#i know the iliad was just a SNIPPET of the war

[menelaiad]

hello here to push my patroclus/menelaus agenda.

they are so similar. in both. character, story (to an extent) and how the bard/author of the iliad treats them.

they are literally both deemed as 'kindly' - the only two.

if y'all make me talk about the defence of patroclus again i'll riot (mother cow. slain for my honour. the DEFENDER not the attacker)

they exist in the shadows of greater heroes (despite being pretty awesome themselves) patroclus in achilles' and menelaus in agamemnon's and yet they don't begrudge that. they're fine... happy with the spotlight being on these other figures because they love them and care for them.

they are catalysts to a greater story. aRUGABLY achilles wouldn't have rejoined the war without patroclus' death and the trojan war would not have started had menelaus not sought help from his brother/partially initiated it himself.

they both have weight on their backs. patroclus is a murderer and an exile. menelaus is cursed and an exile.

they were both suitors to helen. they have met before.

in the agamemnon/achilles fight ... bro. they both can see both sides. they can see achilles' slighted honour and agamemnon's fragile mental state but they can also see achilles' stubborness and agamemnon's willingness to try. they both can't wholeheartedly take a side.

they would have spoke after so much time at troy. they would have got on so well.

there's a line in the paris musical where patroclus sings 'menelaus i indulge your grief, your dignity and your pain' and for a campy insane iconic musical??? it made some points. its got hanDS.

incredible lads.

[chairofchaos]

Evening friend!

You bring chaos to my life so here is a little chaos for you

2, 3, 5, 8, 19, 26

And just for fun because I know it will probably hurt me 40

Feel free to answer what you want and ignore the rest 🤍

GOOD EVENING.

Thank you for letting me bring chaos to your life, and for bringing me some in return. In your honor, I will answer all. Seemed like the most chaotic thing to do. I considered making separate posts for each question but then again that was a lot of work so just... bear with me. This is a long read, but hopefully, you will find it worth it.

2. Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

Yes. I am currently bouncing around multiple Greek/Roman tragedy adaptations of our beloved ACOTAR and TOG characters. I do not feel prepared to write these yet. I want to do them justice. That semester of studying tragic plays of the ancients has stuck with me.

3. How would you describe your writing style?

I don't even know how to answer this, but my best shot is this:

The vibe must be chaotic.

It must be written as fast as possible.

It should be entirely unplanned.

If it is planned, it should be entirely overwhelming and likely a bigger project than I should ever take on *cough cough* LETTERS *cough cough*

It's not a style as much as it is entirely based on my whims. And that's not always great. In fact, it's something I don't really enjoy about myself (comment on this and I will edit it out of this post so fast I SWEAR).

But I enjoy the product. I think there are at least a couple of you that do, too, so hopefully we can all enjoy that little piece of chaos together. If not, I'll just enjoy the pain I create on my own like a good little fanfic writer.

5. What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies?

I don't think such a thing exists. I don't like surprises? Idk, this doesn't really make sense to me. Clearly I have no problem tagging things Dead Dove so we all know what I'm up to lol

8. How slow is a slow burn?

Somewhere between 100 and 100k words. I genuinely do not care. Depends on the medium? The pacing? A slow burn described in a poem is going to look very different than a slow burn in a fic the length of The Iliad and the Odyssey. Or Wheel of Time (that's a long series, right?). I don't care. It's all great. I love slow burns. Haven't written one because I think those characters should be enjoying each other romantically on page 1, but I LOVE reading them.

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

UNANSWERED STARS YOU BEAUTIFUL HUMAN. Is this what you expect to hurt (I haven't looked ahead at the other questions I'm doing this straight through, no edits, no takebacks. Welcome to Chaos- you get two.).

Eris was no saint, either. Cauldron knew he kept his mate up some nights. But the Cauldron also knew Azriel would get out of bed in the middle of the night and take off into flight, not returning until he knew Eris would also be awake. After the first time, they would rarely talk about where Azriel went or what he did. Instead, Eris would press a mug of overly sweet coffee into his hands and they would sit together in silence on the front porch, Azriel’s head on Eris’ shoulder and their hands clasped together. - {Working Title is Coffee and Psychotherapy. THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY FLUFF YOU CAN THANK DUSK-MUSE AND NINTHCIRCLEOFPRYTHIAN}

And maybe more along the lines of what you were expecting:

Azriel found the most enjoyment in the training and teaching of others. In his time as spymaster, he regularly found time to work with young soldiers, for which many have since thanked him, crediting him with saving their lives by instructing them in his limited spare time. In the years since the war, Azriel enjoyed collecting books from all over the world. The collection he amassed was the instigator for a library to honor his mate. - Death, and All That Follows (This may or may not be a sort of extended epilogue to something I wrote recently.)

26. What would you describe as OOC?

This is possibly a wild take: I don't think I care what is out of character for characters I write. It depends on the fic, sure. But I think perspective forms our understanding of characters, and seeing them in a new light can often bring a different, even "OOC" type attitude to fics which I often enjoy. I am very much an advocate for "Don't Like, Don't Read" not only for plot points but for characterization as well. If you don't enjoy the way someone writes your favorite (or your least-favorite!) character, don't read it. The beautiful thing about being a part of a fandom is the diversity of experiences within it.

I did not read Nesta's journey the same way you did, or the way your friend did, or the way my best friend did. I brought my own perspectives, my own experiences, to my interpretation of her actions, words, and thoughts. I came out of the other side loving her, and loving the way she loves. I recognize myself in her. I know I'm not alone in that. I know that there are a great many who do not like her in the slightest.

ACOSF Nesta was presented very differently to ACOTAR Nesta. (For the purposes of this argument, we are removing the debate about The Author Herself because I simply don't care at the moment and that's a much larger topic.) I don't think that anyone's interpretation of Nesta is "wrong" or "bad" because we all bring a pair of glasses to reading, and that glass is made of our experiences. That's the filter through which you consume the work. My glasses are different from yours. That's okay.

Little tangent while we're on the topic: I don't care if your glasses are different. But if you break those glasses to use the shards of glass for the purpose of hurting other people, that's a problem. I have a problem now, and so do you. Because of the inclusion of the argument above, it needed to be said, and so here it is: Don't hurt others because of your glasses. Theirs are different. Please learn to recognize that, and that it is okay to view pieces of media differently. Tangent over.

So TLDR on OOC: I don't care. If you want to write a piece where character canonically named Bubblegum Sunshine Princess because of her (in-canon) overwhelming joy and love of the outdoors and her kingdom's candy trees is a murderous assassin filled with rage and the destructive flame of a thousand suns, go right ahead. There's a very good chance I would love to read it.

40. Write a 9-word fic.

Title: This is a Thing [REDACTED] Learned. The title will be longer than the fic itself, and that's the beauty of The Thing [REDACTED] Learned. Thanks.

A/N: (Stars. My dearest friend. You expect pain here? Now I want to prove you wrong...)

Pairing: Your OTP. Or my OCs. Or is this about my life? Or yours? Who knows. I'm not currently well lol

...........................................

Knowledge came with no promises, no love, no you.

...........................................

All the love, Stars. You're the best. <3<3<3<3<3

[nausikaaa]

WIP Wednesday Thursday

well, wednesday was technically three hours ago, but tumblr only just thought to tell me i’d been tagged by @technetiumai @onepintobean @ic3-que3n and @ileadacharmedlife. thanks guys!

inspiration struck and i wrote a whole chapter of angst for my Trojan War novel. here’s a snippet, it’s Helenus’s POV. content warning for domestic abuse.

All at once pain lances through my body. Every broken bone, every scar I’ve ever earned, they all ignite at once, my body breaking and opening up in one horrible rush of agony. I drop to my knees, screaming soundlessly, the knife skittering off out of reach as I slowly curl in on myself. My ribs snap, my fingers bend, my vision is blurred by blood.

“Always so ungrateful.” Apollo’s voice rings in my head. “All these wounds I healed for you, and you would hurt yourself to spite me?” Somehow, through the layers of pain, every teenage scraped knee and war wound reawoken, I still manage to feel a pronounced kick to my stomach. “You would be dead a hundred times over, if not for me. Or you would be some forgotten slave, with nothing and nobody. You owe me everything!”

A moment ago he was still in my head, but now he is before me, grabbing me by the hair and hauling me up, my feet kicking uselessly a foot above the floor. I struggle like a half drowned kitten held by the scruff of its neck, tears streaking down my face as the pain intensifies, burning hot. “What do you say?”

“I’m sorry.” I gasp.

“Not that.” He tuts. His hair glows. His eyes glow. Darkness creeps into the edges of my vision. I truly hate him, in that moment. I know I’ll not forgive him this time, and I know he accepts that, because he won’t forgive me either. There’s no point in apologising.

“Thank you.” I cry, desperate for the onslaught to end.

“Good boy.” He drops me. The shards of his broken statue dig into my knees and the palms of my hands, but the pain abates. “And you’re welcome.”

this was in part inspired by Helen and Aphrodite’s altercation of book three of the Iliad. these gods do not take kindly to being told off.

it’s late but i’m tagging anyway! take this for next week’s WW, or this week’s SSS. @martsonmars @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 @ionlydrinkhotwater @confused-bi-queer @aroace-genderfluid-sheep @bazzybelle @castawaypitch @ivelovedhimthroughworse @gekkoinapeartree @erzbethluna @facewithoutheart @sillyunicorn @moodandmist @tea-brigade @whatevertheweather @wetheformidables @basiltonbutliketheherb and @theearlgreymage

[little-lazuli]

𝚃𝚊𝚐 & 𝚆𝚒𝚙 𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎

rules: post the name of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have wips.

tagged by: the amazing @thelargefrye , mahalo nui loa for the tag 🫶🏽🫶🏽

just a warning, somewhat long with little snippets and summaries for almost all of them, hope y’all enjoy 🤗

tagging: idk that many people 💀 so here’s some of their majesties, @jacksons-goddess-gaia @atiny-piratequeen @spooo00oky and anyone else wishing to play :)

K-pop wips

As I Told You: A whole class of college students and their professors who are meant to be returning home from a field trip finds themselves missing. No one knows where they went. Only to wake up one morning to find the missing folk returned and something off about them (manifest inspired au)

Box: Donghyuck reaches his limit and explodes, unloading like Pandora’s Box

What Do You See? Someone is kidnapping idols. It takes six months and five kidnappings to realize the pattern, as well as who just might be kidnapped next

Out: Jongho is the tenth victim and finds himself surrounded amongst his fellow kidnapped chingus

Outgrown: Donghyuck feels like his members have outgrown him. So why does he find it so hard to do the same?

Fairytale Extended Universe

Sister: Wicked-Witch!Seulgi wants to know where her sisters are, only to find out they are imprisoned in the Emerald City by the Wizard

Theater: Werewolf!Seungcheol and Vampire!Taeyong make common cause in an effort to defeat the Evil Queen

Consolation: Werewolf!Chan (Dino) spends his last minutes imprisoned in the Evil Queen’s castle alongside miner-dwarf!Donghyck and lost-boy!Jeongin before he set to be executed

Poison & Medicine alternate ending

Goodbye Light: Changkyun is unintentionally left at the mercy of foes and villains after a disagreement with his fellow superhero/heroine members

Magical Society Extended Universe: Jongho wakes up in the Joseon Dynasty with magical powers. However, he quickly learns that he isn’t the only one who came from the future, nor is he alone in having magic

Drunk serenade: You drunkenly serenade your bf/gf [insert idol name]

Expire: guard!Jackson hates that he fell in love with the dirty prisoner set to be executed… you (royal au)

Reign: king!namjoon, your husband has been away at war for a while now. Long enough for his political enemies to make a move on you and your/his families. Are you able to protect his reign without him by your side? (Iliad au)

Whirlwind: Assassin!Jisoo’s next target is you

High Tide: Serial-killer!Jennie makes a mistake when she forgets to get rid of the body in yalls trunk, revealing her…. bloody hobby to you once and for all

Acrimonious Garden: You and Rosé have very different perspectives on what it means to save the world

Pain: It wasn’t her fault she was labeled a horrible queen, a cruel queen, an evil queen. Nobody understood Lisa like you did, and that was the problem

starry night: Solar is the captain of her makeshift pirate crew… granted the title pirate is very loose considering it’s the twenty-first century and it’s not royal navies she has to avoid, but rather zombies

The prices we pay: werewolf!chan + werewolf-hunter!you = bad combination

Breathing Melatonin: Chanyeol has sleeping issues. You have a high libido. Do what you want, as you will

Honey Mango: Beekeeper!Mingi cuts a deal with you for some of your best products from your mango farm

Leave Me Lonely: today was supposed to be the day you and Jaebum said I do. Yet all you could do before closing your eyes forever was say, I love you (mafia au)

stay: what was harder, having a secret relationship or having some of [insert idol’s name] members dislike you?

Red Bottoms: Tonight was supposed to be a fun night out with friends. Yet here you are having to call spouse!idol to come and bail you out of jail

Made in the shade: you and hongjoong come from two entirely different worlds (grease au)

convicted: runaway-convicts!exo-sc find refuge with you. A lowly, quiet neighbor in your small town (inspired by the movie Labor Day)

Four Horsemen au (BTS hyung line)

Deranged: the tale of pestilence, a year has gone by since the armies of heaven and hell waged war upon earth. Though demons struck fear in the hearts of humans with easy, the true threat to humanity was those of white wings (jin)

Decimation: the tale of famine, three years into the human genocide, humanity sits on the brink of extinction. Yet aid comes in the most unlikely of forms (suga)

Dominion: the tale of war, the fifth year of the apocalypse is waning. The demons of hell have scurried away, whilst the angels make their final move towards human extermination. Yet, a rude awakening awaits them as the wrath of war awakes (j hope)

Descent: the tale of death, the seventh year of the apocalypse greeted humanity with a kiss. Heaven has fallen and hell has closed their gates, humanity make a resurgence. However, all good things come to the end, death has awoken, and awaits to feast upon all three realms of existence (rm)

Starships: "This foreign exchange program better be worth it" you thought as you signed into your Starship account. All you had to do was spend four hours of your day teaching english to your assigned foreigner whilst you learned a new language from them in return. It would have been easier if you could do this face to face, but N00000o, Ms. Rona decided to have everyone be put into quarantine. Now you had to waste away four hours, everyday, for the next semester, talking on a screen to some guy or gal you'll probably never meet. How ridiculous (college au)

Midnight Misfits: sugar spouse au

Three’s a cloud: jaehyun was flirty and single. johnny was angry and horny. you had an idea aka you and johnny sandwich jaehyun as a way to teach him a lesson

Lunar Kiss: werewolf!Jaebum is reluctant and in rut. You are a human. His human though so…

Luxury: Your whirlwind relationship with up and coming CEO Wonho was sudden, perfect and immaculate. That is until you find out he’s the heifer trying to buy out your entire childhood neighborhood, your home and your job (ceo au)

She’s a monster: You’re trapped reliving the same horrible day again and again. Watching Jackson draw his last breath in horrific and terrifying ways over and over. You didn’t know what the problem was. Until you did. And it broke your heart when you did (Groundhog Day au)

$200 Pizza: you and Changbin rack up a debt you can’t pay, luckily the auntie who runs the shop is willing to let y’all work the debt off for the whole day in exchange

Deep Patience: kyungsoo’s goal in life was your happiness. As such, hearing that you desire to have a kid, he has a plan to surprise you with such wonderful news for your birthday. One problem though… according to his calculations, he only had one day left to enact his plan

Oopsie: Wonho saves the day after you slip in the tub

Twisted dreams: Taeyong notices you acting different after a series of nightmares (ghost au)

Push & pull: Pirate!Mingi is washed ashore a beach village and taken in by you and yours. He looked forward to the day he could repay you for your kindness and seek your hand in that of love. Yet the universe spits in his face as it seeks to exact vengeance for his past in the worst possible way (pirate au)

Haunting: the spirits haunting your house works hard, but Ghost-hunter!Johnny works even harder (ghost harder au)

Well damn: you and soobin, besties who have been tip toeing around some unspoken emotions find yourselves stuck at the tippy top of a unmoving rollercoaster

Walker: Geumhyuck had one job. Watch the kids. You thought he had the job taken cared of. Well if that included him getting stuck in your baby’s walker, then he greatly succeeded

Asoiaf wips

Shades of a Man: Shady Shin, the waterbending gangster of the Republic Triads makes wakes as Dorne’s first ever ice merchant (Lok crossover)

Divine Affliction: Princess Eska of the Northern Water Tribe becomes the High Chiefess of Hardhome (Lok crossover)

Perpetual Storm: Jason Grace, demigod son of Jupiter falls in love in his second life, to a woman named Argella Durrandon. And then Aegon made his landing in Westeros (PJO crossover)

The Apothecary: Lee Fletcher awakes in Westeros and founds a citadel of revolutionary healing (PJO crossover)

The Knight of Floods: Percy awakes in Westeros and rises in ranks of nobility following his defiance of the Lannisters in the War of the Five Kings (PJO crossover)

Webbed Fingers & Cheese: Percy wakes up on the shores of the Three Sisters and works his way into becoming the Lord of the isles (PJO crossover)

Westeros On Earth: the continent of Westeros finds itself attached to Greenland and facing a potential religious persecution and invasion from the superpowers of 1400s Europe

The Lady of Dragonstone: OC Female Baratheon twin sister of Stannis Baratheon who is sentenced to rule Dragonstone following her aid in getting Queen Rhaella and her retinue to escape before her brother’s assault on the island

A Tale of Two Heirs: The love story of Brandon Stark and Shireen Baratheon

From The Depths: Ursula the Sea Witch arrives in Westeros (ouat crossover)

Bitter Work: An earthbender creates a refuge/oasis in Dorne (atla crossover)

Trial At Heart: Drogon burns Jon after he kills Daenerys and takes Jon back in time (time travel fix it)

A Wine A Day: Male OC Redwyne defends the Reach from Euron Greyjoy

Lost Lion: Jaime saves Aegon and Rhaenys, escaping with them to Essos and taking refuge in the Ruins of Valyria itself

The Witch of Harrenhal: Medea of Colchis conquers the Riverlands and learns what it means to be human (PJO crossover)

What if Viserys was competent? No golden crowns for this clown

What if the Rhoynar kept their magic? Waterbending in Dorne?????

What if Jon Snow never joined the Nights Watch Part 2?

Frozen Fires au: Jon Snow, the bastard son of Brandon Stark & Ashara Dayne

Harry Potter wips

Something Blue: Harry gets Fred something blue as a wedding gift

Crossover Idea: Ron and Tonks are blasted out of the sky during the Battle of 7 Potters… the blast has Ron waking up in [insert new world name].

Regards: In retaliation for Ruldolphus Lestrange’s death during the Battle at the Department of Mysteries, Rabastan & Bellatrix attack the Burrow and kidnap Ron

The Black Bastard: An illegitimate child of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black makes his mark on the Wizarding World

The Story of Celesta Prewett: Fabian Prewett’s daughter finally meets her paternal relatives

The Story of Yo Jinwoo: Part fairy-wizard male oc who falls in love with Ginny Weasley, not knowing she’s already in love with the one and only Harry Potter

Vanishing Series

Outtakes: Witch Weekly Issue #6799

Hiraeth Series

Outtakes: The Silver Grimoire - The private grimoire of the silver quartet

Alone: Ron’s sorting

War: Muriel Prewett meets her match in Astoria Greengrass

War Part 2: Ron and Daphne leave the Prewett estate to join the war

Thief: Ron and the quartet are caught by Bill Weasley ditching school to sell the items of the Room of Requirement

Pink: Ron saves Daphne from boiling solution in year two

M.A.D: Tracey explains nukes to the silver quartet

Accident: Theo uses sectumsempra on Ron

Scared: Ron temporarily disappears in the chaos of the 1994 Quidditch World Cup

Lady: Daphne becomes the lady of Greengrass following her parents’ murders

[littlesparklight]

Technically speaking Persephone's suitors are sons of the current king for them to be worthy to propose to her. It's odd though that I can only imagine Apollo being earnest, since Ares has Aphrodite,  and Hermes is a free spirit. Do you have any thoughts about Persephone's relationship with the three of them, reason enough for them to consider marriage?

Hmm, I don't think any of them need to really have a relationship of any sort of with her to consider marriage - it's not like Hades had any prior to the abduction.

But, for Ares for example... if he is interested in her for herself (and we should allow that he is), there is ALSO the possibility of his marriage lending some distraction to his relationship with Aphrodite. Like this: if we go with how the Iliad/Odyssey structure things, what we have is that at some point prior to the last year of the war, Hephaistos as married Charis/Aglaia - so at some point earlier than that the golden net incident that Demodokos sings of has happened, with Hephaistos afterwards divorcing Aphrodite. If we also use the snippet of myth from The Pelops Incident, that Demeter was the only one who took a bite out of the son stew because she was distraught over Persephone being kidnapped, then we also have a point at when Persephone becomes unavailable for anyone else to marry. (This doesn't quite match with, say, the Hymn to Demeter since she's withdrawn from all the gods during that whole debacle until Persephone comes back up so the cycle starts. I suppose one can say it's also the first winter Persephone is down in the Underworld, which, even if they each know Persephone IS coming back up come spring, would surely be upsetting anyway.)

Presumably there might be a space of time before Persephone's marriage where Ares and Aphrodite haven't yet been found out, and a marriage to someone else might offer a further smokescreen to "they're totally not fucking" for our erstwhile lovers. And, for Persephone and Ares specifically, maybe Ares is picking up on the traces in Persephone that will have her as a major force in the Underworld later, the dread queen of the house, and so is attracted to this? He might in that way even be more serious about it than either Hermes or Apollo.

I'd honestly say Hermes and Apollo are just as much free spirits as each other (as much as it's fun to attach Apollo to all the Muses, he's not... actually married to any one of them, even less ALL of them; Cyrene he made a nymph (so she might or might not die at some point), and is potentially a more steady companion, but she's also, like, definitely not considered an official consort like other married couples are, and if we allow Hyacinthus his post-mortem apotheosis, he still can't be an "official" consort as such). Presumably both Hermes and Apollo are for one reason or another - maybe even just shallow ones, as that she's beautiful - attracted to her and, even if they're not ardently in love with her, she is a good match, and they are good potential husbands if only in position alone (Apollo probably more than Hermes). Why not consider it? Apollo might not want to choose a single Muse, Hebe is yet too young, Eileithyia maybe simply out of the running like Athena and Artemis, etc and so on.

But one could wonder if either of them were honestly serious about any suit of Persephone, because in the end they are, honestly, "quintessential" young, unmarried men (setting aside that Hermes can be/was presented as older, with a beard sometimes, much like Dionysos was).

[honeyblockm]

I absolutely NEED your takes on tsoa I think I may die if I don't hear someone else talk about it

well they're kind of /neg so if you don't want to hear me complain about it for a little while then probably scroll away sfjdkj

so like i don't think madeline miller is a bad writer. i think her writing is pretty banging actually. I just think some of the ways she took her book was a little. hmm. WELL. it wasn't for me ^_^. Also i didn't read the whole thing bc i did not have interest in finishing it but i have skimmed most of it. The way Patroclus is characterized irks me especially like bro... he got defanged (in service of playing into, in my personal opinion, some :| mlm dynamics). i really do prefer more the patroclus in the iliad where his relationship with achilles was on more even footing. and he was a warrior! a damn good one! and not at all immune to getting caught up in the bloodlust and violence of the war! the trojans literally have to have apollo kill him because he was going on a huge murder spree, achilles' armor or no! i can see what miller was going for w the stuff about portraying the brutality and cruelty of war ig but to me that's a really odd leap to make for the characterization of a main character. Patroclus is nice, ofc. i love that guy. but mannnn let him kill people let him be affected by culture of his time let him folly!

also i feel like the book wouldn't have gained mainstream popularity with the. ........... crowd if patrochilles' characters hadn't been warped into something that could be crammed into easily digestible weird gay tropes. (though i don't think this was the intention of madeline miller.)

next thing. ehehem once again the (sort of) sanitation of shitty aspects of the iliad like... briseis. idk. i don't always want to read the silence of the girls type bare and brutal recounts of all the shit that happened to women. sure. and i guess it mightve been a precipice point for a lot of people who want to enjoy the protagonists? but it also feels weird how it's glossed over like the book's going wink nudge don't worry guys patrochilles are one of the good ones unlike all the other greeks. there's nuance to be had, though tsoa just seems to skate around it instead.

and oh this is an interesting one kind of related to the previous point but the way most of the women are portrayed is a little.. well why are they all set up as antagonists of a sort (except briseis). why are women like deidameia and thetis set up as obstacles between the two protagonist's epic gay love story or whatever, with only the barest of sympathy for their positions in the world?

+ every time i go into the iliad tag i have to scroll past 294020 tsoa posts where everyone acts like a marvel character and honestly, things have earned my undeserved scorn for less. lol

sighs deeply. anyways. it's a fine book. it's literally fine. whatever man there's way worse books and i am speaking from experience. it was kind of fun i liked the odydio snippets. i don't think it's ruining greek mythology or killing people or whatever, I'm just too bitchy to set my differing opinions aside about it. i would know him by touch or whatever that one went is a pretty epic quote. i have another line from it in a tentative webweave document rn. it's pretty cool but i hope queer retellings of greek myths get better from here on out. grits teeth. whatever man

[luckyy19]

Luckyy19 Intro!

I’ve had this blog for a little while and always wanted to do an intro, but I don’t like giving out info that could be used to identify me irl. However, if I want to get to know more writeblrs, it seems only fair that I say something. So:

I’m in my early 20s

I’m a college student studying English and Classics

I go by she/her

I’m heteroromantic asexual

I started writing when I was like 9 but didn’t actually write something that could be considered close to a novel until I was 14. It was very bad.

I’m not very good at social media and I’m a very private person online. I don’t post all that frequently and Tumblr is the only social media I have so if you wanted to find me somewhere else, you're SOL.

I have an ao3 account where I posted some Buffy fics a few years ago, although I’m not a big fan of them anymore.

This blog is specifically dedicated to my writing, writing memes, and the occasional screaming about books/general bookish opinions. I haven't had anything published yet (hopefully that will be coming in the next few years!). My current projects include:

The Golden & the Damned Duology: a retelling of a German epic following a princess told her true love will die, the dragon slayer prince that wins her heart, the princess’s older brother and his reluctant wife, and the way their relationships with each other lead to tragedy. The first book, The Song of the Golden & the Damned, is written and currently being looked over by friends, with a query letter in the works. The second book is currently in progress.

The Feathered Wings Series: a fantasy series about a teenage girl born with wings and living with her cousin in Connecticut who learns the truth of her heritage when a strange young woman stumbles into her city. The first book, Feathered Wings & Broken Souls, is currently being revised and the subsequent books are being outlined.

Immortal Glory, Lethal Fate: a retelling of The Iliad set a few years after Golden & the Damned and a few countries south. It looks at what would happen if Helen left with Paris willingly and Hector was just trying to protect his people and his little brother. Instead of being an epic war novel, it follows the romantic and familial relationships between Hector, Paris, Helen, and Andromache. This book is currently in progress.

I have more that are way way way back on the burner but will definitely be moved up as things are finished. These include “Unnamed Supernatural Story,” “The Zodiacs,” and “If We Go Too Far,” which I might reference from time to time as they’re mostly outlined and the characters are fully fleshed out.

One final thing: When I first started writing I was very private with my work and for the most part, I still am. Only in the last few years have I begun to open up and show my writing to people that I know and trust, and whose opinion I care about. As such, I have plans to post snippets from various projects on here eventually, but they’ll be few and far between and I can’t speak for how well written/edited they’ll be. Still, I hope if you hang around, you like what you see!

[wolfstarlibrarian]

Hope everyone enjoyed the interview with the wonderful @lumosinlove​ . Now get to know Hazel even better by diving into her favorite fics, and don’t forget to leave a comment!

Favorite Fics Written by @lumosinlove

Sweater Weather Remus works for the Gryffindor Lions as a physical trainer, and has been half in love with Sirius Black, the Lions' heartthrob captain, for a while now, but he never expected Sirius to return the feelings. Read if you like cute nicknames, slow burn, and pining. Yep. That's it.

Coast To Coast This is a spin off series of some of my OCs from my wolfstar fic Sweater Weather. They're fairly separate stories. This won't exactly be updated like a fic, more like little snippets of various stages of their relationships.

Solntse Sirius, a young Russian billionaire hires Remus, who is working part time as a call boy to make ends meet. Things happen, feelings occur.

Footballer!Sirius Drabble

They had been kissing goodbye all morning, and Remus wasn’t finished.

12 Days of Ficmas - 2020

1. Russian!Leo bakery AU! 2. Remus joining the Lions' thrall! 3. Art: two thirds of O’Darwin! 4. Sweater Weather behind the scenes! 5. SOLNTSE. IN. RUSSI-A. 6. Mash up of YSAMS and Sweater Weather—O’Knutzy edition! 7. Smut with so so many feelings.  Happy Birthday to Logan ;))) 8. The love story of Nado and Kuny! 9. Coast To Coast outtakes and boys in NOLA and swimsuits! 10. A Kasey, Natalie, and Alex rendezvous! 11. Russian!Sirius Sweater Weather AU! 12. A Relic Keel teaser, and a map, too!

📚 📚 📚

Media that Inspires Lumosinlove

Check out some media that inspires Hazel, and maybe find a little inspiration for yourselves. 

Miracle (2004 film) - I love this movie so much. It’s based off of the story of the 1980 Winter Olympics. Watch it for an unlikely team coming together, adorable boys with adorable accents, and cry with me over how much you love starting goaltender Jim Craig.

Homer’s the Iliad - Just a classic. War. Love. Snarky Odysseus. Dramatic Achilles. Also fun to read in companion with Madeline Miller’s, The Song of Achilles.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Talk about enemies to lovers. Jane Austen is an immortal goddess who transcends all limits of time and space and writes the truly eternal love stories.

⭐️ 🌙

Thank you to Hazel for participating in this interview, and thank you to everyone for your support! 

[godsofhumanity]

BOOK IV | HOMER'S ILIAD | LITERATURE REVIEW

SUMMARY: Zeus and Hera argue about the war- Hera trades the destruction of her favourite cities (Argos, Sparta, and Mycenae) for the destruction of Troy, and Zeus agrees. Athena returns to the battlefield and encourages Pandarus on the Trojans' side to shoot an arrow at Menelaus, thereby breaking the truce between the armies and resuming the war. Agamemnon, fiercely insulted by the betrayal, rallies his armies to prepare for war once more.

previous book / all books / next book

a shorter analysis today because i didn't feel like there were any particularly new literary techniques employed by Homer, and there wasn't a lot of foreshadowing or anything like that to talk about.

Book IV begins with Zeus and the rest of the gods sitting in Olympus. Zeus makes a comment about the lengths to which Hera will go in order to see one city (Troy) destroyed.

literary-wise, i don't really have anything to say about the passage, but i did really enjoy the teamwork Hera and Athena have together. we constantly get these little snippets of Hera and Athena working really well together to achieve their goal...

and yet, i love the way Homer still manages to make clear the distinction between the two goddesses:

"Athene and Hera muttered their discontent [at Zeus] as they sat side by side hatching mischief for the Trojans. Athene scowled at her father, for she was in a furious passion with him, and said nothing, but Hera could not contain herself."

even though Athena is just as pissed off at Zeus as Hera is, she still remembers her place and doesn't speak a word against her father and her king.. yet, Hera, queen of the gods and equal to Zeus is fully prepared to speak against Zeus, and to criticise and question him.

and she does! Hera is irritated by Aphrodite's intervention which has brought the war to a stop, and Zeus' wish to end the war then and by making peace between the two sides. Hera, whom we know from other myths to be hot-headed and ill-tempered, isn't about to sit down and let all her and Athena's hard work go to waste without seeing Troy crumble...

Zeus retorts back to Hera's argument, asking her why she's so insistent, and the imagery he uses is, maybe, one of my most favourite lines in the whole poem:

"My dear, what harm have Priam and his sons done you that you are so hotly bent on sacking the city of Ilium? Will nothing do for you but you must go within their walls and eat Priam raw, with his sons and all other Trojans to boot? Have it your own way then; for I would not have this matter become a bone of contention between us."

the idea of Hera "eating Priam raw" is hilarious to me.. it truly does paint the image of Hera as some relentless, cold-blooded beast.. in particular, it draws in my mind the image of another particular god who was in the habit of consuming people raw... Goya's Saturn Devouring His Son painting summarises this image of Hera pretty well in my opinion!

another thing i find interesting about this line is that Zeus actually does agree to destroy Troy! and why? because he doesn't want to fight with Hera anymore.

Zeus in the Iliad is a very interesting character. initially, he had sworn to Thetis that he'd ensure Troy was destroyed as compensation for Achilles losing Briseis to Agamemnon, and when Hera questioned him about it, Zeus seemed pretty unwilling to disclose the details of his promise to Hera.

in the couple's other interactions, we've only really seen Hera getting angry at Zeus, and then Zeus frowning at her and cutting her back down to size with threats.. but, in Book IV, i really feel like their relationship comes through a little more.

they're not simply arguing here, but it feels like they're more balanced in power than they have been previously. in particular, i adore the way Hera asserts herself here:

"[Even if I tried to defend my cities, if you wished to destroy them you could] for you are much stronger than I am, but I will not have my own work wasted [and see Troy live]. I too am a god and of the same race with yourself. I am Cronus' eldest daughter, and am honourable not on this ground only, but also because I am your wife and you are king over the gods. Let it be a case, then, of give-and-take between us, and the rest of the gods will follow our lead."

previously, when Zeus argued with Hera, Hera would simply settle down for fear of being hurt by Zeus, but here, Hera actually takes a big stand.. she reminds Zeus of her status as a daughter of Cronus and Queen of Olympus. and this time, Zeus actually agrees.

in the next part, Athena goes down in disguise and encourages Pandarus to shoot Menelaus, before quickly darting back to direct the arrow away from any of Menelaus' vital organs.

there are two things about this scene that i noted- the first being that Pandarus doesn't recognise Athena's divinity. as i've mentioned in previous posts, i think that the ability to recognise a god in disguise is an indicator of the heroicness/worthiness of being a hero.. and it seems, Pandarus doesn't make the cut. this is further emphasised with the description of Pandarus having a "fool's heart".

the second thing is the "dimensioning" of Athena's character:

"But the blessed gods did not forget... Menelaus... [Athena] was the first to stand before [him] and ward off the piercing arrow. She turned it from his skin as a mother whisks a fly from off her child when it is sleeping sweetly."

i feel, personally, that a lot of people cut Athena's character down only to her warrior side. she isn't often presented as a maternal character, but here, Homer's simile enforces this aspect of her.

Homer could have just as easily written that Athena defended Menelaus "like a shepherd defending his flock from the preying wolves" or something like that, but i feel that the use of "a mother whisking a fly from off her child" was very intentional.

i think we often forget Athena's very important role as the patron of heroes, and undoubtedly, she has a maternal, caring side. and i think this scene captures it very well. it makes it seem like there's more to Athena simply making sure she gets revenge on Aphrodite, but that there's a deep, personal connection between her and her selected heroes, and gives her character more depth.

in any case, that's all i really felt was worth discussing. the rest of the book follows the ensuing war, and captures pretty perfectly the brutal reality of war as several people on both sides fall prey to death.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Black Swan bookgasm review #1: War Music by Christopher Logue (1981)

This is the first in a series of random book reviews taken from my own hand written notes in my journal. Notes are re-edited to make it into a more coherent presentation with the hope others would read the book for themselves.

War Music by Christopher Logue (1981)

War Music by Christopher Logue comprises versions of Homer’s Iliad published over decades since 1981. It’s a modern, cinematic re-rendering of the Greek epic which manages to re-cast Homer’s battles for twentieth-century readers.

I first read parts of it when I went out on tour to Afghanistan as a combat helicopter pilot. It was a ragged dog eared copy given to me by one of my older siblings who had served in the armed forces with distinction and now he wanted me to have it since I was being deployed to Afghanistan.

In between down times between missions I would read it and just soak in its inventive use off language to tell a story birthed at the dawn of Western civilisation and teaching a lesson as old as civilisation itself: that all wars are the same wars.

The English poet Christopher Logue called himself a “Catholic atheist.” Were he religious, he said, he would look out for God in creation. “Did the ancient Greeks believe in their gods as I believe in the ancient Greeks?” he wondered. One of the Lasallian Brothers at his Catholic school in Southsea told him about the elaborate ornamentation hidden from view on cathedral roofs, “safe in the sight of God until Judgment Day.” This information convinced the young Logue to work from that day in the spirit of the medieval carvers: without justification. “That I did not know what I wanted to do was unimportant,” he wrote.

Logue, born in Portsmouth in 1926, described his father as “a devout Irish-English Catholic.” His paternal grandfather, a Catholic from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, spent twenty-two years in the British Army. His Irish aunt Margaret taught him to read and write. “Atheism?” she once admonished him. “There’s no such thing. A silly boast God finds no trouble in forgiving.” Logue never stopped believing in God, he said, because he had never started believing in Him. “I find the idea of a beginning as impossible to credit as that of an end.” His own atheism left him unimpressed. He preferred the company of people whom he knew to be religious.

Logue always envied people with a purpose. It was not until 1959, after a stint in a military brig and a period writing pornography in Paris, that he found his. In his early thirties and already feeling old, he was asked by the classicist Donald Carne-Ross, then working for the BBC, to adapt a passage from the Iliad for an English version he was broadcasting on the Third Programme. Doris Lessing, a close acquaintance, had told Logue that the Iliad, if not the task of its translation, suited him well: “Something to do with heroism, tragedy, that sort of thing.” But Logue found Homer boring. Carne-Ross proposed a section of Book XXI in which Achilles attacks the river Scamander, provided Logue with a prose crib and advised him to read published translations to get a sense of the story. “A translator must know one language well,” Carne-Ross told Logue. “Preferably his own.”

Carne-Ross also advised Logue to go away and “read translations by those who did. Follow the story.” Logue gave it a go, and the result sowed the seed of what was to blossom over the decades into the centrepiece of Logue’s working life; his ultimate creative endeavour.

For more than forty years the English poet Christopher Logue worked in fits and starts on his narrative poem War Music, subtitled An Account of Homer’s Iliad. The poem, which he was unable to complete before he died in 2011, was published in several sections titled War Music (1981), Kings (1991), The Husbands (1995), All Day Permanent Red (2003), and Cold Calls (2005), corresponding, respectively, to Books 16-19, 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and 7-9 of The Iliad. These books were brought together in a single volume by Faber publishers that tells the story of Logue’s fragmentary and highly original Trojan War.

Clearly the poem cannot be read outside of its relation to The Iliad, but we also cannot call it a “translation” in the familiar sense. To do so would suggest that it belongs in the same category as works produced with an aim of comprehensive fidelity to the original’s language and structure, texts such as those by Richmond Lattimore, Robert Fitzgerald, Robert Fagles, and Stanley Lombardo.

Is War Music, then, a form of loose translation, a “carrying over” of spirit, with all the liberty that implies? Is Logue, as Gary Wills wrote, the third in an exclusive tradition of English poets, after George Chapman and Alexander Pope, “to bring Homer crashing into their own time”? I think so.

Logue drew inspiration from a vast range of sources. The lines with which Zeus surveys the Trojan plain after a day’s fighting have been taken directly from a New Yorker piece on the first Gulf War: “He looks/ Back to the Ridge that is, save for a million footprints,/ Empty now”. When Agamemnon shouts Achilles down, his words are half-borrowed from Milton’s Lycidas: “Blindmouth!/ Good words would rot your tongue”. Snippets of the venerable translations by Pope and Chapman pop up at unexpected moments, amid the ultra-violence of Logue’s battle scenes.

War Music is a translation that takes no prisoners. No line of Homer’s survives un-annealed by the application of English. Like Homer, Logue is absolutely unapologetic about the business of bloodletting. This attitude complements his insusceptibility to beauty. “In verse (as elsewhere) beauty will serve any view and give it a glamour,” he wrote, pondering the case of Ezra Pound. “We should not be afraid to call it whorish.” Logue takes courage in this matter from the example of the Iliad. “The Greeks are not humanistic, not Christian, not sentimental,” Xanthe Wakefield told him on the occasion of his first looking into Homer. “Please try to understand that. They are musical.” Logue sets himself the challenge of converting the sounds of slaughter into the chimes at midnight. This requires an acute sensitivity to fate untinged by timidity. In one of his working notes Logue reminds himself to supply, at a certain point in the poem, a simile for “how far courage can take you.” In truth his whole work stands as an extension of that simile, almost to its breaking point.

Logue’s retelling of the Iliad plays with the idea that, when it comes to war, any sort of ending is an illusion. His decision to illustrate Homer’s story of brave men and bickering gods with flagrantly anachronistic combat imagery (“whumping” helicopters; Uzis “shuddering warm against your hip”) makes the point that, when it comes to war, the best humanity has ever managed is the odd break between battles. This  is certainly how I felt in my down time between missions. The whumping sound of the rotar blades throbbed in my ear as I got into the cockpit of my helicopter - many times it made me think of Logue’s haunting lines.

War Music is incomplete because the war isn’t over. “Someone”, the last line reads, “has left a spear stuck in the sand.” It’s an ideal outgoing image: still, striking, but throbbing with potential; gesturing to the wars to come. As I left Afghanistan I thought about my colonial ancestors who had sought adventure and high service in this beautiful barren land and that I was but a passing present incarnation and then the chilling sad thought struck me that I know I won’t be the last in the wars to come. 

It is, of course, frustrating that War Music will never be complete but the collected edition one can buy now gives us a definitive text of  one of the strangest and most thrilling English poems since the 20th Century. It also confirms that Logue’s Homer deserves a place alongside those of Chapman and Pope.

[lov3rs-go]

book recommendations !!

book recommendations if anyones interested :D

1) Maurice by E.M. Forster; written in 1913-1914, Maurice Hall is a conventional man in every way- besides the fact that he is homosexual. We follow him throughout school as he learns who he is, and who he loves.

2) Spring Awakening by Frank Wedekind; written in 1891-1892, this “children’s tragedy” follows Moritz, Melchior, Wendla, and Hansy as they discover their sexualities. They are at sometimes, hilariously innocent, and at others, not remotely innocent at all. 

3) The song of Achilles by Madeline Miller; written in 2011, a beautiful take on the Iliad, the love between Achilles (The best of the greeks) and Patroclus (an exiled prince) grows and blossoms, yet even through war and heartbreak, they aren’t sure if it can survive Fate. (This book is so good, my summary can’t do it justice.)

4) Edward the Second by Christopher Marlowe: written in 1592-1594, the play focuses on Edward the seconds’ relationship with his favorite, Piers Gaveston, and the political mess that was the court. (I’m boiling it down 2 much, I don’t know how else to describe it? Just go read it, it’s really good.)

5) Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson; written in 2011, an AI by the name of Archos slowly assumes control over the network of machines that power our day-to-day activities, we see snippets of people’s lives, but all are unware of the robotic uprising until it is too late. (GO READ THIS. PLEASE.)

Most of these are classic lit- but the genres are kinda scattered. None of my summaries can do these books any justice, I highly suggest them all :D

[chase-the-windandtouch-the-sky]

CONGRATS ON 1K! You’re a gem, your blog is beautiful, your writing is stunning — you deserve 1000 and 1000 more 💞 / ⌨️ please! A Bellarke fic with the prompt competition or rivals to lovers. Thank you 💙

Oh my gosh, my love! I know this is disastrously late, but I love you so much @pawprinterfanfic​! I will admit, it was tricky for the 1K for 1K because I want to write SO MUCH MORE. But I hope this small snippet was enough for you love!

The chain of events goes like this: Bellamy is born. He goes to school. He becomes a history professor. He meets the art professor. He somehow gets wrangled into a prank war that is destroying his life.

He honestly isn’t sure where he went wrong.

“Bro, I honestly can’t hear you talk about the art teacher anymore.” Miller says one night when they meet up at a bar and he’s accidentally spent the last hour going on about how the professor started a mural in his lecture hall. He would never say it’s good – of course not. But he didn’t say it was okay and that was the point. Sure, when she was giving her students permission to show up to his class late, it was one thing. It was another when his office was filled with leftover art from the previous semester. But now? Now she’s crossed a line. “Just get her fired. If she’s defacing university property without permission, you probably would be able to do it pretty easy.”

Bellamy’s taken aback. “Get her fired?” He’s honestly never even considered it before. Even saying it out loud makes him uncomfortable. Sure, he finds her irritating, but getting her fired seems like a step too far. “Why would I do that?”

“I don’t care. I just want out of this conversation.”

“Thanks for the support.” Bellamy grumbles, taking a sip of his beer. “The friendship is overwhelming.”

“Look man, I’ve been listening to you talk about Professor Griffin since you got the job. You are aware you’re a teacher of teenagers, right?”

“She is distracting. Her antics cause actual disruptions in my class! She disrupts my classes, she disrupts my office hours, and disrupts… my conversations.”

“Huh?”

 “Hey Clarke.”

When she walks in, her hair haphazardly thrown in a braid with paint streaked on her cheek, he tells himself she’s not attractive. She’s not, especially not with her Ramones t-shirt tied in a knot at her waist and definitely not with the ripped jean shorts riding low at her waist.

“Oh, okay,” Miller says knowingly. “I get why she’s distracting.”

“What does that mean – hey.”

“Hey there, Professor Blake.” Clarke says with a smirk. “Like my addition last night?”

“How are you even getting into my lecture hall? I lock it every night.” Bellamy grumbles.

“You should be nicer to people. You’d be surprised what they’ll do for you if you use a little kindness.” Clarke leans across the bar, waving at the bartender. “Whiskey, neat, please!” She turns to face them with a smile. “You’d be surprised what a little kindness in general would do.” She crinkles her nose to emphasize her point and Bellamy fails to not find it endearing.

“Hey, I’m Miller.” Miller says with a wave. “I don’t think Bellamy’s actually going to introduce me. I think he’s prefer staring at you.”

Bellamy elbows him in the chest so that he lets out a wheeze. “Sorry, I meant glaring. Glaring at you.”

He puts his head in his hands.

“Clarke,” she responds. “Has he told you I’m the bane of his existence?”

“Many times. But everyone is the bane of his existence.”

“Yeah, but I’m special.” Clarke says, brushing her hair out of her face with a flourish. “It was nice meeting you. I’ll leave you alone so that you can go back to ranting about me. See you on campus.”

“Why are you going out of your way to make my life harder, though?” Bellamy says, standing up. He hates that she’s being charming and hates even more that Miller is standing next to him with that smirk he gets when he’s going to do something stupid. “Why can’t we simply be professionals?”

Clarke’s smile falters. “I am a professional.”

“Really? Is it professional to prank your coworker? Fill their office with art? Release your students late? Paint in their lecture hall?”

Clarke clenches her jaw. Her lighthearted air evaporates and suddenly there’s something burning behind her eyes. Something like a force. “I’ll have you know every single time I’ve released my students late, it’s because something has happened on campus or in the news and they needed a safe space to discuss it.”

“You’re an art teacher—”

“And what is history if not through the art of its people?” Clarke shouts back at him, not backing down. In fact, she gets closer and jabs him in the chest. “And I filled your office with art because we had a bunch that hadn’t been picked up yet, and I already filled my own and the university was going to throw it out. And you were the only person I could think of who wouldn’t throw art away. I picked it up after. What do you think happened, it just magically disappeared?”

“Well, I—”

“And I’m painting a mural in your lecture hall because I overheard that the history department may experience some downsizing due to admission numbers. So I thought it would be cool to make your lecture hall more lively and I heard you liked the Iliad, so I was painting a mural of it in the room to get more people interested.”

A glass is set down next to her and Clarkes and yells, “Thank you!” at the bartender. Her cheeks flush and she shakes her head. “Sorry, thank you.” Picking it up, she sets herself. “I didn’t think I was such an annoyance. I thought that I was helping out a friend, but I’ll stop.”

With that, she turns on her heel and marches to the end of the bar where a group of people wave her over. Bellamy isn’t sure what to say. He stares where she once was, unable to put any words together.

“So…” Miller starts, a laugh hiding in his voice. “That’s Clarke?”

“Yeah, that’s Clarke.”

“Well, I like her.” Miller says, finally not able to refrain from laughing any longer. “Anyone who can go toe-to-toe with you is someone I can get behind.”

Bellamy looks down. “I think I owe her an apology.”

“You think, dumbass?”

***

When Clarke gets to the University, she’s in a horrible mood. She drank too much the night before, her fight with Bellamy clouding her judgment of when to stop. The more she thought about it, the more she understood where he was coming from. From his perspective, she probably was that obnoxious art instructor, who seemed hell-bent on messing with him.

Well, it’s true, but not vindictively.

Opening her office, Clarke rubs her temples and moves to toss her keys on a small table in her office. But she stopped when she can barely get the door open. Squeezing through, she sees her entire office is filled to the brim with old books, barely even space for her to walk through.

She’s way too hungover for this.

Except in the center of the room is a single daisy and a note. Clarke grabs it and can’t stop the smile from stretching across her face.

Clarke,

I thought maybe you could store these books for me. The University was going to donate them, but I think they’re necessary, even though they’re never checked out. I figure since you’ve used my office, you’d understand.

-- Bellamy

P.S. I have some thoughts for the Iliad mural if you’re open for suggestions. Coffee?

[i-rove-rock-n-roll]

My Wips (and their progress)

Not in any particular order. This is also not all of them, just the ones I’m working on currently or plan to work on in the near future

Icarus--3rd draft, almost complete, currently standing at 68,490 words!

Icarus survived the fall and a bruised body isn’t going to stop him from getting back to his father. Unfortunately, he is whisked all the way to Libya and into a completely different bout of family drama, involving two brothers and a case of human sacrifice. Meanwhile, Minos, the king Icarus and his father escaped from, is hot on finding Daedalus, who is torn between mourning and denial, refusing to give up searching for his son. The ultimate question is ‘who finds who first?’

links here! (though I’ll probably add more in the future!)

Ariadne-- sequel to Icarus, follows Ariadne as she learns how to fully enjoy life and finds love with a deity named Dionysus. not even close to being done, standing around 8,000 words. Everything you love about Greek theater and drama all rolled into one. Also has a bunch of angry gods in it.

Helen--a retelling of the life of Helen and the Iliad from the point of view of a true daughter of Zeus and queen of Sparta. Helen is really tired of getting kidnapped, people. That’s all I’m gonna say.. A sequel (of sorts) to the previous two. Just started.

Medea--love and heartbreak of Medea, famous for both her use of magic and her relationship with a guy named Jason. And the fact that Theseus is apparently her stepson. And for being ruthless and killing her children (which lots of Greek characters did, I mean, hello Agamemnon, what’s up Tantalus) so her story is gonna have tons of drama. 

Set somewhere before and after Icarus and Ariadne, this is the fourth in my mythology series and has literally one line done.

Cain--about 3,000 words

Cain has wandered the earth since his brother’s death. He has lived among the homeless, walked across continents and sailed across seas. He hasn’t had a home for hundreds--thousands-- of years. Then he walks into St. Mary’s church and meets Father Turrell, a sarcastic priest that lives on coffee, chili, and musicals. Father Turrell offers Cain a job, and despite his better judgement, Cain accepts. What follows is mayhem, and Cain’s safe haven, like all his others, is ruined. But now he has Father Turrell stubbornly refusing to let Cain leave without him. So they begin to wander...and trouble follows. 

Redemption Day, about 15,000 words

When Gram Niesler returned home from prison, the last thing he expected was to be blamed for was arson. Especially considering the Donaldson’s house burned down before he’d even returned to town. Thankfully things straighten out, but Gram is soon hit with the truth that his cousin Nicki, who he still remembers as having skipped rope and painted his face with glitter, is the one behind the fire. Stranger still is her reasoning. Vengeance for her girlfriend’s death is one thing, but with literal angels and devils whispering in her ear, Gram is both trying to keep Nicki out of trouble, and tasked with helping her create a trial Armageddon. 

Reincarnation Series (No real Title yet)-- Follows the reincarnations of various deities in the modern world. Kicking things off are the duo Hunahpu and Xbalanque aka the Mayan Hero Twins! 

They always knew their dad was out of the picture, being a famous soccer player, but it’s when the twins go to find him that things get real weird, real fast. Confronted with magician half siblings and a snarky old grandmother, the twins have to wonder when their father will be home to see them. The answer, of course, is that they have to go find him. (That’s basically what I got so far both for a synopsis and a plot)

Wards and Wolfsbane (Tentative Title but idk what else to call it)  (K, so this one is also probably going to be a series as well, the first book focused on the relationship between two wolf born siblings who meet a witch. They are all just learning their history, of this wide world full of monsters and magic. Will also have vamps and other assorted magical folk hiding out) Just started the world-building, it’s Urban fantasy.

Witches and Werewolves have been at war for centuries, only made worse by the history of hunters and burnings. Each side has cause, has killers. 

Has children. 

These children are the ones that wish to change things, to form an alliance. Because they see a danger that their forbears do not. 

There is something else behind the curtain. And it’s coming very soon. 

Aztlán--my first spanish (well right now it’s spanglish) wip!

This follows a close circle of people during either the Mexican-American War or the Revolutionary war of Mexico (I haven’t decided if I’m doing two separate wips for each yet) It has plots, spies, explosions, grief, mourning, betrayal, funerals, weddings gone wrong, etc. Here’s a sneak peek in español 

Down We Fall--about 15-16,000

A story of weddings and political chess that begins with the bride stabbing the groom. The prince and the princess had been promised to each other as children, had grown up together as best friends, had told each other everything. 

But saying I love you was out of the question. 

In the realm of politics, both their kingdoms are struggling. Between infighting for current ruling authority and anarchy caused by the citizens, the pressure is put on. Something has to give. The prince and princess are not yet king and queen after all. The King is dead so who rules the chessboard? 

Please note! If you guys want me to talk more about certain wips or characters or just post snippets of whichever one of your choosing you prefer, please don’t hesitate to ask! And if you feel like chatting about these wips, writing in general, or even just talking about the weather, my messages are always open!

tagging my usual peeps! (add/remove, lemme know!)

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[vdoesbookrecs]

the Heartbreak Hoard No. 1 - fuck you homer

Blurb: Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, the boys develop a tender friendship, a bond that blossoms into something deeper as they grow into young men.

But when Helen of Sparta is kidnapped, Achilles is dispatched to distant Troy to fulfil his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. 

Plot: Written from Patroclus’ PoV, the book retells the classic tale of the Iliad with a focus on Achilles.

Good Things to Say About This Book: It’s beautifully written, for one. With almost no dialogue, it reads like an orally told story -- which the Iliad originally was. Those little parts of dialogue are always just snippets, and they stick with you and make you cry later (example: “Name one hero who was happy. [...] You can’t.” “I can’t.” “I know. They never let you be famous and happy. [...] I’ll tell you a secret.” [...] “Tell me.” “I’m going to be the first.” He took my palm and held it to his. “Swear it.” “Why me?” “Because you’re the reason.”). Also, even though Patroclus seems to be a relatively neutral narrator at first, you slowly realise that he isn’t. The further the story progresses the easier it is to read something bitter-sweet into his narrative, like grief mixed with nostalgia, and, of course, his undying love for Achilles. Also, the author knows what she’s doing: Madeline Miller teaches Latin and Ancient Greek (she’s got a BA and a MA in both), and it shows. There are numerous passages where Patroclus clarifies which word a character used -- because there are many ways to say ‘I love you’ in ancient greek. The characterisations are on point (™) and the author makes them stand out: I guarantee you will be able to remember all of their names even after a while, even though they aren’t shown to be truly remarkable. Yes, they are kings and warriors and half--gods, but that’s not why they stick with you. They stick with you because Patroclus shows them as human, and you begin to feel that you know them. 

How This Book Broke My Heart: The better question is maybe: How did this book not break my heart? (oh, also: *clears throat* MAJOR SPOILER ALERT FROM THIS POINT ON, EVEN IF YOU HAVE READ THE ILIAD AND THEREFORE KNOW WHAT HAPPENS) The first thing was maybe Patroclus’ backstory. He is a disappointment to his dad. It is heavily implied that his mother is severely mentally disabled due to an injury inflicted to her by her father, and often does not recognise her own son. When he kills a boy in self defence, his father exiles him. He is forced to propose to Helen (yes, the late Helen of Troy) at age nine (9) and endure ridicule from not only his father but also all the gathered heroes. He suffers from nightmares, and the other boys exclude him from their activities, claiming he is cursed. Like, he’s a child. He has to go through so much, he’s alone and convinced that he’s worthless right until Achilles ‘adopts’ him. And this is another thing: Achilles. Throughout the first two thirds of the book he’s this radiant boy, full of love and hope and pride and mischief, he’s open and accepting and honest and naive and he truly believes that he will be happy. But then there’s war, and he doesn’t have a choice anymore. He has no idea what’s coming, you know? He’s only ever heard of war in the stories his father tells, he has never seen anyone die, he has never even fought against anyone outside of his lessons. But he is pushed into this war, and he changes. He becomes angry and hardened and bloodthirsty and pride begins to consume him. He’s a child when he kills a man in battle the first time, barely seventeen. The only person who can still bring out that bright boy he used to be is Patroclus, but his mother puts a strain on their relationship. Thetis is traumatised and terrified of losing her son. She tries to scare Patroclus away many times, and to persuade Achilles to leave him, looming over their love like a dark cloud. Speaking of their relationship, they love each other so much, so much it almost hurts. They are completely devoted to each other, they are each others happiness, and they make it blatantly clear that they would die for each other. Eventually they do, and it’s so heartbreaking, because if Achilles would have been a little less proud, or if Patroclus would have been a little more convincing, then he never would have had to get on that chariot, he would never have had to wear that armour, he never would have tried to climb the walls of Troy, and he would never have died. Theres this scene when they bring Patroclus’ body to Achilles and he realises what he has done and he reaches for his sword to kill himself and he realises that he can’t, because he gave his sword to Patroclus, and he just breaks down. That’s the point where I started getting a bit blurry eyed. But wait! It gets better! (no it doesn’t). Achilles finally cremates his lover’s body (after like, five days of just crying over his corpse) and tells everyone who needs to know that he wants his ashes buried with his when he dies, and then he does die, and his f*cking a**hole of a son turns up and is like “I’m not writing the name of dis servant boy on me dad’s grave” so Patroclus’ soul, which has been in limbo because he can’t go to Hades until he’s properly buried, is forced to stay on earth while Achilles’ goes on, and he waits for months but no one comes by, and he watches everyone leave and he just stays there, on Achilles grave, waiting for someone, anyone, to come by and write his name on the f*cking piece of stone. Can you believe it? They’ve gone through so much, they love each other more than anything else in the world, Achilles calls Patroclus his ‘most beloved’ , and because this one f*cker shows up they’re kept apart even in death. It’s not fair. They hurt so much. They deserve to be happy. But that’s not even the worst part (also because they are eventually reunited) (doesn’t make it hurt less tho). The worst part is that when all that shit goes down, you remember all those little dialogue parts from the happy bits, because Miller brings them up again, only in a different (and infinitely more painful) context. When you’ve read the book through, all those soft happy moments in the beginning will make you cry, because they’ll all have a bitter, bitter taste of foreboding. This book will destroy you. 

How Can I Make My Reading Experience Even More Heartbreaking? Contemplate this: many historians think that the events described in Homer’s Iliad (the book The Song of Achilles is based off) actually happened in a similar manner and all the heroes are based off real people. Also try listening to sad songs while reading the last few chapters (I recommend ‘Lay Me Down’ by Sam Smith, ‘Unsteady’ by X Ambassadors, and ‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd or songs with similarly depressing lyrics) in order to never feel an emotion other than devastating grief ever again in your life. Then think about what would have happened if Thetis never showed up at her son’s grave. Lastly, go reread chapter ten right after you’ve finished the whole book. 

Should I read this book anyway? Yes, yes you should. You will cry for hours but you will be happy about it because honestly, the love story is worth it. 

ISBN: 978-1-4088-9138-4

T/W: period--typical misogyny, rape, violence against women, religious and supernatural themes, human and animal sacrifices, major character death, plague, war, slavery, underage sex, abduction of a minor, child murder, child neglect, murder, oath-breaking, child soldiers