#I TOO AM A EURYDICE FAN

[crescentmoonteas]

hihi for IYR/RTG (which i've been obsessed w/ btw this au is everything !!) i saw a post that said haru's initial persona is eurydice 👀 eurydice's story actually breaks my heart so i would like to know What Did You Mean By This im so scared you and jazzy hold so much power-

:)

[charms-cat]

Nitpicking Kaos

Aka "Is it so hard to have 10 seconds of Googling?"

Dislaimer: I'm not a follower of the Greek pantheon nor am I the most avid "fan" of Greek myth (putting that in quotes bcs there are still worshippers today), but oh my God. Is it so difficult to keep the most basic of information correct? I'm not gonna nitpick on how they twist certain myths (e.g. how Orpheus gets to and gets Eurydice out of the underworld) bcs it's fine, it serves the plot they're telling so it's not like they're doing it for no reason. But the names of gods? Their titles? The fact that Hera is probably the only goddess who has remained faithful to her spouse? Is it too much to ask?

EDIT: just realised just how negative this all sounds, but I did genuinely enjoy the show and its plot. It was interesting enough to captivate me for 8 whole eps, the character dynamics were intriguing, and the portrayal of the gods was cruel and I loved it since it hammers in the disconnect/lack of empathy that they feel for mortals

Anyway, here's a list of nitpicks [SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT] feel free to correct me if I'm wrong

Heracles, not Hercules

Why do people keep getting this wrong? The name of a literal Greek Goddess (Hera) is part of his name. How are you gonna make Zeus praise him, but still get his name wrong

Hestia

Why is Hestia reduced to being a fucking dog????????? Not just any dog either, she's Zeus's dog that already died, absolutely no chance of an appearance of his fifth sibling unless you wanna make it that Zeus was such a dick that he named his dog after his sister. It's not like she has a "useless" domain. She's one of the three most well-known virgin goddesses. She's the goddess of the home and hearth and of the sacrificial fire. She's the one who receives the first offering at a (domestic) sacrifice so why is she just a dog??

Hera

If I had a nickel for every time I read a retelling where she cheats on Zeus with his brother, I'd have two nickels (the first was Lore Olympus, if you're curious). Hera is supposed to represent the ideal wife, the literal goddess of lawful marriage so how the fuck can you make her be unfaithful?????????

Poseidon

Not so much a nitpick than a question, said question being "why are we acting like Poseidon doesn't have a wife, the nereid Amphitrite, queen of the seas" did they get divorced? Is that why he's lusting after Hera

Hades

He's the god of THE DEAD. Thanatos is the god of death ffs; he's the literal personification of death. Thanatos takes mortal souls, and Hades presides over said dead souls. It would've taken only a few seconds to change Hades's title card and for Persephone to call him "god of the dead" instead of the "god of death". Nothing about Hades's position even hints to him presiding over death itself. We only ever see him running the underworld (Y'know, where all the dead are?). They literally had to change nothing but his title card and what Persephone calls him

Persephone

This isn't really a nitpick on her character, but.... if she's in the underworld, shouldn't it be winter? It doesn't matter that she truly loves Hades or that she went willingly, Part of what fueled Demeter's winter is her grief over losing/being away from her daughter so why is it so damn sunny when we cut to the mortal world

Orpheus

Again, not a nitpick but a definite downplay of his musical abilities considering the fact that the song he sung to convince Hades and Persephone had literally stopped the underworld in its tracks

Prometheus

Not an egregious change, but I'll say it anyway: Wasn't he freed by Heracles during his 12 labours? It's not like he needs to be chained up, pretty sure the resentment that comes from centuries or millenia of having your liver pecked out and eaten would sustain his hatred for an equal amount of time

Minos

Their decision to make him a president instead of a king is not only unnecessary, but it makes him look like the Greek ver of Putin. I mean, they really didn't need to add in the part where Ariadne(?) says something along the lines of "you should let the people vote, they'd choose you anyway". Just... the implication that he simply declared himself president is dumb as hell. Despite Athens being the birthplace of democracy, I don't think they even had presidents in Ancient Greece. You could literally just call Minos a king and virtually nothing about the plot would even change so why bother. Is this really just their attempt at "modernising" their world/setting? It's not like we don't have kings in this day and age

Minotaur

It's true that Glaucus is a sibling of Ariadne, but the Minotaur is a whole separate sibling. The Minotaur even has his own name: Asterion/Asterius. Just another case of "why did they have to change this?" Literally just swap out the name "Glaucus" for "Asterion" and not only will (yet again) virtually nothing about the plot change, but it would be more mythologically accurate and less confusing for people who do know the myths. In fact, it could've been a fun hint for people who know the myths to clock what really happened to "Glaucus" early on, but still have them questioning "how did he become the Minotaur in this version?"

Pasiphae/Pas

Ngl I'm kinda sad that Pas seems to be just a normal mortal woman bcs, in Greek myth, she was a sorceress-goddess, the daughter of Helios. Plus, although I think it's kinda fucked up that she was forced to fuck/be fucked by the Cretan bull (bcs being "made to fall in love" is not the same as "falling in love"), I think it would've been interesting to explore not only her grief over losing a child, but the grief that comes from realising that he never was and never could be accepted by either Gods or mortals. Also, it would've made her obsession over him look slightly less selfish (and lowkey creepy) if we found out that part of the reason was that she knew her son could never live among humans as half-man, half-bull so she resorted to making wax figures that would've at least let her imagine what it would've been like if he wasn't the result of divine punishment

Theseus

Was literally just an Easter egg. Downgraded from a prince of Athens to a Cretan bodyguard. Didn't even do his most notable act (killing the Minotaur) or even get sent to the Labyrinth in the first place. Makes him feel very much like a character that the writers added just to say, "Look! Look, we know Greek myth!" Especially since Theseus disappeared into thin air after the Trojan 7 were arrested. I don't think they even showed him in the crowd with Andromache, mourning Astyanax

Non-character Nitpicks (yeah, I got more)

Bees

Not really bothered by this, but I'm pretty sure that bees aren't even one of Hera's sacred animals. They could've made it peacocks, make the birds wander the grounds and when the reveal drops, the symbol of opulence turns into an unabashed display of cruelty

Ichor

Admittedly, the colour of ichor in Ancient Greek texts has always been ambiguous. But I feel like it would've been an interesting visual for their blood to be a non-red colour; maybe the popular gold, for example. Bcs it would've A) drawn a clear line between Gods and mortals and further "validated" the Gods' hubris by serving as visual proof that there's an undeniable difference between them and the mortals; and B) would've really caused Zeus to panic when he saw that his blood was red instead of gold, make him think that he's becoming mortal, vulnerable, weak

Styx

Minor nitpick, but isn't the sentence for not being able to pay the toll only 100 years, not 200? Why the extra 100 years? Why even change this? If they really wanted to make it feel like a long sentence, then they should've gone for 500 or 1000 years. Living even just 100 years of doing the same thing with no variation or even the choice to opt out, or even being able to taste anything, would start feeling hellish sooner than you might think

Couples

This might just be the aromantic in me, but why is there so much romance???? And it's between couples that never existed in the OG myths

1. Hera/Poseidon - why??? I've already talked about how it goes against Hera's character, but if they really wanted them to have a "deep" relationship, they're literally siblings?? They could just bond over having to be the ones that keep Zeus in line or being the only ones responsible for actually ruling their realms (bcs Amphitrite is nowhere to be found). They didn't need to insult Hera's character like that

2. Theseus/Astyanax - I'd have less problem with this if it didn't seem like Theseus wanted Ari to only save Nax instead of all 7 Trojans. It makes it feel like they're fueling the idea that a person would only be desperate to save the person they love romantically. E.g., a husband saving his wife, but not someone saving their best friend

3. Prometheus/Charon - same problem as the Theseus/Nax ship, especially with the added line that Prometheus needs to rely on "someone who will do anything for you" (or sumn like that). Like,,,, you can do that for your friend too, y'know. It's not out of the realm of possibility to miss your friend or love them so deeply that you'd do anything for them. It's literally a well-known joke(?) that there are friends who'd help you hide the body. It'd just be a more intense ver of that between Charon and Prometheus. They didn't need to be romantic to showcase Charon's trust in and dedication to helping Prometheus

4. Caeneus/Eurydice - I'm so tired of people falling in love in less than a week (I don't think this relationship even reached a full three days). Iirc y'all had a grand total of 6 conversations - first at the Frame, second meeting when Riddy introduces herself as a diver, third at the party, fourth when they're sitting on the bench, fifth when they have their short escapade to the Nothing, sixth in Caeneus's bedroom.

I mean,,,,, I get that they shared meaningful conversations, but I swear none of said conversations even lasted more than 5 minutes so where on Earth is this "love" coming from?? Y'all have barely scratched the surface of what you know of each other but you think you're connected??? Get real

Ending on a positive note

I actually love the Furies and the Fates. The Furies more for their looks and their vibe and especially the Fates for their (literal) know-it-all nonchalant attitude. I hope they come back next season.

The set design and colouring is also top tier, from the underworld filtered in black and white and looking industrial and office-like to the vibrant colours and festivity of Earth to the opulence of Olympus

Some actual trans and disability rep! I've been burned before with the trans rep since the Netflix adaptation of "Alice in Borderlands" has a cis woman playing a transfem, but Misia Butler is an actual transmasc! [Nobody argue that AIB couldn't have an actual transfem bcs of Japan's transphobia bcs I can tell you what's not helping trans rights: having cis women play transfem roles, thinking it makes no difference anyway. Good rep can pave the way for acceptance]

The disability rep in actors is so fucking bad that I genuinely thought most people with disabilities just didn't become actors. I only knew that the daughter in "A Quiet Place" was actually deaf bcs I went to look it up. Anyway, hope Mat Fraser (Daedalus aka only decent father figure) comes back bcs no way he actually got eaten, right? Right????

[mmpookie]

ARCANA TWILIGHT FLOOR 13 REACTION SPOILERS ‼️

I. AM. NOT OKAY.😭😭 BRO I AM ON MY. KNEES. PLEASEEE GIVE US A SEASON TWO STORY TACO OML 😭🙏🙏

OKAY NOW FOR DISCUSSION:

FIRST SHOUT OUT TO CONFRONTATIONAL ARKY GOTTA BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE GENDERS 😩🙏

OK

THE THE. THE FRICKEN POLLUX IS CASTOR PLOTTWIST⁉️

I SAT OVER HERE DRAWING THE POLLUX BDAY ART .JUST. COMPLETELY ABSENTED MINDED OF THE FACT THAT POLLUX AND CASTOR LITERALLY PULLED A TWIN SWAP CLICHE ON US THAT IS SO FUNNY TO ME.

HE'S SO TRAGIC ☹️

BTW I ALMOST FELL OUT OF MY CHAIR READING THIS I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS WAS THE CASE THE ENTIRE TIME OH MY GOD

I MEAN THINKING ABOUT IT I SHOULD'VE EXPECTED IT BUT STILL (EVEN SIRIUS WAS STUNNED)

Also teehee the dots are connecting with mythology again UGH it's so smart with what they pulled off I loved this closing arc for pollux

or I mean castor???

I'm not stretching right???

Also did they ever clarify what castor's fate of misfortune was? Unless I missed it, it's gotta be referring to his death right? Deffo gonna reread the story for when my arcana twilight withdrawals kick in to reanalyze EVERYTHING bc that will be fun

MORE MYTHOLOGY‼️

I've would also love to shout out how much of Arky's role of guiding us out of the Boundry can be paralleled to the greek god Hermes and what he symbolizes BUT BRO

CAN YOU HEAR MY UTTER ANGUISH?????? MY UTTER DESPAIR?????? I AM UNCONSOLABLE

I DUNNO IF I'LL EVER RECOVER FROM THIS LINE 😭 SORRY IT'S JUST ME PARALLELING SUMMONER AND VEGA TO ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE AGAIN. AND. AND. HOW RELEVENT IT IS TO THEIR BACKSTORY AND VEGAS TRAUMA OF BEING ABANDONED BUT

THIS IS SUCH A PERFECT LINE. THE BOW ON TOP OF HIS CHARACTER ARC. I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER

THIS MAY OR MAY NOT BE BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH A HADESTOWN FAN I AM SO IGNORE ME

Ok so at the end I was like NERVOUS bc there was the chance they could have MAYBE pulled off two different endings depending on whether summoner personally wanted to stay or go back to Mid Earthium- which would have been a cool opportunity that Storytaco could have pulled,, but I guesss instead they did the thing where the choices triggered the same response, but this time in the sense that the rest is left to your imagination:

*you turn around = you stay back at the Boundry with the boys (this is because if you turn around the portal magic thingy won't work)

*or you listen to arcturus = keep walking until you arrive back home (earth)

Personally I chose to turn around bc ,one, the story never really gave me TOO much reason to want to go back home- however it was back there- and two I WAS YELLING THROUGH THE SCREEN NOO I DONT TO LEAVEEE 😭😭 THE WHOLE TIME

Also the voice we hear at the end says

"Can you hear? I have a story I desperately want to tell."

And I?? Can't exactly tell what it means?..OTHER THAN A TEASER FOR MORE CONTENT?? MAYBE PONTENTIALLY?? But if it's actually obviously something else I missed please tell me 😭

Anyways end of lecture:

Pollux and vega ending arc top tier.

Arcturus hmm I wish they didn't gloss over the void arc so quickly 🤔

If they could have fitted it in there I would have loved if they had just a BIT more of a satisfying conclusion for spica and alpheratz yknow? :( just me??

And finally. I can be slow,,, so if there's anyone out there that can explain Sirius's whole spiel with polaris and everything with the time travel.,,,,,,, I really would appreciate it bc I'm still trying to understand 😭

(Story taco if you're reading this please make more story I love these characters too much ☹️)

[jovenshires]

endless au edits: smosh theatre's seasonal lineup (1/4)

SMOSH'S SEASONAL LINEUP: A COMPLETE GUIDE by mac kahey smosh theatre, a musical theater company known for its diverse and inclusive productions, has just announced its show lineup for the year, and it is safe to say that fans are far from disappointed. starting off strong, the company kicked off its announcement with its winter showcase: a production of hadestown, led by stars damien haas and jacklyn uweh, and directed by none other than returning smosh co-founder, anthony padilla. padilla made his comeback to smosh a little over six months ago to collaborate with his fellow co-owner on their spring and summer musicals. this will be padilla's first solo show at the playhouse in nearly six years - and what a show to start off on. coupling this tragic tale of love lost with padilla's edgy direction style is a bold move, and fans are, rightfully, excited. the casting choices are also impeccable. the star-studded lineup includes previously-mentioned damien haas, an openly neurodivergent and queer actor making waves for representation everywhere. he'll be taking on the role of orpheus, a hopeless romantic, poet, and musician, and as someone who had the pleasure of sitting down with him for an interview last spring, all of these qualities describe haas to a t. this will be his first time leading a show with smosh in his near-six-year run at the company, and his first time working with padilla as a director. the actor shared the show to his instagram and expressed his excitement for the production, saying, "anthony is such a great director. it's been an honor to work with him and my amazing castmates." speaking of his castmates - his leading lady is none other than superstar jacklyn uweh. returning from her recent stint touring with the cast of spring awakening, she has rejoined the smosh cast for another performance that's sure to be amazing. the actress is known for advocating for women of color in theater spaces and never being afraid to speak her mind. she also, notably, has one of the most incredible singing voices of our generation. taking on the mysterious yet powerful role of eurydice will be no easy feat, but somehow, i think she has the power to manage it. just with this one casting, smosh has shown that when the perfect cast falls into their lap, they aren't foolish enough not to utilize it. the stacked cast doesn't stop there, though. playing hermes, the play's narrator and father figure to young orpheus, is ify nwadiwe, a booming comedic actor who has been known to feature in smosh productions. his fun-loving demeanor and natural swagger are sure to bring a natural carefree energy to this rendition of hadestown. he, too, spoke of the production fondly on social media, posting on x: "this is one of the greatest things i've ever been a part of. come see us next december to february at the smosh playhouse for one of the most incredible, f***ed up things we've ever done." long-time smosh player keith leak jr is taking on the role of hades, the rich, powerful, and egotistical king of the underworld, and his friend and partner in all things theater, olivia sui, will be beside him once more as persephone, hades's free-spirited yet suffering wife. watching these two together is always a delight, and i cannot wait for their dynamic to shine through the characters that they play. as far as the winter production is concerned, the community's shared high hopes for padilla's return may very well turn out to be grounded in reality. with an all-star cast and an incredible crew, such as returning stage head erin dougal, it is easy to see that padilla knows what he's doing. though only time will tell, i am confident that this production will be a huge success, and very well may be my favorite show of the year - although, i must mention the other productions first - because they all have incredible potential.

[browneyedartist01]

My thoughts during the final hour of acomaf:

(Bare in mind that I notched up the speed to 1.5 then 1.75, and these thoughts are not in order)

-"You don't need proof that it works, I'm proof that it works-"

Weren't you made by high lords?

-"I will destroy your court."

And I will hate you. More so than I already do

-"He held out his hand like I was some pet."

"Come home."

My thoughts:

"Come home with me."

"Who are you?"

"The man whose gonna marry you, I'm Orpheus."

"Who am I?"

"Eurydice, *laughs* the girl who makes me wanna sing, the women I'm marrying."

-Why dose the evil man sounds like a radio announcer?

-Lucian really setting the bar higher already in how to care for your mate, as expected. (Go little Rock star)

-He broke through the bounds that a high lord couldn't break through just to go to her?!?!

-And he gave her his coat to cover her??

-"There were different kinds of torture I realized, there was ones I went through, what Rhys went through and then this."

Yeah, now you know how Tamlin felt utm.

- Did Nesta just give the evil king the middle finger? Ew, sarah cringe stop it.

-Cassian just keep dying sweetie, don't touch Nesta.

-Nesta be nice to your future brother in law.

- Freye unlocked a new power, somehow.

-Cheesy, this is all so cheesy.

- "his green eyes met mine, the sorrow and tenderness in them was the most hideous thing I've ever seen."

Wow, ok...

-Tamlin acting like Ryhsand though with Tamlin it's justified/understandable

- *me counting down the final 22 minutes while freye is dying*

-"I nerely gagged on his scent."

Freye darling, I get your upset about his deal with evil king. But he literally tried to save your sisters, stop being so dramatic.

- "my family."

It's been 3 months girly.

- "Tamlin ignored Lucian, so I did too."

Sums up Freye and Lucain's friendship

-Of course all the queens' want is eternal youth,

- Lucian naturally being the smartest one in the room.

-Noooo, not Ryhsand pov. 😭 this better not be the last 17 minutes.

-Holy crap, I just realized how similar this ending is to season 2 of lore olympus ending.

-Don't worry, the bat boys plot armor is thick. Sarah loves you monsters too much.

-Mor don't rip out the arrow it will only make it worse.

-Ryhsand please think, do you really think Tamlin would actually partner with evil king? He didn't even trust evil fae women when she first appeared, what makes you think he would actually help him beyond getting freye back?

-"she is my mate, my wife, the high lady of the night court."

BANG, CRASH A LIGHTING BLAST! (no joke there was thunder after he said this in the dramatized version)

I have 2 thoughts on this one:

1. There was a fan theory during the court trial in lore olympus (persephone was on trail for mass murder, long story) where hades and persephone got married before the trail started because at one point he called her his wife. This wasn't the case because she was 20 and he was in his 2000 (aka 40's) Idk if Rachel was a fan of acotar and wanted to steal from it (since acomaf was released in 2016 and the trial was released in 2020) but because people guessed it she dropped it. Idk that's just a my own theory.

2. How can she be the high lady when the mother is the one to give out titles? Do you realize what you just start Ryhsand? This could lead to more war against the more religious courts, this could lead to the end of the night court if the mother finds out... oh wait, this is acotar. Not real high fantasy, there's no real religious world building.

-"I've forgotten how quiet it was here, how small, how empty"

You do this every time freye, anytime your some where "better" you always just stick your noise up at your old home.

-Freye acting high and mighty towards Tamlin as if she wouldn't had praised Ryhsand for doing the same thing.

- Lucian, you are truly the best character.

-"My sister mate, the mother did indeed seem to have a sense of humor."

What do you mean? He would be a great mate. But then again you're suffering because of it...which makes it so much better.

- "as if he could do that to anyone."

But- but he did freye. And tbh I think he would have done worse to you if he deemed it necessary.

-Freye is really giving evil queen vibes. I wish I could enjoy it, but I know sarah is going to make her the "hero"

And that's it, Thank Saints.

[accio-victuuri]

WYB’s Wuzhen adventure Day 2. 🎭

i’ve been wanting to talk about his WZ time and cry about how it seems like everyone and their mom had a wyb sighting except for me. lol. in a way, i’m glad that wyb being there encouraged more people to attend ( i think wang junkai attended days before him but not sure about the details ) even if their main reason is get a glimpse of him, at least they get to watch a play and participate in their own way. i hope more established actors/actress will do the same to help this event too.

anyway, around 11:00 AM, bobo was already out and about. i expected him to not be out that early. i thought he was gonna be out late afternoon cause people said wz festival is more lively late in the afternoon to evening. he was with cheng er, he had a coffee cup ( he was yawning too ) and was all covered up. some people were asking him for autographs, which he declined. makes sense cause if he signed for one person, everyone will expect him to extend the same courtesy to them.

another thing. i’m so jealous of those who were able to take a “selfie” with bobo. 🍋🍋🍋 yes i know it’s not the best way to take it with wyb in the background. what gets me is how his eyes looks directly at the camera in front. mister hengdian hawkeye omg. i love this one, she didn’t expect bobo to sit behind her.

i have to agree with comments tho. i would be so scared / intimidated. 😰😰😰

the crowd was more today but he had people with him to keep him safe (p1) tho there was one video i saw that someone touched him and he turned. ahhhh! please do not touch him. T.T I feel like those people are not necessarily all yibo fans. a good number of them are passerby who know of yibo and are curious to see him.

this shot tho. his big hands. the yands 👋🏼

look at him holding two bottles with one hand. i cannot. 👁️👄👁️

He watched a play called Eurydice in the evening.

What I love is one of the security who was with him the whole day talked to the crowd and said it was WYB who asked him to convey a message. Asking people to be careful when taking photos and videos, especially the moss in the slopes ( cause they might slip ). Also to be careful not to catch a cold cause there is a big temperature difference from morning to evening. Basically, he wants people to take care and be safe. 🥹🥹🥹🥹

It’s easy to assume when you see the videos, and you don’t know him, to think that he doesn’t care. He barely acknowledges people and his head is always down. But this is his true intention. He is concerned for the people. Yibo is really the best boy 💕

[tookishcombeferre]

Metamorphosis & Mutation: A Cedric the Sorcerer Playlist

My hand slipped and made a 2+ hour playlist. My challenge for myself was that I was not allowed to use *any* of the songs from the series.

If you know how much I love music, you know I love a good challenge. There are one or two songs that cuss in them. (Only one "f-bomb" from a Passenger song, but it's worth it because the song "Fairytales and Firesides" is beautiful. The line "We are bitter losers, snarling through our smiles" was just too perfect to pass up.)

"The Incident" and its immediate aftermath is represented by "The Sacrifice of Faramir" for ... reasons. It just felt perfect. Any LotR fans will likely understand that and where my mind was going with that one. (Surprising number of parallels between Sofia and Pippin, Cedric and Faramir, and Goodwyn and Denethor. Might make a post about this eventually. Due to the casting in movies, which don't get me wrong, overall I love, very few people remember (or know) that, in the novels, Pippin was 28 at the beginning of the book and turns 29 in Gondor near the end of the trilogy. Hobbits don't reach full cultural maturity, and are considered minors, until 33. Billy Boyd was actually the oldest of the hobbit actors. So, most people forget that/ don't know that fact. But, now you know! :D) (I may or may not have spent four years of my life researching these books and relationships in almost monastic levels of isolation except for when my [now] spouse and our mutual friends would drag me out my dorm room to ensure I ate and hydrated myself. The sad thing is I am only kind of hyperbolizing.) A note on the song "I Found" by Amber Run - that is meant platonically/ paternally. If people read anything else into that DON'T. Just DON'T. (For people who have read "In the Flares of the Sun," and continue to read it, this song will hit different. The whole idea of "I found love where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me, talk some sense to me." is just ... it hits. Platonically. It hits from two directions for folks who have read the chapter "First, Do No Harm." Honestly, this song has always given me *deep friendship* vibes more than anything else anyway. The first playlist I ever used it on was an adopted mother-daughter relationship in a dystopian novel I was writing. It was used right alongside "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan. So, if you want to know the vibes I get from this song, now you know. The kid was based on Thomas Paine so it was actually a "Common Sense" pun. ;D) "Show Me" by Idina Menzel is also intended platonically. I first heard that song on an Anna and Elsa tribute video so I've always thought of that song platonically. But, if you're gonna weird about either of those songs, just don't. With that out of the way, there are some very "me" choices in here. "This is the Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde was my *jam* in middle school. I almost broke my CD of the "dream cast album" with Anthony Warlow as Jekyll/Hyde playing it so many times on my CD player before I got an iPod. (I NEVER claimed I was not old, y'all. Also, I'm actually auditioning for the role of Jekyll/Hyde in December. XD) The fact that there is both Jason Robert Brown and Marianas Trench on this playlist is a very "me" choice. Also, yes, I did put two songs from the new Hunchback of Notre Dame with Michael Arden as Quasimodo on here. Don't *judge* me. (Made of Stone is a perfect song for Cedric, COME ON!) Also, if I chose to set Cedric's rant to Roland as "If It's True" from Hadestown. It is *my* prerogative to give my sad trash-panda this beautiful rant. If I wanna play that pre-dungeon moment as a little more justified because it felt a little more true than not ... it's *my* playlist. (Hadestown is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The song "If It's True" is set just after Orpheus has just gotten his butt whooped by Hades and told that he's worthless, that he's basically lower than dirt, and that music and love are meaningless.) (1. I'm absolutely setting this playlist in the universe of "In the Flares of the Sun." So, mild spoiler, in the first verse of this song, for backstory about something that has only been implied so far, but is coming up in a future chapter. The spoiler is very blink and you'll miss it. It's like a line and a half of the song. But, it's there, and I did choose the song intentionally because of the backstory I built in the world of that fic/ other fics I'm planning for future. So, you'll get a brief glimpse into my brain. 2. But, let's be real:

"'Cause the ones who tell the lies/ Are the solemnest to swear/ And the ones who load the dice/ Always say the toss is fair/ And the ones who deal the cards/ Are the ones who take the tricks/ With their hands over their hearts/ While we play the game they fix/ And the ones who speak the words/ Always say it is the last/ And no answer will be heard/ To the question no one asks" Mmmmm ... so perfect. So angry. Also that: "Tell me what to do" - so many different characters that could be directed towards.) But, this is also why I put the world's best anti-villain anthem that sounds like a Disney-princess "I want song" right before it. It's about the *juxtaposition.* It's about the *nuance.* (Cedric basically is Dr. Jekyll. Okay? It's probably why I love him. Jekyll/Hyde has long been a favorite character of mine.) Also, I'm obsessed with Collabro. Their covers are so good, and the story of how they came together is so supremely weird and serendipitous. Look them up. They do not disappoint. Also, "Chosen Family" is one of my favorite songs ever. I used the one where Rina Sawayama and Elton John sing together. Though, Rina Sawayama is the original writer. I love both versions, but I also just love Elton John so much, and I love the version where he sings with her. I hope y'all enjoy it too. I will spread the gospel of this song forever because I just love it. And, I had to end with the credit's song of "The Tigger Movie" - "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" - because that movie destroys me every single time I watch it. The end. That's my notes on this. There are a whole bunch of other songs I didn't cover. But, yeah. These are the ones I wanted to make notes on. This got really long. If you can't tell music is something of a special interest of mine. I managed to refrain from putting full blown oprea on here. You're welcome. I'm not sure exactly where I would have gone if I *had* decided to put opera on here. But, it's not an impossibility or something I wouldn't do, or haven't done, for other character playlists in the past. XD

[kiawren]

Hi... Im no legitimate poet or anything...Was listening to these deft.ones songs and started writing something about kiawren on the bus home

This is so self indulgent I'm sorry.. idk if you can understand my abstract writing and it's okay if you don't 😭😭

For anyone that bothers... I'll try to explain the poem but you can interpret it how you'd like :))

These are some of the lyrics inspiring it (romantic dreams, diamond eyes, sextape)

The title—I was thinking that the only constant of his between real life and my self insert world is his name, I can say it here just the same as I can there, everything else about him otherwise isn't real.. Hence the two realms, and the inspiration from the lyric "I'm hypnotized by your name" (more to add to this towards the end of the poem!)

The Vermillion bird (basically a phoenix) is from Chinese myth, I think it represents both of us becuz fire and bird.

'Take me one more time/Take me one last wave/Take me one last ride' is from Sextape, I heard it as I started typing the poem, so I just added it in hehhee .... for 'wave', I often think about us sitting in Wela volcano park overlooking the ocean together. It's vast and beautiful. For 'ride', I also like to imagine us going for rides on char.izard together.

'rilles' are from volcanic flows on the moon, with i learnt when Googling while writing this. Actually I thought they were for normal volcanoes too, before I googled again when typing this, well they're only on the moon, lol that gives another meaning (kiawren sun/moon dynamic loll). The rilles here are in my veins cuz he just has that impact on me☺️

There's stuff like 'burning a visage on skin', 'place my tongue where you blaze' 'bleed the sea whole' cuz that's what people would typically do for their lovers you know. (/sarcasm) I just mean I would go to such lengths for him.

Synonyms of red—cherry, ruby, cardinal, in a way those lines are getting more intense.. The plush of youth (our young love and its dreaminess) and the clush of rubies, then cardinal in my head also alludes biblically like 'cardinal sin' that's why I wrote 'cardinal hell', the red becomes so red! And yes more on the hell later.

Clush is also a song by Isles & Glaciers that makes me think of kiawren so I added that word :)

'rose-cauterized eyes' — I like the phrase 'rose-tinted eyes', took a different way here with the cauterization, something more graphic like those other stuff I had up there, I feel like if you'd cauterize eyes you'd see through foggy, patched-over, maybe painful vision. But if you cauterize with roses... There's also layer of romanticism.

'meteors-heavy stubborn blue sky'... When I listen to 'diamonds reign across the sky' in the song diamond eyes I think is us watching miniors together (a poke.mon that's basically a meteor). Hmm, it's hard to explain it, but the red-rose overworld downturning into stubborn blue sky kinda has the feeling of the worlds and skies turning and colliding, and the red/blue kiawren you know... like a merger, something dynamic and disorienting... Anyway it kinda leads into the last part too!!!

'My heart' —yes it's both my literal heart going up in flames when I love him and also him, becuz this is also my term of endearment for him. And he burns in his passion. He burns brighter than I ever can.

Ok last part that Im excited to type out

While a mythical being all proud and overbearing yet unhelpful in the alluded Nirvana, and 'romantic' people look up to this fictional mythical heaven-ruler (they're idealistic hence the word romantic, also that this 'romance' is more insincere),,,,,,

I have independently travelled inside the Earth to unite with my Kiawe!!!!! Orpheus and Eurydice!!!!!!!! I am Orpheus for real.....i'd cave so hard.

Last two lines are interesting becuz I 'see my baby', but Orpheus doesn't get to see Eurydice..... Meanwhile don't 'turn back to a blue sky', I reject the reality of a blue sky, like how the red overworld downturns into it earlier, for the fantasy of a red realm with my loveeee... Instead of not being able to turn to 'Eurydice' which here is Kiawe!!!!!, I *can* see him!!!! instead I do not face a reality, and I succeed in uniting with him away from it.

Also I've been wanting include the Vermillion bird in writing for kiawren. Didn't expect to be hating on it in the poem LOL

[siflshonen]

Do you have any romance recommendations? (Books, manga, games, anything.) I'm a crotchety romance snob as well and haven't explored the genre.

My well is pretty empty for this, I must admit. But I guess... hey, you like immersive fandoms, camp, parody, and tongue-in-cheek, I hope?

While the book may be a little too dated for most widespread consumption, I will recommend almost any well-done derivative of Pride and Prejudice or Austen works in general, or even anything that involves it. Enter these with the attitude that everyone is a disaster and the work wants you to hoot and holler at it and treat it like a groundling at a Shakespeare play (that is, like a degenerate.)

Some examples include:

Pride and Prejudice 1995 adaptation - One of the main metrics I use when judging a Pride and Prejudice adaptation is the level of batshit histrionic (complimentary) Elizabeth Bennet's mother acts, and this one is a gold standard (compliments to the actress. I hated her and this is unironically the highest praise I can give in this context).

Pride and Prejudice 2005 (the one with Keira Knightley) - When I first saw this movie, I fucking hated it. My friends took it all too seriously. Then, everything changed when, on the third watch-through, I pointed at Darcy's too-tight (leather?!) pants in the final scene and ripped that poor character a new asshole for being a pathetic, wet man in stupid pants. The next watch-through, I treated each scene's verbal lashings like a WWE wrestling match complete with commentary, and suddenly the entire thing became the best movie in the fucking world. My friends will never watch it with me again, but more fool they because now that I am older I realize that, by doing so, I was the only one engaging with the work in the appropriate spirit even if I lacked the Regency-era class. Austen wrote these to be funny, witty, backhanded, and insightful. When Darcy says, "She isn't handsome enough to tempt ME!", try pointing at him and screaming, "BIIIIITCH!" at the top of your lungs and then see how you feel.

Austenland (view this once you have comfortable familiarity with at least one Austen story. It gets more ridiculous as it goes along, and is all the better for it. Admittedly, I also don't care much for the actual endgame romance in this one either, but the movie is fun even when it's cringe like with... well, you'll see.)

Side note: While I generally look favorably upon Pride and Prejudice adaptations, I do NOT recommend I Love You Because.

Mamma Mia - Do I actually care about any of these couples getting together? Do I ship a damn thing in this show? No, I don't. Their love stories exist only to forward the antics and camp they get into, but it IS a romance. Everything, including the casting choices, is a gag. For example, if you watch the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice listed below, you will understand why it is funny that Colin Firth is in this movie doing exactly what he does. It opens with all the girlies being like "ohhh wow what a great idea you had to invite these THREE DUDES YOUR MOM HAD A ONE-NIGHT STAND WITH TO YOUR WEDDING" and singing a happy and supportive song about it like a classic optimistic musical, and then all the girlies immediately afterwards being like, "JUST KIDDING you are SO fucking stupid" but still going with it.

Hadestown - For all I bitch about romance............... this is my favorite musical. Before you ask, NO! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THE LOVE STORY OF ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE! I CARE ABOUT THE OTHER ONE!!!! And even then, it's not something I dwell upon as a love story. Admittedly, I have a strong preference for the Live Original Cast Recording rather than the Broadway version (I strongly dislike the changed lyrics for the Epics. However, I am a big fan of Orpheus' added parts in Doubt Comes In), but if you like one, you'll like the other. If you don't like either, well, whatever.

Um, what else... uh, classic anime fandom favorites like Ouran High School Host Club are also fun, but I can also admit to you that I care not for 80% of the romance aspect of it.

Um, d-does Devilman: Crybaby count????

[eurydicees]

tagged by @selkiecoded !! ty for the tag <3333

10 characters for 10 fandoms:

ohshc: TAMAKI TAMAKI TAMAKI. he's my special little guy. he's everything to me. i haven't posted about him in a minute but he's on my mind still. he's so special to me.

haikyuu: god. um. i have a short list of characters i could put here that is not actually a short list. but i know i have to go with oikawa. he's everything. he's so complex and also has nothing but volleyball in his head. he was intended to be a pretty boy character but he has an ambition that will tear down everything in his way. he's so biracial bisexual bipolar coded. to me.

uh. do i even like anything else. oh! pjo!!!! percyyyyyy. my beloved main character. truly one of the YA/children's lit narrators of all time.

fruits basket: kyo sohma!!! he's everything . he's so teenager with emotional regulation issues and so much trauma with a side of monstrosity complex and mommy issues. and it's perfect.

dude i'm truly running out of interests i am the most boring person alive i care about, like, three things ever. um. mcu? bucky barnes is sooooo <3333333

blue lock!! BACHIRA. he's my guy. i could wax poetics about him for years. can't believe i forgot him smh. #fake fan

trigun: vash the stampede my dear dear dear love. he's so "i ruin the things i love but god do i choose to love anyways." and it means everything to me.

atla: sokka !!! what a character.

i am truly scraping the bottom of the barrel with fandoms. i love this one but i never talk about it because im too caught up in the tamaki suoh and tooru oikawa of it all. anyways. madoka magica: homura. my roommate once told me i'm just like her for real and that make me a little insane ngl. the problem is that it's so true. i, too, would change the narrative to doom the world but simultaneously doom my love in a fruitless, desperate attempt to save her from said narrative.

oh im so stupid. where did your url come from tumblr user eurydicees. where did your fucking online NAME come from eury. anyways. hadestown: eurydice. fuckin obviously. god. im clearly so tired. love her tho.

also if u have ever tagged me in something and i didn't reply i am so sorry it's not you it's fully my lack of attention span, i probably saw and got distracted by smth else before i could reply/do the tag game. sorry. some crimes can never be forgiven but please keep tagging me in stuff anyways

[ask-whitebag]

Hello, since you spent a lot of time roleplaying / thinking about BBTerra I was wondering, do you have any opinions on the relationship in general you can share, or like how you'd imagine them interaction / their relationship post cartoon? I'm the hugest teen titans fan and I love your beast boy art, by the way.

Beast Boy is one of my favorite DCU characters, and I am indeed a huge BBTerra shipper. They're one of my favorite DCU pairings for sure (I'm talking about the 2003's cartoon versions of course). I think it's adorable how quickly they clicked together, and their friendship was super adorable. They were both weird goofballs with tragic backstories, and I think their friendship was exactly what they needed in their life. With their mutual support, they could have grown to become better people. There was a lot of room for development.

But I like BBTerra mostly for the same reason I like Jinx and Ekko, or for the same reason I like Orpheus and Eurydice. I think the tragedy element is integral to their story, and it's the thing that appeals to me the most here.

There is no BBTerra relationship post-canon. The only way BBTerra could have a happy ending was if Terra came clean a little earlier, and if Beast Boy stuck to his word and was her friend no matter what. But that's not what ended up happening, because they were insecure, troubled kids, and when it mattered the most, their feelings were just too difficult, too complicated.

And yes, while I wrote a conclusion to BBTerra's storyline, I felt it would be disrespectful to ignore that tragedy element. Which is why I give them both a closure, but I don't… make them end up with each other. There is no fixing the past, but there is making peace with it. Writing that ending was bittersweet, but it felt more right than taking the easy way of making them a couple.

BBTerra always makes me wonder "what if". It's seeing them for what they could be. It's the yearning. It's wanting to have something you can't have. It's what always keeps me invested when it comes to shipping.

[necromycologist]

rating 'fantasies' songs by their tlt vibes

recently i got really into this album and ive been listening to it nonstop and i got the urge to make this post so behold.

Help I'm Alive

we open with a BANGER. the whole heart motif beauty of existence thing is very tlt in general but "if we're still alive my regrets are few/if my life is mine what shouldnt i do" feels like it could be ntn cam+pal perhaps. 6/10 for general vibes not really going anywhere specific tho.

Sick Muse

i could see this as a convo between gideon and harrow. "pull your little arrows out an let me live my life" she WOULD say that about love... ily harrowhark necro'mancer nonagesimus lyctorway keep sticking your middle finger up at preps. but the main event is "all the blondes are fantasies/we looked at them eleven ways/you said look at me then looked away" like i dont even need to explain this one. YOU SAID LOOK AT ME THEN LOOKED AWAY the orpheus and eurydice the betrayal the hurt why wont you eat me please please consume me why are you saving me sorry one sec. ill shut up about greek myths now. 7.5/10 that one lyric saved it for me

Satellite Mind

this song is so strange and offputting it has to be about our favourite little bone nun <3 its givin htn harrow "i can feel you most when im alone" um the body the body the body "flashback of a feeling/sixth sense of a calling" its the love! that they couldnt take away!! 6/10 because i think that the dreamy freaky what the fuck is happening are suuuuper htn however the actual lyrics arent super close

Gold Guns Girls

i want this song to be about ianthe tridentarius soooooo bad... i want it to be about our favourite perpetually thirdweeling failgirl so much... like ive never wanted anything else ever oh my GOD... "i remember when you were gambling to win/everybody else said better luck next time" underestimated at canaan house anyone? anyone at all? no takers?? no??? 3/10 because despite my deepest wishes this is just a good song thats not about gay catholic homestuck 😔

Gimme Sympathy

slightly ironic gtn griddlehawk at its finest. "get hot/get too close to the flames" oops! now ur her cavalier "wild open space" gideon-gettin-shocked-by-days-on-earth-emotional.png "talk like an open book" not with that vow of silence. idiot. "sign me up!" shes not signed up haha "ill remember someday all the chances we took" not after the lobotomy u wont lol "we're so close to something better left unknown" cough cough LYCTORHOOD. 9/10 manifesting kiriona giving harrow sympathy after all of this is gone in alecto

Collect Call

hiii ntn fans i prommy i didn’t forget abt u! this one goes out to the psychosexual mess of role playing and bad meals enjoyers <3 "i know it's a lie i want it to be true/the rest of the rot is riding on you" oh boy like i said psychosexual mess... pyrra dve my beloved "wishing you could KEEP! ME! CLOSER! IM A LAZY! DANCER! WHEN YOU MOVE! I! MOVE WITH YOUOOOOOOOOO" oh lord nona placing her hand on cam's shoulder like palamedes would. oh lord being so close in one body and yet a second apart. 8/10 should be higher but i started Having Feelings about nona's death again and couldnt finish listening to the song

Front Row

this is a john song if I’ve ever heard one. “burnt out stars they shine so bright… all of us” is def. giving lyctor vibes. (just children playing with reflections thinking they were stars grauauauagh etc etc) plus plus “he’s not perfect/he’s a victim/of his occupation/social insulation/secret intervention” like fuck dude he really is!!! pilot that president around ordinary dude fuck the world up with your good intentions!!! 10/10 this song is the brainrot undying the kindly prince of my lyctor brainrot

Blindness

besties ngl i am INCREDIBLY torn on this one,,, on one hand “what it is and where it stops nobody knows/you gave me a life i never chose/i wanna leave but the world wont let me go” goes crazy hard. like harrowhark ‘cursed to keep living’ nonagesimus? hello is that u? on the other hand the whole opening sequence of this is very blood of eden coded… 5/10 this song has a very Character Energy about it but i think i must accept that that character is probably not a tlt one

Stadium Love

ohohohoo! here she comes!! this song IS about canaan house like the whole thing n nothing will convince me otherwise. "wanna make a deal/angel versus eel" hm im getting gideighth betrayal vibes from this "rabbit versus dove" WHAT DID I SAY colum get back here your government assigned fursona is in the song "owl versus dove" uuuuuh this can be about the sixth being cool basically whenever because sixth -> wisdom -> athena -> owl. idc that they live on mercury fuck off. the blorbos may be smart but i dont have to be. btw camilla hect if you read this im free on thursday night and would like to hang out plz respond and then hang out with me on thursday night when im free. u can bring your necromancer too if yw. "every living thing pushed into the ring" duel time every (necro)man(cer) for himself "guess you thought you could just watch" go on enforce that cohort order judith! it wont backfire at all haha! "NO. ONES. GETTING. OUT" well. uh. none of them are. plus cant you just see the Character Portrait Flashes AMV Moments to the wooowooos?? cant you??? "without STADIUM LOVE" the last time they say this w the beat drop it should be gidedeath cytherea duel epic timez and then the echoing "love love" at the end is harrow waking up and mouthing The Three Syllables TM. 11/10 somebody lend me their animation skills please i would be sooo epic and responsible with them i have a Vison...

in conclusion thx for listening to my deranged ramblings (if anyone actually does.) please go listen to fantasies its so so good... message me and we can brainrot thru it together xoxo

[heloisedaphnebrightmore]

what are sone of your personal favourite romance books??? as in absolute favourite

No! No no no! You did not go there! You do realise this is a very biased list, right?! 😁 I don't mean biased because everyone has a different favourite, but because when we talk about romance as a genre, it means a different kind of book to everyone, still the genre is decided by publishers. Not only fantasy, contemporary, historical, and dark romance etc., but like one of my favourite romance books is not even romance! It's political fantasy with a romance subplot, still it belongs to romance, because for some unknown reason someone decided to market it like that.

Yes, Hot Keys, Bonnier Books ltd., I'm looking at you! 😅

Anyways, you asked, so you shall receive! 😁 Keep in mind, this is my personal opinion, they are not in order and my taste changes faster than you can blink, so I take no responsibility.

‘Heloise the book addict’ masterlist | Heloise’s map

Side note: I know I always add trigger warnings, but like I'm so damn tired, please check trigger warnings for yourselves this time here or here. I'm so sorry, but I honestly don't have the energy to go through them all.

So, let's begin;

The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black (The whole series which belongs to The Elfhame series by Holly Black, same world setting, different couple)

The Cruel Prince #1

The Lost Sisters #1.5

The Wicked King #2

The Queen of Nothing #3

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories #3.5

In January 2023 comes out the companion duology of The Folk of the Air series, The Stolen Heir duology, with its first book, The Stolen Heir: A Novel of Elfhame which will then be part to The Elfhame series.

I am a complete and utter simp for Cardan. You can tell me how you didn't enjoy the book, how the romance was barely there or how it was too political. Nah, don't care. I love politics, I study business after all. I love fantasy, and it was fantasy and more. Romance? Wasn't there? We all have a different expectation when it comes to romance. I'm a character and romance focused reader and it was still simp-worthy for me. Everyone can judge for themselves, but I am a sucker for Cardan and Jude even if I'm still slightly mad at Jude. 😅 However, objectively speaking, it is a political fantasy and should not be marketed as fantasy romance, but because it is, it's now on my list.

Electric Idol by Katee Robert (Book #2 of Dark Olympus series. Kind of a stand-alone, but the books are somewhat linked.)

Other books in the Dark Olympus series include;

Book #0.5: Stone Heart [Medusa and Calypso]

Book #1: Neon Gods [Hades and Persephone]

Book #1.5: Hades and Hades [Hades and Persephone; a Patreon short story]

Book #2: Electric Idol [Eros and Psyche]

Book #2.5: Zeus and Hera; a Patreon short story

Book #3: Wicked Beauty [Achilles and Patroclus and Helen]

Book #4: Radiant Sin [Apollo and Cassandra]

Book #5: Cruel Seduction [Aphrodite and Hephaestus and Adonis and Pandora]

Book #6: Untitled [Charon and Orpheus and Eurydice]

Book #7: Untitled [Minotaur and Ariadne]

Book #8: Untitled [Poseidon and Icarus]

Book #9: Untitled [Hera and Zeus]

Book #10: Untitled [Hermes and ?]

The series is contracted for 7 books as of now but Katee said even if something happens, all 10 books that have been promised will be published. I might add, she said it because fans are going crazy over Zeus and Hera. I'd also like to add that once Zeus and Hera's story is out, you bet it will be on my list because I've been a sucker for those two since the very first book!

I'm a sucker for Eros and Psyche's relationship. He is a simp for him, but they start off along the lines of "I should hate you, but f*ck it, I can't" and I am here for it. It is very spicy, like the plot is pretty much just there in the background, but the characters themselves, the banter, the chemistry, the witty remarks make up for plot that's lacking a bit. Many people started this book off as "meh" only to come out simping. It'll make you swoon if you let it. 😅

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren (Stand-alone)

It was a funny, witty, enemies to lovers but also not, but also yes, with a lot of swoon-worthy moments. I love this book, it honestly makes my little heart swell. 😁 It's one of those little books that has a plot, but doesn't require you to use your brain much. Just a simple little read. I'm still mad about the conflict though, it made me quite pissed off. 😅

The Summer King Bundle by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Book #3.5-3.7 of A Wicked Trilogy, consists of 3 novellas: The Prince #3.5, The King #3.6 and The Queen #3.7)

Wicked #1

Torn #2

Brave #3

The Summer King Bundle: #3.5-3.7

The Prince #3.5

The King #3.6

The Queen #3.7

The Summer King bundle is basically a collection of 3 novellas that follow a different couple, though it is heavily connected to the series. I liked the Wicked Trilogy, it was a good read, but The Summer King Bundle stole my heart. Caden and Brighton are just so sweet together, they gave me cavities. It's full of drama, so not a sweet little paranormal fantasy romance, but I loved it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas (The whole series except ACOFAS; I still can't get over that one scene, makes my stomach churn)

A Court of Thorns and Roses #1

A Court of Mist and Fury #2

A Court of Wings and Ruin #3

A Court of Frost and Starlight #3.5

A Court of Silver Flames #4

This whole series made me so immersed, I finished the books in 5 days. 5 days when I was hella busy. I was reading like a maniac and only so many books can do that to me. Although Azriel's book didn't come out yet, I'm such a simp, that SJM could literally write the worst book about him and that book would still be on this list.

And last, but not at all least, the person who introduced me to paranormal/fantasy romance books back when I was 14!

J.R. Ward (I'm a sucker for this woman's writing! I own almost all of her books, except 3. But no, it shouldn't be read under 16 😅)

Black Dagger Brotherhood series

Black Dagger Legacy series

Black Dagger Brotherhood Prison Camp series

The Lair of the Wolven series

Fallen Angels series

Though my absolute favourites are—

Lover Eternal (Black Dagger Brotherhood #2)

Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood 11)

Blood Vow (Black Dagger Legacy #2)

Blood Fury (Black Dagger Legacy #3)

She writes paranormal fantasy romance with male leads that make you swoon. She writes diverse characters, back stories, personalities and her whole writing is brilliant. I know I'm biased, but she is amazing! Each story is about a different couple, but the books are interconnected so they have to be read in a reading order which you can find here.

Well, that would be all for now. My brain is not functioning well. I hope you'll find something you like <3

[bluem00n007]

So, i re-read orpheus and eurydice story again and i found something interesting:

The shepherd aristaeus, and his story with the dog-star Sirius

Holy smokes I didn't know that!

I was only familiar with the version where she died on her wedding day

So Arcky is serving two roles, Hades and the Bee keeper god, both of who take away Euridyce from Orpheus, Aristeaus because he was infatuated with her, so she ran away and was bitten by a viper and Hades, though moved by Orpheus's grief, in some versions was not convinced he really loved Eurydice

Also if he is Aristaeus that might explain why he is the only one visibly uncomfortable around Sirius, like everyone suspects or isn't a big fan of him, Arcky just looses his edge near him, until he has no option but to rely on him!

I can't this is too good!

I am having a little bit of a trouble understanding the myth with him and Sirius though, like the town people were suffering and it was because of ill effects of Sirius, the star and the other version is blaming murderers of Icurus, I can't find something with the entire thing on it at the moment

[rametarin]

Silent Hill 2 Remake theory.

Spoilers beyond this point.

You've been warned. Jumping down this hole is on you.

.. For real, this is some serious grognard, five times distilled amounts of lore theory bullshit that potentially spoils not only mysteries of Remake, but the original game. Like, if you want to enjoy unwrapping and putting together the mystery on your own, stay the fuck out, because this may just ruin your enjoyment of the game. Come back after you've exhausted all thoughts and wouldn't mind the risk of it ruining your experience.

Based on my absolute lore nerdery and love of Silent Hill 2, I'm confident when I assess that the Remake is... not exactly a remake. It's a continuation.

Fans have theorized for years that SH2, and in fact, most Silent Hill games, are like a special miniature hell. Liminal space before liminal space was popular. That you can die, restart your own personal adventure like someone that'd drank from the River Styx and resume your own personal David Lynch story from the beginning.

In fact, this game seems to follow the assumption that James attained at least one ending previously. And it could have been more than one.

"More than one, Ram? How can that be possible?"

Oh so simply, my friend. Oh so simply.

James can achieve one of a few endings. We'll assume that Dog and UFO are jokes, because if not, that gets messy.

In the original game, James can:

1.) Get so depressed by the end that he desires to die to be with Mary. He gets in his car, drives into Toluca Lake with a hellacious crash-splash, and the game plays Angel's Thanatos while the credits screen is a very wet end staring up from below. James doesn't take care of himself and actively hurts himself and longs for Mary's letter.

2.) James takes care of himself, doesn't pine for the fake letter of Mary's, and confronts Maria at the end, whom says he deserves to die too and they should be together. Laura presents him with another letter. Mary tells him he needs to move on in life and take Laura with him, outof Silent Hill.

3.) Confronts Mary at the end, fights her, disregards her, and accepts Maria- whom was revealed to've been manufactured by the town, or someone else. Maria has been exhibiting symptoms of some illness that just gets worse throughout the game's progression, indicating James is bringing Maria out of Silent Hill to experience the same thing he did with Mary.

4.) James paddles Mary's body out to a tiny island in the middle of Toluca Lake to undergo a ritual to bring her back to life. He collects an obsidian goblet, a white anointing oil, and a red book of magic.

And I'm here to tell you that all four of these endings can just be elements of the same ultimate ending, and their order doesn't even matter. They can even occur simultaneously, as far as the material world is concerned.

No matter which ending you choose, James leaves Silent Hill with a +1. It could be with someone that looks like Mary, it could optionally be with a child. But James plays out a kind of Orpheus and Eurydice, and it's unlikely whatever entity he summoned is Mary that inhabits her body. Which was likely freshly dead, as of 9:10... presumably, AM. Mary has been dead for a few hours, maximum.

It has been theorized since 2001 that, conceptually, Mary's body had to be close by. In the original, you cannot peek into the back seat of the car to see. But that's the thing. You can peek into the front seat. Just, not the back of James 1970s ass car. You can't see whether or not Mary's corpse is in there.

In Remake, however, you absolutely can. And a suspicious shape of a blanket over a vaguely human form is in there. Now, Remake may not count since it's not 'canon' to the original vision. But, Team Silent WAS in touch with Bloober, and they did have the blessing. It's as official as official gets, my dudes.

Moreover, Silent Hill 2 was the springboard for some lore elements that got further fleshed out in Silent Hill 4. It's the game that introduced the story of Walter Sullivan, a man plagued by "The Red Demon", that killed two children and was sent to prison. Billy and Merriam Locane. In Silent Hill 4, we find out that Walter was an orphan born into an apartment complex by traveling parents that left him behind. Walter is a twisted and sad child that believes the apartment complex is his mother.

Walter is sent to live in the Silent Hill Smile Society, a home for orphans. The problem: It's actually a cult farm that does all kinds of nasty shit to the kids, including rituals to have demons skinride them. He spends his adult years homeless and wandering around adjacent towns to the one he was born in like a schizo. He kills himself in prison, then returns from the Other Side, and brings his old corpse with him to the apartment in which he was born, where he seals it away in the back room of the protagonist's appartment.

So what is the takeaway here? You can die in and, if appropriately attached to Silent Hill, come back as a particularly free spirited ghost, no worse for wear. To the tune where you can move your old body and interact as if alive and solid.

James dying in Silent Hill doesn't have to mean anything other than James' original body may be with Mary at the bottom of Toluca Lake. Cast to the Town's side. As far as the town is concerned, it could just potentially reconstitute their bodies to walk the waking world again as if nothing happened.

And from there we have James the Occultist. Silent Hill 4 is canon, while some of its story elements may complicate 2's. Frank Sunderland, an old man, is the super of an apartment building. Henry, the protagonist of 4, mentions Frank had a son that went to Silent Hill. Frank is heavily implied to also be an occultist. James, also, at times, seemingly performs occult rituals. possibly more than one, throughout the course of the game.

You wanna know what I think? James Sunderland is from a family of the Order.

And if we take that into context, then it barely matters whether James even employs the Rebirth or Maria ending- I argue the two are as good as one in the same, anyway, and James may even be subconsciously operating towards Rebirth without the player realizing it and Rebirth is the true followup to the Maria ending. James never gets his Mary back. James invokes the gods to bring back Mary, and whether Maria or some other entity, that thing isn't Mary anymore.

James gets no ending wherein he meets Mary and they're seen leaving Silent Hill together. He leaves with Maria, he leaves with Laura, and he's seen rowing what is presumably a body to the island with the shrine to the old gods to perform a ressurection rite. Or, he commits suicide by drowning In Water.

The only ending that does not entirely make sense is the Leave ending, but even that has a thread that I cannot ignore.

In Silent Hill 3, Heather/Alessa Mason (previously, Gillespie) goes through audio tapes in the old cult orphanage. Vincent is one of the voices. An unnamed grown woman is another, in the tapes. But a woman does leave notes and journal entries.

She signs her name L.S.

We never learn Laura's real name in Silent Hill 2. But if she was adopted by Mary Shepherd, Laura's surname would've become Shepherd. If Mary was married to James, her name would've been Laura Sunderland.

Silent Hill 2 is suspected to take place anywhere from the 70s to the 80s, based purely on the styles of cars, the gas prices, the fact the hospitals use typewriters and not computers, as they're shown to have in Heather's time (which was very much implied to be the 00s.) Laura was 8 years old, supposedly, during the events of Silent Hill 2.

Supposing James was a cult member, supposing Laura was adopted by him, supposing she took his last name, these line up. Laura could've become a member of The Order, adopted into it by James or, given her own curious backstory, she may've just been from a cult family herself, called to the town just to be adopted.

Remake goes into more elaborate detail in the hospital, talking about how one of the patients is treated because they have a family to take care of. They have curious symptoms, many of them remind me of James; and that's probably not a coincidence.

It's my belief that Silent Hill 2: Remake is simply James' reliving his adventure in Silent Hill. He's quite literally retreading the same events and thoughts. His guilt, his own personal demons. That's why things are familiar, but not the same.

That's why there's a rusted, soaked stairwell, as if it had been immersed in water, but you very much explicitly do not fight Pyramid Head before the draining of the waters and having him go down the stairwell to open the door. You fight him at a space at the bottom of the stairs, instead. With no water draining.

Silent Hill 2 isn't just a remake, it's a subtle continuation. But it's so subtle, because the town outside the ghostly Other Side has progressed without the ghosts inside. All that has mildly changed is the very slight personal growth of the occupants stuck there. Some degrading, some advancing.

But in the end, the town wins. A part of James will always be suppressed by the evil force possessing him. A part of James will always be haunted by the nebulous town itself. A part of James will always shamble about life like a zombie, trying to unchain itself from his desire for Mary and the temptation of the town trying to lure him into doing its bidding.

James is possibly being unwarily tricked to bringing demons out into the material world with him under the guise of trying to rescue Mary from the afterlife. We know of at least one possible instance.

And Angela Orosco has dialogue about him, that I don't even want to contemplate what James may be doing.. but would fit the situation.

[tinygumdrops]

so i read the prologue for the thtnw's sequel and i loved it so much, you truly never disappoint with your world building and plot set up. since in your previous work you mentioned you were inspired by dororo, kabenari of the iron fortress and journey to the west, i was wondering if you were inspired by anything for this part? i only recently finished watching dororo and i loved it so much, will probably start kabenari next!

I am also a huge fan of mythological stories so I'm really excited for what's to come next, but regarding that too, did you take inspiration from any mythological related media?

Hi, anon! And *SCREAMS* a fellow mythology geek omg, so nice to meet you, hello hello!!!!!

For the sword, the sea, and a dream yet to be fulfilled (man, I should stop making these titles so long), I had to go back to the classics! I read some passages from Nihon Shoki and Kojiki then binged documentaries about them. Can I just say tho that the legends based on Susanoo are some of my absolute faves ever cuz that guy is just wack lmao. He's not Sun Wukong type of crazy (pretty hard to beat that level of batshit insanity) but Susanoo-based myths are really entertaining!

I also took inspiration from Greek & Roman myths (Orpheus and Eurydice, through this fic I shall avenge you, my tragic pookies!!!), Dante's Divine Comedy (cuz their depiction of hell is my fave), and classic poetry (I have sticky notes of some of my fave stanzas from William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and Songs of Innocence & of Experience on my fic outline).

I also read Shogun by James Clavell way back, like waaayyyy before I even started writing the heart that never withers, and I guess it kinda informed my own writing (especially the military/politics part). There's a Netflix series that came out recently based on the book! I haven't watched it yet but from the reviews I've been seeing it seems just as great! Maybe you can watch it sometime if you'd like :D

Thank you so, so much for this ask btw! That fic is a really niche story ik, so I'm always over the moon hearing that somebody enjoyed reading it!!!! Hope you had a pleasant day!