Aaron's Doodles - Tumblr Posts
As you may have seen @katerinaaqu and I have been discussing about a head canon of hers, tatted Odysseus.
For a while we searched for Scythian tattoos as they are the closest society that allowed tattoos, we weren´t sure if in Mykenean Greece they were frowned upon but in classical Greece they were (criminals, shady or barbaric people wore them).
So to make it plausible we came up with this idea: in the middle of the Troyan war in a resupply day, Menelaus and Agamemnon find Odysseus been tattooed an olive tree by a Scythian, perplexed by this they told him that it was a nothing a king should do, shady look.
But Odysseus told them it was a memory of his home of Penelope and Telamachus, that at least if he died there it would have died with his family. Also is a display of Ody´s more flamboyant personality traits, he didn´t tattoed a small olive or branch, nonono, he tattoed a whole tree!.
As the real design is composed of branches inspired by Scythians tattoos of deer´s antlers, (the lack of trees in the steppes prevented them from forming a more floral and plant style; being deer's antlers where we find more plant 'like designs),
The olive flowers are simplifications of the actual flower,
Flowers for my beautiful wife, whom I longed for, for years
The leaves are blackouts of the originals and the olives are also simplifications.
The sweet fruit of my dear Telemachus whom I never saw growing
The images below are the sketches I made for having an idea of the placement and elements we wanted to include.
We chose the upper arm as it was more concealable and only be fully revealed to Penelope.
As you can see there´s a swallow drawing, it has it reasons, swallows (Hirundo rustica) have a year migration and came back to Europe and Greece in spring, being heralds of the season and all that entails (hope, regrowth, fertility...) but the most important attributes for us were; (Athena transforms into a swallow and flies away from Telemachus in the Odyssey). Also it is mentioned that the chord of Odysseus's bow "sang like a swallow" when he used it to kill the suitors symbolizing his homecoming.
Swallows have always been linked to journeys specially to homecoming. They idea was of one swallow (Odysseus) but swallows are paired and as a small reminder, the biggest and most ornate is Penelope, fully in flight and more artistically and Odysseus is the one below more naturalistic as he is lesser in his eyes than her. The swallows are more linear and not painted as it also seems more secretive and blank spaces for everyone except him (So he can say everything I have been writing to her)
These is the final rendition of the idea!
I hope you have enjoyed and that it becomes your new headcanon!
@katerinaaqu thank you so much for everything! It has been a pleasure!
@jarondont Thanks for the idea!
The goodest of them all
odysseus and polites would make the cutest puppy dog eyes prove me wrong
(sry for the sucky photo quality)
Quick doodle of the sad soggy man!
@simugeuge Thanks so much for the palate cleanser! @katerinaaqu´s was endless crying and Tholos too T T
Anyways: here´s a doodle of three in their drawing session >:D
Hope you like it!
Ducks and Leopards
It was a pretty, warm morning on Ithaca. The royal family were reunited in the yard. Odysseus was checking the stones of the wall that surrounded the house, to see if there were any in need of fixing. Telemachus sat on the floor, drawing with a pig tusk. Penelope walked to Telemachus, put her hand on his shoulder, and stretched her neck to look over his head. He immediately covered the drawing with his body and waved his hand away. “Do not look, you’ll make fun of it.”
Penelope seemed offended. “Son, I would never be that cruel”, said, wrapping tightly her veil around her.
“You are.”
“I have never laughed at you, what are you saying, child?” she pressed her fingers on his shoulder to reassure him. But couldn’t keep talking, because an uncontrollable laughing fit emptied the air of her chest, folding over, grasping his arm.
“It’s a leopard.” Explained to her, flustered, the young man.
“That- that is a do-og, son. What is it?”
“I told you it was not good.”
“And the ears! But it has the spots!” Penelope’s knees were giving under her.
“What have you done to your mother?” Odysseus approached dusting off his hands.
“Ah, it wasn’t me. She loses all her poise whenever she has the chance to be cruel. Compose yourself, queen.” Telemachus teased her. “Please come look, father. Tell my mother it's a good leopard what I’ve drawn.”
Odysseus spied over their heads. He nodded. “I’ve traveled a lot, and I can tell you that is a good leopard if I've ever seen one…”
The young man leered at the queen.
“...We’d call them seals back then.”
“Oh!”, Telemachus grunted while both the king and the queen laughed at him.
“Well, if both of my beloved parents are so dexterous in matters of drawing, I’d like you to show you can do it better than me.” Telemachus offered the tusk in defiance.
“I will take it,” said the queen sitting next to her son and started drawing on the dirt. “I will draw a duck.”
The men complained. It was too easy. It was too boring. But she dismissed them and put all her attention in her drawing.
“Where have you seen leopards?” asked Odysseus scratching his beard.
“I saw one as a child, in Sparta,” explained Penelope, still focused on her duck.
“They brought one to the court of king Menelaus when princess Hermione got wedded to Neoptolemus Achillides. It was a wedding gift. And I would have never made an effort to try and recreate it as beautifully as Pisistratus can, had I known my mother was so very rigorous in matters of art”, Telemachus lifted his voice in reproach.
“There. It is done. A duck.”
“The legs are too long.”
“And the curve in the back is not right, honey.”
“Well, I don’t presume to be an artist, but the idea of a duck is right there.” She opened her hand to the drawing.
Both men scrunched their noses. “The idea of a bird.” Odysseus conceded.
Penelope left them to go check on the length of the duck’s legs in the pen. The king now sat down, took the tusk, and started drawing.
“What are you doing?” asked the woman on her return.
“A leopard and a duck.”
Now it was his turn to get jeered at.
“Awfully competitive.”
“That is very poor creativity, father.”
“He will copy from us.”
Odysseus kept abstracted as minutes passed, now erasing with his foot, now drawing again.
“What would they want a leopard for?” wondered Penelope.
Telemachus giggled: “Maybe the person who gifted it was given the leopard, and didn’t know what to do with it.”
“In that case darling, how far in the leopard line do you think we are?”
“Expect the leopard in a year or two.” mumbled Odysseus, scratching the dirt a little more. “There.” He declared, unsure. His wife and son came closer but they were silent.
“Honey, yours are the worst.”
“They are like stick figures.”
The king scratched his head, frustrated. “They are animals alright. I never promised anything.” He thought for a moment and took the tusk again. “I will draw a snake and I'll show both of you.”
What have you done?
When does a ripple became a tidal wave
i just want to draw tiny hearts everywhere because im full of love and the world is cruel
I see you going through my posts I see you You do not escape my notice Have a cookie doodled quickly (but affectionately) in paint. <3
Yes! Hehehehe >:D How did you know?
A few doodles I had saved, that had gain dust
a gift from you and a gift from me! Love the cookie!
Goodest of the bois
Me newborn son
this is a robbery pa im robbing you for all your odypen stuff you got
Ugh! This is betrayal my son!
Though I'm proud of your heists.
a little something
Some of my drawings.
Penelope's dissociating
Yes I did! Behold sea horse Helen
Who's this?
Fight little wolf, fight
Lil guy!!! :D I remember this doodle you did! He's so cute and chibi!
imagine Little Wolf but they're all on in Onesies >:3