#Paradise: Hope

[mafuyuakgae]

even if I came to love humanity in the end, there’s no proof I was ever here, right?

[demigoddessqueens]

Rest in the most ever loving peace James Earl Jones, you’ve more than earned it and will be missed by all generations 😭💞💕😢💔

[fan-kingdoms]

mourning the fact that neither odysseus or athena properly processed the fact that odysseus, in his darkest moment, in pure desperation, reached for athena. and despite the things he said to her in my goodbye, despite those ten years between them, athena heard. athena came. and athena got him the fuck off that island. athena took a lightning bolt to the face to get him out. i understand the bittersweetness of their reunion, i understand that some relationships aren’t salvageable, that odysseus has changed irrevocably, irreparably, and a friendship with athena feels impossible for him.

but that doesn’t change the fact that he called out for her. and she came. doesn’t that mean something to him? doesn’t that mean anything at all?

hermes told odysseus that someone spoke for him. who did he think that was? it’s not like him to just . let that question remain unanswered.

GOD i’ve been denied catharsis and i need the epic fanfic writers to Step Up immediately thank you <3

[inspero]

Never lose hope.

[zirconpetals]

Obsessed with the way they keep holding each other throughout the conversation after Spock comes to

+

[mr-awesomesauce]

HELLO YAOI NATION

[cicadatree]

sasha's house

[baxtervalentine]

my comic/essay on why I love phantom of the paradise as a trans artist. I may end up editing it and making a zine in the future

some of the points in the section on queerness took subconscious inspiration from this post by @hellothepixel! we came to some of the same conclusions with our interpretations, and I want to make sure all credit was given where it was due.

[letsplaythermalnuclearwar]

tbh I think Calypso views herself as Odysseus's rest and reward. like, she's the comfort in a hurt/comfort fic. she's the therapy saga. and honestly, a lot of her actions make sense when you look at it like that.

Odysseus is traumatised and scared and hurting. and she understands that. she's so understanding that she doesn't take it personally when he yells or screams or begs -- trauma makes it hard to regulate emotions, after all. he'll calm down in a little bit.

she's so understanding that she's not even hurt when he rejects her advances. he's been alone for so long that he's scared of intimacy now. but she doesn't let that discourage her. he'll get used to the idea eventually.

she's so understanding that she doesn't give up on him, even when he talks and talks and talks about his wife and son. obviously he wants to go back to them, but what he wants isn't what's good for him. that's fine, he doesn't need to know what's good for him yet. that's what she's for.

she's so understanding that she doesn't even let it upset her too much when Ody stands too close to the edge and stares out at sea below like its calling to him. it's okay. she can catch him if he falls.

sure, they're relationship isn't what she's dreamed about for centuries -- real relationships never are that perfect. her Ody has a lot of healing to do. and she'll make sure she's with him through it all.

[psychotic-nonsense]

Eddie Munson died.

He was eaten by the bats, injured beyond help. He gave his last words and died in the arms of one of the few people he ever truly felt loved by.

And then there was Steve.

Steve and Nancy and Robin, showing up and bringing him back after just a few minutes. They wrap him up and keep him awake and get him out and save him.

Eddie survived. He's patched up and comatose for a while. His friends- scratch that, his new family fights for his freedom and innocence. He's welcomed back into the world a little raw around the edges - physically, mentally, emotionally, socially - but otherwise okay. Max is safe, Vecna is dead, and the Upside Down is no more.

The government cleared up everything. Reunites nephew and uncle in a fancy new house. Eddie finishes high school with flying colors, and he has an eternity of support to make it through life. A second chance, his own way.

Eddie gets to see his friends - Gareth and Jeff and The Freak Sworn to Secrecy (Harold) - and meets the Byers-Hopper family. Finds kindred in a similarly revived former Chief. Joins the Party like he was there from the beginning.

Eddie falls in love, like the sap he is. And apparently, Steve is a similar sap. It's young love and it's beautiful and the Party is supportive - though the kids are their usual selves, it's all in good taste. They watch the kids graduate, help Robin move on to college, and soon after, Eddie heals the taut rope between the universally bound siblings by moving he and Steve into the same town. It's rough but it's right, and the kids and their parents and Wayne visit often.

Life is perfect, for once in his miserable life, and Eddie has found himself weeping on more than one occasion for how happy he is. He's older than he ever believed he would get, healed beyond the aches and scars, and he's all the healthier for all the distance, the war, and the loss, however brief. Of course, he isn't without his nightmares, but they fade with time.

The one that refuses to is his only worry nowadays. A reoccurring but randomly timed nightmare, where he's shackled to a concrete floor, trapped in darkness. His body is bony and inhuman, elongated teeth and gangly hands with claws, large wings ripping from his back, and though he can't see it, he can feel the black sickness visibly coursing through his veins. He cries out in these nightmares, straining and pulling against the shackles, the darkness, his own body - the vision may be fake but the fear never is - and though he screams words they sound almost like the screeches of the very monsters that killed him, as though he is now one of them.

Eddie wakes every time to Steve holding him, their room bathed in comforting light, Steve's arms covering the very place on his back that would behold his wings. He talks him down softly, responds to everything Eddie says, makes him feel seen and heard and safe and alive and human. The only hiccup in paradise.

And though Eddie knows it's just his brain playing tricks on him, the history never leaving him, something about the nightmares feels too real. Too wrong to be imagination. Too intricate to be coincidence. The nightmares continue, the darkness shifts, more time passes between them but they always come back.

Then, one of them abruptly ends when a door opens, and a shape looking suspiciously like the Dustin of the Upside Down bursts in.

The Dustin from 7 years ago.

An abrupt and sharp ending.

Like Eddie wasn't supposed to see that.

- - - - - - - - - -

Eddie Munson died.

He was eaten by the bats, injured beyond help. He gave his last words and died in the arms of one of the few people he ever truly felt loved by.

And then there was no one.

The worlds merged together. The teens were too late. They had to leave, or they'd lose more and more and more than just one.

Dustin kicked and screamed and begged. Steve pulled him away, pleading and aching and guilty. Nancy and Robin watched, silent and somber and pained.

Eddie was abandoned. Left in the clutches of the Upside Down.

The Party went on to avenge him, trapped in a new apocalyptic Hawkins. Smoke burst from the rip in reality, clouding the world in storms of lightning and monsters. The town became a free for all, the only "saving grace" being the minimal aid from an increasingly unhelpful government. Food is scarce, war is infinite, and the only thing anyone has is each other. But when the people are in shambles and their only savior are children, there isn't much hope left.

The Byers and Hoppers are back, but Max is stuck in limbo, where not even El could find her. Dustin tells Eddie's uncle what's happened, and he demands to join to finish what his nephew started, so he may rest in peace. The kids are determined, the adults barely know what's happening, and the teens are worn down. No one knows what to do, but all they want to do is survive. Of course, they also want their friends back, but those they've lost are now the safest of the entire Party. At least death is peaceful once you're there.

Then, Hopper, El, and Jonathan are out on patrol when they're attacked. A singular being, humanoid but bent to the Upside Downs whims and ways. It's body is bony and inhuman, elongated teeth and gangly hands with claws, large wings ripping from it's back, with that black sickness visibly coursing through it's veins. They think it's a new tool from Vecna's twisted mind, a poor victim twisted to become a soldier for the cause that killed them.

But when they incapacitate it, wrap it up, and bring it back to the Party, the others see the clothes, the rings, the face, and they know who it is.

Eddie. Munson.

Since he's the only one of this kind - and because it's Eddie - they chain him to the basement of their new hideout. They watch him lash out and snarl and be monstrous, and the guilt rises in the witnesses with each growl.

They left him there. They made him like this. They made him die, sacrificed himself for them, and this is what he gets for it.

They take care of him. Dustin, Wayne, Steve, El, they take turns talking to him, trying to find something left in there. Eddie, humanity, Vecna, something other than this creature wearing Eddie's skin. There are some sleepless nights, where the Party thinks they can hear Eddie screaming from the basement, begging for freedom and help and comfort. But the mind plays tricks, and they know better than to fall for it.

Until one night, when Dustin's on patrol for the creature. He bursts into everyone's rooms, demanding they wake up.

Because Dustin had heard the human words that night. Was so tired he confused it for reality, and burst into the basement.

And he saw something in the creature's reaction. Fear, terror, recognition, hope.

Humanity.

Eddie.

Before the creature slumped over, then snapped up and was back to snarling and growling. An immediate reaction, but Dustin saw it still.

But it wasn't played like a trick. Dustin barely saw anything before the creature was back to its ways.

Less like Vecna wanted him to see it.

More like Dustin shouldn't have.

[incogcheetah]

The implications of Telemachus asking for the experience that Odysseus went through to get his father back and then two songs later said father is standing on a ledge about to khs is just.... Uncomfy. Brilliantly uncomfy. Good shit Jay.

[sugarpasteltmnt]

WAAAA thank you everyone who voted for TNV in the last au comp round!!

as a big thank you here's a little teaser of some (potential) chapter titles for Purgatory Paradise!! Hehehe can you guess what might happen in these chapters based on their names~?

(Note that these aren't in any particular order and have no posting schedule! It may take a while for me to get to them!)

[ko-odi]

silly chimera :3 !!!!!

using these guys ofc !!

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I have very complicated feelings for the Vengeance Saga (after the first listen)

Disclaimer: I will only criticize Epic the Vengeance Saga as a work on its own, not for its inaccuracy or deviation from mythology and The Odyssey. There are more knowledgable people who can point out and analyze the changes in Epic the Musical, but that is not what I'll be tackling here.

To put it bluntly, I'm not being angsty about it as I should. The whole saga just... didn't feel right with me.

Now, first off all, I'm a big fan of Epic and had been following it since the Cyclops saga (first version). I've been in love with many songs and hyperfixed it for months on end. But when the Vengeance saga came along, I didn't feel that same bubbling love rise in me.

Even as a fan, this isn't my first time having peeves with Epic. I didn't jam with the re-release sagas for a while, I'm underwhelmed with the Circe VS Odysseus fight and other issues, very unpopular opinion but "Monster" wasn't too impactful to me, and also the God Games (especially Zeus' attack).

The Vengeance Saga though? Well, they say we gotta do the Bun-Meat-Bun (or whatever the hell its name really is) technique when giving criticism, so I'll start with the good parts.

I love that Odysseus looked so done with Calypso in "Not Sorry For Loving You". They're basically this meme:

Like sorry you're a sad but you're still an abuser 😒

Then Odysseus starts singing the reprise for "Full Speed Ahead" but there's no one to back him up. That one hits me hard. To whoever on Tumblr said that after the Thunder Saga we will never hear the crew's back-up again and Odysseus' singing will be answered with silence, Apollo really blessed you with the red ball.

Hermes and the Winions' part was really cool too! I really like them being mischievous helper! The warning about the wind bag and the changing scene of Odysseus fighting off sea monsters while Hermes just vibing with the beats is 👌👌👌

But after that the hype started to sizzle out for me. You might want to skip this part if you're not comfortable with harsh criticism because I WON'T hold back.

It's really backward but I like the Odysseus VS Charybdis draft more than the final production. Charybdis' roars and music are somehow less intimidating, which is a shame because I thought this would be one of the biggest struggles Odysseus will face. Even with awesome illustrative animatics, the scene wasn't as thrilling as I've expected.

The other songs got massive improvement from its draft version (on top of my mind I can think of "Thunder Bringer", "There Are Other Ways", "Little Wolf"), but I don't get why "Charybdis" didn't get up-graded as much like them. It's like a cake that was throughly baked but half decorated and it just didn't taste as good as I've hoped.

Then we have the Odysseus VS Poseidon part in "Get In The Water" and "Six Hundred Strikes". The first thought I had for GITW is this song sounds like all the draft snippets were mashed together without a smooth transition/connection between them. Jorge and Steven's performance is great, but there's not enough tension for me to dread for Odysseus. When Poseidon first met Odysseus in "Ruthlessness", the whole opening was terrifyingly good! And we didn't even have any illustration animatic back then! (that's not to say the GITW animatics were bad, they just can't salvage much when the song itself was already weak)

I wasn't impressed with Poseidon's Shatter The Ocean move either. It's supposed to be the Strongest AttackTM but it's less scary than when he and the Laestrygonians destroyed Odysseus' eleven ships with probably 1% of their power. It didn't even help when Poseidon looked like he's having a seizure with lights pouring out of his eyes and mouth during the transformation.

Odysseus being literally on the brink of death with the souls of his loved ones pulling him into the abyss is a gem in the rough, but because we've seen Odysseus almost drowning before in the end of the Thunder Saga, it's not as shocking as it should be. Furthermore, Poseidon could have instant-killed Odysseus right then and there but didn't really annoyed me. But I guess he just wanted Odysseus to slowly suffer while dying.

Right when I thought the progress will get better, it... gets down. I can go with Odysseus using wind to escape the water, but him wearing it like a jetpack is so comical it ruined the drastic of the situation. And I'm officially let down when Odysseus FUCKING ATTACKED Poseidon in "Six Hundred Strike".

What? Just... why with that choice?

Look, I'm not gonna fault Epic for making creative liberties from the source material (as said in the disclaimer), but I will criticize if that change contradict itself in the transformative work. And this is one of them.

Poseidon and the gods have been proven time and time again in the musical just how powerful they are. Their ominous and grandiose entrances, them striking fear and inferiority in our hearts just by singing. Even Circe, a low-level goddess, poses a constant threat to the crew and Odysseus had to get help from Hermes just to get a chance to corner her (and Hermes even joked that he can still die!)

Poseidon easily destroyed almost all of Odysseus' fleet. Odysseus was very avoidant of him, opting to go to the literal Underworld to find instruction on how to dodge him and sailing through Scylla's lair + willing to sacrifice six men for safe passage. And when Poseidon said he can drown all of Ithaca, it's not just bluffing, he would and could have done that. Yeah, the King of the Sea is THAT BIG of a threat.

So no, Odysseus isn't cool to attack Poseidon, he's being stupid. I'm not even cheering for him the whole time he fight, just groaning at how ridiculous the whole thing is. If Epic is more believable and sticks to WHAT IT HAD ESTABLISHED BEFORE, having a sudden burst of anger and choosing ruthlessness won't save Odysseus from one swipe of Poseidon's trident. Odysseus stood no chance against one of the most powerful deity, even if he's the protagonist and love his family.

Not only that, Poseidon didn't even defend himself and was wounded by a mere human! And he just sat there and took all the blows and insults from Odysseus??? And he actually begged Odysseus to stop and agree to quell the storm to let him get home??? I'm not buy that bullshit. I'm more upset that a literal Olympian god was nerfed down than Odysseus having a Gary Stu moment. Give me a break, that try-hard moment to be cool and edgy just show how badly written the scene is.

What's the fucking point of hyping up how dangerous the gods are if a human can take one down? Tell me this isn't some Wattpad-y Greek myth retelling fanfic where the teenage Y/N sass her way to defeat an entire pantheon. Epic really traded its opportunity to be better for some cheap and out-of-the-blue dramas in this saga, dare I say it's even worse than Zeus' OOC attack on Athena. I'm very disappointed with that decision.

On an end note, the saga did have one saving point with the "After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" - "Next to my wife" lines. Odysseus knew he could be the most horrendous man ever and Penelope would still choose his side, that just show how powerful their love and faith in each other are.

But not enough to excuse all the terrible cinematic choices.

[flufflemuffin]

Hi Beef

[oplishin]

"hit me. if that's what's gonna make you feel better, hit me. hit me as many times as you need to to get this out of your system- do it right, and do it right now. hit me, dammit."

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