before progressing further with it.

In any case, if anyone has any recommendations I'm all ears ☆

[gingermintpepper]

Attending my aunt's funeral today. It's a Hindu funeral, so she'll be burned at the seaside.

I hope the seasalt is a fine taste in her mouth before she begins her new life.

[gingermintpepper]

I recently reread Anne Carson's Eros the Bittersweet (essay on the nature of Eros and depictions of desire, named after Sappho's iconic coining of the term) and I often find myself thinking back to her discussing the part of Plato's Symposium with Alcibiades, Socrates, and the cloak:

There are two garments in this scene and the way Alkibiades uses them is a concrete symbol of his own contradictory desire: he first wraps Sokrates up in his own cloak (because it is a cold winter night) then throws Sokrates’ old coat over himself and lies on the bed, embracing the bundled-up object of his desire, until morning. Both the gesture of embrace and the gesture of separation are Alkibiades’ own. Eros is lack: Alkibiades reifies the lover’s guiding principle almost as self-consciously as Tristan, who places a drawn sword between himself and Iseult when they lie down to sleep in the forest. — Anne Carson

It's honestly endearing and also such a fun mental image, I just had to share for all my Alcibiades and Socrates fans out there.

Also, Eros the Bittersweet is a great read! Her translations of Sappho's poetry (If Not, Winter) are my favourite ones in English by far!

[gingermintpepper]

The amount of toa/pjo Apollo posts on my dash this time has increased alarmingly since I last logged in to tumblr -- which is not a problem, but it's just odd that it's happened. I wonder if something's happened in pjo nation to cause such a spike 🤔

[gingermintpepper]

raidou!🌸

[gingermintpepper]

fare evasion

[gingermintpepper]

The way I was laughing from start to finish reading this. Because what are we doing here - literally what are we doing here.

From this synopsis alone I have a limbillion questions and concerns - like,

The author says the source text for this retelling(???) is the account written in Ovid's Metamorphoses, but ironically, Ovid's account is one of the few where Apollo is entirely at fault for the slaying of Hyacinthus because it was just an honest accident. I.e, there's little reason to drag Zephyrus into this at all.

On the topic of Zephyrus, saying that he's the 'cunning Patron God of Sparta' with your whole entire chest is insane enough that if I wasn't so amused at the abject wrongitude of so much of this, I'd be angry about the Apollo erasure. Because that is as Apollo erasing as you can possibly get.

Shoutout to another piece of fiction that argues for an Apollo that gets married in any sort of official capacity because no and also ew but also I am curious if the sister is Daphne because there are theories/tellings that do place Daphne and Hyacinthus as related.

I could sit here and laugh about the Olympian idol/heartbroken failure line until I literally throw up but I also think that tells me everything I need to know about how the author sees these two. Here's to hoping Thamryis makes a half decent showing since it's a music festival.

In conclusion, this sounds ridiculous in every conceivable way, however, it also sounds like it'll be so bad it's funny which immediately makes me more interested in it than feminist retellings so that's something I guess.

Retelling about Hyacinthus

I hope the sister isn't Polyboea, since one of the tropes for this book is femme fatale

The idea that ancient Greece would be against a Olympian god sleeping with a man from nobility is quite funny, and Zephyrus as the patron of Sparta wasn't on my mind.

[gingermintpepper]

Twenty Questions; Writer edition Tagged by: @littlesparklight <333

Q. How many works do you have on AO3? A. 48! Which isn't a lot but it isn't nothing either - I'm quite happy with such a neat number.

Q. What are your top 5 fics by kudos? A. Super varied collection here damn but:

Of Skipping Stones and Unresolved Regrets: An FFXV genfic about Noctis adopting a baby Behemoth lmao

Phoenix: Absolutely insane Kuroko no Basuke AU where the Generation of Miracles were gods about to bring about the apocalypse and the fate of the world rested on the thin, very frail shoulders of Furihata Kouki - it was also my first real shot at a long fic (it failed miserably lmfao)

What Relationship Bring: Legit the first ever fic I posted on ao3 - a Valentines Free! fic about Sousuke being an idiot

Night of the King Vessels: My only real contribution to the Magi/Adventures of Sinbad fandom which is an EnSin rp turned fic

Like the Dawn (I see you): Greek Mythology fic that was supposed to be an nsfw prompt fill but has more become an excuse for me to practice writing Apollo and Hyacinthus at different points in their relationship.

Q. What fandoms do you write for? A. Right now? Greek Mythology (general), Touken Ranbu, Pokemon, Windbreaker and Arknights I guess! I don't post a lot of what I write so I don't have anything for Windbre or Arknights published yet, but at some point, I'll produce something I'm happy enough with to slap it onto my ao3 lol. Though, to be fair, I don't even talk about Windbre publicly at the moment LMFAO

Q. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? A. I read and adore every single comment but I don't reply to all of them, unfortunately. It's a combination of me being easily discouraged and me being very introverted lol. When I'm writing comments, much like when I write anything, I like to have substance in it, so shorter comments often leave me floundering since 'thank you for commenting' often feels inadequate as a response for how much I appreciate the words of encouragement. Then, I'd draft a long comment which makes me feel uncomfortable because writing 14 lines in response to 2 is somewhat embarrassing. So, in the end, I don't end up saying anything =w= Longer and mid length comments are more liable to get replies just because it gives me more to work with and I can actually talk about the work and the person's thoughts without feeling like I'm being too prideful or mouthy.

Q. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? A. On Ao3, probably A Petal Falleth since that's just Hyacinthus being dead as hell but that I've ever published? Back when I wrote Kagepro fic, I published an utterly insane ShinKuroKono fic that ended with Konoha getting hit by a car LMFAO

Q. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? A. Uhh all of them? I pretty much exclusively write sappy dappy, lovey dovey tripe so --

Q. Do you get hate on fics? A. Not anymore! When I was younger I got a TON of hate on my old Free and Persona 4 stuff with the Persona 4 stuff being so bad that I deleted all those works and exited the fandom altogether (though I did keep writing and planning stuff for it privately). A few of the Free comment threads still exist on those old fics too since I don't remember deleting them but Free girlies back in the day were BRUTAL about their ships and dynamics.

Q. Do you write smut? A. All the time. Always. It is unironically one of my favourite things to write. Sex in literature is one of those topics that I'm like, deliriously passionate about and could talk about for hours because I'm always a little bit bitter about its wasted potential. I've experimented a lot with it and my most recent pet project with regards to it has been trying to figure out where the line between erotica and erotic fiction lies (because I no longer necessarily consider them the same thing anymore) as well as trying to see if it's possible to write sex without it being sexy. Yeah, sex can be funny, uncomfortable, angry and all those good things but I'm specifically interested in romantic sex scenes where sex acts are secondary to the feelings underlying them. Like the Dawn deals with a lot of stuff like this where Hyacinthus is concerned but that's also made writing sex from his perspective incredibly interesting for me. Anyway, yeah, I write a lot of sex LMAO

Q. Do you write crossovers? A. I adore crossovers but I don't often post them! I love Pokemon crossover especially, but I'm also a sucker for tkrb and Inuyasha crossovers! Also, I would never write one just because it'd be So Long but Bleach crossovers are some of my favourite things in existence.

Q. Have you ever had a fic stolen? A. I mean, if someone did steal one of my fics, they did a great job of it because I've never heard about it

Q. Have you ever had a fic translated? A. Nope! But I have translated a few of my unpublished stuff to portuguese for practice here and there. I also write in pt from time to time just to keep my skills sharp but again, I never post stuff like that LOL

Q. Have you ever co-written a fic before? A. A couple times! Mostly with Pokemon crossover stuff because me and my friends always go insane with those u.u

Q. What's your all-time favourite ship? A. Well, that's an impossible question to answer. All-time by what metric? If it's in terms of who I like writing for the most, then probably Originshipping - Steven Stone and Wallace from Pokemon RSE/ORAS. I've been writing for the two of them for well over ten years now and they're a profoundly comfortable couple for me but, if the question is more about a general 'what ship do I think represents me best' then probably Apollo/Branchus. The older I get, the more I think of them as the pinnacle of romance in all the ways that fascinate and endear me? A lifetime of waiting and hoping that culminates not in a fast-burning passionate relationship, but in a partnership - a friendship, a mentorship, a coming together. They were everything to each other and spent so much time preoccupied with each other and yet, theirs isn't a flashy, tragic thing that becomes a song. Instead, it's etched into walls, hidden away but eternal, stalwart and immutable - a partnership of the spirit and it makes me incredibly emotional just thinking about such a nameless, profound love <3

Q. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? A. Man, all of them? On a more realistic note, Synchroncity | Frequence Illusions. And it's so stupid too, I literally have almost 30k of it written - like, I've completed part two and got a decent way through part 3 but I just don't think I'll ever post it for no reason other than insecurity lmfao. I have a lot I want to write about Sesshomaru and about Inuyasha in general too, it's just that once I get into my head about something, it's very difficult to get out again. Maybe if I rewatch Swords of an Honourable Ruler, I'll get the motivation to finish up that last part and my friend can beat me up until I post it all in one fell swoop, but for now, I feel like no one's interested in this specific brand of Sesshomaru character/relationship study so it feels pretty pointless to put up.

Q. What are your writing strengths? A. Character analysis. Something I've always prided myself on is my ability to breakdown a piece of source material and organise my interpretations of those characters in ways that feel loyal to the source material. I suppose my prose is also a point of pride but that's not really for me to determine anymore LOL

Q. What are your writing weaknesses? A. My kneejerk reaction is to say evoking specific emotions but I have it on good authority that I've gotten quite good at that over the years. Now my biggest writing weakness is my tendency to get too lost in descriptions - I have such specific ideas for how I want scenes and characters to be interpreted that I feel like I don't leave enough room for the reader to engage their imagination with a scene lmao. I think as I regain my confidence in my art, I'll learn to ease up more too, but anything else would have to be attested to by second-hand parties lmao

Q. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic? A. Well, it's the same as my opinion on this topic in published fiction - so long as it's elegant and fitting of the style of story being written, go ham. I've seen this kind of thing done successfully a few times - such as fics where the focal point is that a character speaks a different language and their friends are finding out for the first time, or when a character is in distress or overwhelmed and they revert to a more instinctive language but sometimes it's completely unnecessary or doesn't make much sense due to the perspective its written in. I suppose it looks neater if everything is written in one language, but I do so love the diegesis of both the reader and the pov character being equally confused when a character busts out french of something out of nowhere LOL

Q. First fandom you wrote fic for? A. Pokemon! Again, specifically RSE and specifically May/Drew because they are adorable and I was a little Ginger who had not yet been exposed to the concept of homosexuality in any of its forms.

Q. Favourite fic you've ever written? A. A bit of an unsatisfying answer because it's not published but I spend a quite frankly unhealthy amount of time writing out stories associated to my personal Citadel in Touken Ranbu including an Inuyasha crossover that I've rewritten twice now with different squads. I dream of a day where I find the courage to publish some version of this fic because I'm so intensely fond of the relationships, scenarios and research that went into writing it. I'm especially fond of the parallels between Higekiri and Hizamaru's brothership and Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's because there's something so immensely satisfying that comes from presenting Sesshomaru and Inuyasha with a pair of brothers who have hurt each other just as much as they have but are still wholly dedicated to each other because they understand the purpose of their existences. Anyway, I'm really passionate about the Supernatural Society but the chances of me ever doing anything about it are quite slim. Well, not that I really have to do anything anyway - it's still something I treasure immensely with or without other people's opinions on it. I truly wrote it just for me and no one else.

Tagging: @waterlinkedgirl @maelikemaybelline @reawakened-revenant @konu-d @gotstabbedbyapen @firealder2005 and literally anyone else who wants to do this bc it's fun actually <33

[gingermintpepper]

Oooooooh fellow Alcestis and Admetus and Apollo fan? (this is just me nerding out bc they’re weirdly unpopular)

Hello friend!! I'm gonna be so real, I love and adore ALL of Apollo's relationships and entanglements because all of them are beautiful, meaningful and brilliant in their own ways!!

I think the devotion Admetus and Alcestis had for each other and the devotion and loyalty that Apollo extended towards them in turn is some of the most moving love in history point blank period and I do agree that they're oddly underrated, but so are many of Apollo's great loves.

Feel free to ask/yap about them with me whenever!! I absolutely love this trio and I welcome anyone who feels the same with big, broad open arms ♡♡♡

[gingermintpepper]

Who says that these two won't get a taste of their own medicine?

[gingermintpepper]

you can date the exact moment you were bitten on the ass by apollo again.

You say that like Apollo's ever let me out of his jaws since 2008.

[gingermintpepper]

I love waking up and finding out that Riverra-Herrans is going to be following through on that Iliad concept because all I can think is "man, I wonder how disastrously Apollo is going to be erased from the narrative this time :D"

[gingermintpepper]

Freckled Apollo is good, but I actually like the idea of freckled Artemis wayyy more specifically because I think about the Greeks' explanation for Near Eastern people having dark skin being that they were burnt by the sun when Phaethon nearly crashed Helios' chariot that one time a lot.

I just feel like all of that exposure to the sun and Helios' horses and Helios himself would result in him naturally having much darker skin than his sister. Not that he couldn't still have freckles, but at that point they're more liable to be permanent sun-spots due to his over-exposure. Artemis though, who usually moves in heavily shaded areas like forests and swamps and who works in the night? I bet she freckles every time Apollo kisses her cheeks to greet her or whenever they end up wrestling around like cubs over petty nonsense.

You can always tell when Artemis has been spending time with her brother cause she always has the freckles in the spots he touched her last.