#bugs are epic

[themangocrow]

BUG PAGE IN MY SKETCHBOOK YIPPEE

also includes not technically insects but I’m saying they’re honorary bugs anyway

[chaichai-draws]

Personally I think that Telemachus permanently and irreversibly changed Athena for the better, more on that at twelve

[hearts4caimsey]

Been thinking about them lately

[blondeaxolotl]

"CHAT, ANIMAL CROSSING WAS RIGHT, CATCHING BUGS IS AWESOME" - Idia

[xeverlee]

fun fact! up until around 2 months ago, i completely thought that Epic: The Musical was just a musical of this movie

and i was over here scratching my head about how the hell did cyclops fit into the story

[hoofpeet]

🐐🐐🐐

[dootznbootz]

Odysseus always trusted Penelope. He was ordered to lie to her and it hurt him to do so. Penelope was distrustful of this stranger until she had absolute solid proof.

There are way too many people talking about how "Odysseus lies to Penelope. What a prick!" and it makes me sad/mad as that's not the case at all

The whole "Odysseus usually always has a reason to lie" maybe upcoming essay aside, He was literally commanded by Athena to not tell anyone. And it was with Penelope that he had the hardest time keeping up the act with. Not only because she's smart af and figured him out almost immediately (that essay coming soon too) but because he was trying to keep himself from crying with her.

I think people forget that he is disguised to look like someone else completely. If a random man claimed to be your missing husband, wouldn't you be scared/freaked out?

Anyways, the 3 most important people in his life are Penelope, Telemachus, and Laertes. He lies to all three.

Telemachus: Lied by letting Eumaeus answer him and still under the orders from Athena, did not cry or reveal himself until Athena allowed him to. (I read it as him being in shock. Last time he saw him, Telemachus' hand could only wrap around one finger and now he's as big as him. a bit shocking to say the least)

Laertes: He teared up seeing him but still decided to question and test his father, not by the order from Athena.

Penelope: He was trying so hard to keep from crying, tried to noodle his way out of lying to her, Under Athena's orders. still couldn't help but basically flirt with her.

Also to get this outta the way: No, it wasn't a matter of trust. He is shown to trust her right away. As this happens even before he gets the chance to speak with Penelope.

Staunch Odysseus glowed with joy to hear all this— his wife's trickery luring gifts from her suitors now, enchanting their hearts with suave seductive words but all the while with something else in mind.

(Book 18, Fagles)

If Odysseus does not trust her, why is he so happy to see her "flirt" with the suitors? It's because he KNOWS what she's doing and knows she doesn't actually want them. If he didn't trust her, he would be upset by this.

Now for the "it hurt to lie to her" bit.

Athena's command:

"Tell not a single person in the palace, man or woman, that you are back from your wanderings; but endure all vexations in silence and submit yourself to the indignities that will be put upon you.'

(Book 13, Rieu)

If you are my son—truly of our blood—                                            let no one hear Odysseus is back home. Don’t let Laertes know or the swineherd, or the slaves, or Penelope herself.

(Book 16, Johnston)

And the people he did reveal himself to, he only did so after being given permission by Athena.

Athene spoke to him. 'The time has come,' she said, 'royal son of Laertes, Odysseus of the nimble wits, to let Telemachus into your secret, so that the pair of you may plot the downfall and death of the Suitors and then make your way to the famous city. [...]

(Book 15, Rieu)

He talks to Telemachus before talking to Penelope.

I’ll stay here, so I can stir the servants even more— and your mother. As she laments, she’ll ask for each and every detail.”

(Book 19, Johnston)

Odysseus is already sweating about having to lie to her

The next part would honestly be me just inserting almost ALL the text for this so I'll go into a summary. It's all in Book 19.

Penelope asks him where he's from. And instead of answering, it's a tsunami of compliments. Calling her flawless. Comparing her to a king. etc, etc,

Probably because he couldn't help himself and had to babble about how wonderful she is Who wouldn't? before finally ending with "Please don't ask me where I'm from. It makes me sad."

Penelope, probably overwhelmed by his praise, immediately goes into how "her beauty left with her husband. It did not. And where did you say you were from again?"

"Fine! I'm from Crete..."

And we all know that as soon as she starts crying, after a lovely description of how her tears "melted", he talks about how hard it was for Odysseus to hold in his OWN tears. Lying to her and being unable to comfort her was painful for him!!!

But though Odysseus' heart was wrung by his wife's distress, his eyes, hard as horn or iron, never wavered between their lids, so craftily did he repress his tears.

(Book 19, Rieu)

I love Robert Fitzgerald's translation so as a treat:

[...] so her white cheeks were wetted by these tears shed for her lord--and he close by her side. Imagine how his heart ached for his lady, his wife in tears; and yet he never blinked; his eyes might have been made of horn or iron for all that she could see. He had this trick-- wept, if he willed to, inwardly.

(Book 19, Fitzgerald)

Even with him revealing himself to Euryclea, when she cried out to Penelope, Athena made sure she didn't hear! It's most likely that he wouldn't be able to tell her even if he wanted. Athena was planning something, just as Penelope was.

She spoke, and her eyes glanced over at Penelope, anxious to tell her that her husband had come home. But Penelope could not see her face or notice, for Athena had diverted her attention.

(Book 19, Johnston)

He desperately wanted to be with her again. Literally daydreaming about it!

At those words Dawn rose on her golden throne in a sudden gleam of light. And great Odysseus caught the sound of his wife’s cry and began to daydream—deep in his heart it seemed she stood beside him, knew him, now, at last …

(book 20, Fagles)

Clearly doesn't trust her. /sarcasm

It's PENELOPE that has trouble trusting him. And rightfully so! While she was very certain that was her husband, there was so much going on and of course, she's cautious! He looked like an elderly stranger at first, why is he hiding from her? He somehow took out all those men with only a little help, Athena isn't telling her anything, Helen was kidnapped and she did not want that to possibly happen to her too, etc.

He even understands her cautiousness to be reasonable.

As she spoke, lord Odysseus, who had borne so much, smiled and immediately spoke to Telemachus— his words had wings:   “Telemachus, let your mother test me in these halls. She will soon possess more certain knowledge. Right now I’m filthy, with disgusting clothing on my body. That’s why she rejects me and will not say I am Odysseus. [...]

(Book 23, Johnston)

He even trusted her completely to take care of everything while he was gone before. And he does again when he wakes up and goes to see his father. Telling her about how she too wise to need instruction

Odysseus (and Penelope as well) is well-known for his cunning tricks and how his loyalties are often blurred but one thing that is for sure about him is that he trusts and is loyal to Penelope full-heartedly. He spent every day missing her and their son and wanting to go home to her. The only moment we see his trust in her waver is during the Treebed scene, (which is what she wanted to test).

They are "like-minded". 😭

[bigidiotenergytm]

AAAH, two things really quick, first, I love your art, Is too pretty really 😭💅 (u ate that), aaand second, can I give Odysseus a warm rea with a cookie so that this lonely man would forget his sadness? Thanks ((sorry and really sorry if I am being weirdly clingly(?))

oh good u made him CRY

[theglassesgirl]

I love how Penelope IS that girl like,

She’s the girl who has this mess of a man at her feet begging her to give him a chance after everything he’s done, and the thing is, this man is always the villian - on booktok he’s usually “misunderstood and morally grey” which makes him even less interesting than the fanfic girlies in the trenches shipping real villains and not sanitizing them at all which gives them even more opps because you have puritan antis telling them to kts and they have fake villain lovers insisting their UwU baby boy would never murder people even tho he does in canon ANYWAY

Odysseus himself considers his actions abhorrent no matter what led him to make those actions, he genuinely sees himself as the villain of his own odyssey (peep him referring his home being desecrated in the way he helped desecrate Troy!!!) so he can ONLY ask Pen is she MIGHT considering falling in love with the man he thinks he’s become, because he doesn’t feel like the man he was when he was with her

To which Pen replies I KNEW this is who you were when I fell in love with you. I KNEW what you were capable of. I TRUSTED that you would literally do anything and everything for me and our son because you told me once you would and I CHOOSE to love that about you instead of being scared of that. I’m not afraid of the things you’ve done, I’m sorry you HAD to do them, but I’m GRATEFUL you did because you’re here again, like you promised you would be, the same promise and the same man you were when you went to war.

She’s honestly the woman mainstream self-insert Mary Sue’s will NEVER be. A woman who looked into the eyes of a boyish man who said he loved her and realized oh this guy is SERIOUS to the point a weaker woman would cry and buckle about all the awful things that have happened, but no, not her, her husband said he was coming home no matter what and so he did.

You can walk away calling Odysseus an irredeemable monster but you will do so with his wife and son standing next to him because neither of them give a shit, the hands who committed those atrocities have also held them gently, and they will face this scrutiny together after two decades of being torn apart.

[luckylolabug]

The amount of times I've relistened to Epic the Musical on repeat is a scary number. So I figured it was time to throw some sketches in the ring for it too. So here's some comparisons of Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus before the events of The Odyssey versus the End of the Odyssey.

[marimopup]

Cringetober day 18: Fandom AU

Day 20: Tumblr sexyman

I didn’t realize the prompt said tumblr sexyWOMAN until after I drew everything oops

Where are his fan girls I am starving for Ice Prince content………..

[front-facing-pokemon]

[arckiaym]

babe wake up, new legundo

regeneration dance (now with skirt!!)

[tikurrdurr]

intrusive

[vgbugs]

Thorny Creep and Icicle Creep - Epic Battle Fantasy 5

These guys are based on thorn bugs. Surprisingly, the thorny ones are actually electric monsters that can absorb and heal from lightning attacks and cast their own lightning and earth spells! The icicle ones are pretty straight-forward, and are noted to be threatened by global warming. You can capture (and even name!) both of them to unlock special "summon" attacks.

[bizarrebirds]

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campaign vetted by association

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