#Why yes I've been listening to epic the musical

[themerrymutants]

"You can relax my friend," Jeremy said with a soft smile, "this life is amazing when you greet it with open arms or grumpy resignation. I call it the Kurt to Wolvie spectrum of weirdness reactivity."

[decapitatedsnake]

My little (to no) context reaction to the wisdom saga 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

(I couldn't stay up to watch the live so I'm just listening to the music = no animatics)

[30th of august 14:58]

Legendary

. I mean I've already heard legendary but I'm excited

. Gorgeous music, I feel transported into like ancient greece

. This sounds amazing

. The guy who voices Telemachus (MICO?) is adorable

. I don't like the riffs but he sounds good

. Telemachus deserves the world

. "L-l-l-l egendary"

. 108??!

. Isn't he like 13 here? (anywhere from 12-15 i feel like)

. I don't think we got a snippet of the ending

. MAN OF THE HOUSE

. AHHHA

. 20 YEARS?? WHAT

. I can't tell if they said 12 or 20

."BOY" Lowkey scared me

. EXCUSE YOU SIR TRAMP?? WHO DOES HE THINK-

. Antinous didn't come to play DAYUM

. This is insane

. "Whatcha gonna do about it champ?" Jorge was totally right Ayron is such a good Antinous

. Awwww he can't do anything :<

. Wait?

Little wolf

. GET HIM TELEY

. I love Antinous's voice

. I really loved the snippets for this one

. "I'll teach you all the lessons your daddy never could" it's on sight actually

. And little wolf is just so ughh I wanna punch him

. ATHENA

. FIGHT BACK

. BAHAHAHA UPPERCUT?

. QUICK THOUGHT

. And he👏is👏a 👏bully👏

. SHOW HIM

. ATHENA IS SO COOL

. OMG OMG

. Her voice is stunning

. The animatics are gonna go so hard

. Awww

. Oh he lost??

. Telemachus:((

. I mean yeah why did she come to your aid?

We'll be fine

. We only got Teleys bit so I'm excited

. Oo start with Athena

. FRIEND??

. Don't make me cry

. "He was a lot like you" gee I wonder why

. GREW APART :((

. HIS LIGHT!!

. GLORIOUS VOICE

. WAITT THEY CHANGED IT

. "Or if hes worth the hype but" > " I don't know what he's like"

. Fair enough

. And they changed "Cuz I got in a fight, sailed to an island when I've never left home shores"

. Okay it's been less than 5 minutes please refrain on the whole "friend" thing rn lol

. God telemachus voice (I can't shut up they're such good singers"

. DUET!!!!

. YOU WILL BE FINE

. Kid? Is he twenty or 12 I can't tell

Love in paradise

. FUCK YES

. WAIT THE INTRO?

. THEY WERE AT SEA FOR 10 YEARS, damn

. THE MUSIC SOARING, IT'S SO COOL, ouch

. CALYPSO MY LOVE (only the epic version though) [Ik it's up to interpretation but for me she doesn't sa him in this version]

. She's my wife 🙂 anyway 🤨

. HELL NO

. Oh shit love in paradise is athena watching, not Odysseus's experience

. Like this is when they first met and Calypso and Odysseus have been together for 7 years

. 7 YEARS

. YEAH I SAID THAT, before the song did

. ODYSSEUS!!

. WHAT > THE LEDGE

. ODYSSEUS 😭😭😭😭

. Wtf I am not emotionally stable enough for this

. Open..... arms.. BRO

. HIS MUM, POLITES AND EURY AND PENELOPE AND ATHENA??? BROO 😢

. YEAH I THINK HE DOES NEED HELP UGH

God games

. Ooo very grand

. Athena get him PLEASE

. She's about that business

. YES GOD GAMES INTRO OMGG

. WAIT WERE GONNA HEAR APOLLO AND HEAPHESTUS I'M SO EXCITED

. THE LITTLE MUSIC CHANEGS ARE SO GOOD

. ZEUS VOICE IS SO AMASZNIGN

. "and me" 😎

. That is not how I thought Apollo would sound

. He's batting for the sirens?? Um Ig that makes sense

. Oh Heaphestus I totally thought that aphrodite was next

. Well she's level 3 anyway

. BRO HIS DAD VOICES HEAPHESTUS I LOVE THAT

. Wait Apollo and Heaphestus are very reasonable, good for them

. NOW THE ONE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR (excluding Hera)

. OMG IT'S THE SNIPPET THAT'S THE FINAL

. Athena's voice is new?

. Hmm she rerecorded but they didn't

. DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO KILL HER

. Don't fuck with Telemachus in front of Athena

. "Ughh release him"

. HERA

. OH FUCK SHE'S PERFECT CMON

. RELEASE HIM

. ZEUS YOU DICKHEAD SHE'S THE GODESS OF WISDOM LITERALLY ONLY HER COULD BEAT YOUR GAME

. WHAT WHAT

. NO

. WHAT???

. WHAT'S going on

. The music is telling me she like survived whatever his ambush was

. Zeus....

.THATS THE END WHATT

[lizzyscribbles]

In honor of the Vengeance Saga's release tonight, I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled MHA content to have a little ramble about something Epic related that I've had brewing for a while.

I want to talk about Eurylochus (who, for some reason, my brain desperately wants to call Eurydice, which is an ENTIRELY different greek myth inspired musical that I love but it REFUSES to remember that, but that's besides the point), specifically the hatred he seemed to get after the Thunder Saga.

Now, let me just say, I have not read the Odyssey, I don't plan to and I don't particularly want to. I am solely coming at this from the perspective of someone who has just listened to Epic and kept up with Jay. So, if you have read the myths, this is probably not the post for you. :)

I understand where the hatred of him comes from, I honestly do. At first glance it is kind of hard to understand why he had the right to be upset with Odysseus after everything he did, but I think just taking it at surface value is doing the story a huge disservice.

Let's start allllllll the way back in the Ocean Saga with the wind bag incident. Now, I'm absolutely not saying that Eurylochus should bear no fault for this, he DID disobey Odysseus's direct order and could some of that have to do with the fact that he wanted treasure?? Maybe? But I'm not convinced that was entirely it. That's mentioned at the beginning of the song, and then never really brought up again. (Yes, I am aware that the in the myth it is because of treasure, but again, I'm going off just Epic).

Jay tells us that every character in Epic has an instrument, those in the fandom know this, and we also know that Eurylochus's instrument is actually the crew. So, when he sings, he's usually singing for the combined opinions of the rest of the crew. In "Keep Your Friends Close", we hear Odysseus start to really deteriorate for the first time. You can hear the crew start to get a little weirded out by it, because until this point Odysseus has been pretty steadfast and strong and suddenly he's turned into this paranoid, tired mess. He doesn't talk to anyone after the beginning, he just sings to himself while the crew sings backup. The crew has never seen Odysseus like this before, as far as we can tell, and I think it worries them, especially since this whole bag situation seems to have started it. What I'm trying to get across here is that Odysseus is acting really suspicious in the crew's eyes. We know this because the crew actively tells us this in the line "Everything's changed since Polites." There has been a massive, unsettling change in Odysseus and I think it's deeply concerning them. I think they brought those concerns to Eurylochus, who I think was also being actively shut out, and Eurylochus got worried that there was something much worse than a storm in that bag. If you come from that perspective, it makes sense he waited until Ithaca was so close to try to open it, because with home so close, if there was something horrible then they were close to salvation. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I guarantee Eurylochus tortured himself for that mistake for the rest of his, unfortunately short, life.

Again, I'm NOT saying that this was the right decision, but I am saying that I can kinda see why he did it.

Let's move onto the Circe Saga. I hear a lot about how it wasn't fair that Eurylochus was so mad about the Scylla incident when he wanted to leave the men who became pigs behind on Circe's island. However, think about it this way, Eurylochus didn't actively send those men into Circe's palace, nor did he choose to turn them into pigs to save himself. When they turned, he had no idea whether they COULD be brought back, he probably already considered them dead. He was not the one who condemned them, and I don't think he wanted to leave them behind, but he didn't know if they could be saved and trying to do so may have lost the rest of their feeble crew. Remember, they've just lost nearly their entire fleet, I wouldn't be surprised if Eurylochus was scared he'd lose even more if they tried to save the men that may have already been condemned.

Was this the right decision? No, I don't think so, but I understand why he thought it was.

That's why I think trying to compare the Scylla incident with the Circe one is like looking at apples and oranges, they're really not the same thing.

Next, the cow incident. The infamous "my father will hear about this". I don't have much to say here. It was stupid, yes. However, have y'all ever been so starved you'd do anything to get something to eat? I become a bitch if I wait a few too many hours between meals, going for days, your perception is going to be MASSIVELY screwed. Still, after all, not too surprised that Eurylochus didn't listen to Odysseus. Again, stupid ass move, Eurylochus, but I get it.

Finally, Mutiny, the song that brought this all about. I think a lot of people took this song as Eurylochus being a bit of a hypocrite, that Odysseus isn't allowed to do the things he, himself, did. I don't think that's the case here. I think Eurylochus is confused, because this is COMPLETELY out of character for Odysseus. This entire musical has been Odysseus trying to avoid death in any way he can. He's tried to protect his crew even when it puts himself in danger (see the Circe Saga) and then, seemingly out of nowhere, he sacrifices six men to Scylla without so much as a discussion with his crew. This is very, VERY unlike him at this point, and it scared Eurylochus. It scared all of them.

I don't think he's doing this because he's mad that Odysseus gets to do shit he didn't get to do. No, I think he's terrified because this is a complete 180 and now they're all at risk. He's confused as to why Odysseus is suddenly okay with everything he's told Eurylochus NOT to do up until this point. He's saying, "you told me not to do this, why are you now doing this? The whole time you fought for the crew and now you just killed them no warning, what the hell?? What's happened to you?? This isn't you??" He's not saying that he didn't do anything, he's saying this whole time you've protected us and now you're not, wtf? In simple terms, "you told me not to do something and then you did it"

The prophet said as much, "It's no longer you." This was no longer the Odysseus they knew, and when he willingly sacrificed his crew, they realized that they were no longer people in his eyes, they were tools to get back to his wife and child.

I'm saying this to bash Odysseus AT ALL. In fact, the scariest part of Thunder Bringer is that I fully understand why Odysseus did what he did, and in his shoes, I'm not sure I'd have done anything different. I think Odysseus is an excellent character and I LOVE HIM, we see that these decisions haunt him constantly throughout the rest of the Sagas, but we have to remember we get to hear a lot more about the situation than the crew did. We're inside Odysseus's head, they were not.

Again, was Eurylochus completely in the right? Absolutely not. But he also wasn't completely in the wrong. He was working with the information he had available to him, it just happened to be missing important pieces.

Eurylochus was trying to protect the crew and himself from a man he didn't recognize anymore, and I can't blame him for that.

...Plus, I think we can all agree that the real bitch here is Zeus who made Odysseus choose between himself and his crew and then immediately punted him to Calypso's island FULLY KNOWING that the only reason Odysseus made that decision was because he wanted to see his wife and son.

Screw you, Zeus.

[i-will-change-this-someday]

Here are my thoughts on The Vengeance Saga.

(Spoilers ahead)

I enjoyed it, I don’t think it’s my favorite, but I still really like it.

I think it’s because this is the first saga to come out after I started listening, but the transitions to each song seems a bit abrupt.

Cause when I think about it, the cut from Just A Man to Full Speed Ahead, Open Arms to Warrior Of The Mind, and The Underworld to No Longer You are all pretty abrupt as well.

Pretty sure this is an unpopular opinion, but Calypso is... fine? She's not good by any means, but people act like she's evil incarnate.

I don't know if I'm missing something here, but why are people making her out to be most evil character in all of EPIC?

Polyphemus thinks it's fair to kill 600 people over the life of one sheep (That he would have killed and eaten anyway?)

Poseidon kills over 500 men all for his own pride (I really don't think he actually cared that much about Polyphemus given how crass he sounded about killing him)

Circe turns men into pigs (And eats them?) without giving them a chance at proving that they mean no harm

Odysseus sacrifices the lives of his men who he is captain to, and I might be talking nonsense, but I feel like that means that he has a responsibility to them and their safety, he is their captain, they are saying "I trust you with my life and to take me home" and he betrayed that trust

All of them do these awful things, but you can understand why they do. But for some reason the same is not given to Calypso, she literally says he is all she's ever known. It's not fair for her to keep Odysseus on the island, but can you blame her when letting him go means she'll be alone again? Would you be able to let the one and only person you have ever met go? Knowing you'd likely be alone again forever?

Anyway what I don't see nearly enough is hatred for Antinous, I hate that man, he's literally a child abuser (I know Telemachus isn't a child, but he was at one point and Antinous was there [Telemachus literally doesn't even know how to fight] do you really think he didn't abuse that child?) That man is (assumedly) already nobility, but that's not good enough for him, he needs to be king and will force himself onto Penelope and kill her son.

Okay rant over, anyways Dangerous is a bop.

I really do adore Troy's voice, and really like his music (I'm actually listening to his music as I write this)

Dangerous is probably my favorite song this saga, but only in terms of "I will listen to this outside of a full listen of the musical" I probably wouldn't listen to the others without context of the rest of the musical.

How do you pronounce Charybdis?

I do feel like he got past Charybdis really easily, but I get that Poseidon was the focus for the saga, so I don't mind it.

Steven Rodriguez's voice is so good.

I was kinda hoping for one more verse from Poseidon before Odysseus's line but that's alright

At this point I shouldn't even be surprised if there's a Polites cameo

Also I feel like this is a given, But Jorge's voice is also amazing, and he really gave his all for the screams and yells this saga.

Okay, time for another tangent, I'll admit the wind bag jetpack is kinda goofy, but it's really not that bad to me. Ancient Greece also didn't have high fives (I'm pretty sure anyways) but people don't say anything about that, also the slang "sick" probably wasn't invented in ancient Greece. (I will say, I did like one idea I saw that someone say [I'm sorry, I don't remember who] that the wind bag split the ocean and they were fighting on the ocean floor)

I've seen a lot of people be mad that Odysseus beat Poseidon, but I feel like it would have been unsatisfying if he just lost. Like say he didn't beat him, and was getting beaten up until Zeus or someone was like "Yo, chill bro that dude is like fine or whatever, let him go" I feel like that would have been an underwhelming conclusion to the Vengeance Saga.

Like sure, should Poseidon been able to kill Odysseus? Yes. But don't humans beat the Gods in some stories? (I‘ll be honest, I don’t know a whole lot about Greek mythology and most of what I do know is from PJO which I haven’t read in a while.) Like Arachne was a better weaver than Athena, or Diomedes wounded Ares (?) so I feel like it’s not that unreasonable.

I’m not saying you have to like it, I just feel like people are saying it’s bad without giving an alternative that would be narratively satisfying. Like, it’s satisfying to get to see Odysseus knock Poseidon down a peg, it’s compelling to see how much Odysseus has become a monster, and wonder how much more he will fall to monstrosity before he returns home.

To me, the story is a tragedy about a man who wanted something so much he gave everything he had, his morals, his companions, his compassion, he gave everything for it, and in the end he became someone else entirely.

Ody beating up Poseidon shows how much he has changed, if he had lost and just pleaded with him, how is he any different from the Odysseus that got on his knees and begged a god to spare a life in the very first song? He's not that man anymore, he has changed so much that it's, at least in this moment, a god kneeling and begging.

[rinthelonely]

Months ago I posted a post about a 'what if' situation of a Twilight Princess sequel. Recently, I've started listening to some epic video game music and that got me thinking what if a LoZ antagonist was just some dude. No special powers, not a dark lord, not a demon. Just a dude who is just insane.

And this got me back to thinking about a what if Twilight Princess sequel (that I may or may not have in my head partly fleshed out) and thought what if the antagonist is not just insane, but also a "worshipper" of Hylia and they take it to an extreme level. The extreme level? Anyone, who has not been created in Hylia's image must be get rid of so they can be reborn in Hylia's image. (Yes, there is a reason why worshipper is in quotes)

[wr3nns]

So my roommate and I are quarantined together because we both got COVID together, and I convinced them to listen to the entirety of Epic: the Musical (which, if you didn't know, is a musical retelling of the Odyssey and is full of absolutely GORGEOUS music made by extremely skilled peoples, but it is a retelling of the Odyssey so it gets dark and sad sometimes). They then did so in one sitting, and I wrote down their comments for the entire time because we were stuck together and they had a lot to say. (Don't worry, they gave permission for me to post this to "the forums" because the people would like it, even though I didn't ask to. Great fun, this roommate.)

(I think it's worth noting that I've gotten into the habit of saying "like the musical?" whenever they say "epic", which is quite frequently. We happen to be the pinnacle of humor.)

If you still haven't listened to Epic, go do that and then come back here (it's only a little under 2 hours as of writing this!). The following contains spoilers up through the Wisdom Saga and Hold Them Down (which has not been released yet but there are clips, and I hope that's the actual title but I don't know).

Final warning! Go listen to it if you haven't! You can find it on YouTube and Spotify, probably other places as well but those are the ones I know of.

Heads up for strong language. My roommate swears.

"Full speed ahead = this guy loves his wife"

"Fire but no smoke???? Guys do NOT go to that island"

"Bro do not go to the cave. Bro, they're going to the cave, fucking idiots."

"Bruhhhh… all his men are getting hit by the club! Dumbass. That's why you don't go into the fucking cave."

"Broooo… these guys are DEFINITELY gonna open the bag! I mean cuz there are like four other parts… so there's no way they make it home."

"Bruh… fucking idiots… opening the bag!"

"Yoooo, Poseidon just showed up!"

"Wouldn't you like is FIREEEE"

"Brooo… this guy's gonna cheat on his wife with a nymph."

"Bro this guy's cheatin' on his wife! This guy's cheatin' on his wife! Guys! This guy's cheatin' on his wife!"

"Mmmm… is he gonna cheat on his wife? I feel like it's implied that he's gonna cheat on his wife. Because that's what happened in the book, he had sex with everybody. Then he got home and got mad at his wife. But HE'S the slut!"

"Oh he's not cheating on his wife."

"Bruh… he lowkey wants to cheat on his wife. He kinda wants to cheat on his wife! Okay, whatever."

"Oh, well the prophet is dead. Oh shit they gotta go to the underworld!"

"Uh oh it's the underworld time! Wait I'm almost at the Monster Energy song."

"Oh shit 558 men died because of this guy? Oh it's all his dead men being like, what the hell."

"BRUHHH HIS MOM DIED??? Goddamn. Bruh his mom died while he was gone, that's so sad!"

"Come on… come on… monster! Yes!"

"Whatever. No longer you is taking 3 million years to end, hurry up!"

They made this instead of listening to the song and had to go back to actually hear it:

"Well now he's gonna be evil for real because everyone's telling him ruthlessness is mercy. And he's like, well if everyone's telling me to do it."

"Ooh thunder saga, I bet it's Zeus. Epic Zeus moment!"

"Wait he has a daughter? I thought he had a son. Oh I bet it's an evil siren thing."

"Bro he's getting tricked, his ass is getting tricked!"

"This guy's… this guy's crazy. This guy's getting tricked! It's not Penelope!"

"Oh he knew that, he knew it. Whatever. Whatever. Okay. It's so fucking emo."

"Haha he doesn't have a daughter. I remembered."

"Bruh, everyone's mad at him for missing his wife. You'd let your men die to see your wife? Um, why don't you just survive? Skill issue."

"Oh my god fucking dumbass killed the cow. Idiot idiot idiot. Apollo's gonna get your fucking ass. Dude! These guys keep killing cattle that don't belong to them."

"Ooh this is awesome. Odysseus has to choose between his own life and his men. I feel like he's gonna choose his own life. Because they all suck and they're fucking stupid."

"Oooh, who is he gonna choose, I feel like he's gonna choose himself! Because his crew is all fucking stupid!"

"(gasp) he picked himself! Because he loves his wife so much!"

"(gasp)"

"Oh it's his son or whatever."

"Everyone wants to fuck his mom!"

"Don't call her a tramp."

"Awesome Athena moment."

"No, Athena! Don't blame yourself for Odysseus being a piece of shit. He kinda did that to himself."

"Is it mean to think his son is kind of annoying?"

"I just like Athena when she's being kind of mean. Like I don't care that she's being nice right now."

"Bruh! Oh my god he just keeps getting trapped. Stupid."

"Everyone wants Odysseus. I feel like it would be more interesting if he cheated on his wife."

"I guess it would be too much like Hamilton if he cheated on his wife."

"Bro he's gonna kill himself!"

"That's so annoying. If he's just gonna kill himself after killing all his men… I don't know…"

"Oh Aphrodite's voice is so epic."

"Oh they just made him not cheat on his wife so that Hera would like him!"

"That was fire! That was pretty epic!"

Bonus, re: Telemachus Me: "Be nice to him!" Them: "I'll probably like him more after they try to kill him. You can write that one down too."

[crashingmeteor3]

MSM Breakout Stars Reaction

So this is my first time seeing a trailer/premiere or whatever it is for MSM since getting into the fandom (specifically Ethereal Workshop) and

I don't even know how to describe how I'm feeling, everything was just so cool and I love it. So for this I decided to write my reactions to stuff and yeahhhh so I'm gonna write them here too.

Don't expect this to make much sense XD

Spoilers(?) below the cut!

Okay so seeing Ethereal Workshop at the beginning made me very excited, I love love love Ethereal Workshop. But honestly I had no idea what Vhenshun was doing at the beginning.

Also, the Down in the Workshop music in the background? My jaw dropped, MSMTubers like Ashvee and Treblestroke got me into MSM so hearing this was actually really cool! I've listened to DITW dozens of times by now and it's only been out for like a month?

Haha, Auglur facepalm funni, also Meebkin bonk funni.

Okay, so they've made some contraption thingie and plugged Nitebear into it. Amazing. I had no idea what was happening right now. But it's an SOS signal I think?

Hoola being what I assume is a DJ was also pretty epic, I didn't know what to expect here but it looked neat.

AND THEN THE ETHEREAL WORKSHOP MONSTERS SHOW UP? The squad is here let's goooo!!

What were Auglur, Piplash and Gaddzooks doing and why did it remind me of those inflatable guys that flop around when it's windy?

Poor Nitebear has only been here for like 10 seconds and they're already in the corner. Kind of relatable though.

Pentumbra doing what I think is the stick bug dance? Awesome sauce.

THE MEEBS ARE BEING TOSSED AROUND WHAT.

Vhenshun is escaping to... somewhere.

Oh wow what is that suspicious green stuff, doesn't look like it's from Flasque.

WHAILL HI WHAILL :D

(Yes Whaill is my favourite and the CILOTFNR (Character I latched onto for no reason.))

X'rt is in the disco ball, how the heck did they get there.

VHENSHUN WHERE ARE YOU GOING?

Were those Omatones(?) next to Blarret??

Dang Gaddzooks and Rhysmuth going wild, although it's hard to tell when Rhysmuth is so Minecraft-coded and has no facial expressions.

Oh wow who is that, they look cool though. (Don't kill me for not knowing my MSM monsters I've only been here for a month)

NOW THEY'RE CROWD SURFING WHAT THE HECK

Okay, so Teeter is light enough to be carried by the Meebs, cool. Makes me wonder if it'd be the same for Tauter? This also makes me realise you only really see Tauter for one small scene when they first appear at the disco place thing.

POISON QUAD REVEAL!! It's like... A squid with duck feet? The top reminds me of bat wings kind of? I think it looks cool, especially the mouth. I have no idea what the thing at the back is though. I enjoy it when they experiment and make crazy-looking monsters like this, although I suppose that's the point of Ethereal Workshop!

And Vhenshun finally gets to see the sunset, which is an oddly nice moment. It got to escape the workshop for a little while and see such a small piece of the outside world.

But in the end, they do return back 'Home' (If I read the screen right) Which I suppose makes sense. The Workshop is their home.

So overall that was AMAZING. But also makes me wonder, does this make Down in the Workshop canon? I've seen multiple comments saying that but I'm not sure. It'd be cool if it was but it also raises questions.

But those can wait, this post is getting long. So thank you for those who read my rambles and reactions this far. You are awesome!

[thehyperfixationspeedrunner]

so uh… thunder saga. are you alive.

Do not get me started.

I am not gonna lie when I got into this fandom (around January) and found out about the different sagas the one I was least excited about was the thunder saga (not for any reason in specific, it's just that I was most excited for the underwold, wisdom and Ithaca sagas, I love Circe with all of my strengths and the vengeance saga (I think that's the name) has Dangerous and another song that I'm always forgetting but that I am so hyped for and I hate fights between friends and this saga has a song called mutiny) so I did not have much expectations for this. Boy, did I understand that wrong. It is currently my favourite saga.

Suffering - SO DIFFERENT. Jorge always likes to play with old-fashioned and modern music, but he went all in for the synths. The melody was so pretty and the fact that in the chorus Odysseus picks up the you from penelope/sirens line "I will take my suffering from you". Also, fuck you Jorge, you made me believe that this wasn't sirens and I was already thinking of an alternative universe where he didn't go to war and spent his time with Penelope and instead of a son they have a daughter but because of his other self's shit he is also afraid of water (yes, I know, way too far but that's how my mind works)

Different beast - FUCK YES, I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. THEY SOUND SO FUCKING BADASS THAT I ALMOST BELIEVED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS EVEN THOUGH I KNOW HOW THE STORY GOES. FJENENRGKVKCDKSMSNEFNFJCJ IT MAKES ME FEEL POWERFUL. New favourite song from the musical in case it wasn't obvious. AND IT'S SO FUCKING CATCHY, I'VE BEEN SINGING THE CHORUS FOR THE PAST 2 DAYS

Scylla - this was the song I was most hyped for and it did not disappoint. Holy shit those harmonies were everything AND HER VOICE??? *chef's kiss* I do not have much to say because I was in awe the entire time (also is it just me or whe Odysseus says "the lair of scylla" it sounds weirdly like when Athena says "goddess of wisdom" in the first berse of warrior of the mind)

Mutiny - I was so scared of this one and I was right, it was horrible (<- in a this destroyed my feelings kind of way not in a this was a bad song kinda way). As I said before I hate when friends have fights, so this was... a struggle, but I got through it, barely. I absolutely love the fact that in the Odessey, Odysseus men were just dumb. They were warned by Tereseus and still did it. HOWEVER, in Epic, they just seem so exhausted and pessimist. It's just heartbreaking to hear. The do not have hopes of getting home and their too blind with hunger. Also, when they start singing "how much longer must we suffer now" and Odysseus starts overlapping? 😩👌 Perfection. Also, the men singing full speed ahead while Odysseus just screams faster is also everything to me.

Thunder bringer - holy shit this was so much better than I thought. When I heard in the snippets "If I were to make you choose/ the life of your men and crew or your own/ why do I think they'd loose" I thought it was just a reference to Odysseus' monster side NOT THAT ZEUS WOULD ACTUALLY MAKE HIM CHOOSE. Anyways I heard the last instrumental part of the song one (1) time, which was in my first way through the saga. I cannot listen to that knowing that Odysseus is drowning and his crew is all dead because of his choice, I just can't.

ANYWAYS, after this I just have to say one thing: CALL👏BACK👏SAGA👏. There were SO MANY references to previous songs.

BUT WHAT DID YOU THINK. WHAT'S YOUR OPINION????

(To answer your question the only reason I didn't perish is because I have to reach the end of this musical)

[leynaeithnea]

Question

Are there other musicals that you like a lot ? ( If yes you're very welcome to yap about them 🙃 )

Im so behind on musicals ngl lmaooo and none of the ones I've watched ever caused such hyperfocus obsession as Epic, back in 2020 (?) I listened a LOT to hamiltion, its a really great musical, "Who lives who dies who tells your story" still makes me tear up as well as "quiet uptwn", and im still avoiding phillips songs, "Wait for it" is probably one of my favorite songs because a lot of the time I can really relate to Burrs sentiment, and "dear theodorisa" is so beautiful....mmhh, many many good songs there! could probabyl ramble a bunch more abotu them, but my love for them dont reach as deep as for epic i also like some songs from a few other musicals, evan hansen (they accompanied me a lot through 2021) , be more chill, heathers, .....OH yeah i love hazbin hotel, thats a lot of fun, but yeah for those kind of except hazbin bc its a show, i just tend to pick out my favorite songs and im not too much into the rest of them mhhhh besides that Ive been going to musicals and plays with my family for as long as i can remember to some local stages, theres a big-ish small one near my moms where we went regularly for years with elementary school and in private and at my dads we would go to the christmas play/musical almost ever year at the local stage there with my whole family there I miss that tbh, i gotta do that more often since im watching Casper and Mortius a lot right now who do a lot of muscial content im probably going to get to know a few others soon, like hadestown (been aware of it for a while but never really got into it) and SIX Oh I forgorrr, sometime around christmas or so a concept album for a christian musical came out and i was obssessed with that for a week or two, the vocals in that are REALLY good, its called "Of Ashes", and its a retelling of the leper and uh...a story about a whore...? (...yeah no im not that familiar with the bible) im also not that religious or christian but it rly is a great musical and has some amazingggg vocals my obssesion with epic makes me realize i shouldve really been a theatre kid, i was a choir kid up until 10th grade and i really miss that but i rly love acting, i just need a LOT of practice and i also suck at improvisation....im..trying, but its a looot easier when i have a script I can follow, thats why acitng out epic wiht my friend was so fun! bc i knew what was coming and because we didnt really discuss it long beforehand so stagefright and overthinking about being perceived didnt kick in seigjseg ...and it was just the two of us so that helped too...ANYWYA yeah i gotta go to cultural events like choir and theatre stuff soo much often and try to get active in them myself... pfffttt, here i was thinking my response to this would be very short bc "i dont know that many other musicals" .....thank you for the ask 💗

EDIT: the one BIG Stage Musical i watched was "starlight express" as a kid, that was a LOT of fun, i gotta go to one of these again

[the-sky-queen]

JUST FINISHED EPISODE 6!!! Before I unblock the Knuckles Series tags, I wanted to give my closing thoughts.

Overall, I really REALLY enjoyed this! :D I laughed a lot, the tension was good, the animation and choreography was incredible, and everything was just all around amazing. I wish we got to cut back to Green Hills every now and then though. Getting a little side plot with Sonic and Tails would have been cute and very nice. But I really enjoyed Wade and Knuckles' dynamic, though I think Knuckles should have had a bit more development and screen time.

One thing I absolutely ADORED was the theme song, along with the constant theme of older music scattered throughout the series. I gasped out loud when I saw Wade's discman. (My sister still has one!) I grew up listening to CDs. When it was time for a roadtrip, my family would grab one of our big CD cases for the car ride. So looking at that theme song animation made my heart absolutely soar. ❤️ And while I didn't recognize any of the songs they played in the episodes (save for a couple), I can really appreciate the vibe. I also grew up listening to my dad's music. Stuff from when HE was growing up. It just felt right to have Wade into all kinds of music.

I have only a few complaints. First: Wanda was kinda really, really annoying. She got better as time went on, but she was really bad at first. She felt like a kid who never grew up. Like seriously, why is she still picking fights with Wade??? You're both adults! Act like it! The whole dinner scene over all was just painful to watch. It felt waaaay too similar to some dinners I've had with my own family, which yes, points for accuracy I guess, but I just felt like Knuckles the entire time. Awkward, wishing they'd just quit arguing and enjoy dinner, feeling out of place. I'm not sure if that's what they were going for or not. (The fight scene to protect the candles was very nice though :D)

Second: Pachacamac. I dunno, he was really annoying, and not at all like his power hungry, war mongering, cold, game counterpart. I also feel like he was really unnecessary? He probably could've been written out really easily. His 'funny' bits weren't even that funny and there was so many other opportunities for comedy during the episodes. He was really unneeded.

Finally: Almost everything in episode 4. The . . . low quality rock opera thing???? I'll admit, that the way they did all the practical effects and stuff was really cool! But everything else? WHY. Why are we doing this? Why are we singing? Why are we cutting Knuckles out of almost an entire episode? Why?????? I feel like this episode could've been done so many other different ways. HOWEVER! I really enjoyed the bit at the end. Seeing Wade stand up to Sinclair was AMAZING and I was cheering him on the whole time.

I kinda also wish they'd hinted at the third movie a bit. For a bit of set up. But they did clear up that GUN didn't always go by GUN, which I guess fixes our 'how did GUN kill Maria if they were only created after the first movie' problem!

Anyway, save for a few rough patches, this is a really good show! (Probably would've been better with one episode per week though. Can you imagine the suspense factor?? Would've been EPIC!!)

[themerrymutants]

"Did you get sad watching Epic again?"

"POLITES REMINDING ODY TO KEEP HIS HEART OPEN EVEN IN THE UNDERWORLD GOT TO ME OK?!"

[sodapops0lstice]

Intro Post!

Because I've never made an actually good one...

Favs! Blinkies & Stamps! Sprite Drive!COMMS!!!! Classic Era Say hello to me!

@badlydrawndirk @badlydrawnjade @ectobio @our-fav-hs-char @alternian-life-advice @aviansaffection @arethesewordsinhomestuck @fuckyeahhomestuckladies @the-gang-makes-a-blog

⬆️I run all those ⬆️

My tags:

#soda's minifridge <- wishlist

#fizzes <- asks

#solar systems <- original posts

#neighbouring stars <- mutuals and pals

#grubpeta <- my earth c au

#cure pop <- PreCure Tag

#splatstuck <- Splatoon x Homestuck au

#jo au <- My fluff au where Joey takes care of Jade

#candy bowl for roxanne <- posts for my good chum and friend roxanne of marinealcoholic fame

#meteorites <- queued posts

#lesbian danny devito <- dog pics, block as needed

#the moon <- @dykemaxxing's very own tag for gay tomfoolery

Basic Stuff

I'm a freak by many a name. But I go by Soda, Cece, Admin, Ary, Xefros, Sol and Rezi mostly. Seriously. Any of those will do. Hell, I'll take new names aswell. Drop them name recommendations lmao

I'm 15 aswell, in Year 11. (I chose Triple Science, French and History if you wanted to know about my GCSE choices.)

I'm a lesbian and agender, which basically is me saying my gender changes for when it's funniest.

I use ALLLL the pronouns, even xenos and neos because I am badass and awesome. Literally anything goes.

I'm Scottish and Irish. Which is kinda cool, means I burn hella easy though which sucks ass.

I'm also autistic, I like to post about that.

I also also have depression and anxiety, I don't really care though because I'm balling 24/7 B)

Interests & Likes

Obvious is obvious but I'm a massssive Homestuck. That is primarily what I post/reblog. This includes Hiveswap/Hauntswitch

I also enjoy Pokémon. A lot. Like... 2200 hours on Ultra Sun alone enjoy.

Youkai Watch is also a big fav of mine. In fact, Youkai Watch 3 is one of my favourite games of all time!

I absolutely ADORE A Hat in Time! It is THE game for me. It means the world and everything to me.

Alongside AHIT, Undertale and Deltarune are some of my favs ever! (I don't cry everytime I replay UT what do you mean?)

In general, I'm a total loser for vidya. I can do a quick rundown of the gaems I like but probably won't be reblogging often

Crash Bandicoot

Kleptocats

Touhou

Gmod

Sonic

Papa's -rias

FNAF

Animal Crossing

Half Life

Persona 5

I don't often watch many series or movies. But there's a special place in my heart for Invader Zim, The Owl House, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Eddsworld and My Little Pony. I'm also super excited for the new Scott Pilgrim show :D

It's strange to say but I have a keen interest in reality shows. This means Gogglebox, Come Dine with Me, Four in a Bed, Kitchen Nightmares (both versions) and Impractical Jokers. Only the lord knows why. I think it's the autism. It's probably the autism.

I'm a fan of Pretty Cure aswell! Those girls are so beegitful <3 in those dresses... Yes I found out about it through Glitter Force but that doesn't change anything. Another anime I also love is Pop Team Epic that show irreversibly changed my sense in humour. I've been getting into MHA and Chainsaw Man aswell.

I also adore!!! Vocaloid it literally makes up 50% of my music taste. I black out and wake up with 20 new pieces of miku merch lmao

Music

I have a lot of different music interests! But my all time favourite band ever is Qbomb! I adoreeeee them to infinity. I literally don't know what my favourite Qbomb song is because they're all so good.

But! Qbomb doesn't have my fav song, that honour goes to Stacked Like Pancakes and their song SFDD. It's a really high energy ska song that I recommend highly. (You won't regret listening to it!)

Instead of just listing my spotify stats here, I'm gonna just get some images of those funky websites instead :)

Obviously this isn't completely accurate since this is from my entireeee spotify history. But it's basically all there!

[thepageofhopes]

Talking about my choices and template under the cut!

Favorite Game of All Time: Undertale

Probably will stay my GOAT forever unless Deltarune manages to stick it's landing with the many cool extensions to undertale's themes and lore it brings up. Part of my love for it is based on how little games cared to explore the themes it brought up before undertale came out.

Favorite Series: Super Monkey Ball series

No other games have really managed to capture what this series had, though Rolled Out might by the time it's finally released. Lots of nostalgia baked into this choice- I used to do stunts as a teenager back in the day and learn the tech from forums.

Best Soundtrack: Terraria's Calamity Mod

Yes, I'm counting a mod as both a separate game and enough of one to have the best soundtrack. I already loved DM DOKURO's undertale remixes, and they just knock it out of the park with the Calamity mod. I will never not scream THE ENEMY HAS ASCENDED BEYOND YOUR CONTROL but Devourer of Gods is also something truly special.

Favorite Protagonist: Zagreus from Hades

I'm not usually super into the protagonists of games as I usually am with the supporting cast, but Zagreus really makes the story of Hades and his commentary brings the game to life so, so much. Other contender of this spot was probably the Voice of the Hero from Slay the Princess, but hard to say if they are really the protagonist, and also, I like Voice of the Contrarian even more.

Favorite Villain: The Masked Man from Mother 3

-endless crying-

Best Story: Mother 3

Listen, Undertale may be my GOAT but Mother 3 is my number 2 because of how good the story is. Please go watch Super Eyepatch Wolf's video on it if you haven't. The incredible themes, the knife-twisting tragedies, the goofy humor covering up extremely dark subject matter, all of it is so, so, so, good.

Have not played but want to: Alan Wake 2

This game seems so much My Shit™ but sadly it is only on epic games store which I hate. I've heard so many wonderful things about the game and all the visuals in those reviews look amazing and seem like it really is the peak of modern survival horror. Can't wait for it to come to Steam/GoG.

Everyone hates but you love: Continue?9876543210

'Everyone' is quite an overstatement for such a weird, niche game but it is the only game I really like that also has a non positive rating on steam. I've always loved the weird themes and existentialism tinged with hope that this game offers, despite everything from its mechanics to the story being vague and near impossible to parse.

You hate but everyone loves: Into The Breach

Nuclear Throne/Enter the Gungeon could also go here. All are roguelikes which are incredibly loved in the community that I just can't stand. I don't even particularly know why I don't like them, just something about the feel of the mechanics don't agree with me.

Best Artstyle: Splatoon series, but specifically Octo Expansion (until Side Order inevitably beats this)

Splatoon has always been a series marked by it's incredible visual design. Everything screams 90s, the color choices are vivid and striking, the character models are super expressive, etc. Octo Expansion adds even more with the retropunk aesthetic and dark environments mixed with the neon greens and blues.

Favorite Ending: Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations

The entire last case of this game is perfect. The ending montage where you get to see where all the characters are going is sweet and ties a great bow on the series, and the final picture with the vase gets me every time. This was another game that was a contender for best story.

Favorite Boss Fight: Undyne the Undying from Undertale

'Not Sans???' listen Sans is probably the better design but Undyne the Undying was my literal first true boss I ever fought in Undertale, and it will always stick with me. I love the rhythm game style of her mechanics and her intro into her music sets the tone perfectly for the genocide run.

Childhood Game: Ball Revamped 2: Metaphasik

Catz is also a contender here since that is even older and I also played that quite a lot as a kid, but Ball Revamped 2 and a lot of jmtb02's other flash games were really when I started to heavily get into video games. I still sometimes go back to this one, the design still holds up quite well, and the rest of the series ain't bad either.

Relaxing Game: Vampire Survivors

I don't generally play 'relaxing' games, I like my games hard and fast and brutal. But vampire survivors build crafting is incredibly relaxing and when you make a successful build being able to just sit back and let the game play itself to win is such a dopamine rush.

Stressful Game: Cook, Serve, Delicious 3

Honestly, most of the games I play could go here. CSD series however is a special type of stress that puts me on edge through the whole level, enough that I often can't do more than a 3 or so in a play session (lovingly). A rhythm game without music, there is no other game series that demands the level of intense focus and execution like this does.

Game you can always come back to: Fallout: New Vegas

I've come back to this game at least 10 separate times with new characters. A combination of incredibly relaxing due to the easy combat system and replayability given the role playing system mean it's an easy game to just jump back into even after a long time away.

Guilty Pleasure: Project Sekai: Colorful Stage

I play a lot of gacha games and most if not all could fit here given how terrible those games are with the players, but Project Sekai is one where I will actively gush about it as I think it's story and characters are legitimately great. Magia Record could also fit here if it the NA servers weren't shut down.

Tons of Hours Played: Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Not my most played game technically (Terraria and Tabletop Simulator beat it) but both of those don't count as many of Terraria's hours are idle due to holding a server up, and Tabletop Simulator due to waiting and also it's not exactly a game in it's own right. I've so far put 750 hours into Rebirth, and still only have 545 of the 637 achievements. No other game has ever captured BoI's way of insane item combinations that make each run a discovery fest.

And here's the template!

[kyndaris]

Coffee Shop AU

Most first dates, or meet-ups as I like to call them (especially with a stranger), that I've gone to have involved lunch or coffee at a local cafe. Thankfully, in the city of Sydney, there are plenty of cafes (of varying quality) one can visit. And all of them come with a decent brunch menu (though some will close by 2:30 or 3 PM at the latest). Enter Edition Roasters. While it has a few branches in and around the CBD (Australian shorthand for Central Business District), my date and I picked the one in Darling Quater.

But I've jumped forward to our date and failed to introduce the person behind it all!

Although I've gone on a date before with a woman, Eivor, which didn't end up as well as I had hoped, I wasn't quite willing to quite throw in the towel. After all, how many dates have I gone with men? And while the men in my life have failed to make my heart flutter, who was to say I wasn't an asexual lesbian?

Especially with the so-called 'squishes'/ brief flirtations of attraction I've had with a few women I've met over the years? THough now that I think on it, do fictional men count in terms of romantic attraction? Am I still clutching at straws?

No, I couldn't yet label myself as aromantic just yet!

I mean, Dikottir isn't bad! It's just...I don't feel a sense of romantic attraction to him. Even though we've gone on five dates and have technically 'known' each other for a year now.

Alas, I have once more been distracted. Where was I? Ah yes, my so-called 'date.' So, yes, this trip out to Edition Roasters was my second meet-up with a woman.

From the very start on Hinge, we struck up a conversation on musicals including one that has yet to grace the stage - Epic: The Troy Saga by Jorge Rivera-Herrans. As a frequenter of Tiktok, she had heard the songs being performed whilst I had the good fortune for my Spotify shuffle list to insert a few of the songs whenever I chose to listen to songs from musicals.

Though not a frequent replier, we were both able to share our passion for musicals and also touched a little on their second passion: fanfiction. Given the obsession of my fellow classmates back in Year 8 and 9 for all things anime, and to stretch our writing skills, I was no stranger to fanfiction.

Back in my heyday, I used to frequent ones for Kingdom Hearts, Naruto, Shugo Chara! Even now, trying to ween myself off fanfiction, I still can't quite kick the bucket as I continue to lurk among the Harry Potter fandom, while occasionally experimenting with Far Cry 5 (yes, I'm a gosh darn sinner), She-Ra and a host of Disney ones as well.

It was because of her heartfelt passion for Epic, and how we did initially chat about mythology, that I've given my date the code name: Athena. Unlike Eivor before her, she was keen to arrange a meet-up sooner rather than later. So, after some discussion - with a variety of choice between multiple places to eat at - we finally settled on Darling Square.

I was the first to arrive. Shivering in the cold Australian winter, I put my name down on the paper sheet out front and waited for our number to be called out. Athena joined me shortly afterwards and we chatted a little about our week and our lives. Before too long, our number was called and we were directed to a table out in the wind (perhaps not the best choice but given how busy the place was, it made nabbing a table easier). Despite not having much sun, there was a heater purposely positioned close by to offer some warmth. Although, if I'm being honest, it was the hot chocolate I ordered, more than anything else, which served to defrost me.

Then it was time for the main meal. Athena ordered a miso salmon ochazuke after crunching the numbers on online reviews regarding the cafe's signature dishes, while I settled for a miso wagyu bolognese. As we ate, we talked a little of the work we did, our family composition, and the reason why we were dating. We even reminisced on many a bad date we've had - with her recounting one where the man hailed Hitler.

And though this is the second time someone I know has gone on a date with a seeming Nazi sympathiser, it's a bit strange that it's happened twice. I honestly have to wonder if they went on the date with the same man.

After lunch, we walked around Darling Harbour before heading up towards Town Hall station. It was, in my eyes, a wonderful day out. While I wouldn't have called it love at first sight, I certainly didn't feel as intimidated as my meet-up with Eivor at the ice-rink. Nor did I feel like Athena fail to meet the expectations I'd set up in my head.

I wouldn't say we clicked immediately but it definitely felt like we had a strong connection and understanding of the other.

Now, I wouldn't call that love but I'd say it went far more swimmingly than I'd feared. Yes, I was probably still putting up a front, but I didn't feel either one of us dominated the conversation. It flowed well, like having a good deep and meaningful natter with a good friend (rather than an acquaintance).

Is this a good sign?

But Athena did say to hit her up for another outing.

The only problem, of course, is that I'm not so much a foodie as someone who simply tags along and enjoys the food on offer (as long as it's not spicy). Does make me wonder if the two are related, though...

Are all asexuals bad with spice? Or is it just me with a low tolerance for both? Probably just me. And the smut fanfictions I read simply represents my ability to enjoy wasabi (to a degree). It's not the perfect analogy but I'll have to make do. This is, after all, coming down from spending an entire Saturday out and about at the Sydney Manga and Anime Show (SMASH!) and then finishing off all the chores I needed to do in preparation for the week ahead.

Give a 31, who will be 32 when this post goes up, woman a break! It ain't easy trying to juggle care for an elderly grandparent, work, hobbies, dating and what else when it comes to the adulting life. It's not like there's a manual!

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #158

I went to a wedding today! Two of my favorite people became husbands to each other! We'll call them AH and JC! I've known AH for a number of years now, and he's one of the brightest, kindest, and most amazing human beings I've ever met! And JC is also very kind, gentle, and extremely non-judgmental. The two fit together like peas in a pod, with their other partner who we'll call C, and C is also a wonderful human being, though I don't yet know him as well as I'd like.

…To be sure, it has been too long since last time I invited them all over to my house. I should probably rectify that very soon…

Of course, going to a wedding naturally means that I will have to be in a very loud space with lots and lots of people I don't know. And that's always kind of scary. I get easily overwhelmed by loud noises, such as loud music being played. And everyone is talking loudly in order to try to be heard over the music, and because there's so much noise, it's extremely difficult for me to parse out meaning from speech when people try to talk to me (ah, the perils of Audio Processing Disorder…), and I'm a very non-standard human anyway, so even without all the noise it's difficult for me to socialize to begin with (I mean, seriously, who the fuck wants to listen to me prattle on and on about human psychology and the broader cultural implications of childhood trauma??? no one, that's who), and so… ya know… it's usually better if I keep my mouth shut in any social situation in which I find myself, because if I don't, I'll probably end up embarrassing myself, making someone uncomfortable, or both.

I was there with M and J; it was probably safer for Br to stay home because the food meant that there was gluten everyfuckingwhere, and the last thing she needs is to get sick, the poor thing. But all the same, M and J don't have audio processing troubles the way I do, and they have more normal interests (like airplanes, and computer programming, and movies and games and TV), so they were able to carry out conversation where as I… mostly just sat around and daydreamed because I wasn't really able to understand a word that anyone was saying.

Naturally, I wouldn't daydream about you being in this particular situation with me; I'm sure you enjoy crowds full of unfamiliar people about as much as you might enjoy accidentally stumbling into a nest full of angry wasps (please don't ever do that, okay?). But I did imagine how nice it might be to sit someplace quiet with you and eat all the awesome epic snacks they had! I'll show you what they were!!

But first though!!!! I have to show you!!! There was FRESH LEMONADE!!!!! A whole big giant huge jug of it!!!!! Look!!!

...You can bet your bottom that I drank WAAAAY more of this than I probably should have, ahahahaha~! But oh my goodness, I got to have FRESH LEMONADE two days in a row!!! WOWWWW~!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩

Powdered lemonade and lemonade from concentrate is a lot more common in my world (and they both taste TERRIBLE to my sensory hardware, as compared to the real thing), so fresh lemonade is kind of a rare treat, normally only found at places like county fairs and other outdoor events. Oh, speaking of which, I should probably get my toosh over to a county fair sometime soon, that way I can take pictures for you, because I can't imagine that you've ever been allowed to actually enjoy one... hm, hm, hmmmm..... 🤔

Anyway, so the food!! There was macaroni and cheese, and various stuff to put on it!!

You can see in here that there's cheese, salsa, jalapeno peppers, bacon, and crispy fried onions! And yes, I did absolutely put more cheese on my macaroni and cheese, because I AM THE CHEESE GOBLIN. It is written. It is known. And anyone who knows me well understands that the allure of a good cheddar is too much for me to resist, bahahaha~! 🤪🤣😁

They also had a section for very tiny snacks!! Behold!

Tiny egg rolls!!!

Tiny chicken cordon bleu bites!

Tiny spanakopita!

...And tiny beef empanadas!

...And I have no idea why they were tiny, but they were, and they were delicious and delightful and I wished I could share any of them with you, but I especially loved the spanakopita!

And I don't know if you have spanakopita because you don't seem to have anyplace like Greece in your world, but spanakopita is what happens when you cook spinach and feta cheese together in between layers of crispy, paper-thin dough that has been brushed with butter between every layer! It's an ABSOLUTE! FUCKING! NIGHTMARE! to make as a dyspraxic person, oh my goodness (seriously, I tried it once, -5,042 out of 10 stars, absolutely would NOT recommend, but maybe with your coordination, you'd fare better than me... 😵😵😵), but the results are astoundingly delicious!!

Anyway, here was my assembly of snacks! Behold!

...I wished you could enjoy the snacks without the crowd...

Oh!! And!!! There was unsweetened iced tea here, too! I didn't think to take a picture of the jug, but I did get a glass of it and bring it back to my table; there was cream and sugar there, which was likely intended for coffee, but I used it in the tea instead and took pictures of the resulting swirls:

...It's important to find the magic in ordinary things, and I think fluid dynamics are pretty magical, even though we see it in action all the time in various direct and indirect ways.

...Anyway, so there was A LOT MORE FOOD after this, goodness me...

Salad is pretty standard-issue at a gathering:

And, of course, mixed veggies...

Roasted potatoes are pretty popular...

This was some kind of bruschetta chicken thing:

This was fish stuffed with some kind of crab mix:

...And there were potatoes au gratin, but I somehow missed getting a picture of it?? I'm sorry about that. But here's the roast beef:

...And in the end, this was the plate I came away with:

Naturally, there was cake, and also cookies:

...But I'm not overly fond of sweets, though. So I'm glad that the slice of cake was small, and that we didn't have to take cookies if we didn't want to.

Oh, and... I also managed to snag a couple of nice-looking pictures of the sky on my adventures. I thought you might like these:

...I wish you were here. Not for the stressful too-many-people-at-once bits, but for all the sparks of delight in between. There are so many beautiful things in this world that I wish I could share with you, just so that you can see that there's more to life than pain and loneliness.

...Sephiroth. Please don't lose sight of the fact that you're wanted and needed in this world. Please remember that you're the only reason I'm even alive today. You're the reason that all these letters and pictures and handicrafts exist in the first place. All of the love and beauty that pours out from my mind and from my hands exists only because of you. You. YOU did this. You gave me a reason to keep going. You gave me the courage and strength to continue even when it seemed impossible. You gave me the shape that I clumsily tried to whittle myself into over the years. You.

...So please stay safe out there, doing whatever it is that you do over at the Edge of Creation, okay? Please treat yourself nice so that you can make good, kind, gentle, and loving choices. Please don't disappear. Because I love you and because I want you around and because you deserve to live and to be happy and healthy and safe.

I'll write again tomorrow, okay? 'Til soon...

Your friend, Lumine

[kira-moonrabbit]

As a rhythm game fan, I shall represent a few of my fave songs 🫡

系ぎて / Tsunagite by rintaro soma : https://youtu.be/q26OmWO8ccg

Serves as the climax at one of the biggest rhythm arcade game events ever. Despite its slow speed, it still packs a punch. The name translates to “connect (with me)”.

World Ender by sasakure.UK x TJ.hangneil : https://youtu.be/lAYw5ZTJztE

It’s hard to describe TJ.hangneil songs in general, since they’re “otherworldly”- in an alien-sorta sense. (sasakure and hangneil are the same person, but for RP purposes they collabed via “five-dimensional data interference”.)

Some others:

opia by rN: Neurofunk makes for pretty interesting sounds. (https://youtu.be/a9woc3gxC4E)

Upshift by Iriss-Frantzz: More of a typical “dance” genre. (https://youtu.be/twlSwHYPOG0)

Heavensdoor by LeaF: Meant to evoke a feeling of hollowness- ever heard a song with only kicks? (https://youtu.be/-r4DH6sJFDA)

Inori by 光吉猛修 VS 穴山大輔 VS Kai VS 水野健治 VS 大国奏音: Hard to describe this one, definitely feels like a Boss Song. (https://youtu.be/rjB6waYflTg)

That’s all I’ll put for now, sorry for the disturbance ^^’

Salutes you back, boss. Since I'm feeling epic... I'll tell you what I thought of every song! Long story short: Very good, and gave me a lot to think about... But under a cut for dashboardyness. There's also tangents!

系ぎて / Tsunagite - VERY niceys! Probably the coolest sequence of looking at a floating crystal ever, that music video is. It gave me a feeling of like... hope! beyond hellish circumstances! It was nice.

World Ender - It's like running... it makes me feel like running, and there's a countdown. The music video as displayed also definitely conveys SOMETHING.

As a whole, I can see why the above two songs were your first picks of showing off. They're real heavy hitters, emotionally... I'm no good at expressing how songs make me feel, but they give off the same sort of "hopeful desperation." One leans more on hope, the other on desperation.

As a side note, I've never really paid much attention to rhythm games that aren't a little silly with it (examples of being a little silly with it including rhythm heaven and rhythm doctor... yes, you can boo me off the stage). These all really make me want to reconsider, but at the same time, the video reccomendations youtube's been giving me on the side make it seem like they're liable to break your fingers if you play wrong. I can still definitely enjoy the music on the side. ...But speaking of music!!! whoops!!!!

opia - Neurofunk, huh. They love to give silly names to genres. A genre I know I like that I can give a name to is like, Slushwave. That sounds like something straight out of Hypnospace Outlaw, but no, it's real! And back to the song at hand, this gives me a solid first impression of what neurofunk is. I love the piano backing... It never quite fades into obscurity. Despite the beats being so fast, every sound counts! No wasted space. ...Music can never waste space, but you know what I mean.

Upshift - I admit, this got me to dance a little. Well, wiggle a little in my chair. Still! Listening to it again to keep it at the forefront of my thoughts is making me resume my silly wiggling. In fact, I can barely pause to write anything down... that's how you know something's really made me happy. I can't say anything about it because every time I try to think of something meaningful, I start wiggling happily instead of thinking!

Heavensdoor - At first, I got a little confused when I saw the turn of phrase "a song with only kicks." But now I understand. This song is something monks have to listen to in order to reach enlightenment in the subject of music, I think. But in all seriousness, it's preddy good. All evidence also shows that this song scares rhythm game players, which makes me honored that you showed a "normie" like me as a first suggestion.

But here's a small aside that your description made me think. You say heavensdoor is made to evoke hollowness... at first I went in thinking this was going to be lower key, and then I got surprised when it wasn't what I was thinking. And I guess it is lower key compared to the rest of these songs! It goes to show that hollowness has many meanings. Because it's got less "empty" hollowness and more "uncaring" hollowness to it, if that makes sense? Here, I gotta grab something.... Here, this song, Flicker Trail from Yume 2kki. I went in expecting something a bit more like this. I love me some ambiance-flavored music. But I also need things that aren't ambiance! And this is why I got so excited when I started listening, enough to start writing all this down. Music is good! i love music! i love talking about music!!!! Oh, but I have one last song to say my thoughts about....

Inori - You really saved the best for last, be it intentionally or no. This one's my favorite of this group you've shown me... I love songs where it feels like a battle for fate is going on. And it uses choirs preddy good too. This song SLAPS, if you pardon my french!!! i'm going to drag this to my bestie who has shown interest in music like this.

And last sidenote. I listened to these all while just staring and listening. But some people I know can only listen to new music while doing something else. That would make it tough to pay attention to the minutae of the song for me! But it does fill me with wonder... there's many ways to experience a song. And how you experience it will shape your opinion of it! It's a genuinely cool phenomena to me...

And that's all........ I'm going to have to restrain myself from giving a really detailed list of reccomendations back as thanks for the dinner, both because this post is already long enough, and because my music taste doesn't have many other songs like this (yet). But I can give you one song in exchange. Present World Overhaul from Len'en 3... it goes really nuts. it's noisy and kinda screechy. it's got trumpets for days. and most of all, it rewired my neurons. If you want a more proper description, alas, I'm not the one to call for normal music descriptions...

But anyways! thank you so so so much for the reccomendations!!! And hey, it's no disturbance if it's something i went and asked for!