#I LOVE THE ANIMATIC GIGI MADE

[rexscanonwife]

All I wanna do is listen to/talk about Epic now BRO THESE MINI HYPERFIXATIONS HIT HARD

[gigizetz]

Hello Gigi, I love your art and animatics! This morning I watched the speedpaint for the Circe holding flowers piece you made and I was wondering, is using a reference like that to draw a separate character something you would advise for practicing art? I've been wanting to find some portraits for reference to practice my rendering, but as art for me is a way to explore my interests (mostly fandom related) I don't find myself particularly motivated to draw unless it's a character I like. I'm self-taught so I don't really know any artists in person who I can ask this, I hope it makes sense

of course! And I'd also recommend drawing characters you like for practice, that's basically the thing that I used to do as well :D

[ender-cloud]

Epic the Musical Vengeance Saga just dropped so heres my thoughts on it!!

Overall thoughts: A lot shorter than I thought it was going to be BUT, THAT MAY BE BECAUSE OF THE ITHICA SAGA HAVING SO MANY LONG SONGS

Wait nevermind, it’s the next day and I just realized how long the Vengeance saga is I think I was just tired and it just seemed like it was fast

Also very Nerve racking, and I literally sat there eyes wide and mouth agape almost the entire time oh my god it was so fucking cool, the animation??? Like huh???

Now onto the songs before I start getting into specifics!

Song 31: Not Sorry for Loving you

I am not a Calypso fan, normally I don’t like her in any adaptation or original version, but, with that said, this is the first song that really made me re think that. (Still hate her though, but I tried to put in two perspectives)

The way that Jorge made it so you can really see how tragic Calypso is and really feel for her, is it definitely not ok that she kept Odysseus trapped against his will: yes, but really being alone for so long it makes sense.

Wangui really out did herself, the way you can tell the voice change from Love in paradise which is more upbeat and energetic, to this sad, distant voice in Not sorry for loving you, showing just how much she doesn’t want to let Odysseus go but knows its for the best, no matter how much it hurts her to

I feel like Calypso admitted that she did something wrong but yet still saying shea not sorry for loving Odysseus makes the song more in character and more realistic for her

On the other side; her words are trying to make Odysseus stay. She thinks if she can make Odysseus feel bad for her by telling her all this he will stay with her, but Odysseus is tired of this, it probably isn’t the first time where Calypso tried to convince him not to leave with her words. Despite being tired of the island, he still has his wits and knows better to fall for it

Saying “I’m not sorry for loving you” is completely getting rid of the “apologies” she said before. All of the things that she said was done out of her “love” so saying she’s not sorry for loving ody is saying to ignore everything she said before “I’m sorry for making YOU feel bad but I’m not sorry for doing it”

I can talk line by line when it cuts to the animatic but its getting late so I’ll just skip to the one that really stuck out to me which was Ody’s “I love you! but not in the way that you want me to…”

At first, it threw me old guard, odysseus, the biggest simp ever, in love with another woman! Impossible! But than the second part really made me think about how close they might have grown in the last 7 years

Even if it wasnt how Calypso wanted it to go and how Ody didn’t always have the best times on that island; Calypso still took care of him and they were each other’s only company for years, they would grow close as friends and it all makes sense put into that perspective

And Calypso hating that she fell in love with ody also makes sense in this perspective, if she didn’t love him the two had the opportunity to become great friends, truly all calypso wanted was company, and she knows that if she had stopped herself she would have had that company in a friend. Maybe the two could’ve gotten along better than they could’ve ever imagined just as friends, and maybe, this departure would be more sad on Odysseus side and less rageful on Calypso’s side.

Also Gigis animatic for it was just ahshajbshshs god, it was so good

Anyway, with all of that said this song can also be seen as emotional manipulation:D depends on how you look at it because it can be seen as Calypso playing the victim to make Odysseus feel bad and stay with her, It was most likely the intention but I tried to give both perspectives on the situation

Song 32: Dangerous

HERMES HAHAHAH OH I LOVE HEREMS SO MUCH!! FAVORITE CHARACTER RIGHT THERE!!

Something I really enjoyed about dangerous is what it brought back from past songs, the wind bag, the 600 men lines coming back but this time without the crew to back it up, instead theres just silence

And then of course Hermes is there too so thats by itself is bringing back Wouldn’t you like.

Troy’s voice is just so intresting to me and scratches my brain in all of the right places

To be honest hearing Troy sing the plan of the part made me let out a sigh of relief because all I could’ve heard until then was the Carl wheezer version and I’ve now been cleansed by Troys amazing voice

The whole Hermes dancing part while Odysseus fought off monsters was definitely a lighter thing to laugh at after Not sorry for loving you, ALSO THE TWERKING??? I CANT JUST NOT TALK ABOUT THAT, so now, the question everyones all been wondering, is Hermes giving the Winions twerking lessons? Because I mean the man flys and got the wind bag so must be relatively close with Aeolus (they match each others energy) and there for the Wininons in relation also they were his backup singers so!!? Twerking lessons

Anyways back to the song; odysseus part is so good, I don’t know what else to say about except for that but I truly do like it I swear!!

The fact that Athena didn’t even seem to cross Odys mind at the end was shocking to me, yes they had their falling out but Athena was the first person he called out to in Love in Paradise

The fact that he thinks he was ignored and pushes aside by her is heart renching, i do hope they have a reconnection in the Ithca saga (Because Athena is not dead, I refuse it Jorge, your video was a Lie, she is not dead, Apollo healed her, she is ok!)

Song 33: Charybdis

I dont have much to say about this one Annalyzing wise so instead I will say that It’s very Catchy and will be stuck in my head for all time.

I love Jorges voice in it chat its so good, It always is but like the Vocals on this one in particular I cant explain it

Also the animation is really cool.

God I dont know why, I knew Get in the water was coming but I really was happy for Odysseus to make it home, I think it’s how he sounded so desperate and so close and I just wanted to give him a hug, the past two somgs kept my mind off of what was to come and it really came to stab me in the back

Song 34: Get in the water

All I can think of is my friend going “Oh no he’s hot!” To poseidon when he arose from the water to start off the song, it was a little bit of light before the storm that was to come

I’ve been meaning to say this for a few of the songs now but Get in the water has such a different feeling and tone than any other song in the musical, normally Jorge brings melodies back but hearing a completely different sound that hadn’t been in the musical earlier almost breaks this invisible rule in place and its nerve racking

It dosent start with the normal boss music but instead its own original thing because this isn’t just a boss, this is the Boss that is the biggest turning point in Odysseus, this time we truly see Odysseus become the monster, a monster that scares not only mortals, but gods and other monsters as well, he will never let anyone defy him again

Poseidon’s threats to raise the tide were so nerve racking, god Steven Rodriguez’s voice is so calm yet so filled with rage at the same time, so steady but so ready to break the dam down, and the way it escalates to where the anger is more ahown but its not quite screaming, not just yet has Posedion reached the peak of his Anger

Odysseus still trying to reason with Poseidon, one of the last times this reasoning part of him will show as he tries to convince Posedion to give up after the 10 years this has been going on for

The reasoning turns into a faint version of ruthlessnesses melody, the melody playing in the background, not only to lead into Poseidons lines from it, but also knowing just how Ruthless both Poseidon and Odysseus are soon to become

Poseidon powering up WAS SO SICK MAN! LIKE OH MY GOD!!! It was absolutely amazing, my mouth dropped when I saw it and it reminded me of circe and her monster yet this isn’t a monster but an extension of poseidon (Who can count as a monster depending on who you ask)

This is where we can see Poseidon reach the peak of his anger where his power is the strongest and his boss move is set in place, the animation, again, absolutely fantastic. The ocean breaking is so satisfying, and yet the entire time I was terrified of it

JORGE STOP BRINGING BACK OPEN ARMS OH MY GOD I CANT TAKE IT ANYMORE, I couldn’t tell if they were pulling Odysseus to his death or empowering him, because Polites just put his hand on Odys shoulder, an encouraging powerful gesture. While his mother is dragging him down and down into the sea and Eurylochus is on his arm

It’s the same thing from love in paradise, the memories make him want to die but then he remembers that; they would want him to live on and fight, to not let them die for nothing, and to make it out alive so he could make sure they were all remembered, every 601 of them (or 602 if you count the baby)

But it could have also been that they knew what Odysseus was going to become and wanted him to just rest and let himself go once and for all, Polites looking at him, knowing that Odysseus cant do that, knowing Odysseus would never just leave his wife like that.

Instead of using this new found encouragement and power in his body to reason with Poseidon he becomes a monster to him instead, the monster thats always been within him but just hidden because of him leading with his heart

Song 35: Six Hundred strike

I forgot who the animator was because it’s the next day but it looked so much like a video game and was so impressive, all of the animatics in this one were just absolutely terrifying, with Odysseus red eyes being like him powering up is so interesting to see

Now remember what I said earlier during Dangerous about the crew not backing Odysseus up because they were gone; this song brings them back after Odysseus saw their spirits, like he had remembered and now the voices may not actually be there but in Ody’s head as a form of motivation for the fight

It’s been a while since we’ve heard Odysseus so angry (Because he’s to busy gentle parenting and reasoning with every monster he finds) but now seeing it against poseidon was such a shift and Ody shifted with it.

Just awesome animation and the instrumental in the back is so cool and high stake. “Almost all of whom were slaughtered by your hand!” Sososo good because when it wasn’t Poseidon it his son and the last part of the crew died under Odysseus’s choice but instead of focusing on this he focused on how he only caused 42 deaths (Elpenor i love you but your death was your fault) and how Poseidon caused more that 500 instead.

In that Light it made what Odysseus would do next more reasonable for him, more justified in his mind

The animation turn where all you could see was the red glowing eyes of Odysseus staring at you before he picks up the trident and starts torturing Poseidon.

Old Odysseus after he defeated Poseidon would once again try and reason with him to stop the storm, but this is a new odysseus, a different beast so to say, he no longer cares about the nice way out, Ruthlessness will become far from Merciful if it means he can finally see his family again.

“You didn’t stop when I begged you! Told me to close up my heart!” I am very much obsessed with the lines in this saga they are so good and just so powerful as well in the moments, its an action jammed pack saga because it has to be the entire journey back but it’s done so well.

Hearing an actual god Call odysseus a Monster is different from anything else that might’ve been scared of him before because Gods are all powerful, they don’t have time to fear mortals, But Odysseus is different, more power in just a mortal than they have ever seen before, Odysseus doesn’t have any godly power except for his wit and brute strength to win his battles and thats absolutely terrifying to see how powerful he is with just being a mortal man

“How will you sleep at night?” “Next to my wife.”

GOD, I dont know what to say about this line except for it is absolutely amazing and delivered so well and is just all in all very resinate of what Odysseus’s goal has been since he started this journey

This saga was all in all very cool! It’s not up in my top 3 but its very very close

[dynasty889]

Wisdom Saga Ranking

Okay, so first off I literally had to sing to keep myself awake during the livestream (started getting tired around the Circe Saga). I still have mixed feelings about this saga but over all I like it.

1. Little Wolf - This is probably my favorite. I loved the animatic for it!! (I think it was based on Mortal Kombat, sorry not the biggest video game geek). I loved the way Athena was reintroduced into EPIC. And also so relatable. You get a great power up but you still lose to the boss.

2. Legendary - The animatic and Argos lmao! 🤣 Anyway, this song turned pretty dark during the suitors’ verse. You can definitely already tell they’re planning to take the throne and Penelope by force. It’s a total bop lmao.

3. We’ll Be Fine - I did hear the lyric changes and I am a little sad Telemachus might not have gone to Pylos and Sparta (like he does in the Odyssey). I love Teagan’s singing in this song but I feel like it ended kind of abruptly.

Uhhh I don’t know where to rank Love in Paradise and God Games.

Love in Paradise: As a story, this song works. As a song just to listen, maybe not as much. I always thought the time dive would be in the middle of the song. I guess not? Gigi’s animatic for the song definitely makes Calypso very adorkable. Im pretty neutral about Calypso’s characterization in EPIC because I think it’s important we establish that Odyssey!Calypso is not the same as EPIC!Calypso (because it’s an adaptation duh). It almost seems to be implied that even though Odysseus was spared in Thunder Bringer, Zeus still punished him by stranding him. Like, it seems that Calypso might almost be influenced by Zeus? I’m not sure how to explain it, but like I’m trying to say Zeus played a hand in Odysseus’ seven year stay on Ogygia (which is why he’s so mad at the end of God Games.) I’m also very glad we still get to see how seven years with a woman he didn’t want messed up Odysseus. I know he’s also got trauma from other stuff, but it’s still good to see that he is barely clinging to sanity because of Calypso. Also, those notes Odysseus sings right before he calls out to Athena. It almost sounds like he’s saying “home” (that’s how I’ve been singing it anyway)

God Games: I think this song is so fucking cool. But it suffers from some of the choices of the gods featured in this song. I will stand by the fact that Apollo didn’t need to be in this song. He’s like the boss that’s way too easy, even for beginning players. Hephaestus’ reason made a little more sense. Also bonus points for being voiced by Jay’s dad. Aphrodite and Ares felt like the actual first boss fight. Their verses were longer and while their reasons may still be a little iffy, we got to see some hesitation from the gods. Hera’s verse was pretty cool just cause of how groovy it is, but she also seemed to be convinced a little too easy. I don’t know. Zeus…oh my god. Jay needs to bring Luke for one more song. He was so badass in that song! Also:

Ares(? I don’t know which god said): “Is she (Athena) dead?”

Also the previous song: “Goddesses can’t die.”

I loved the instrumental and the animatic that went along with it. It really reminds me of the Thunder Saga trailer and that little melody at the end of Thunder Bringer.

Also, Gwendy’s animatic for the end of God Games is just so fucking amazing. It literally looks like an anime. I need EPIC: The Anime after all of these animatics. Jay did so much for the Wisdom Saga and I love it.

[protagaster]

BLUE AND I APOLOGIZE SO MUCH FOR HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR THIS FIC TO BE RELEASED!!!

College finals, why must you continue to wound the tired and admittedly nuerodivergent souls of creatives...

On the bright side, we're already working on the next fic for the coming Saga so hopefully the wait won't be as long! I'm not gonna reveal the name of it right now, for I would hate for you all to be spoiled of the surprise ;)

I know I must sound like a broken record, but I truly feel I can never say it enough! I never would have been able to get this done without my favorite co-author and one of the greatest friends a girl could ask for in the entire world, the lovely @somereaderinblue! Seriously, you guys have no idea how much of an angel Blue is behind the scenes (though I'd forgive you for feeling otherwise based on her love for angst -_-)

Credit to Gigi and Aniflamma, two very talented artists who have made their own animatics of Ruthlessness! Without their animatics as a guide, I never would have gotten this done T_T. Also, check out Gigi's art of Amphitrite (Blue and I heavily based the au's version of the Sea Goddess on Gigi's drawing).

And, for the first of what I'm sure will be many times, a huge shoutout to mine and Willow's resident fanartist and the third member of our own little Golden Trio, the legendary @zippyskyfalls! Zippy has created SO MANY works of art dedicated to mine and Willow's version of the au, and it just wouldn't feel right gatekeeping her to ourselves! Love ya, Zippy <3

(Cross-Posted on AO3)

Ruthlessness

Sing, o' tides, of Amphitrite's wrath upon mortals, for ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.

~

The waters sustaining the Ithacan fleet changed dramatically. 

With tremendous willpower, the 44 women aboard the primary vessel, along with the 484 sailors who occupied the other 11 ships, tore their eyes away from the eerie unmoving orbs glowing through the ocean mist. Each and every one looked over their ship’s railings, trying to see what on earth was going on.

Penelope, Ctimene, and the other 42 bodies crowding around the wooden barrier between ship and sea watched with mounting dread as the sea’s surface raged into liquid chaos. 

Instantaneously, unnaturally so, a combination of swirling streams, bumpy waves, and tempestuous tides forced the fleet into an uncontrollable swaying that left every sailor struggling to focus on maintaining her balance lest she topples over. 

Even Penelope, the daughter of a Naiad, was having trouble grounding herself in the midst of the sea from whence her blood originated. She tried to focus, tried to force herself to look around to see what it was that affected the waters like a ladle stirring a bubbling pot of stew. However, the second Penelope made her attempt, the waves below impossibly raged even harder. 

Something, or someone, was actively working to keep her from gaining any control over the situation. 

But what, Penelope wondered, and why?

It didn’t even take a second to find the answer.

A fog of cold ocean mist blanketed the 12 ships; so thick it cut them off from the outside world. The surging tidal waves below forcibly shoved 11 of the 12 ships to crowd together in close enough proximity for oars to scrape hulls. The only exception was the leading ship, ahead and standing out from the rest of the fleet like a black sheep within a farmhand's herd. 

Penelope was the first to notice this, Ctimene closely after, with the rest of the crew realizing once they saw themselves pointedly separated from the others.   

Suddenly, goosebumps tingled in the back of Penelope’s neck. The sensation was a strange one, akin to the feeling of a wet hand giving her a harsh caress; a demand for attention probing her hindbrain.

Penelope unconsciously obliged when she turned herself around. 

Her stomach dropped when she realized the glowing orbs from before had disappeared. 

Before she could even ponder over where they could have gone, a giant squid’s tentacle burst out of the ocean like a spear. 

Amphitrite!

The one tentacle, longer and wider than Penelope’s entire ship, hovered over the vessel and cast a dark shadow over the women aboard it. 

Another tentacle followed shortly after. Then another. Then another. 

Amphitrite!

4 tentacles became 5, then 6, 7, 8, each one as long as it was big.

Amphitrite!

All 8 tentacles slammed down on the ocean’s surface.

The women flinched at the deafening crash every appendage roared in response. Through sheer volume alone, it was almost enough to make the sailors’ ears bleed.

Amphitrite!

The impact of the tentacles forced the surrounding waves to erupt in streams toward the sky, creating a curtained veil of water. For the elements to rage with such controlled intensity, it could only be at the hands of a deity.

A very, very angry deity.

The tentacles, resting motionlessly on the sea’s surface after their initial slam, all but retracted toward the other side of the tidal veil. Those appendages, so swift and graceful, barely made a break in the water screen.  

Behind this veil, the top of someone’s head broke the sea’s surface. 

Amphitrite!

The person behind the liquid curtain emerged fully from the waves, their height far surpassing the largest structures made by man and rivaling Gaia’s towering mountains. Using two of their tentacles, they parted the veil of aqua… 

And revealed herself to be a gorgeous woman, a being who was one with the seas themselves. 

Her refined physique, tall and proper, regal and poised, did not betray even a hint of imperfection. However, as she manifested a trident adorned with seashells on the handle, the entire weapon gleaming like quicksilver, she clenched the shaft in a manner that betrayed the intense fury and deep embitterment underlying her composure.

A strange looking diadem rested atop the mysterious being’s head; it was sleek and vaguely triangular, akin to the pointed crown of a squid. Their hair, waist-length and straight without a single strand of hair out of place, was layered with both natural tresses and eight squid-like tentacles.

Her skin was tinted the same crystalline blue and seafoam green one would often view looking over the bay, with nary a single scar or blemish to taint its excellence. Her eyes were pure blue orbs without pupils or sclera. This haunting gaze looked down on the women aboard the main ship with a cold, sharp glare. 

This gaze landed on one woman in particular… 

Penelope. 

Amphitrite!

Commanding the nearby tides to enclose her enormous being, the woman enveloped herself in swirling waves until her figure was completely covered. 

Then, quicker than a school of fish, those swirling waves became but a slender stream and traversed through the oceanic top, crawled up the front bow of the main ship, then squeezed in between the cracks of the wooden floorboard before splashing down at the front of the ship’s deck. 

The 44 women, having all ran to the other side of the deck in fear, watched as the water stream dispersed and revealed the same woman from before. Though smaller than before, she still towered over everyone by at least a head.

Amphitrite!

Penelope’s eyes widened. Her breath hitched painfully, for the salty air seemed to force her lungs to shrivel like salted fish. The cold sweat coating her skin seemed to make it shrink against her bones, turning her own body into a prison. 

This woman, Penelope realized, is a Goddess.

And not just any Goddess at that. The Queen of the Seas herself, mother to all the creatures who inhabit them, second only to Poseidon the Earthshaker with unlimited power over the vast ocean and all waters. The one, the only…

“Amphitrite…” 

The Goddess of the Seas looked down at the infesting vermin that dared taint her waters. She clenched the shaft of her trident, the ends of her hair flicking across the ocean’s surface with barely restrained ire..

It was funny, really. For as long as she was Queen of the Tides, the Goddess never cared to meddle in mortal affairs as her husband and his peers so regularly did. Why would she, when mortals are so plentiful and insignificant to a being as grandiose as she?

And yet, here in this moment, Amphitrite couldn’t help but finally understand why her husband would devote so much time into putting the mortals in their place.

Especially when they oozed such… nauseating self-important confidence as this “Penelope” did.

“In all my years of living It isn't very often that I get pissed off. I try to flow like the waves, but damn, you crossed the line…”

Before Ctimene or the others could even think of what they could do to try and defend their queen, one of Amphitrite’s tentacle-locks surged forward, swifter than any arrow, and wrapped painfully tight around Penelope’s left arm. 

The sheer power of its grip easily overpowered Penelope’s mere mortal strength. It picked her up as if she weighed nothing, then forcefully pulled her forward until she hovered face-to-face before the Ocean Goddess herself. Penelope gagged as the smell of brine and rotten wood assaulted her senses.

“I've been so gracious, and yet, you hurt this son of mine!” 

Penelope performed a double-take at Amphitrite’s declaration. 

Son, the smaller woman silently mouthed. What son? 

Penelope knew for a fact that she and her crew had not once brought harm to a creature of the sea, neither back in Troy’s warfront or on their ships whilst journeying home.  

Amphitrite immediately noticed the confusion evident in the mortal queen’s mind. Though she was filled with an unquenchable fury that was desperate to sate its thirst, Amphirtrite still had the sense to understand why Penelope would be so baffled with her claim.

And so, in what would be the first and final display of consideration that the Sea Goddess would spare the mortal, Amphitrite carelessly dropped Penelope onto the wooden floor. The Goddess uncoiled her tentacle from the mortal’s arm, though it left behind a discriminating shackle of bruises that branded her as Amphitrite’s prey. 

“That's right, the cyclops you made blind…”

Amphitrite’s beloved Polyphemus… 

Polyphemus, one of Poseidon’s many cyclops sons, one of the few Amphitrite grew fond of, for shared loneliness and sorrow was a powerful form of love in itself. A love not borne from blood ties, but from shared grief of knowing the pain of being shunned by their own kin, all because of a proclamation made by that damn Poseidon; whether they had been unwillingly chosen to be his bride, or ridiculed for not being a good enough son.

Polyphemus, who was so badly crippled and yet forced to continue a life of constant pain and perpetual humiliation; he who Poseidon refused to take vengeance for, and thus left the ruthless Amphitrite to avenge his suffering…

“Is mine.”

Penelope, having put pressure on her left arm to alleviate her growing ache, froze in all her bodily sensations, for the horrifying gravity of Amphitrite’s words had turned her insides to ice. 

“No…”

Now that this mortal woman knew of her sin, the Sea Goddess faced no guilt in incurring her justified comeuppance.

“I'm left without a choice and without a doubt, guess the pack of wolves is swimming with the sharks now!”

Willing her body to leave its solid confines, Amphitrite flooded the floor of the main ship. Once she’s through with them, not a single nail nor splinter will be left dry. The women aboard this overflowing vessel rushed to back away, afraid of what would happen if they let themselves touch the water that was once a Goddess’ sacred body. 

Luckily, it took only a moment before the flooding water parted across the wood, throwing itself overboard the ship.

SPLASH! 

Penelope ran as fast as she could to her ship’s railing, the others following closely behind her trail. All eyes scanned over the sea’s surface, trying to find where the Goddess had disappeared to. Penelope suddenly noticed a slender stream in her peripheral, one that flowed faster and shone brighter compared to her fellow waves, swimming in taunting circles around all 12 ships like sharks around blood. 

The sudden lull was maddening, doubly so when Gods know what divine retribution brewed in wait underneath them. Then, as quickly as before, the stream shaped itself into the Goddess’ enormous form. The Goddess loomed over them like a sea cliff towering above the ocean floor’s pebbles, and pierced her trident through the ocean’s shimmering blue surface.

“I have to make you bleed, I need to see you drown! But before you go, I need to make you learn how ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!”

A barrage of long rocks, sharpened to a point with protruding spikes, burst from deep below the ocean floor with the force of Charybdis’ teeth, dissipating the cloud of ocean mist that once blanketed their fleet. Oars snapped like twigs, yet miraculously the ships were largely untouched. 

The few who released a breath of relief should’ve known better, for even a predator with the sharpest fangs wasn’t against drawing out the hunt.

And a painless death was the last thing Nereus’ daughter had to offer.

Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves…

The Goddess jumped aboard Penelope’s main vessel, having sized herself down but still towering over them all. 

A weight, one Penelope hadn’t felt in a very long time, invaded each and every one of her senses, both physically and mentally. 

It took over Penelope’s very being, making everything that once seemed so easy an impossible feat. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, couldn’t think. 

Back then, when Ares was still her friend by her side, adrenaline would flood Penelope’s veins like the gods’ ichor, leaving her feeling practically invincible. While nowhere near the level of the great Achilles, she was at least able to rely on a constant stream of calm and confidence that’d been the foundation of a reliable composure whilst fighting Troy’s bloodiest of battles and facing off against only the best of their men. But now… 

Right here, going against a Goddess’ fury with no ounce of divinity to aid her, Penelope realized what it was that Ares left her to reap. 

Fear. 

The kind only a woman in over her head could experience.

“Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves,”

Amphitrite looked down at Penelope, giving the mortal woman a glare that could only be described as chilling. 

Penelope unconsciously stepped back,  as if her laughably small feet had any hope to carry her away from this damnation. She took no more than a couple steps before her back made contact with one of her crewmates; who, bless her soul, tried to offer some modicum of reassurance by gently stroking her bruised arm. She didn’t need to look to know the touch was Ctimene's.

Quicker than the free flow of her waters when cascading through wild, untamed falls, Amphitrite once again used her tentacle-lock to ensnare Penelope in her grasp.

However, Amphitrite’s aim was to make Penelope feel the same anguish and despair she so carelessly left Polyphemus to live with. Letting the mortal feel anything else, especially something as secure and comforting as safety, was an idea the Goddess would forbid anyone from entertaining.

This time, the squid-like appendage wrapped itself around the captain’s neck and torso, squeezing tight enough to make it difficult for Penelope to breathe. Amphitrite knew, for she’s seen the same expression countless times on beached fish.

“You are the worst kind of good 'cause you're not even great.”

Then, without any warning, Amphitrite violently struck Penelope’s cheek with her trident. How the Goddess’ strength sent her entire body flying out of her hold without detaching her head from her shoulders was a paltry silver lining.

Penelope, of course, was taken aback by the sudden shock of the weapon’s strike. The impact ricocheted throughout her skull like a bell, promptly swelling her eyes shut. A red line of liquid trickle down from underneath her eye down to the side of her chin, warm, wet, and iron.

Penelope couldn’t help but grimace. She’s seen and suffered enough wounds to know that will leave a mark.

The captain immediately forced her eyes to reopen, not at all willing to let herself to stay blind to whatever it was the Goddess had in store for her. Much to her surprise, though, Penelope no longer found herself on her ship with her crew nearby.

Now, the mortal woman stood all alone in a place so deep it was untouchable to Helios, one that had nothing but sandy floors and dark blue space that stretched for miles beyond what her eyes could see. Looking up, Penelope blanched at the telltale shimmering of an ocean’s surface flowing with wind and waves. 

Suddenly it became clear. With a combination of swift deduction and her past experiences with Ares, Penelope was able to make out exactly where she was: Amphitrite’s personal realm. 

Right on cue, a slender tidal stream that gleamed brighter than the rest flowed across the flying sea. 

Now that they were no longer in the presence of the other mortals, now that she no longer had to adhere to the standards of perfection and composure as ordered by the Queen of Olympus, Amphitrite no longer had any reason to hold back her fury. 

“A Greek who’ll preach of false righteousness, that's what I hate!”

Penelope's instincts, ones that took years to hone as a warrior of battles and more importantly, survival, screamed one single command:

DODGE.

She immediately leaped forward. Within that next second, Penelope heard the sound and felt the impact of something landing right behind her. Turning around, she saw a silver trident piercing the ground where she stood only a second ago. 

Penelope let out a heavy sigh, one mixed with both relief and distress. She had managed to get out of the way just in time; she was still alive, warm and breathing and colored with life. But… but if she hadn’t… 

The slender stream from above practically trembled with rage. She maneuvered herself out of the sky, flowing through her realm until hovering before that infuriating cockroach of a mortal. She changed shape, now taking on the form of a pair of glowing blue eyes. If looks could kill, even Penelope’s shade would have been smited thrice over.

Penelope immediately broke out of her stupor. She tore her gaze away, trying to keep those eyes from prying into those innermost thoughts and insecurities she tried desperately to keep hidden. 

But it was too late. 

A shark didn’t need its eyes to scent blood in its waters.

“Sure you fight to save lives, but won't kill and don't get the job done.”

The Goddess changed her form three times. 

The first time, she took the shape of a very familiar looking woman. Hair braided and draped around her shoulders like a noose, the pink ribbon so dark it was red as blood.

Circes. 

This watery imitation of her friend looked at Penelope with an expression that was extremely unbecoming of her. Her eyes did not sparkle with her signature light-hearted optimism and she did not wear her usual smile, a soft and warm beacon of comfort. No, this Circes’ eyes were dull and lifeless, her lips quivering as she silently cried out for her friend- 

“Captain…”

Circes’ figure came undone, spilling to the sandy floor as if she were cheap wine being carelessly poured from a chipped oinochoe. 

Penelope gripped a lock of her hair, tied back in a tail using that very same ribbon. 

The water lifted from where it haphazardly spilled itself, shifting its form a second time. This time, it shaped itself into the gigantic, daunting figure of a one-eyed monster wielding his signature wooden club. 

Polyphemus.

The cyclops looked down at Penelope. However, his gaze was not filled with the anger and contempt she so vehemently recalled seeing last time she looked into his giant eye. No, this version of the cyclops practically trembled in fear and grief as intruders desecrated the safe haven his home once was.

Then, the Cyclop’s eye all but exploded. Blood poured down from the now empty socket, dyeing the sandy ground with liquid sin. HIs maw cracked open in silent howls of agony, the corners uplifted ever so slightly by the fact that he at least managed to avenge his friend’s death.

The water that made up the Cyclop’s figure carefully cascaded down, removing itself from this form in a much more considerable manner than it had with its previous shape. 

“I mean, you honestly could have avoided all this had you just killed my son…”

Penelope watched as that damn stream rose in individual droplets, changing form for the third and final time. This time, though, the stream took shape in a manner that Penelope was forced to look into a pair of eyes that reflected her own.

Literally.

Amphitrite had transfigured her liquid body to look like an exact clone of Penelope. From the loose strand of hair that refused to be tamed by the pink ribbon, the unnaturally pointed canines of a naiad’s kin, and even the many scars that the Goddess must have thought to be “unbecoming” of a lady. 

The watery caricature of her was holding something, no, someone in her arms, gently in consideration for his tiny fragile figure. He was bundled up nice and tight inside a handmade quilt, woven by loving hands that fought to keep him ignorant to the atrocities that would constantly occur outside his haven. 

Any mother could recognise the fondness behind the hand caressing his cheek. However, when she met the real Penelope’s eyes, any facsimile of tenderness in her being turned cold and remorseless as ice.

“But no.”

The bundle was dropped to the floor with a sickening SPLAT and oh, what a horrid sound even the tiniest human body would make when bones shattered and organs crushed. 

Caustic sour bile burned Penelope’s throat. She thought she couldn’t handle 9 nights worth of sleep but after seeing this nightmare, she never wants to fall asleep ever again. Not if it meant she could hide away from this monster that looked like her, that was her-

Was-

Was that really what Penelope looked like? W-when she… when she did it?

Amphitrite, though content with how deeply disturbed the mortal was growing, was still not satisfied. 

Even though she had managed to quell her thirst with the ambrosia that was Penelope’s emotional turmoil, there was still a savage hunger that continued to growl and claw at the Goddess’ inner self: one that wanted to make the mortal suffer outside as she did within. 

“You are far too nice,” Amphitrite summoned her signature trident, peering over all three spear-points to glare directly over where Penelope stood. “Mercy has a price!”

The Goddess wasted not even a second before pouncing on the mortal, lunging after her like a crab pinching its claws in order to capture the fish unlucky enough to be marked its prey. 

“It's the final crack, we're bound to break the ice now!”

Again, Penelope just barely managed to jump away. She refused to take her eyes off the trident, aware that those triple spikes wanted nothing more than to pierce soft, weakened flesh, and be stained with that oh-so precious liquid life. 

However, right after jumping out of harm's way, Amphitrite summoned a cluster of jagged rocks to burst out of the sand and penetrate the ground from where Penelope stood. The mortal threw her body forward, all instinct and no coordination, barely avoiding being punctured by the earthen spikes. 

Unfortunately, as she was momentarily caught off guard, this gave the Goddess the opportunity to wrap an unyielding tentacle around Penelope’s waist and mercilessly hurl her around like a ragdoll.

“You reveal your name, then you let him live!”

The impact of her body hitting the hard, grainy ground knocked the wind right out of her. 

WIth painful gasps of breath and flesh made bruised and tender, all Penelope could do was lay on the floor, her eyes snapped closed against her will. She tried to force her eyes to reopen, screamed at her limbs to help her stand back up, but all of it was for not. She just…..couldn’t. 

Amphitrite internally scoffed at the human body’s limitations. Then again, as fragile as mortal fleh was, physical pain was always temporary. No, even if beaten to an inch of her life a hundred times over, it still wouldn’t be enough to truly drill into the mortal the lesson the Goddess was trying to teach her. 

If Penelope was to learn that ruthlessness is mercy, Amphitrite needed to break her spirit. 

And she knew just how to do it. 

“Unlike you, I've got no mercy left to give 'cause-”

Amphitrite lifted her trident high over her head. She aimed her weapon directly over Penelope’s left breast, the three blades practically gleaming with the anticipation of being coated with liquid life. 

Then, without an ounce of hesitation, Amphitrite thrust the trident deep into Penelope’s flesh.

“Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves!”

Penelope’s eyes instantly opened with a start. 

Her hands instinctively shot to her chest, searching for three holes overflowing with gore. However, as she scanned her whole torso, Penelope was unable to find any rip, wound, or even a trickle of blood. 

What? Penelope wondered to herself, where is-

Suddenly, it all clicked. Penelope realized that everything that just happened to her had been an illusion, nauseatingly vivid as it was. Like Ares’ realm, while everything that occurred within a God’s personal space may feel real, none of it truly is. 

Sure enough, as she looked around to confirm her conclusion, Penelope saw she was no longer trapped in limbo within the vast blue realm. Now, Penelope was back on her ship; the ground where she sat stiff and wooden, with the light blue sky and deep ocean waves back in their rightful place. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew stared at their captain, all 43 members standing cautiously on the opposite end of the ship’s deck. What felt like eternity to Penelope, being beaten and ripped senselessly by the will of a Goddess, lasted for less than a minute to the rest of the world. 

One of the crew members though, for her part, saw the tell-tale signs of excruciating pain her captain was experiencing and refused to stand by idly.

Ctimene quickly ran over to her sister’s side, collecting Penelope in her arms and helping her up to a standing one. Penelope was grateful for the aid, for she knew any attempt to accomplish this simple feat on her own would only result in humiliating consequences. 

But this was no time to relax just yet. 

Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves…

Both women looked up warily, their gazes landing on the divine figure standing atop the edge of their ship’s wooden railing. 

There Amphitrite stood, so still she seemed more spectral than goddess. Even after everything she put Penelope through mere moments ago, throwing her decorum to the side in exchange for unleashing her boiling rage, the Goddess did not at all stray from the illusion of perfection her kind was required to display when in the occupancy of mortals.

“Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves…”

Amphitrite glared coldly at Penelope, the intentions in her eyes not even attempting to be hidden; all this time she was merely playing with her food. But now, she was beginning to no longer hold the desire to continue tormenting her prey. 

Perhaps, Amphitrite thought to herself, it is time to begin her closing act.

The Goddess’ presence swiftly dissolved out from its solid confines, returning to her most liberating self. Amphitrite once again shaped her water-self into that familiar slender stream before throwing herself overboard the ship for the second time that day.

As Penelope and the other’s expected, no more than a minute passed before the ocean top bubbled and stretched; something was attempting to break through the sea’s surface. 

However, what emerged from the deep thereafter was not the head of the Sea Goddess. It was her tentacles, two of them to be exact. 

Now back to the same colossal size when first making themselves known to the fleet, those two appendages wrapped themselves around both ends of the main ship until it was held securely in their grasp. Penelope and her main crew all ran over the center of their ship’s deck in an effort to stay as far away from those powerful extensions as possible. 

But then, much to their collective surprise, the sailors watched helplessly as the tentacles picked the entire ship up and out of the water entirely, until those below could see every barnacle amassed underneath. The uplifted ship was unnervingly high enough to be untouchable to the ocean, but not high enough to be unseeable to the rest of the fleet. If anything, this new position only gave the crew a perfect view of the ones below.

Before Penelope could contemplate the purpose behind this action, a giant head broke the ocean’s fragile surface. The rest of her came flying out shortly after, her towering figure standing over where her tentacles held the lifted ship at her eye-level. 

“And now it is finally time to say goodbye, today you die-”

Suddenly, Amphitrite's expression morphed into something different.

This entire time, from the moment the Goddess first presented herself, to when she beat her lesson into the mortal woman both physically and emotionally, Penelope never once saw an emotion displayed in their pupil-less eyes that wasn’t stemmed from overflowing fury. 

But now…

Amphitrite’s eyes changed. No longer were they the unfamiliar, unreachable to the mortals who dared look into them. Those eyes became almost intimate in their familiarity for they were a whirlpool of emotions that Penelope constantly experienced even before she first boarded this ship and sailed away from all she once knew. 

Those were the eyes of someone spent everyday in battle, whether mundane or epic, fighting for the future of one’s greatest and proudest feat in life. 

The eyes of a mother. 

“Unless, of course, you apologize for my son's pain and all his cries.”

Penelope froze.

She waited for Amphitrite’s hate-filled gaze to return, this time conjoined with a glint of mocking. She waited for the Goddess’ lips to curl up in a cruel smile, laughing at the false hope that dared to flicker across the mortals’ faces. She waited for the Sea Queen to revoke her statement, declaring that they were stupid to have ever believed they would be spared her wrath.

.

.

.

But nothing of the sort occurred. 

Not too long ago, Penelope thought herself to be immune to the surprises the Gods’ whims could think to throw at her. Back then, it was the Queen of Olympus who easily proved this ideal to be a wishful one, and now it was the Sea Queen to further show the truth behind this notion. 

All Penelope had to do was give an apology to Amphitrite, a sincere one that rang true from the bottom of her heart, and her fleet would be let go to live another day. All she had to do was prostrate in humility and acknowledge her violence, that what she did was not necessary, and the Goddess would forgive her for her crime. 

It sounded so easy…

But it wasn’t. 

How could Penelope possibly declare her actions against the Cyclops unnecessary, that SHE was anywhere in the wrong, after he so mercilessly stole Circes’ life as if she were nothing more than an inconvenience, an insignificant means to an end!? 

It wasn’t just Circes, either. The Cyclops’ brutal hands were stained with the blood of Penelope’s most cherished friend and 72 of her sisters-in-arms!

72 sisters, daughters, mothers and wives. 72 people who weren’t just faceless mortals made to occupy space on Gaia’s endless domain. Each of those murdered women was someone. Someone with her own real life experiences, someone forced to leave her home at a time when she was needed most. They were women who, after experiencing the worst of what man had to offer, still decided to put full faith in Penelope and her leadership. They found solace in their captain’s patient strategies and heart-fueled strength, choosing full-heartedly to trust their queen with their lives even when the odds stacked impossibly high against them.

Yes, Penelope and her sisters-in-arms invaded the Cyclops home and killed his most favored sheep, one of the few creatures in this land who chose not to leave his side. But none of them knew of this until after the deed was done. Penelope did what she had to to compensate for her ignorance, offering the Cyclops a gift in exchange for allowing her and her women to leave with their hearts still beating.  

Penelope was the one to offer peace. The Cyclops ignored that offer. Everything that happened from then on was HIS doing, not hers. 

Still, even if she cannot offer a traditional apology to his divine stepmother, Penelope could at least explain the reasoning behind her actions. 

Penelope lowered herself to near the ship’s wooden floor, promptly getting down to her knees. She bent the upper half of her body forward, prostrating before Amphitrite in an effort to visually showcase her respect and submission. 

The rest of the crew, coming to a collective understanding of what Penelope was doing, quickly followed the actions of their captain. Before long, all 44 women aboard the ship bowed before the Goddess in the hopes that it would ease her wrath. 

“Amphitrite, we meant no harm, we only hurt him to disarm him.” 

Lifting herself from her bowed stance, a hand placed atop her breast over where her heart would be, Penelope gazed at the Goddess with a look of genuine sincerity that matched her corresponding words. 

“We took no pleasure in his pain, we only wanted to escape.” 

Amphitrite’s pupil-less eyes remained blank, her lips cutting a bloodless line across her face. On the outside, the Sea Queen appeared to have not even heard Penelope’s choice of words. 

On the outside. 

Inside the sanctity of her innermost thoughts, wants, and desires, Amphitrite finally came to understand why some mortals rose to be leaders while others were content to simply be followers. 

Words were powerful weapons, but when combined with enough confidence, it turned into something lethal: poison. A poison eagerly swallowed by those who were fooled into believing it was medicine. Even the most stubborn individuals would accept the foul concoction if mixed with enough honey.

But to an experienced listener, one who was also of high standing and born into a life full of more secrets than sincerity, where deception and avoidance of consequences were as commonplace as the air land dwellers breathe, they could tell the words spoken of the mortal were just that. 

Excuses.

“The line between naïveté and hopefulness is almost invisible.” 

At that moment, Penelope became nothing more than another faceless mortal; she made the fatal mistake of thinking herself to be above even someone as divine and grandiose as a God. 

It was time for Amphitrite to remind the little mortal of who exactly she was. 

“So close your heart, the world’s too dark and…”

Less than a Goddess. 

Less than a man, even.

No, Penelope was just a woman.  

A woman who was about to learn firsthand how ruthlessness is mercy upon all.

Amphitrite’s remaining six tentacles flew out from her long, flowing mane and hovered precariously over the water. Her lips twisted into a cruel, anticipating smile. Her eyes glowed brighter than the moon, malicious darkness glinting within.

Amphirtire raised her trident-

“Die.”

And stabbed the ocean below. 

Suddenly, the 11 ships floating aimlessly among the restless waves were left haplessly to fend for themselves. The women aboard those vessels were easily overpowered, engulfed by the unstoppable torrents of ocean tide, squid tentacles, and sea-floor rock. 

Captain!

Ruthlessness is-

Captain!

-mercy upon our-

C a p t a i n-!

Six watercrafts built to sustain even the worst perils and wars and waters shattered like eggshells under the tentacles. Wood splintered, nails bent and those too slow to dodge the appendages were reduced to a mangled mess of ruined gore for the fishes to feast upon.

The other five ships were not spared of such brutality. Many rock structures came bursting out from the ocean, instantly puncturing those ship’s wooden frames like pigs on a spit and many of the women unfortunate enough to be aboard them. Vessel, cargo, human, none of it mattered, none were spared from destruction.

None could stop calling, screaming, begging, even praying for their-

Captain!

Ruthlessness is-

Captain!

-mercy upon our-

C a p t a i n-!

A handful tried to avoid such a painful demise by jumping overboard their ships in order to keep themselves from either getting crushed by a tentacle or having their flesh pierced by spiked rock, deciding to brave the haphazard waters as the lesser of two evils. They desperately climbed and held onto the wooden debris left behind from their now destroyed ships. Sadly for some, said debris spelled their doom as the solid objects caved their skulls or skewered their flesh upon a mistimed landing.

Many of the sailors tried to help their sisters, whether it be dragging them onto their makeshift floats or holding on to each other in hopes of their shared strength being enough to keep themselves from being swept away by those unstable, raging waves. 

But alas, all of it was for naught.

If unity were truly all it took to withstand a god’s wrath, kingdoms and empires would not revere them as much as they do now.

They did not fare a chance against the tides that crashed into them over, and over, and over, and over again, not at all close to stopping even when the ocean’s signature blue slowly began to mix with thick, heavy red. Like wine, the water turned drunk with death.

Ruthlessness is-

Captain!

-mercy upon our-

Captain!

The sounds tearing Penelope’s throat raw were animalistic with despair as the captain fought against the hold of her sisters, arm outstretched desperately as if the puny limb could simply reach out and pluck her doomed comrades from Amphitrite’s grasp like low-hanging fruit.

Penelope watched this all happen, eyes wide and jarring and full of unbridled pain. 

For that was all she could do. 

Watch.

Watch as tentacles, rocks, and waves each did their part to completely and utterly destroy her Ithacan fleets and the precious cargo they carried. 

Their screams…

So many screams… 

Oh Gods… 

485 voices, all of them begging for their lives. All of them calling out for her, faith warped to helpless fear.

And yet, Penelope could do nothing but watch. Watch as her precious subjects, her friends, her sisters, each had their breath of life so painfully replaced with poisonous salt of the sea. 

Ruthlessness is-

C a p t a i n!!

And then, just like that, the chaos ceased. 

No more struggle. No more destruction. No more screams.

The 6 tentacles returned to their place among the Sea Goddess’ tresses, the pointed rocks descended back to their rightful place in the ocean floor, and the sea’s tidal waves calmed to near serenity. The leading vessel was placed back on the coastal top with a gentleness that was practically alien; a mocking gesture, when considering the carnage that was so senselessly committed mere seconds ago. 

Penelope’s breath huffed and heaved, heavy and strained. Her eyes stared wide, unblinking, unwilling to look away from the scene before her. Her voice keened through her teeth like the battered wounded beast it's been reduced to.

“What have you done?” 

The debris of destroyed ships was scattered as far as the eye could see. Bodies littered the oceanfront, some whole, others not, all of them grotesquely bloated with seawater. The ocean was such a sanguine red, the sands at its depth were likely dyed the same shade, grains clogged with bone.

When does a ripple become a tidal wave?

Ctimene, Palagia, Erato, every single woman aboard the 12th ship, none of them uttered a single sound. They could only stare at the aftermath of their friends’ massacres with bloodshot eyes, huddled bodies trembling, hands covering their mouths or clutching onto those closest to them, all while in a desperate attempt to ground themselves. 

A horrible ringing wouldn't stop pounding in Penelope’s ears. She couldn’t tell the cause of it. 

Was it the overpowering, deafening sounds of her sisters’ screams for her to save them, or was it the sudden dead silence that followed immediately after?

Amphitrite returned to Penelope’s side. For the very first time since their initial encounter, the stoic Goddess wore a smile brimming with pride and self-satisfaction. Amphitrite gently placed her hand atop Penelope’s head, clammy fingers stroking the curls. It was not comfort, such sentiment was beneath her kind. But condescension? She had enough of that to fill another ocean entirely.

“43 left under your command.” her voice was so cold it burned the shell of her ear.

43. 

600 women led through war with their lives all miraculously intact. 528 managed to escape with their hearts still beating after their brush with the Cyclops. And now, a meager 43 remained after the devastation caused by his mother. 

With only 1 to blame for this slaughter, only 1 to bear the weight of all of their deaths. 

When does someone become a monster?

Penelope could do nothing against the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. She stared down at her hands, swearing that she could feel the blood of her comrades dripping through those calloused fingers, already drying across the skin. 

She rested her head within those hands. She fell to her knees, unable to sustain herself against how heavy everything now felt. Her heart, once the source of her most formidable and valuable strength, weakened to a fault.

Amphitrite looked down at the mortal, no doubt agonized with every breath she took in place of those who no longer could. The goddess’ gills fluttered at the heady scent mingling with familiar salt and blood.

Sorrow. 

Anguish. 

Failure. 

“I am your darkest moment,” Penelope feebly peered through her fingers at the awful, beautiful Goddess and her blinding silver trident. “The monster that always draws near…”

But that wasn’t the only thing she saw through the gap of her fingers. Penelope noticed something laying inconspicuously by the Goddess’ feet. A strange brown bag, tied with rainbow string…

Amphitrite, still wearing that smug smile, directed the sharp prongs of her favored weapon at the still-kneeling mortal woman’s throat. 

“Any last words?”

Penelope lifted her head out of her hands, starring the Goddess right in the eye. With her right hand slowly traveling to her hip, Penelope opened her mouth to utter those “final” words-

“All I gotta do is open this bag!”

“What!?”

Penelope whipped out the hidden dagger she always kept on her person in case of emergencies. She quickly flung the sharp blade to where the wind bag lay, destroying the sack without an ounce of hesitation. 

Suddenly, the leftover storm from before came spilling out all at once. 

Amphitrite, caught completely off-guard without the opportunity to brace herself, was sent flying overboard after the ship’s sails picked up the storm’s incredibly powerful winds.

Just like before, the ship was unable to control itself from following the set path of those winds. This incredible speed, though damaging the ship’s wooden exterior with every mile it traveled, made it so the ship could travel far away from its biggest threat. 

Amphitrite could only stare in disbelief as the ship kept sailing farther and farther away, too fast a pace for even the Sea Goddess. 

Penelope stared as well, watching as Amphitrite’s form soon became nothing more than a dot in the horizon. Similar to how it was prior, the winds made the ships go full speed ahead at an incredible rate. And, for a second, Penelope swore she heard Aeolus’ mischievous giggle once again reverberating with the wind’s harsh blow. 

Though the captain knew not where they were headed, she knew that they would be alright for the time being as long as they were as far away as possible from Amphitrite.  

Unfortunately, the Goddess was not keen to just let things end so anticlimacticly. 

Her eyes glowed an eerie light blue. 

Amphitrite stared in the direction of the disappearing ship until it was completely out of view. Then, the Goddess clicked her tongue and flicked her hair over her shoulder, annoyed at the shipwrecks entangled in it.

“Remember me…”

[sugar-and-spite]

finally watched the vengeance saga and i am being so, so normal about this. spoiler rambles below the cut. i watched a bunch of different animatics for most of the songs so there will be comments about both the actual songs & official animatics, plus the other fan animatics i saw

not sorry for loving you

first off. CALYPSO. MY GIRL. i'm so glad jorge did her right with this song. i remember adoring calypso in the odyssey, and while epic definitely put her in a more manipulative and antagonistic role than i remember her having, she has a reason. i felt like love in paradise kind of rushed her entire character and i'm so glad she got fleshed out more here.

while she is being manipulative, i definitely don't agree with the people saying she's doing it on purpose. she's been alone for a hundred years, of course she'd be lonely. also like. she's literally never known any other people to know whether she's being manipulative or not, so

also i watched the most animatics for this one and calypso being skinny feels so weird to me, she's at least chubby imo

also extremely funny that jorge got gigi to animate for this one for the stream. gigi being known for having the best circe saga animatics and jorge is like "hm you know who i want to animate this other woman who's manipulating odysseus?" incredible.

and there's this which i said to my bf:

dangerous

"six hundred men, six hundred dead under my command, 'cause i had one goal in mind... [silence]" OKAY YEAH I DIDN'T NEED MY HEART. FUCK.

HERMES IS BACK, BABY!

ximena natzel has the best hermes animatics, the official hermes is good but ximena's is better, if you haven't seen ximena's animatics for "wouldn't you like" and "dangerous" go watch them NOW

they canonized the fluffy winions, i'm not even sure who first came up with that design for them (mircsy was the first one i saw) but they're wonderful and amazing

hermes is just amazing and all of his songs are amazing and this is amazing (can you tell i have a favorite song from vengeance saga)

i love that they also included actual sirens in the official animatic!! the birds with women's faces, those are what sirens actually look like in the myths and mermaid-sirens are more common to see nowadays but it's not The Og, and i'm so so happy they used og sirens (this made me giddy in the same way all the "ruthlessness" animatics with horses in them made me giddy, little-known myth details my beloved)

the callbacks to "keep your friends close"! both musically and lyrically! and the callback to "wouldn't you like" with hermes going "don't thank me" and "good luck!" jorge is always on point with the callbacks

charybdis

took a couple listens for me to really vibe with this, it's kinda filler but that's fine they can't all be bangers

someone pointed out this is the only song we have so far that's 100% solo odysseus with no background vocals or other characters so that's neat

feels like this could've been longer? or fleshed out more? it feels kinda abrupt. but there's gotta be some losers they can't all be winners

get in the water

i need to hear this sung by a woman right now actually so i can be equally bisexual about the original and a female cover.

honestly i don't think i had a single thought in my head through the entire song besides damn. holy SHIT. holy shit this one is good. this is so fucking good.

i lied i had a singular coherent thought (on the second watch): it's subtle, but i think there's a musical callback to the end of "god games" during odysseus's part. when he's begging poseidon to let him go, the music is really similar to when athena begs zeus to let him go at the end of "god games."

six hundred strike

hoooooooly shit. oh my god. what the fuck. not to be bisexual but -

(hottest odysseus has ever been)

he has the power of (the wind) god and anime on his side

with the power of friendship and this jetpack he found -

the callbacks

"you can't kill me." "exactly." HOTTEST ODYSSEUS HAS EVER BEEN

NEXT TO MY WIFE

oh my god. holy fuck. oh my god

anyway this has been rey's (lack of) thoughts about the vengeance saga thanks for joining me i'm so, so normal about this musical

[mlepbean]

CHAT CHAT CHAT CHAT

THE VENGEANCE SAGA.

so i watched the watch party livestream, as you do, and OH MY GOD JESUS CHRIST I AM SCREAMING

i'm gonna yap about it so spoilers below the cut

OKAY. SO.

first song, not sorry for loving you. gorgeous amazing i love it, gigi's animatic for it was also so fun , could cry. barbara is an amazing vocalist and i love her. don't have too many notes for this one but it's gorgeous

second, dangerous. i heard the intro with odysseus alone and im like okay girlie we're sad today. then hermes came in and it's disco time. that song is so fun!!!! also when odysseus does a kinda remix of the chorus to prove to hermes that he's gonna be okay?? iconic. odysseus does need to get a single more brain cell to realize that athena is still on his side but whatever. i will say the animatics for this one were amazing, was not expecting a hermes twerk, but yknow, im not surprised

third, charbydis. i haven't heard much from this one, and its shorter so i don't have too many strong opinions but it's so fun. like go girlie go use your strategy!! the animatics were so good as well i fucking love action shots like that

fourth, get in the water. GOD. i've been so hyped for this one AND IT DELIVERED. steven fucking popped off dude, that vocal delivery was sick as hell. ALSO. THE FUCKING GOD POWER OR WHATEVER IT WAS CALLED TO SHATTER THE OCEAN?? COOLEST SHIT EVER. the ending made me sad. again. jorge why do you keep bringing back polites. like the souls of everyone he's lost fucking dragging him underwater so he can join them?? heartbreaking what the fuck dude.

fifth, 600 strike. GUYS. there is a reason we got nothing for this one. this is the coolest fucking shit i have ever seen. for one, the 3D animation??? was so cool??? odysseus literally got a jetpack from the windbag and used that and a knife to fucking beat up poseidon and get him weak enough so he's just chilling on an island, and then when poseidon calls him out saying the storm stops him from getting home, odysseus is like "not anymore bitch" and fucking stabs poseidon with his own trident, knowing he can't die, until he can't stand the pain anymore and calls off the storm. odysseus gives poseidon a taste of the pain he's caused him, and i love it. i mean hey, he did was poseidon told him to do, be ruthless, for after all, ruthlessness is mercy

"how will you sleep at night?"

"with my wife"

LIKE GOD. DUDE. SCREAMING. if it wasn't literally midnight i would have audibly screamed. physically my mouth was agape like oh my fucking god 600 strike.

anyways <3

those are my thoughts for now. i will be having more later, this show consumes my brain <3

[sleepitysleepyspees]

just gonna. be chaotic rq.

FUNNY MUSIC MAN IS ON MY SCREEN

banana peeeeeels

cabbage.

badass senorita 💅

polyamorous femboy moose

🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞🥞

Ody try not to dox himself challenge impossible

platonic breakup song let's gooooo

you're too bird 😡

funny music man is funny

Jay's little comments are entertaining

physics... isn't a real thing

ALMOST TO THE SECOND FEMALE

Athena had to leave to make room for the other females

AEOLUS

gigi made me like females

I think KYFC is my favourite song.

so ready for Dangerous to change that, though.

Ruthlessness makes me more excited for Get in the Water

y'know, in a way Poseidon needs to learn what he's teaching. if he had just killed Odysseus rather than trying to teach him the ways of ruthlessness, Ody would be dead.

HERMES SAGA

gigi's Circe making me question my asexuality in a few seconds

HERMES (the one cut song that sounds like a children's show intro)

holy. moly.

Circe~~~~

hey Circe, I lobve my wife

END OF TOAW MAGICAL GODDESS NOTE LET'S GO

I DID IT. I AM A MAGICAL GODDESS TODAY.

this life is amazing, when you greet it with open arms

I'm crying

the way that Ody is a son of Hephaestus (Jay's dad voices Hephaestus) (I thought of this when hearing Jay's mom voice Ody's mom)

WHO

the way that my gc of epic fans is currently discussing backpacks instead of EPIC

I am the monster rawr rawr rawr

SECOND STREAM

WE'RE SO CLOSE TO THE HERMES SAGA PART 2

the second Wisdom Saga release party.

pernerlerperwer

first we slayed 💅💅💅 in our own war

siren banana peels

DROWN IN YOUR SORROWS AND FEARS

gigi is definitely my favorite EPIC animator

Eury really just need to be able to manage his hunger a bit better. that would've fixed everything.

Ody during Thunder Bringer: I have no idea what any of this has to do with us or the cattle, but I'm just not going to question it.

okay. so. we have Wisdom. then we are vibing, vibing, and killing god.

wait. wait. so. theory. in EPIC, the fighting skill equates to singing/music skill. that's why it's okay that Tele's stuff doesn't sit right with me. he's inexperienced in combat, and therefore it is in character for his stuff to not sit right with me.

watch a gonna do about it, champ?

the video game Little Wolf animatic still isn't my favourite, but I love the song.

TIME DIVE

GIGI

the hair in the face so you don't have to draw eyes is so real

"he needs my help" OH REALLY??

GOD GAMES

he sacrificed his uncle hort

VENGEANCE SAGA

I love NSFLY

depression in Dangerous?

HERMES

NOW WE'RE VIBING

wind bag part 2????

the "you very well may die" was funny, but I prefer the Athena reference.

CHARYBDIS

Jay is so talented

GET IN THE WATER

this is EPIC (pun very much intended)

I swear if Ody pulls the wind bag trick again-

600 STRIKE

NO NOT PANCAKES

THIS IS SO COOL

he pulled the wind bag trick again.

THIS IS SO COOL

3D ANIMATION

600 strike is literally just a video game move

OH MY GOSH

ODYSSEUS REALLY DID LEARN POSEIDON'S LESSON

THIS IS SO COOL

how will you sleep at night? next to my wife.

[themildestofwriters]

I hope that, when EPIC becomes a full animated film, they do take into consideration what has come before. There's certain animatics that take what Jorge has created and puts their own spin on it and I can't help but feel it improves it in a way. Like, for example, Gigi's work for "The Horse and the Infant" "Just a Man" and "Monster" are just definitive for me. It's the designs, the symbolism, the visuals. I can't imagine "Monster" without citing Gigi's work, and the reoccurring "Dark Odysseus" imagery feels almost necessary to the entire story. Their take on Odysseus is just canon to me, tbh.

Then there are others. It's off canon, but I can't help but believe Ani Tigerfly's take on "Suffering" "Different Beast" (and even "Scylla") is just... good, no question. It's more brutal, in a way, which I feel was necessary. Odysseus doesn't shoot the Penelope-siren. He convinces her to come onto his ship and then *stabs her* and *cuts her throat*, forcing her to watch as the other Sirens are butchered in front of her as she bleeds out. Like, Holy Shit, that's nightmare fuel, and I love it so much.

Mircsy basically *made* the latter half of the Troy Saga and the first half of the Cyclops Saga in my opinion. From "Open Arms" to "Survive," and even "My Goodbye" hits so hard. The design for the Cyclops is so fucking cool, utter nightmare fuel, and I'd love to see it fully realised, and then there's just the little touches throughout. I love the reference to the Infant in "Survive," the devil horns in Odysseus's shadow in "Polyphemus," the scene utterly drenched in red, with the soldiers and their glowing red eyes. It's just utter perfection.

To top it off — AnniFlamma's "God Games" is just perfection. I love how fluid the gods are, the little touches that tell you a lot about them just from their design. I don't know about you, but that final scene of Athena challenging Zeus is just beautiful, how she shifts and changes under this onslaught of might.

It's Jorge's project, but I hope we see the fan content taken into consideration. There's so many beautiful interpretations of this story I hope to see them codified when this project is all said and done.

[firephoenix2305]

New obsession unlocked, people :)

So I discovered EPIC: The Musical. I may need help. And therapy for some parts (Cyclops saga I'm looking very specifically at you)

But if we just side-step that for the time being...God Damn I love EPIC. It's so awesome, and the songs are freaking amazing; not to mention the animatics (shout-out to Gigi, whose animatics I for the life of me adore).

Anyway, what I was getting to was that I also recently learnt to sew; and since I have rewatched "Open Arms" five million times, welp, this happened:

I made my own lil Lotus Eater <3 (/Winion, I think)

I know he's a little scrappy and that the stitches aren't great; but this is like the third thing I've sewed together in my life, so I'm insanely proud of it :)

And yes, that is Polites' headband. No I will not apologize (still not over that , btw. Probs will never be)

<3

[lorethebookworm]

There are soooo many good animatics, Gigi is def one of the best animators out there, when it comes to overall storytelling for Epic for multiple reasons I absulutley LOVE WolfieTheWitche's designs of Odysseus though, its probably my favorite because wolfies animatics are realllyyy emotionally expressive theres also still a handful of other animators, several (most of them ) of which have by now also been hired by Jorge now for offical animatics for the livestreams I actually do highly recommend animatics because they do give a lot of context to the story than the songs themselves sometimes (eg. polites :"), the baby getting dropped etc) while the artists often do take some creative liberties a lot of them do try to combine offical statements from Jorge with whats known about ancient greece and homers odysee to make it into reallyy amazing animatics, and bc i cant resist im going to send you two playlists ive made, one has my personal favorite animatics of each song so far, so that it becomes kind of a movie to watch, and another playlist with p much every full-version animatic ive found from epic so you can check out some more if you want! ive started creating a playlist for animatic snippets but i havent gotten far with it yet https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8aJtnq6T7SnUazf_B9STh5a56HLnm989 Animatics "Movie" https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8aJtnq6T7SlN1S56Q-Q3kcqwCYsR55Gv All full version animatics i could find so far the only song we dont have a full version animatic by now is Different Beast but Im hoping we'll get one sooon 👉👈 no pressure to watch any of that ofc, but i do recommend them! (it hurts even more that way)

So what I'm hearing is that you are offering me an Epic movie? Like it's nothing ? And you're telling me "no pressure to watch it" ? GIRL I'LL WATCH THE SHIT OUT OF IT THANK YOU SO MUCH AKKSKSKSJJS

I might end up screaming about the animatics in your asks. I might not. I recommend sleeping with one eye open bestie love youu <3 <3

[gigizetz]

Hey! I absolutely love your animations (watched your EPIC ones waaaaay too many times, they’re such a delight, and have made me appreciate the music even more) and would like to kick you a little money as way of thanks for how you’ve contributed to the community and my brainrot. Even if you never made another animation again, the ones you’ve created up to now have a permanent place in my brain, and I know I’m not the only one. I didn’t see a link to a PATREON or a Kofi anywhere on your YouTube or tumblr profiles, but maybe I’m missing something — do you have or want that kind of contribution, even if it’s not much? No matter what, just wanted to say thank you. You’ve brought me a lot of joy.

Thank you so much!! I do link my Kofi in my animatics' descriptions, here it is:

[secret-sageent]

the Hermes PFP has me SCREAMING

he's such a goober

THANK YOU XD Gigi made that Hermes ok god games animatic and I took one look at it, figured it fit my blog’s colour scheme enough, and changed it XD

Could not resist the voices lol

He is the goober ever I love himmmm QwQ

[dynasty889]

Wisdom Saga

I…….WHAT?!!!!!!!! That’s literally all I’ve been saying (I should be part of the what saga)

WHAT?!

Okay so. First off, Legendary was way darker than I thought it’d be. Like once the suitors came in, it was so dark. Next, I didn’t expect Telemachus to lose still to Antinous (loved that animatic btw)

Uhhh third. WHAT DO YOU MEAN ODYSSEUS TRIED TO OFF HIMSELF?! It makes sense but like still. Love in Paradise is so far the only song I’ve had like issues with?? Not with Calypso, but with the pacing. It starts off with the time dive. Which like…alright? And Calypso’s whole love in paradise verse really only happens during the middle but it’s not as cheerful (ehhh…not cheerful but upbeat) as I thought. But umm yeah.

Gigi’s animatic definitely made Calypso very adorkable. I don’t know how to feel about that. I think it’s important to separate the Odyssey!Calypso and EPIC!Calypso and I’m glad we still get to see how much seven years with a woman he didn’t want messed up Odysseus. But still. It definitely gives Calypso the really isolated vibe.

God Games was also…ehhh. It seemed like only Aphrodite and Ares actually seemed to have a problem with Odysseus. Apollo literally didn’t even need to be in it tbh. Hephaestus (loved that his dad was in there). I remember seeing somewhere someone mention he should mention to Athena about him throwing the infant off the wall like how in some myths Hera threw him off Olympus. It’s a better argument than Apollos but still kinda weak.

Hera’s was alright. I like her groove. Zeus. God help. If he doesn’t make one last appearance I’m gonna scream. ALSO, ATHENA MET TELEMACHUS AS A BABY! And then she’s also on the brink of death.

Speaking of, I think I understand Tiresias’ ‘I see you on the brink of death’ means. Because Ody was gonna try and off himself.

Oh shit I forgot about We’d be Fine. I heard those lyric changes, so I guess no exploration for Telemachus (sad face).

I have…mixed feelings about this saga. I like it mostly but I do have some issues with Love in Paradise and God Games. My favorite song is probably Little Wolf