#Epic venting

[theultimatenonbinarynerd]

Epic Fandom We Need To Talk! (An Open Letter)

As a former survivor of severe Cyberbullying and harrasment I can no longer stay silent anymore. You have forced my hand.

This has gone way too far and I am massively disappointed. All I ask is that you listen to what I have to say. This is no longer a joke as a survivor of Cyberbullying and harrasment I can say that a misunderstanding has turned into The Epic Fandom putting the livelihood and well being of artists in danger. I ask you to be respectful and understand I am speaking from old wounds and experience. Please don't twist my words, I don't support 🍇 or Antinous he is a horrible character.

Tw: Mentions of Cyberbullying, 🍇 and harassment

Dear Epic Fandom,

You are better then this, I know you are. Polites taught us to greet the world with open arms and accept when people make mistakes and stop holding onto are anger. The fandom is growing and we can't stop it but I'm really disappointed in the people letting hate win and turning the fandom venomous and toxic

We are all Epic Fans but behind the glass on your screen there's a person, a person with feelings who you know nothing about. You all don't know the real Melody typing this but your all probably gonna make assumptions based on what you dont know and that is the danger of being online. The person who posted fanart of Antinous and Telemachus you didn't like, they have real feelings. Complicated messy feelings that aren't able to be articulated enough online.

As a survivor of bullying myself my motto is block or scroll. I myself am very uncomfortable with a lot of the ao3 tags shipping Odysseus with Poseidon or Zeus but do I go angrily type on my keyboard? No I don't cos it's none of my damnn business. When I saw that art, I was confused and uncomfortable but instead of being reckless and sentimental I asked for clarification. Taking Polites advice I used open arms and talked about what was bothering me without attacking the artist. Instead of being like Polites you all became Poseidon. Ruthlessness Is Mercy is not the way to go, it's a toxic way to go about life. Did you all not listen to that Thunder Saga and see how it destroyed everything Odysseus had known for the past thirteen years.

You should all be absolutely ashamed of yourself. This is not what the Epic Fandom should be. You don't like someone's fan art ask for clarification and or block. There is no need to be Ruthless and cruel. The fact two genuine heartfelt Apologises have been made and you still can't let it go very much clearly shows your character. You are very much like Poseidon and Zeus and should be ashamed. In Ares words you are all sick cowards. Not only that but you are clearly projecting. I suggest you go to therapy if you think your time in the Epic the musical fandom should be spent bullying and harassing people then leave. The number one rule is that there is always a person behind the screen and that you should think before you type.

I'm still not over the fact how you have twisted and triggered someone's truama. I also can't believe hate is being given after the artist mentioned her experience. 🍇 is not a thing to weaponise. I feel like the Wisdom Saga has made you far too comfortable in how you handle and discuss 🍇. The artist forgot her trigger warnings and wasn't even trying to imply the twisted image you put on her. Also I pointed out she shouldn't have tagged it Epic and apologied. Jorge has made adaptations to The Odssey a piece of fiction. What Jorge has done with Antinous is his own creative liberties. If you can't have sensitive and respectful conversation about something that is still happening to people I don't know what to say. Accusing someone of supporting 🍇 is not okay at all. The artist wasn't attending that way and understands she shouldn't have done what she did but it goes both ways. Look for context before you slam. Judging someone based on an honest mistake and huge misunderstanding is dangerous and cruel. Do you not understand the dangers this could put the artist in in real life. Please have open arms and think before you type. This is a serious topic and not a joke.

Moving on I want to talk about why I think this blew up so bad. It's because Elian was commissioned to do an animatic for Jorge. Listen you all would have blocked if it wasn't for that. I read comments saying they idolised her and that is a really f**** dangerous thing to do. Idiolising someone because they've been noticed or hired by Jorge isn't healthy at all. At the end of the day we are all human beings. Elian is allowed to make mistakes and grow. Outside of Epic this is becoming a massive problem in genuine.

Worse I've seen and heard about Artists like Mirscy and AnniFlamma getting attacked just for defending their friend. I'm sorry are we not allowed to defend our friends now from bullying? I can't speak for them but if I saw my friend getting hated and harassed on I'd be angry too, it's like a natural emotion to feel. Then again you are the same fandom that mocks Eurylochus for sticking up for his crew so I'm not suprised. These artists are human beings and not God's because Jorge noticed and appreciated their work. Stop twisting these artists into people there not.

I'm not Tiresias but I can see Jorge stopping collaborating with artists on animatics if you keep this disgusting behaviour up. Constructive criticism is okay but falsely twisting the image of an artist is not okay at all by doing this you are dehumanising artists and doing exactly what Hollywood does. Jorge will have to stop commissioning people it you keep using the fact he noticed them against them when they make mistakes like all human beings do.

Please do better and stop being Poseidons. An 8 year grudge was unhealthy and got him nowhere. Be more like Polites and Greet The World with open arms. Not everything is black and white. Tik Tok built the Epic Fandom up and you hold all the power.

Stay kind and great the world the world with open arms.

Yours Sincerely,

Melody

They/Them

Ps: If you send me hate and twist my words be warned I have friends as well. One particular friend was there when a lot of my Cyberbullying truama happened and is aware why this has triggered me so badly and caused an episode.

Attack you will be blocked. I'll also remove reblogs.

Attack and you will be reported.

You don't scare me.

Be nice Epic Fandom and don't become The Monster. I'm willing to have civil conversations but that's it.

[epicthemusicalstuff]

Love yall, but my ask box isn’t exactly the best place to vent!

[enixamyram]

Okay, I don't know how many people here listens to Epic The Musical about Odysseus. (Fantastic songs, can't stop listening to them myself.)

But I'm kind of flabbergasted by the TikTok videos I keep seeing where people are more pissed about Eurylochus opening the bag than Odysseus sacrificing six men???

One was admittedly a really stupid move and Eurylochus should be held accountable even if it was an accident but Odysseus literally picked six people to die without them even knowing. Like, if we're gonna compare situations then Eurylochus' mistake is better matched with Odysseus telling the Cyclops his name (another stupid mistake). Why are people comparing a dumb mistake with literal murder??? And why are people saying Odysseus is the better choice in it?!?!

Like, am I the crazy on here???

[jeanjaquesrousseou]

The body is wasting too many resources in trying to get oxygen to those cells who were born further from the veins. I propose cutting on spending for the circulatory system, so that those in need work for a better place in the body and to get rid of all those lazy cells who take from working cells who got to where they are by moving contrary to what the left might say.

[a-neverending-dream]

Ok. I don't usually make comments on my opinions beyond rebloging. But some things have been making me mad.

That being the number of people saying characters are being hated or disliked because of the race of people acting them. Because if you read the numerous analysis posts, you realize that is not true at all. We don't like those characters because of their actions and words within the musical. For instance, I don't like Calypso because of the implied assault and abuse within the lyrics, which are drawn from the Odyssey. It is not because she is black. It is because she is a manipulative and abusive person who has trapped Odysseus in a relationship and a place he has no hope of escaping beyond death. And you see that with how she acts when he is on the ledge, inches away from death.

[maro0on]

so… im trying to find like animatics of no longer you and trying to find one that was like the most accurate

cuz like in the song tiresias like tells ody the prophecy rightt and its basically hinting the next saga

most specifically these three: I see the sacrifice of man I see portrayals of betrayal And a brother's final stand

and like, i keep seeing like very inaccurate depictions

<i look at them with an open mind of course cuz they were before the sagas or like the revelation>

...but i still think they couldve done like a small research to make it more accurate or something??

… cuz i mostly see like sacrifice of man being like polites' death-- but like that wasnt even a sacrifice???

protrayals of betrayals is pretty much accurate everywhere cuz its kind of hard to get wrong

and brothers final stand IS ALSO DEPICTED AS POLITES

and ladies and gentletheys-- thats where it gets me cuz it seems like they were looking at it from a very narrow pov, but the only one who got the most accurate depiction was our lord and savior gigizetz

[dootznbootz]

ooooooh, don't make me reblog that Circe Essay again, Circe Saga. I love you so much and I want to have faith in the fans but ooooooooh

[frankenfartstein]

can i come over and stare at u like this ?

[freelancher1983]

[elisadaughtry]

TW SA IMPLIED

something I’ve been working on,

Borrowed and tossed, I’ve weathered the storm, In the chill and the dark, I count the wounds I’ve worn, A list of all I’ve lost, scars etched deep, When I yearned for you, now shadows haunt my sleep.

Your touch was cruel, stripping joy from my forsaken lips, Parted and marred, mistaking pain for tender bliss.

You’ve taken it all,

Clinging to the edge of your weeping willows, You promised warmth in the storm’s cold billows, A sanctuary within, you swore it was safe, Yet time froze me, truth veiled, a hidden fate.

You stole it all, the essence of my heart’s plea, Pain stings, breath falters, your gaze still haunting me.

You’ve taken it all,

You took it, you took it, every fragment of my soul, I wonder if you share in the ruin, in sorrows bitter toll, You’ve taken it all, peace remains elusive and far, The key to my cage awaits in the dim stars

You took it all, the soul behind my breast, The air in my lungs, the shallow breaths

You’ve taken it all.

[turnipiku]

mildly panicking because no one will respond to me but it’s FIIIIINE WE’RE CHILLING

[randomnerd737]

I try not to be negative on here but

the victim blaming in the epic the musical fandom of the crew is insane. what do you mean its their fault Odysseus chose to kill them all just to save his own skin.

what do you mean its the crew's fault Poseidon killed most of them because they didn't trust someone who has shown themselves time and time again to be a lair and selfish.

Odysseus literally sang a whole song at the end of act 1 about how he was gonna become the monster and be evil because he had to to get himself home. do these people not know that just because Odysseus is the protagonist that doesn't mean he's always in the right.

[dougielombax]

Alan Wake 2 physical release when?!

Seriously. Fuck Epic Games for pulling this shit!

(Because it sure as hell isn’t Remedy’s fault)

[mothsakura]

help!!! the grandparents are fighting !!!

[leo-illustrations]

i just finished the thunder saga of epic the musical and holy shit. different beast? i fucking love that song

like dude, Odysseus' huge change since the beginning of Epic, i deeply relate to. to a very deep level of pain that not even words in any language in this world can describe.

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

[meandering prose: Red Herrings]

I went to an escape room for my birthday.

It was me, my brother, and my mom. We had all done escape rooms in the past before, but we were excited to try this one out because it was a new establishment close to our home. We figured if we liked it, we could try out some of their other rooms when we found the time.

Well, we didn't finish the room. I was a little bitter about it (it had ruined my winning streak, after all), but was engaged to hear our game master talk about what we would have needed to do to complete the room.

He walked over to a drawer with two locked compartments, showing us that we had left it shut ("aha!", the back of my mind piped up, delighted, "yes, i remember those locks! how foolish of me to have forgotten them! but where are the keys?").

The keys, the game master explained, were tucked away in the top pocket of one of several lab coats. He reached in and showed it to us- a ring of several keys, maybe ten or so. This was fascinating to me, if not for one very specific reason:

Earlier in the game I had looked at those lab coats. And while true, I suppose it was my own fault for missing that ring of keys, I consider myself absolved of blame because I, too, had found a different ring of keys in the pockets of one of the lab coats. His looked identical to mine. I hadn't used mine all game.

Our game master took the ring of keys to the drawer, flipping to one (again, out of the ten or so on the ring) and unlocking one of the two locked drawers. I pulled out the key ring I had found from my pocket, showing it to him. I asked him whether these keys were supposed to unlock the second drawer (I had tried to do that earlier in the game, of course, but escape room locks are notoriously finicky... For all I knew, I simply did it wrong).

My game master smiled widely at me, and said: "Oh, those don't do anything." I didn't really know what to say, at first. They don't do anything? None of them? On the whole ring?

"Nope." He responded, aglow with delight, "That was a red herring."

I'd come to find out that we had a good handful of red herrings in our little room. A camera with a code inside of the lens. A full deck of playing cards. Three pairs of lab goggles- one for each member of our party. A gramophone with interactive dials. A box with the letter L painted on its side. We gave some of the objects more attention than others, but all of them were meant to be misdirections.

As aforementioned, I've been to a couple of escape rooms in my day. I've worked in one briefly as a game master myself. For those who've never experienced the pleasures of one, let me let you in on a little secret: They don't have red herrings. Not if they're good. Not if they're worth your money.

And it bugged me. Obviously it bugged me. We'd been played for a fool! By the game master, by the escape room studio, by those innocent souls conned out of giving the company a five star review. But there was something a little deeper than that that was really grinding my gears. Something I couldn't put my finger on until I let it stew for a little while.

I finished I Expect You To Die 3 just a day before my birthday. Seeing as the game is pretty much just a virtual escape room, experiencing the two back to back had me subconsciously comparing the two of them from the moment I stepped out of the physical escape room space. Even if I hadn't processed it yet.

Red herrings are dangerous in puzzle games. They're dangerous because your player needs something to trust. You as the designer give your player rules; and while these rules can be turned on their face, they can never be broken. If a rule must change, that change needs to be communicated to a player. Otherwise, there is little difference between a 'red herring' and a lie, is there?

It's bad to have a player that second guesses everything that you tell them. It's worse when your player doesn't know that you're lying to them yet. They'll run into a wall until their face gets bloodied, trusting your word all the while. And once they learn you're lying, they'll almost certainly drop your game no soon after.

IEYTD3 includes a lot of lasers (all of the games do, but this one in particular uses them in a very unique way). More often than not, they all come from an identical looking object. The player is inevitably trained to register this object as a laser hazard, regardless of whether or not the laser is even active at all.

And the game makes sure to train you on this concept, too. Lasers originally come at the player slowly, with a good bit of build up, and even a reticle to show you precisely where the laser's going to fire. As the game progresses, the lethality increases, and the lasers get faster and more threatening as the player gets used to them.

The last time a laser is ever introduced in game, the player is expected to deflect it. There's only one slight issue with this: this particular puzzle is very late in game. And every single time a laser was introduced up until that point, it could NOT be deflected. At all. Regardless of the surface you tried to bounce it off on.

Is this not, in some strange sense, a red herring, you ask? The game has changed the rules! How are you supposed to explain a rule change like that one without blatantly explaining it through text? The player will be acting upon an incorrect assumption!

But before the player makes it to that very specific puzzle, there is a different laser puzzle that they must encounter first. At first, this only seems like it's making the issue worse. If one puzzle would already confuse the player, how would a second do anything to help?

Well, it's quite simple, really. The game separates the player's preconceived notion of lasers from the precursor puzzle. It involves a laser, but what the laser fires out of is different. The player isn't expecting that sort of hazard from that sort of object.

The laser also isn't static, as it was at all other points of the game... It moves, drifting from left to right, veeerry slowly, as to allow the player ample room to study it from a safe distance. Ever so coincidentally, within the laser's inevitable path happens to be a mirror.

The laser bounces off the mirror, and though the player remains safe from the reflection, it registers in their head all the same. "Ah! It deflected it!" Gears turn. New rules are established. And because it came from such a vastly different source than all other lasers up until this point, the knowledge is frictionlessly installed in the player's mind.

Then comes the first puzzle I mentioned. It's faster, far more lethal, puts the player on their toes. But the second the word "laser" is uttered (and make no mistake, even the script writing here is an intentional game design choice), it clicks in the players head. "Laser. Deflection. Hey, I know how to do that!"

AND ITS CRAZY. Because- especially for a puzzle game- there is NO riskier decision than changing the rules! Let alone deeply pre-established ones! But the game does it so smoothly that I didn't even stop to question it. It wasn't even until I first replayed the game that I learned that the rules had even altered to begin with!

It wasn't necessary. Sure, it definitely would have pissed a lot more players off without the seamless rule-change tutorial, but it wouldn't have been a major hurdle. Most players would have (if not sooner or later) tried deflecting lasers, even after being previously taught not to bother. Lasers get deflected in video games. That's just what they do.

But the fact that the game cared enough about their players to teach them. The fact that they respected them enough not to lie to them. That's what really got me. A puzzle isn't about beating a player. A puzzle isn't about making a player feel stupid. It's about making a player feel smart, and it's about helping them get there.

Anyways if you ever go into an escape room and they start fucking lying to you, for the love of god do NOT rate them 5 stars online!!! Rate them like. TWO stars at the most. But those ones better be for set dressing ONLY