#gilposting

Since the main poster can't keep himself in check, I'll be making today's post. Enkidu has not done anything wrong, and I don't want to hear any comments about the number of days we've been counting it.

[softly]

heehee... the funny sex number... hehehahaha...

this literally JUST tastes like vanilla. despite not being THAT low of an abv percentage. it's denser than normal whipped cream, more like frosting in both texture and taste intensity. but it is Fucking Awesome. they also have mocha and strawberry versions but we bought it planning to put it on an alcoholic milkshake (have tried before, one of the few things that we can stand) so we just bought the vanilla kind. you can spray this shit into your mouth like a normal whipped cream can. it fucking ROCKS.

How has the WIP changed between starting it and where it is now?

I’m gonna use the Gilgamesh WIP for these, if you don’t mind. Technically I’ve been working on this since 2017 when I first wrote a poem in response to the 2014 tablet, so it’s obviously changed from poetry to prose, but right now it’s gotten a structural overhaul too to be more cohesive and linear than the short story collection I was kinda planning it to be (think a certified AU vs Lost Books of the Odyssey). I’ve also had to rethink my approach to retelling this material and my priorities with it,  but it’s cracked the story wide open to tons of new possibilities!

What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Hmm, I would say the most common writing tip I follow is to get everything out of your head -- some of my favorite writing for this WIP (and characterization for Humbaba, some of which I revamped for my flash fiction submission to a UK contest) has been written on my phone in the middle of the night. I feel like a lot of people feel pressured to write chronologically, but honestly in the rough draft stage, it’s more important to simply have words on paper. Even if it’s a just a few lines or a single bit of dialogue, it’s better to get it out than let it crystallize and die in your head.

What authors and books have inspired you to write your work?

The most obvious influence on this project is Gilgamesh by Stephen Mitchell, which is the version I had to read for my class. “Gilgamesh and Huwawa” has also been very influential in the recent plot developments, with Giorgio de Santillana and Hertha von Dechend’s Hamlet’s Mill for some of Humbaba’s physicality. 

There are obviously tons of “modern AU” retellings of classics, but something like Derek Jarman’s Edward II (both movie and annotated script which I actually own two copies of, lmao) is definitely inspiring for anyone wanting to bring the past “out of the closet,” as it were. I’ve also looked towards Julie Taymor’s Titus for the aesthetic inspiration of “What if this ancient society progressed into the modern day?”