The Dangerous Existence of Madame Lee

Title: The Skythian Woman
Author: Wang Xi-feng (xifeng)
Fandom: Trojan War/Homer
Warnings: Warfare-related violence, bad language, long-ass death scene.
Summary: Achilles and Penthesilea, retold. Only the words are mine.

( The Skythian Woman )

I seem to be writing some Trojan War fanfic (again) because I am totally not reading the Iliad again at all why do you ask, and so I have this idea and I know where the story is ultimately going to wind up. Except the thing is that it does have to do with geography (which is why I usually have three maps of Bronze Age Greece and environs pulled up when I'm working on it), so I'm already at Argos, and you guys I haven't written Diomedes that much. (Actually, I think I've only written him once, and that was in "Reveille".) And I have to think about what he's like. I mean, I know the stories and all that, and I'm trying to gently but firmly put Phillip Parotti's brilliant "Diomedes at Aulis" (the first story from his equally brilliant The Greek Generals Talk) at the back of my mind so it can't get to me, and ARRRRRGH. This is really hard because the story is set at the very beginning of the war (actually, even before there really is a war) so I can't bounce him off anybody else from the story just yet. Except maybe his first wife, though I haven't given her a lot of thought and I don't know what she's like.

I mean, for crap's sake, I can write Achilles and Odysseus and Clytemnestra with my eyes shut. (Actually, I have to think about Clytemnestra because my version of Clytemnestra is a very manipulative person and my own idea of Cunning Machinations really puts the B into "subtle", but I can usually figure her out.) And it's not that I don't like Diomedes (shit, I like all the Greeks, except Palamedes. Oh, and the Lesser Ajax kind of had it coming); it's just that my characterization of him hasn't had to stand on its own yet. In "Reveille", I bounced him off Odysseus and that worked, but I can't do that here because he hasn't even met Odysseus yet, or anybody really.

And then on top of all that, the Hurt/Comfort Bunny bit me and now there's some goddamn fic set at Aulis parked on my hard drive.

I should just give it up and write Achilles/Patroclus for the rest of my "career". ARE YOU HAPPY jurhael~

TL;DR: I suck at writing, also expect some shitty Trojan War fic in the near future. This is guaranteed to delight only arisha, and possibly also Jo and duokinneas.

I'm not really happy with the way this turned out; the word presented great possibilities, especially for this duo, but I think I may go back later and rework this one when I don't have anything else on my plate. The word of the day was "glum"; it's Trojan War fic, Achilles and Deidamia. Bad language, but nothing other than that.

( Untitled )

Next up: yet more daily15 stuff! Hooray! (Or not, as the case may be.)