#definitely not basing this off of epic

[duskyourlocalowl]

So I had this funny Olympian God Au

What if all the gods are just college students, and Kronos's kids are like the teachers/adults.

The 2nd gen(I think) Olympians are all just freshmen that somehow all went to the same college and somehow all ended up in the same apartment building.

They all get into high jinks together. They just pull Athena with them because they need atleast two people with sense. The other being Hephestus or Artemis.

The first gen Olympians are just teachers who somehow became their parental figures.

Definitely going to make this a thing

[mossy-the-thing]

uhh i missed eatser have this instead

[causalityparadoxes]

Was listening to EPIC like hmmmm some of this feels off... only to realise they'd remastered/redone the first 2 sagas and I was in fact listening to entirely different god damn songs!

After looking into why, good for them! 1000%! Love the new versions! But also... does anyone have good quality mp3s of the original albums...? 🥺👉👈 please hit me up. I wanna still be able to listen to the og versions too

[fingertipsmp3]

Ughhhhhhh I hate writing and I hate not writing and I hate myself

[ginsdelusions]

I absolutely adored your recent Mydei x Reader fic based off the Odyssey. It’s beautiful and one of my favorites so far.

I wanna ask if you can write a piece from Mydei’s POV? Like his reaction to learning from his son that his wife is being forced to pick a suitor in his absence because everyone thinks he’s dead (I assume it was his son who told him about this based off what happens in the Odyssey).

Hi! I am so glad to hear that!! I took some creative liberty regarding Mydei and his son’s meeting since neither the original Odyssey nor the Epic: the Musical versions fit the first fic I made nor the character of Mydei imo. I definitely think I should mention that I did not play the Amphoreus quests yet, so everything I know about Mydei is from fellow fics, edits and his googled voice lines ✨ I hope that this is what you were hoping for <3 For reference, this can be read as a prequel to this piece

It’s been twenty years. Twenty years of suffering, trials, tribulations and most importantly, 20 years away from home. Away from you. Away from his son. How much had he changed? Would you reject him after knowing what he’d done? Would you be appalled by his change? Would you refuse him as your husband? All these questions remained unanswered, and he was uncertain about the future. He was certain about one thing, though - his love for you had never changed. You were the only thing keeping him grounded, his resolve.

And finally, after 20 years of agony, waiting and voyaging, he had returned. The King of Castrum Kremnos himself, Mydeimos the Strife. He had returned.

Heavy, metallic footsteps guided him off the ship. New scars adorned his body, new experience had gathered in his mind, and new strength had fuelled his strife, as he walked toward the city he left behind, heading toward the castle. As he walked through his rightful kingdom, he noticed how the stadium was fully crowded. Peculiar.

Golden eyes caught a hooded figure’s eyes on himself. Stopping his march, the king’s eyes caught his follower’s. “Come down and reveal yourself”, he rasped. The figure jumped down from its hideout, weapon drawn. “State your name and your business”, Mydei’s gaze pierced through the person, the sharply armoured hands clenched themselves into fists as he put himself into a fighting stance.

The hooded figure seemed to hesitate for a moment, before the hood was removed. Mydei’s breath hitched. ‘Could this be..?’ His sun-like eyes were met with equally golden ones. Before him stood a man, around 20 years old, quite tall, with a toned built and hair looking just like his own. His features resembled his own, but reflected another person’s as well. The Queen’s.

Surprise and disbelief mirrored themselves in their eyes.

“Father?”

“Son?”

The young prince did not know what to say, or how to react. Neither did his father. So many things happened, so many tales untold, so many years wasted without one another. But now, it all had changed.

“All my life I would’ve died to know you. I’ve thought about your name and your stories. For 20 years, I’ve dreamt of how I’d greet you… yet, now that this moment has finally arrived.. I.. don’t quite know what to say”, the man stuttered. Mydei looked at him, his fiery gaze loving. “My son.. I am proud to see that you’ve grown so much. There has not been a day that I have not thought about you. There is so much I wish to say to you, so many tales that I wish to share, and so many more I wish to hear from you-”, the king was interrupted by some quiet roars coming from the stadium, screaming about the queen.

Mydei looked at his son concerned, “What was that just now?” “The challenge within the stadium”, the younger one lowered his gaze. “What challenge? Where is your mother? Telemachus, what is going on here?”, Mydei’s tone was steady, an eerie mixture of calm and calculating, reminiscent of the calm before a storm.

He looked up at his father. “Mother… she refused to betray you. The council has deemed you dead. They’ve been trying to pressure her into choosing another suitor.” Of all the things that he expected to have happened, that was not it. “Deemed me dead, huh? Even though they know that their king is immortal”, Mydei clicked his tongue disapprovingly, as silent rage channelled itself within him. “At first she managed to delay it by claiming that she will once she finishes weaving her shroud”, a chuckle left Telemachus’ throat. “Only that she kept unweaving all the work she did once night fell.” Mydei’s gaze was fond, and the corners of his mouth moved upward. ‘That’s my wife.’ “Smart as always.”

“Another while later, they started pestering her again. As a last resort, she’d arranged a challenge, which would only take place once all other options have been exhausted. Whoever can wield your spear and slice evenly through 12 targets cleanly in a single strike shall rule alongside her. That challenge is.. currently taking place.” Upon hearing this, the warrior started laughing. The roars from the arena got louder. “To think that these bastards pressured my wife into this… I must admit, they are daring. But my, my… I would lie if I claimed that she was not meant to be a Queen.”

The commotion had worsened by now; an outburst of pure anger and rage consumed the stadium. Mydei looked at his son. “Telemachus, lead me to your mother. Let us show the Queen that her long awaited husband has returned.”

[yiddishknights]

you seem like the right person to ask about jewish knights and judaism in general in arthurian legend

Hello! Apologies for how long it has taken me to respond to this! Throughout the Middle Ages and the early modern period, there were a number of Arthurian texts written by and for Jewish people in Jewish languages. The one I specialize in is an Old Yiddish text called Vidvilt, which is part of the Fair Unknown tradition and based off an earlier German text called Wigalois. This text was super popular in the Yiddish-speaking world for about three centuries or so and was reworked and reprinted a number of times. I already discussed some of those adaptations a while ago in response to this ask.

Predating Vidvilt, there was a Hebrew Arthurian text written in the 13th century which is now commonly known as Melekh Artus. This was based on Old French sources and tells the story of Arthur's birth and Lancelot's affair with Guinevere before breaking off unfinished. The most common edition of the text used today is the one by Curt Leviant, though I just read a fascinating article in the latest issue of the Journal of the International Arthurian Society calling into question some of his transcription choices and the conclusions he draws in his analysis of the text.

I also recently read that a fragment of an Arthurian text in Judeo-Catalan was recently discovered, but I'm afraid I don't know much about it as yet other than that it's apparently a late medieval adaptation of Jaufre.

Chivalric romances of both Christian and Jewish origin were extremely popular among medieval and early modern Jews in general. There were a number of non-Arthurian knight stories that were very popular as well; for example, the most famous and influential work of early Yiddish literature was a chivalric epic called Bovo d'Antona, and a survey I read of the literature in Jewish households in early modern Italy shows that the most popular non-religious work among Jews at that time was Orlando Furioso.

It is worth noting that, even though some of these texts were written by and for Jews, that doesn't necessarily mean that the characters in them were Jewish. Jewish writers generally tended to modify their Christian source materials by gliding over or obscuring references to religion, rather than depicting Judaism directly (the reasons for this are complex and could constitute a whole paper, so I won't get into it here). That being said, medieval Jewish knights did exist in real life, too! There are a few medieval historians who do research into exactly when, where, and under what circumstances Jews were allowed to bear arms, but it definitely wasn't exclusively a literary thing.

[warriorlid14]

Based on @thejakeformerlyknownasprince's theory that Tobias is the Ellimist. Couldn't stop thinking about it.

....

“Have you heard of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice?”

Marco groaned. “What is this, a pop quiz? I thought I was done with those when I graduated- well, not graduated. You know what I mean.”

“It’s a Greek tragedy. The story goes that-”

“You know what’s tragic? This conversation.” Marco faked a yawn. “I think I’ll go wake Jake up to take over my shift. What time is it anyway?”

“Just humor me, will you?”

Marco sighed dramatically. He couldn’t even remember what they were talking about that led to this conversation. “Fine, Birdboy, tell me the tragedy of Opeus and Eurywhateverthefuck.”

“Orpheus and Eurydice.”

“Whatever dude.”

“I won’t bore you with all the details-” Marco let out a snort “- but the tragedy goes like this: Orpheus and Eurydice are lovers. She dies. In his grief, Orpheus decides to go down to the Underworld to rescue her. It’s a whole epic, long journey. Long story short: he rescues her. Kind of. He makes a deal with Hades, king of the underworld, to let her go. Hades lets her escape. She can follow Orpheus all the way back out of the underworld. The only condition is that Orpheus can’t look back to make sure she’s following. But it’s a long, epic journey you see. And towards the end of the journey, he can’t hear her steps anymore. Just as they’re about to make it, Orpheus can’t help but look back. She’s then forced to stay in the underworld forever. Here’s the kicker: in certain versions of the tragedy, it’s alluded to that the story keeps repeating itself over and over again. The hope is that maybe the next time, Orpheus won’t make the same mistake. But he always looks back.”

Marco let out a low whistle. “Nice bedtime story. Is there a reason you’re telling me this?” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Is this about Rachel?” Maybe it was a dick move to ask straight out. But there was something off about this whole encounter. There was something off with Tobias. Maybe posture? The voice? His eyes?

Tobias shook his head. “No. Well, not entirely. It’s about all of you. And humanity really.”

Yes, it was definitely the eyes. They were stormy and dark and- were those stars? Were those actual literal stars in his eyes? Marco took a step back, unnerved, looked around and- Yes, he was still aboard the Rachel. Everything was in its place and yet it all felt wrong. And when he squinted, the walls were- Yes, they were almost translucent.

“What?” he said, dread beginning to take hold in the pit of his stomach. “What is this?”

Tobias smiled at him sadly. “I was hoping the illusion would hold a little longer. You always were too smart for your own good.”

“Illusion?” The dread spread to the rest of his body. “What are you-”

“You’re dead, Marco.”

His face turned white. He remembered now. Ram the blade ship. He swallowed hard. He quickly sat down on the floor.

“So this is what, some fucked up afterlife? You’re dead too?”

“This isn’t an afterlife. I guess the best way to put it is that you’re not technically dead just yet, only frozen right before.”

As he spoke, Marco noticed that it wasn’t just the ship that was translucent. Tobias was too. “Ellimist,” he whispered.

Not-Tobias smiled at him again. But he didn’t turn into the old man the Ellimist always presented himself as. He just said, “Yes.”

“Why are you here? Why are you cosplaying as Tobias? Is he dead? Are the others-”

“I’m just here to talk. Aximili and Menderash are dead. Jake, Jeanne, and Santorelli will be dead soon. Tobias will too, in a way.”

If he hadn’t already been on the floor, the grief he felt then would have knocked him over.They had failed.They had failed so badly that-

“You didn’t fail,” the Ellimist said, still using Tobias’s voice. “You destroyed the One’s plans. You saved thousands of lives that would have been taken over by that creature had you all not intervened.”

Like it mattered. They had never set out to save thousands of lives. This mission was only about saving one. “The others. How did they-”

“I think it would be simpler if I showed you.” 

The air shifted around him. He was still aboard the Rachel, though it was now in ruins. He saw Jake, Tobias, and Jeanne, all human, all crouching and crying around- Marco swallowed hard. Menderash, head bashed in. Ax, a gaping hole in his chest. Himself. Marco brought his hand to his side. It had been practically cut open by some machinery when the ships had crashed. There was so much blood pooled around him. He could physically feel the agony and grief in the room, mixing with his own. He turned to the Ellimist, opened his mouth to tell him he didn’t want to see this, and then, as if he read his mind, the scene in front of him changed.

They were no longer aboard the Rachel, but in a smaller ship. An escape pod. Jake was at the controls. Santorelli was sitting next to him. 

“This took place- will take place- in about a week or so,” the Ellimist said. As he spoke, Santorelli stood up and walked towards the back of the ship, expression blank. He picked up a pole. “The rest of your friends thought the One had been defeated back at the blade ship.” Santorelli walked to the front of the ship, holding up the pole. His eyes flashed red. “We were wrong.”

“Jake, watch out!” Marco yelled, uselessly. Jake turned. Too late. Santorelli swung the pole, hard, and Jake fell like a sack of potatoes. Immediately, Santorelli was at the controls, typing away furiously, changing course. 

Jeanne was the first one out into the control room, weapon in hand. “What happened? What-” Santorelli turned to her, eyes still red. The smile he gave her was not human. Neither was the speed at which he ran at her. She fired the Shredder, missed. Santorelli was on her in half a second, bashing her head into the wall. Once. Twice. Marco knew the instant Jeanne died because he physically felt it in his stomach. Santorelli bashed her head once more. 

Then he was kicked across the room by a hork-bajir foot. <Jake! Jeanne! Wake up and morph!> Tobias yelled. Being kicked by a hork-bajir would normally kill a human, or at the very least severely injure them. Santorelli morphed. Breaking every rule Marco knew about morphing, he was a polar bear in less than two seconds flat.

<What the-> Santorelli was suddenly on top of him. Tobias kicked again, pushing Santorelli into the control panel. The ship rocked. Santorelli dove at Tobias again. The fight was over in a couple of minutes. Tobias fought hard. But a polar bear is the fiercest predator on all of earth. And The One was somehow supercharging it. Marco watched in horror as The One held a broken and battered Tobias up by the throat. But it didn’t kill Tobias. Instead, its eyes flashed red, the color growing in intensity. Tobias, who had been feebly struggling, went limp as he looked into the polar bear’s eyes.

“It’s starting to absorb him,” the Ellimist explained, once again reading Marco’s mind.

Suddenly, the polar bear roared and dropped Tobias. It fell to its knees as a tiger sank its teeth into the bear’s flank. <Tobias! Get to the panel! We can’t let this thing escape again!>

Tobias limped to the control panel as Jake continued his fight with The One. No matter how much he clawed and bit at the polar bear, it did not go down. Suddenly, the ship accelerated in the opposite direction as Tobias punched in new directions in the control panel. The passengers were slammed to the front of the ship.

The One got a hold of Jake. Made him look into its eyes. Tobias crawled across the small ship and grabbed Jeanne’s abandoned shredder. He switched it to the highest setting and fired at The One. The blast should have killed it. The polar bear roared, its fur burning. But it did not let go of Jake. Tobias switched gears, pointing the shredder instead to the front of the ship. At the window. He met Jake’s gaze, his eyes now glazed over and a horrible tint of red.

<Do it.> 

Tobias fired. The window cracked. The One turned to him then and charged at him. Too late. Tobias had already fired again. And again. The window shattered and there was nothing left to protect the ship’s passengers from the vacuum of space.

“Nooooo!” Marco screamed as Jake’s body fell off the ship, as he felt his best friend die. Jeanne’s body followed after him. The One had gotten a hold of Tobias as he held onto the console. It tried to reach over him at the panel. Tobias slammed his fist against the panel and the ship was spinning now, out of control.The One clutched at Tobias, trying not to fall. Tobias let go of the console. He and The One tumbled out of the ship.

Marco closed his eyes, expecting the physical pull of his friend’s death. But it didn’t come. Marco opened his eyes, and watched as the Ellimist essentially- Well, he zoomed out of the illusion. He watched Tobias and The One continue to fall. He saw them be sucked into a black hole. 

Still, Tobias didn’t die. Neither did The One. At least not yet. Time fast forwarded in front of him. Marco didn’t know how long. It could have been a few months, or a few centuries, but eventually he felt The One die. Saw the creature be killed by the Ellimist. Toomin. Tobias.

Marco turned to him, eyes narrowed. “It’s you. It’s been you this entire time.”

Tobias smiled at him, though his eyes were sad. “Your friend Tobias died in that black hole. Too much time has passed. I’ve experienced so many lives, some lived, others acquired through memories, that I could never claim to be just one person. But yes, I was once Tobias.”

Marco shook his head. The implications of what he was saying were- well, he couldn’t think about it right now. “I still don’t get it. Why am I here? Why are-” He thought then, of the story Tobias had told him. “You’re trying to change things.” Something like hope began to spread across his chest.

Tobias, not Tobias, shook his head. “It’s not what you think. I can’t change anything that has happened here.”

Marco’s heart sank. “Okay, so you can’t bring me back. But The One’s attack hasn’t  happened yet. We can still-”

“No,” Tobias was shaking his head again. “I can’t change anything here again. It would violate the rules of-”

“This isn’t a fucking game!” Marco exploded, throwing his hands in the air. “What the hell is wrong with you!? These are your friends, damnit! You have the power to change things. I know you do! So fucking do something! ”

Tobias stared at him for a moment, then said, “If I were to save any of you right now, Crayak would immediately retaliate by destroying humanity. He might send a deadly disease or a weapon like the Howlers to annihilate every creature on earth.” Marco swallowed. “He’s done it before.”

The story keeps repeating over and over again. The feeling of dread was back. I can’t change anything here again. “What is this, some twisted groundhog day?”

Tobias tilted his head, thoughtfully. “In a way. Time… time is a tool, a weapon, even, that Crayak can wield. That I can too. But not without its limits. Some things we can change. Maybe you save someone who later fathers a doctor who goes on to find the cure for polio or cancer or whatever. In the future, someone who would have died from said disease as a kid instead becomes a prolific campaign manager who helps elect a president that wouldn’t have been elected otherwise. Said president prevents what would have been a world ending war. Etcetera, etcetera. You remember the time matrix.” Marco nodded. “But other things… some things are unchangeable. They will happen regardless. I don’t know why, but they do. The yeerks will always invade earth. The outcome of that war may change, but not the fact that it exists. Tobias will always fall through that black hole. It might be when he’s 19 or 60 but it will always happen.”

It was too much. This was all too much. “Why am I here?”

The Ellimist smiled at him. “Because you’ve always been great at finding the bright clear line. And right now I need that.”

Marco yelped as suddenly there were strings and lines and threads of all lengths and colors around him. He had the strangest feeling that if he moved, he’d be cut in pieces. Tobias snorted. “These aren’t lasers.” Marco glared at him. He really hated it when he did that. Tobias ignored him. “This is the fabric of time and space. A copy of it anyway.”

“Right, because that’s so much less terrifying,” Marco muttered. Still, he reached out a tentative finger and touched one of the strings.That section of the thread vibrated, and immediately, the threads around it began to vibrate as well.

“That’s a ripple,” The Ellimist explained. “Some changes have much bigger ripples than others. Watch.” Tobias reached out a finger and plucked one thread. The strings around it barely moved. He plucked at another and hundreds of threads around it began to vibrate. One of the threads, one that seemed to stretch for miles, shook violently, shaking other threads as it went. Marco followed the string with his eyes until he saw-

“What the hell is that?”

Tobias waved a hand in the air. “Jesus fucking christ,” Marco exclaimed as the strings all moved to the side, a new section of the threads now in front of him. Tobias waved his hand again. This new section of threads made way for new ones. The Ellimist was scrolling through the threads. He continued to do so until the section Marco had seen appeared before them. The rest of the thread had been taut and a bright, glowing white. This part was brittle, twisting and sagging, and a putrid greenish-black.

“I call it the rot,” Tobias explained. “This is one of those things that can’t be avoided.” The rot spread from one section of threads to the rest. Tobias scrolled through sections of the threads again. Soon, the only threads Marco could see were those that were rotting.

“What is it?” Marco said.

“It’s not good,” Tobias said plainly. “It’s like a poison. Maybe a virus. Every thread you see here represents thousands, millions of sentient beings destroyed by the rot. Not killed, but worse. If left unchecked, it will continue to spread to all threads around it. This is what I wanted your help with.”

“Don’t suppose I have much of a choice,” Marco said bitterly.

“Of course you have a choice, Marco.”

“Yeah? Stay here and talk to you or go back to bleeding out aboard the Rachel?”

Tobias winced. “Yeah, sorry. I can’t-”

“Can’t interfere. Yeah, yeah.” Marco rolled his eyes and sighed. It had been the right move, to come to him as Tobias. Marco was angry. So very mad and bitter and betrayed. But it would be so much easier to refuse to help the Ellimist he knew, an aggravating strange old man, than his old, trusted friend. Marco wondered for a second if maybe the Ellimist was making the whole thing up. But what difference did it make, really? He was still dead.

“I’ve run through hundreds and thousands of scenarios,” Not-Tobias said. He zoomed out of this section of threads. Zoomed into other sections of threads. He strung some threads. Cut others. Braided some with each other.  “I’ve even played out a couple,” he admitted, “when I thought I had figured out a way to contain it.” Every time he zoomed out, the rot was still there. Sometimes the spread of it was bigger. Other times it was contained to smaller sections of threads. “I can’t get rid of it. I can only hope to contain it. Try to delay it as much as I can.” Marco stepped back. There were hundreds, thousands, millions of possibilities. How could he possibly- 

“I found one possibility, one way to contain it as much as I can.” Tobias zoomed out one more time, carefully zoomed in until he found a specific set of threads. He cut them. He zoomed out again and again and scrolled and scrolled. Finally, towards what seemed to be the end of the threads, Marco saw the rot. It was contained to a few single strings. “If I play my cards right, I may even be able to contain the Crayak here.” Marco looked towards the end of the threads and saw only darkness.

“What’s-”

“That’s the inevitable heat death of the universe. Or this universe at least. Maybe another one eventually evolves again. I can’t say for certain.” Not-Tobias shrugged. Marco blinked at him. “Don’t worry about it. It won’t happen for another few million years.”

Marco shook his head, looked back towards what was left of the rot in this scenario. “It seems like you have your answer then. Why not set it into motion?”

The Ellimist zoomed back to where he had cut the strings. He pointed at them. “This is humanity.”

Marco gaped at him. “No. No! Are you insane? How is this even an option??”

“I’ve been looking for other options for centuries. I haven’t found any other way.”

“Then keep looking!” Marco yelled. “How could you even consider this? These are your people!!”

The Ellimist shook his head. “I haven’t been a human for a long time. And regardless, it isn’t just humanity I have to protect. There are millions of other species out there. Thousands-”

“You can’t just undo everything we fought for! Everything you fought for! What’s the matter-”

With a wave of the Ellimist’s hand, Marco was suddenly gone. Back at the Rachel. But not in pain. The Ellimist filled his mind with only his happiest memories. For Marco, this conversation never happened. He would meet death not with fear, but with a laugh.

It was what the Ellimist should have done in the first place. He never should have talked to him, revealed himself, upset him for now reason before his death. Besides, this conversation usually ended the same way. 

It had been a while since he’d appeared in front of his old friends, since he’d told them the truth of who he was.

Hi Jake.

How’s it going, Cassie?

Hey, Ax-man.

Maybe he should have gone to Cassie, instead. Technically she wouldn’t be dead for another sixty years. Not that it mattered. She might be able to understand.

But.

The Ellimist had not gone to Marco to help him find a solution. He knew the solution. This was the solution. This was what he needed to do.

He could not sacrifice billions upon billions of lives to save one planet, no matter how dear it was to him. He could not be selfish about this.

But.

He had talked to one of his old friends. Felt his anger. His betrayal. The Ellimist has been reminded of he’d been, once upon a time. He had looked back.

The Ellimist needed to make his next move. He needed to defeat Crayak or risk losing so much more than humanity. He needed to stop the rot.

But the Ellimist always looked back.

He sighed. You win, he thought. He would keep looking. Maybe he would find another solution. Maybe this time, the end would be different. 

Maybe if he started from the beginning one more time.

..

My name is Tobias. I can’t tell you my last name. Or where I live. It’s too dangerous.

[formulafics]

★ ALL THE RUMORS ARE TRUE | DR3

Scenario: in which ferrari’s favorite girl has thing for redbull’s favorite aussie, and has no shame in it. — a social media au

Pairing: daniel ricciardo x reader

A/N: Here is the second and last part to this fic! I hope you enjoy, and i’m sorry that I had to split the posts but i’ve tried tumblr on a computer and I just can’t get used to it. Also, this is my first time making the fake tweets so please ignore the little mistakes 😭

PART ONE | PART TWO -> Keep Reading

yn_ferrari

liked by danielricciardo, charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1, redbullracing, georgerussel63, and 457,389 others

yn_ferrari While I don’t normally post about other drivers victories, I wanted to congratulate @/danielricciardo today! An absolutely epic win, and most definitely deserved one. So proud of you. Ily ❤️

danielricciardo Thank you so much, yn. It’s an honor to be on the same track as you. Ily more!

norrisnation what does this mean? daniel-yn confirmed?

⤷ f1obssessed i mean…between her tweet, this post, and daniel’s response, i’d say it’s obvious

liked by yn_ferrari

⤷ mv1defender i need y’all to be fr. she’s literally just congratulating him on a win and y’all have your panties in a twist

⤷ levelupleclerc the only other person she’s congratulated like this was charles, and we know they’re close so i’d say, based off of the other stuff, this is just another sign that she and daniel are more than friends

charles_leclerc sad to see that i’m not the only driver you congratulated anymore

⤷ yn_ferrari you may not be the only one, but you were the first one 😌

yn_ferrari

liked by danielricciardo, lando.jpg, charles_leclerc, georgerussel63, logansargeant, and 657,351 more

yn_ferrari Happy one year to my most favorite human! I love you more than anything. I cant believe I managed to keep my mouth shut this whole time, but i’m so glad that I get to make posts like these now. Many more to come, and many more years with you, honey.

danielricciardo Who’s cutting onions in the redbull meeting room? I love you so much, baby.

⤷ dannyricworld IM GONNA SOB this is so sweet

landonorris A year of being a third wheel. Can’t believe I made it. Congratulations to you both ❤️

liked by charles_leclerc and maxverstappen1

formulaoneacc idk about you guys, but they are my parents

ynswife A YEAR? A YEAR? AND WE ONLY GENUINELY STARTED THINK YOU GUYS WERE TOGETHER A FEW WEEKS AGO?

⤷ gpierre10 idk who “we” is, but i’ve been calling this since october last year

⤷ levelupleclerc LITERALLY. i’ve been rooting for them since the beginning

[woozisguitar]

I just saw the orpheus and hades and the post you reblogged, istg I have no idea what it is about but it got me sooo intrigued.

so, here come the request for the 200 followers event, seungcheol as hades, a trope done very mostly, but it's just one specific moment from the Greek mythology that you'd looove so much.

anon I hope you know you unleashed something in me and i cant thank you enough 😭 what a time to write this when im riding off my hadestown/ epic high giving you a little kiss on the forehead (with consent ofc!) okay so hades doesnt really have any major myths/ stories (other than the persephone lore) so i decided to do a small lore kinda thing! really hope you like it!!!!

(long a/n below so feel free to skip that!!! tl;dr: me talking about future projects tbh)

please note: this is NOT lore/ myth accurate. the original myth has a lot of concerning themes and I wanted to focus more on like the longing and yearning bit. this is definitely inspired but in no way accurate!

requests for 200 celebration post: closed

warnings: its based on greek mythology 😭 , being alone and sad, Demeter is a terrible mom, very very toxic, mentions of kidnapping, hints at manipulating/ lying, tbh this explores more of seungcheol as hades's character but it is still x persephone! reader, animal injury (nothing too much in detail tho!), swearing, lmk if I missed any!

hades! seungcheol who was bored and unimpressed when tasked with taking care of the underworld, while his brothers took over the sky and sea. he knew the underworld was a dark and lonely place, and being given the ‘duty’ to take care of such a place felt more like a punishment than a reward. still, he guarded his expressions and took over his new eternal job.

hades! seungcheol who was glad to be able to spend some time away from the dark underworld at mount olympus. being around well, alive people, made him feel better than being surrounded by dead corpses.

hades! seungcheol who was hurt as fuck when his brothers suggested that he should stay in the underworld full time, unless called upon, because his presence made everything ‘dark, gloomy and smell like death.’

hades! seungcheol who accepted his fate of being lonely for the rest of his long, immortal life. on one of his visits to a village that was epidemic to a disease, he found a small puppy whimpering in the corner. he didn't seem too hurt, but seungcheol decided to check if the pup had other injuries. when he approached, he realized this was no ordinary puppy but one who had 3 heads.

hades! seungcheol who took the puppy to the underworld, tended to its small scratches and wounds. the pup, after taking a liking to seungcheol, decided to stay around and for the first time in his life, he had someone who decided to stay willingly. he initially wanted to name it spot, because of a big spot in the middle of its back, but decided to name it cerberus. after all, this was the puppy of the king of the underworld.

hades! seungcheol who spent the rest of his time apart from work, playing and training cerberus and building his empire. when he was given the underworld, no one really knew what it was like. with absolute chaos and no authoritarian power in control, this place was a mess to fix. from making 3 sectors, elysium, a paradise for the good; tartarus, a black pit for the bad; and the asphodel meadows, which numbed the minds of the dead, after a decision is taken on a soul to deciding where a soul would belong, seungcheol had a lot of work to do if he wanted to establish himself as king.

hades! seungcheol constructed a systematic governing system for the underworld, after aeons of working hard, no idea about how much time had passed aboveground. and even after all these years, he felt an ache, a longing in his heart. all his siblings had found themselves partners, or decided to dedicate their time to duties, if they weren't too keen on a romantic partnership. all but seungcheol. he would stay up fantasizing about meeting someone someday and perhaps falling in love with them. the blurred face in his dreams haunted him on most nights, but when he woke up, all the signs and traces of this person disappeared, leaving seungcheol alone in his solitude.

hades! seungcheol who first saw you picking flowers in the fields outside olympus. he was summoned by zeus to discuss some things, not that he really cared. he knew his siblings well enough to know this was yet another temper tantrum. still, he was bored out of his mind in the underworld and decided to humor them this once. on his way to the palace, he saw you collecting flowers with other nymphs and was absolutely smitten by you. the way you were giggling with other nymphs, picking each flower with absolute precision, almost as if to ensure you wouldn't hurt it. seungcheol saw the way your eyes shone in the sunlight and the way the wind fluttered your hair. now, seungcheol wasn't one to fall for someone the first time he saw them. but you, you were different. the nymphs around you took notice of his presence and before they would alert him, he shadow traveled the rest of his way to the palace.

hades!seungcheol who for the love of all gods could not stop thinking about you. he did his ground research after reaching olympus. decades of staying away meant he missed a lot of new gods and events. he found that you were persephone, goddess of spring and daughter of demeter (yikes!). he also found that demeter was rather possessive of her daughter, not allowing her to wander too far or for any of the gods to interact with you without her permission first (double yikes!).

hades!seungcheol who had somehow convinced himself that the best person to ask for advice was his playboy of a brother, zeus. seungcheol saw zeus alone in the throne room, later in the evening, and decided to ask him at once. zeus saw him approach and his eyes lit up, “hades! how are you, my brother!” seungcheol internally cringed at the name zeus used. when he and his siblings took over the reign, they decided to use more god-like names. but seungcheol could never forget the soft murmur of his mother’s voice naming him seungcheol and the faint screams of her agony when his father ate him. seungcheol shook his head to get rid of the memories and walked up to his brother. “i’m well, zeus. how are you?” “i’m great! as great as the most powerful being in this universe could be, i suppose,” his booming laughter made seungcheol wince. such a prick. “so tell me, to what do i owe this pleasure?” seungcheol tightened his jaw, giving himself the last boost of confidence, and uttered, “i need your help in impressing a girl.” a devious grin took over zeus’s face. “well, you’ve come to the right person! and who is this pretty lady you’re planning to charm, my brother?” “persephone... goddess of spring,” seungcheol muttered, looking away. “persephone?? demeter’s daughter persephone?? oh, she’s going to turn you into wheat and feed you to her cattle,” zeus shook his head before his eyes lit up again. “well, there is one way, but it’s rather ... unethical.” when seungcheol motioned for him to continue, he said, “you could, you know, kidnap her and take her to the underworld. that's your realm after all.”

hades!seungcheol who wasn’t sure if he was mad at zeus for suggesting this or mad at himself for even considering it. he weighed the pros and cons before deciding to fuck it. he would deal with the aftermath later, yeah sure. he devised a totally foolproof, amazing plan where he would kidnap you from the fields you would often pick and plant flowers in during the early hours of the day so no one would notice him. curse his dramatics, he couldn’t help but ‘appear’ in front of you from the shadows, startling you. you jumped in fear when you saw a stranger appear from the shadow of the trees, but having heard his legends, you instantly knew this was hades, king of the underworld. he was wearing a black three-piece suit, his hair fixed to perfection. he looked slightly out of place in your field, but you were too scared to take notice. dropping in a small bow, you greeted him. “king hades, to what do i owe this visit?” hades cocked his head to the side and reminded you a bit of a lost puppy. “please, ditch the formalities. you know me?” you stood up straight and nodded at his question. “well, i’ve heard legends about you so…” you mumbled the last part, suddenly feeling flush. hades threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh before straightening up again. “very well then, persephone, goddess of spring, i fear i have to take you to the underworld with me. you see, i wish to have a garden in my home but with no sun or fertility down there, it’s hard to grow anything,” hades pouted and looked at you. “but surely the goddess of spring can pull some strings and help me out?” you contemplated his request for a moment. you knew your mother was very strict, never allowing you to leave this field or home without permission. maybe this was your one chance to see the world beyond by the grace of fates. you saw hades still pouting and looking at you with a silent request in his eyes. eh, i'll get mother to calm down when i come back, you thought to yourself. “alright, i’ll come with you, my lord.” “ah, very well then, let’s go,” hades snapped his fingers and a portal to the underworld opened with a chariot led by shadow-like horses. “and by the way, please call me seungcheol.”

hades!seungcheol who felt his heart beat right out of his chest with you seated next to him on his chariot, gazing at everything in fascination. seungcheol was a man who believed in romance, and the idea of even forming a friendship with you on the foundations of a lie made him feel more guilty than the worst sinner in the fields of punishment. when the two of you got off his chariot on the grounds of his palace, you took a minute to absorb everything around you. seungcheol, on the other hand, stared at the faint glow around you. this dark, gloomy palace felt so much lighter with you around. the thought of watching you planting and picking flowers made him feel a small ball of light in his chest, but the guilt of lying gnawed its way through. he was about to ask you if you’d like to see the rest of his palace when a loud, happy bark tore through the silence. seungcheol saw cerberus run towards you at full speed, knocking you to the ground with the sheer force of his happy zoomies. you giggled when the three-headed pup tried to lick your face all at the same time and you tried to pet all three heads at once. guess he wanted someone new too, huh. seungcheol smiled at the sight. “well, that's cerberus. come on, boy, let her breathe.” cerberus walked back, hopping between you and his owner, his happy barks filling the air. you let out a disbelieving laugh. “this good boy is the scary, guard of the underworld, hound of hades?” you said in a baby voice, petting cerberus, who let out a woof to agree in response. “come on now, let me show you the rest of the palace and the garden.” hades!seungcheol who felt restless throughout the tour while you looked around in awe. he felt pride in knowing that you were so amazed by something he spent aeons building from scratch. cerberus followed the two of you, letting out a happy bark every now and then. when you reached the garden, seungcheol couldn’t hold it in anymore. the guilt of lying was eating away at him in the worst possible way. “persephone, there's something i have to tell you,” he said as the three of you entered the garden. you nodded at him to continue, and he told you everything, from seeing you for the first time to zeus’s suggestion. “i-i really like you, persephone, and i know it's stupid because we don’t know each other, and i don’t know what i was thinking listening to my stupid brother, but i just couldn’t live without telling you the truth,” he finished slightly out of breath. you nodded, taking it all in. you knew all about how the gods would claim to love then leave, but seungcheol’s honesty made you want to give him a chance. plus, it’s not every day the king of the underworld ends up liking you. getting tired of the same field and flowers, you decided to give this a chance with seungcheol. you walked closer to him and whispered, “i would like you to call me y/n.”

hades!seungcheol who bid you farewell with a heavy heart. he told you that if you want to keep coming back, you’d have to eat the fruit of the underworld, pomegranate seeds. you smirked and took a handful, popping them in your mouth. after spending a few hours exploring his palace, you decided it was time to go back before your mother wrecked havoc on the world. you and seungcheol had an odd arrangement. on some days, you would come down to him and spend the early morning walking around his palace, and on other days, he would visit you late at night, and you would show him your field. giggling away in hiding, for the longest time the two of you didn’t feel completely alone in a room full of people. seungcheol made a point to attend all the stupid parties the gods hosted in hopes of catching you there. a sneaking look, a fleeting smile was enough to make both your hearts flutter. one night, seungcheol was on his way to see you, but when he knocked on your window, your mother demeter opened it. he saw you trying to hide behind her, tears stained on your cheeks. seungcheol felt an unexplainable urge to hurt whoever did this to his beloved, and the shadows around the room bent towards him. demeter felt the power surge but held her ground. “persephone, go to my room,” she said, giving her no chance to argue. with one last look at seungcheol, you walked out, leaving him alone with your mother. “what do you want from her?” demeter growled. “nothing wrong, i promise. i want to marry your daughter. i-i love her.” “don’t fucking lie to me, hades. i know the likes of you. all you dogs are the same,” she spat out. “you leave her the fuck alone. i don’t care what games you’re trying to play, but she will be no part of it.” “i’m not like them,” seungcheol whispered, “I really, really love her. you can ask her yourself. i never pressured her into doing anything and i never will. demeter, please, i’m not trying to play any games, i swear.” hades!seungcheol who, for the first time in his long life, went down on his knees to beg your mother. demeter watched as one of the big three, king of the underworld realm, begged on his knees. with distaste, she told him to follow. when she entered, she asked you, “did he ever try to do something to you? and don’t you dare try to cover for him because i will know,” she gave you a pointed look. you looked at seungcheol, who was already staring at you. “n-no. he never did anything i wasn’t comfortable with, i swear, mother, i lov-” demeter cut you off by showing her hand as if to say enough. she turned her back towards you, and seungcheol slowly approached, sneaking an arm around you. “very well then, since hades here,” she sneered, “claims to love you and you love him, i approve of this marriage.” equally wide smiles broke out on both yours and seungcheol’s faces. “but,” your mother continued, “you will spend only half of the year, six moon cycles, with him. after that, you will come back to me. you are, after all, the goddess of spring, and the aboveworld needs you more than the land of the dead,” she ended bitterly, almost like the word itself left a terrible taste in her mouth. you tried to argue how it was unfair, but she held her hand up. “it is this or nothing,” she said with a tone of finality. before you could try to reason with her, seungcheol spoke up in a low voice, “very well. i will take her as my bride, and she will stay with me for half of the year and with you for the other half.” demeter smirked and, with a sense of victory, turned around on her heel. “well, i’ll go inform my nymphs that we have a wedding to prepare for,” she said, leaving you alone with seungcheol.

hades!seungcheol who embraced you the second your mother left, holding you close to his chest as you sobbed. “why did you agree with her?” you asked in between sobs. seungcheol bent to your height, cupping your face, and pressed a kiss to your forehead. “because, my love, i would rather have you in my arms for a moment than not have you in my life at all. my whole life, it-it has been very, very lonely. and then i met you, and it was almost as if you bloomed flowers all over my barren heart,” he giggled wetly, “i agreed with her because i knew she would never let me have you all to myself. you’re so amazing, my y/n, and the fact i will be able to share half a year with you in my arms is already a blessing for me. you will be my queen, the one who rules my kingdom alongside me. my persephone. my y/n. i don’t think i could give you up for anything this world and universe had to offer. i-i love you...” he ended, body shaking in sobs. you smiled at him in your equally teary, messy state and went on your tiptoes. you kissed him deeply, pouring all your emotions. you felt like your heart was about to explode with all the love you felt for him. when you pulled apart, out of breath, seungcheol leaned his forehead on yours. “i love you, my seungcheol,” you whispered, and the prettiest smile broke out on his tear-stricken face.

hades!seungcheol who, for the first time in his life, didn’t feel so utterly alone and hopeless. when you, his wife, was in the underworld, you consumed all his waking moments, trying to make up for lost time. and when you were aboveground, both he and cerberus waited for your return. over time, this arrangement felt easier, time would feel shorter, and he got demeter to agree to let him visit you for those six months above ground. whenever he held you in his arms, he felt content knowing that no matter how far you would go, you would always find your way back to him. forever, his queen, his y/n.

a/n: I am SO sorry for disappearing. work is killing my ass. so I have 2 plans. one is to complete all my reqs I still have a few (many) remaining and second is to one a long fic for my birthday. it is also based on a greek mythology epic (pretty much an orpheus x eurydice retelling starring jihoon) and that will hopefully be scheduled for my birthday (27th of this month) please let me know if you will be interested in the birthday fic or if I should do something else! also im closing my reqs for a bit I have a lot to catch up on. I want to post all the backlog fics before I take on new reqs but feel free to drop in a say a hi (or remind me to follow you im going on a follow spree after this!) or if you have any suggestions for the birthday event!! again so sorry for dropping I will try to stay more consistent!!!

[morallygreychaoticneutral]

Astarion is more than a pretty face.

Sooooo many thoughts on this character. One could spend hours picking apart details and cannons. So here is one of mine.

He is not a "Pretty Idiot"

I don't think Astarion is "unintelligent" at all. Some people argue that certain lines within the game suggest it, such as the mind flayer at the epilogue party saying he has a less wrinkled brain, or his epic plan to kill Cazador.

First, there is nothing that says mind flayers can see your brain through your skull. So the less wrinkled comment is an assumption based off of what the companion knows about him through interaction. And as far as the epic plan goes, there is a reason there is no detail to it. He doesn't trust his own ideas.

Walk with me.

Imagine you have spent two hundred years being told everything about you is worthless. Imagine being asked questions just be torn apart for not answering "correctly". Imagine spending so much time in fight or flight your brain defaults to Neverland just to escape your reality. Imagine having to mask specific aspects of your personality to appease others.

These are all real side effects to mental and physical abuse. And it is game fact that Astarion was seriously abused on unimaginable levels. I'm sure Cazaloser enjoyed taking every scrap of self worth Astarion had and I'm sure he beat the hell out of him with it. And if there is anything a narcissist loves to do, its make sure their victims believe they are stupid and worthless.

I think he is intelligent. He just doesn't trust himself to make the "right" decisions anymore. Not early on anyway. His disassociation probably causes him to "black out" and miss key info about situations most of the time anyway. Also, he probably has a deep fear of being blamed if something goes wrong. So he makes his opinions vague and your idea so he always has a foot out the door if he is challenged. Smart tactic. Manipulative AF, but ..smart.

I also think this because certain things change after you complete his quest and kill the * insert colorful and appropriate adjective here*.

He starts to make definite decisions. Such as choosing you without being vague or making it your idea. He's straight forward and decisive about it.

He starts giving more thoughtful opinions. Such as what he says about Dame Aylin after she feels off about killing Lorrokan. That's a complete and connective opinion. Not just. "Oh, I don't know."

He stops depreciating things he likes. He says he hates puns, but uses them quite often. And puns take a certain level of wit to pull off.

His voice drops. Ending sentences on an upward inflection appear less threatening. Like throwing a smiley face at the end of a comment you are worried will elicit a negative response from if you dont. Post kill, more of his responses end on a downward inflection. The mask is dropping. He was smart enough to realize changing his voice would help him stay safe. Hmm...

Not a pretty idiot. Just pretty complicated.

Just my opinion.

[hoovesandfloorpaws]

Louis' rocky path to his first album

..and how it might have been the reason/one of the reasons why Louis shared Always You with us the way that he did.

I don't want to saddle this amazing post about the Always You snippet and little scavenger hunt Louis took us on on Aug 24, 2017 with a too-long derail, so i'm gonna make this separate post. But please definitely read that post, too, it's so good! It'll make you shake your fist and go "LOUIS!!" (affectionately) 💙💚

-

This is for possible context re: him saying he was "pissed off about industry shit" and it resulting in him sharing the snippet in August 2017 and what long breath Louis had to have in order to finally get to release his debut solo album. Disclaimer: obviously there was much more going on in Louis' life during those 3 years - lots of yucky stunting that left Louis looking dead behind the eyes (esp. because on top of it he was also still grieving heavily), Harry releasing his first album, starring in his first Hollywood film, and going on worldwide tours. Louis obviously not being able to accompany him publicly to premieres or to all the shows - in combination it likely resulting in a lot more physical separation than they were ever used to, possible rough patches between them as a couple, Louis' sister unexpectedly passing away and the subsequent massive grief after already having lost his beloved Mum just 2.5 years prior, weekly appearances on TV with the giant asshole who iron-closeted him and his spider mouse ever since they were teenagers, a few public slip ups/outings from within their work circles, Harry turning into a horse on live radio despite being able to yell NO when he wanted to, Louis beaming with pride every single time he was asked about his Harry - and much more. His/their life is complex and busy and I'm only shining light on a couple of things here.

We know Louis had wanted to finally record his album in 2017 and release it in 2018. He said it again and again in his tweets and I personally don't think he was lying or stalling. (additionally, a plan for a 2018 album release + tour for 'a managed artist' was mentioned in a strategic report of the 1D company One Mode Productions Ltd., but by that point it was directed purely by 3 big players from Modest! Mgmt and that plan could've been BS from the start and could have still been an old remnant of the original plans Modest had for 1D after their hiatus; it never happened and the company was acquired by Universal Music in July 2020. Exact detail about that will be/are in my H&L companies masterpost)

In June 2017 Louis had been finally supposed to be signed with a new label under Sony, RSA...

(tweet)

...but then an exec from Epic Records campaigned to get Louis to them instead, because she had loved Just Hold On, so he signed with Epic in July 2017.

(tweet)

It needs to be said that the reason for Epic wanting to sign Louis based on that collab with Steve Aoki potentially meant they were hoping he was going to make more of that kind of music. -- which he never did, so he possibly also never wanted to in the first place (quite the recipe for disaster). And Louis was lagging behind to the public eye; he was the only member of 1D who hadn't released more than 1 single since the start of the hiatus. Zayn and Harry had already released an album by that point, Liam had had 2 pretty successful singles, and Niall had his first album set to be released in October that year. Louis being at a disadvantage wasn't his fault or within his control at all, though, with having lost his Mum 8 months prior. Syco and Sony faffing about with the record deals for him is certainly not something a grieving (and closeted & stunt-riddled) first-time solo musician needs when they just want to focus on finally releasing their first album and wanting to focus on that. During that time, it's especially essential to have a record label on board which understands and shares the same vision of the album, so concepts can be discussed, demos sent and given feedback on, timelines for PR and marketing coordinated, release dates planned, etc.

Within the same month, on July 21, 2017, Louis did release Back To You on via his own label, 78 Productions. (78 Productions Ltd. is also one of his companies) and Epic Records. Syco helped with promo in the UK. Back To You wasn't a first single of the album, though! Like with Just Hold On, Back To You's genre was vastly different from the albums Louis would later come to release, so it leads me to believe it was a fun filler project for him to work on with Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals and vice versa, and to finally put out some music that year and also do a few live performances.

A month later, he tweeted this:

(tweet)

4 days later, Louis gets pissed off "about some music industry shit" and a day later, he tweets:

(tweet) - and this is when he drops the snippet of Always You right at the part with the "I went to Amsterdam without you, all I could do was think about you". part and he keeps dropping hint after hint and we figure it out 💙💚 - and ends up putting that song on his debut album.

(1 month later, Harry leaves to start his first ever solo world tour in San Francisco, USA on Sep 25, 2017)

Months pass and still no album single incoming.

On Oct 11, 2017, Louis announces his next single will be postponed, but also drops Just Like You out of the blue:

(tweet) / (tweet) - although Louis says the song is "from the album", Just Like You never ends up on his first 2 albums.

Months pass again.. the single he said would come "later this year" turns out to be Miss You, released on Dec 1, 2017. The song doesn't end up on the regular album, only appears as a bonus track on the Japanese Edition.

(On Dec 8, 2017, Harry finishes his world tour in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2018... and Louis seems to become increasingly more frustrated:

(tweet)

3 more months pass..

(Harry leaves to start his 2nd solo world tour in Basel, Switzerland on March 11, 2018)

Another month passes..

(tweet)

3 months later, and as a first step into a hopefully better direction, on July 19, 2018, it is announced that Louis has switched management and is now with Matt Vines from 7 Seven Management.

In July 2018 it's announced that Louis will appear on X-Factor as a judge that year.

(Coincidentally, Harry finishes his world tour on July 22, 2018 in New York City, USA)

Louis' X-Factor filming takes place (with breaks in between) from July 28 until Dec 2, 2018. (together with Simon Cowbell, so that must have been quite unpleasant at times, but Louis' contestant won! HA!)

Most importantly: no music at all gets released for Louis in all 2018!

(Harry leaves to start a very short tour in Singapore on Nov 23, 2018 and already finishes on Dec 7, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2019...

And then fucking finally, in Feb 2019, it is announced that Louis has signed with Arista, who also belong to Sony. Louis can finally really start working on the album now!

On March 7, 2019, he releases Two Of Us - the first proper single of the upcoming album and a beautiful song he wrote for his Mum. But the joy doesn't last long -- sadly only 1 week later, on March 13, 2019, Louis' sister Félicité unexpectedly passes away and this completely throws life off its hinges again :( 🖤

(Harry plays only 2 shows on March 28 + 29, 2019 in New York City, USA, because he inducts beloved Stevie Nicks into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame - but he doesn't tour again until October; is also in the process of finishing the recording of his 2nd album, Fine Line)

4 months later, Louis tweets this:

(tweet)

Things finally go according to (an obviously existing) plan now and it's clear that there's a proper release schedule at work. The single and music video releases are firing on all cylinders. Starting from September, there's basically a new Louis release every month. There's concepts for all music videos, as they all tell a multiple-part continuous story. Kill My Mind is released on Sep 5, 2019 We Made It follows up on Oct 24, 2019 Don't Let It Break Your Heart on Nov 23, 2019 then there's the usual Christmas break (X-mas is mostly for album releases, case in point: Harry's Fine Line's released on Dec 13, 2019) Walls, the album title single, is released on Jan 17, 2020 -- 2 weeks before the album release.

When asked what's his favorite song on the album, he replies with this:

(tweet) And on Jan 31, 2020 Louis' finally gets to release his debut solo album Walls! 🙌🏼

3 years in the active making and a frustrating 2 years later than he'd hoped for.

Because within just 3 years, Simon tried/succeeded to sign Louis to three different Sony-owned record labels! Possibly also because Louis made it clear he was not going to release his album with Syco alone, but that's just speculation on me part. (I also need to mention that Simon had already sold 50% of his shares in Syco Music to Sony in July 2015, leaving him with only 20% and he never re-acquired them, meaning since 2015 Simon was already 75% out of the door back then. Guess what he already knew would happen since the beginning of 2015, hmmmm?)

Personal thoughts: To me, that’s all absolutely wild behaviour to treat an artist like that. Someone who's made you such a fuckton of money already, too. (because let's be honest, the money's all people like Simon Cowbell and his Modest! minions care about) Simon's never had an ounce of integrity or loyalty in his body. To treat an artist, who to the public he claimed he was 'so close' to like this and to then see him struggle and still try to manipulate or bribe him into your own plans (the girlband, the management company, the DOA Triple Strings label) instead of finally letting him pursue what he so clearly wanted.. it's classic and disgusting. From my own professional experience of 15 years as an artist & tour manager, it is not surprising to me that Louis wasn’t able to establish any consistency within his career for the first 4 years. (And we probably only know half of the contractual shit Louis has had to deal with.) You'd usually need at least good management that you trust, that's ready to take the brunt of forces, but also makes sure you don't make certain mistakes (again), and that's ready to work with & for you in this. Record labels come second, especially since it's become easier nowadays to release shit indie and it's not like Louis' (and Harry's) household didn't have some funds-- but yeah, proper management is key! They're the junction where everything leads together. I have no idea what the James Grant Group thought they were doing with Louis, but it was complete weak sauce.

And although I'm also not a fan of Matt Vines and 7 Seven Management, they're definitely some kind of improvement. I understand Louis in preferring to work with people he's become close with and who he's already trusting, rather than taking the risk and choosing someone new - especially given Louis' very awful prior experiences with management. I hope Matt Vines steps up his game in the future, but from what I have learned in the past months, sadly I don't think 7 Seven Management have a good grasp on Louis' target group and fanbase and I'm not sure how much use they're making of proper market research. For an artist of Louis' caliber, they're doing too little.

Anyway, back to Syco, I think nobody is surprised that Louis had enough of it 1.5 years after Walls was released and finally ended things with Syco on July 11, 2020.

Now I want to end on saying that i'm only speculating something about his own record label / album delaying situation could've been the reason for him being pissed off. It also could've been something to do with the music industry in itself, something to do with Harry and him, something closeting- or stunt-related. I mean he did release a snippet of a song that's obviously about Harry and him. But he also released a snippet of a song that was supposed to be on his album. So yeah, the reason could've been a mix of both.

But even though we can't say that for sure, it was valid as hell that he was pissed. And he got to share the Always You snippet with us for it, such an incredibly special song; so clearly about Harry & him and he didn't give a fuck that night. And I think that's beautiful.

[madbard]

“Hunger is so heavy.”

I want to take a moment to rant about the role of hunger in Epic - specifically, the way nearly ever single saga is, at its core, a story about hunger and the way it affects us.

Let’s start with the Troy Saga. Odysseus’ men have won the war and are finally headed home when they run out of food. Upon discovering an island, Eurylochus immediately suggests they attack and take what they can. Right off the bat, the story associates hunger with violence. As we all know, Odysseus resists, and travels with Polites to the island of the lotus eaters - a society that has sacrificed their free will to slake their hunger for the glowing lotus fruits. If not for Odysseus recognizing the fruit, the crew could very well have met the same fate. Their hunger would have led to them losing their freedom forever.

Moving onto the Cyclops saga, the events of the Odyssey begin in earnest when Odysseus’ men slaughter Polyphemus’ sheep because they are starving. In response, Polyphemus decides to slaughter the entire crew and eat them instead - suddenly, theirs is not the only hunger that threatens their lives. The only reason they are able to escape is because Odysseus tempts Polyphemus with the “world’s best-tasting wine,” thus defeating the cyclops with his own thirst (I’m not going to differentiate between hunger and thirst here, as they are both intense physical cravings). Here, hunger is both a weakness and a threat. Giving in to hunger can lead to death and destruction, but hunger can also be used as a weapon, if you are clever.

Next up is the Ocean Saga. (This is where I start to seriously bend the definition of “hunger.”) This is the first saga in which food or lack thereof does not play a direct role. Here, Odysseus faces a new form of desire: exhaustion. Going back a bit, I described hunger as an intense physical craving for food. Well, what is exhaustion if not an intense physical craving for sleep? In this saga, Odysseus is given the chance to make it home. All he has to do is keep the storm trapped, and in order to do that, he has to stay awake. Odysseus resists his exhaustion for nine days, fighting off his desperate desire for sleep. But eventually, he relents and drifts off - which is when Eurylochus releases the storm and Poseidon kills all but 43 members of Odysseus’ crew. Once more, yielding to ‘hunger’ leads to tragedy.

Moving on to the Circe Saga, literal hunger plays a role yet again as Circe’s first move is to offer Odysseus’ men “something to eat.” The men soon discover that Circe enchanted their meal; upon eating, they are transformed into pigs - animals infamous for devouring anything in front of them. Here, hunger is portrayed as something animalistic, something which reduces the men from thinking, civilized beings to creatures, little better than livestock. Just a song later, though, Odysseus becomes powerful enough to face Circe when he consumes moly root. Notably, his consumption of this root was based on strategy, not hunger - a small but important distinction as it separates his consumption of the moly from his crew’s consumption of Circe’s meal. Wrapping up the Circe Saga, we have an entirely different kind of hunger as Circe offers to let Odysseus’ men go free if he shows his true colors in “acts of lust.” He refuses the promise of physical satisfaction because of his loyalty to Penelope, and in doing so, he earns Circe’s respect and assistance. Earlier in Epic, we were shown the power of hunger to inspire violence, tragedy and destruction. Here, we see it as an animalistic urge - the distinction between animals and men, then, is their capacity to resist such desires.

Writing this, the Underworld Saga was very frustrating for me because I could not find any significant references to hunger in any of the songs. Thinking back on it though, I wonder if that in itself is significant. The saga that takes place entirely in the world of the dead is the first saga not to heavily involve hunger or other forms of physical desire. Resisting hunger may be what distinguishes men from animals, but feeling hunger is what distinguishes the living from the dead.

Finally, we reach the Thunder Saga. The crew has run out of food for a final time, and in the grips of hunger, Eurylochus closes the cycle begun in the Cyclops saga when he slaughters the sun god’s cattle. At this point in the story, Eurylochus no longer believes they can return home. Eurylochus is exhausted, starving - he cannot bear to suffer any longer. Though Odysseus protests, Eurylochus insists that the crew cannot go on like this. They cannot survive much longer on these seas. His final defense as he slaughters the cattle? “I’m just a man.” The only person begging him to stop renounced his humanity in the Underworld.

Throughout Epic, hunger is a constant force. It inspires violence, steals free will. Submitting to it leads to tragedy, but it can also prove a powerful weapon. To resist it for a time is to be more than an animal. To feel it is to be alive. We cannot escape it forever, can’t fight it forever. In the end, we are bound by the needs of our fragile, ephemeral bodies. In the end, we must give in. And maybe, just maybe, that is what makes us human.

[baby-prince-oppa]

Fic/Art prompt idea:

𝐋𝐮𝐢𝐠𝐢 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞 - 𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐔

Can either be a Luigi x reader or (preferably) non-romance/smut + purely 3rd person that's very loosely based on some IRL events or perhaps even just a slice-of-life type of deal. However this is one of those things where you'd have to put a lot of research in, so I completely understand that not everyone has the time for that. 😅

Bullet points for this AU off the top of my head:

Son of a wealthy aristocratic family who owns one of the most popular bathhouses in all of Rome and co-owns a theater with another prominent family.

Luigi being educated in mathematics, engineering, and philosophy; practically a golden child in the House of Mangione. Loves to spend most of his time in the library.

Hobbies: chariot racing, archery, reading poetry and epics

His patron deities are Apollo and Asclepius.

Major concern over his chronic back pain (yup! still a thing here) so he has to see a physician frequently. May possibly render him unable to sire a future heir if the condition worsens, which is why Luigi remains unmarried past the expected time window since many potential suitors had to be turned away. Neighbors would gossip about it every now and then. A sense of shame threatens to consume his thoughts (he is his father's only son who couldn't continue the bloodline) but he represses it.

His beauty and brilliance still remains the talk of the town however, and the fact that he remains single for so long definitely adds to that allure. Every time he hangs out with his closest friends out in the marketplace or other public spaces, he is bound to turn many heads everywhere he goes.

[tagzpite]

In your idea of Fishysseus, how is Poseidon treated of Odysseus? more like a person/prisoner or with indifference?

I also didn't understand if Odysseus is completely blind or partially.

Anyway I love your drawings and your idea!! I hope you make more drawings or a story with us!! (Sorry for my bad english but I'm italian)

I would describe it almost as if Odysseus was a pet. He often checks in on him, to taunt him and such. All highly depending on his mood, he’s especially displeased whenever Odysseus breaks the chains and attempts to get to Ithaca. He would often cause fish to no longer be near the area, yet letting ships sail past so Odysseus has no other choice to hunt.

He is basically completely blind in a sense! One of his eyes is entirely unseeing while the other can only perceive light and dark, but he can’t see any colours or such. Barely even shapes.

And I definitely plan on more art!! A for the story, some of it is already out thanks to the lovely @prompted-wordsmith who I am collaborating on the project with! While the story is i pires by Epic and the events there, it’s also of course based off of the original book in many cases instead.

[perseidlion]

I'm new to the KAOS fandom, and I honestly love the way the show is riffing off myth.

I've seen some rumblings of some people thinking they're changing too much. But, uhhh, the show definitely never promised they'd be sticking close to myth by its whole *gestures broadly* deal. Also like...WHICH version of the myths? There are so many and they changed, sometimes drastically over time. KAOS is just really continuing the tradition of remixing these characters and the stories.

I feel like the people who are saying this takes it too far probably have a superficial understanding of Greek and Roman mythology. Cause if you really dig into it, these stories are weird, contradictory, raunchy, violent and tragic.

I was a Classics major for two years (before I decided I couldn't learn Latin or Greek which was required to study primary sources, so I switched majors.) And let me tell you, KAOS is VERY accurate to certain portrayals of the gods. Not all, of course, but many.

Zeus is absolutely a horndog dick who sleeps with all sorts of people and spreads his seed everywhere. I mean, he straight-up disguised himself as other people to have sex with their partners. Animals, too!

Hera is incredibly petty and vindictive and transforms people into all sorts of things as punishment. She was especially hard on any of Zeus' lovers she caught, or his kids from different mothers.

Everyone was doing adultery all the time.

Hades wasn't a meek corporate type, but he also wasn't a devil analogue as he often gets interpreted as in pop culture. He's definitely a big ole grump and doesn't seem to have a soft side, but he's not often portrayed as evil. Zeus is not God and Hades is not Satan. That's really applying a Judeo-Christian framework to Greek mythology.

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice was always more about grief and not being able to let go than about the power of true love.

The gods gained obedience and worship through fear. They absolutely punished people who didn't worship they way they wanted them to.

The gods were a giant, powerful, highly dysfunctional family with lots of petty grievances and grudges.

The Greeks had no concept of gay or straight. They conceptualized sex and sexuality as acts, not an identity. They were more concerned about who was the passive person in a sexual encounter (for reasons of class and manliness) rather than what gender their partner was. So it makes sense that this modern retelling would have a similiarly open an undefined concept of sex and sexuality.

Greek myth is full of people who change genders or who swap back and forth through magic or prayer, or were both male and female at the same time. Caeneus in the show, is based on a real myth of someone AFAB who wished to become a man.

(sidenote: Misia Butler is so damned charming and handsome.)

It's also important to remember that the religion of the ancient Greeks lasted a very long time and changed over that time. There was also this really interesting dichotomy between the gods of plays and myths and the gods they worshipped in a religious context. That was one thing that is really hard to wrap your head around when you're studying Greek and Roman myth, especially when you're studying it alongside plays and epic poetry.

The gods of the stories who were being vengeful and petty and the gods they sacrificed to and worshipped were not the same - and they were. Sort of imagine it like Christian peoples' perceptions of Jesus vs Jesus in pop culture. Like, if you studied Dogma or Good Omens or something alongside the Bible and didn't distinguish between religion and pop culture, you'd definitely be confused.

So there are all these competing stores, some benevolent and holy, some raucous and scandalous. KAOS very ably continues in that tradition by remixing and recontextualizing the source material for a new audience.

They do some reaaalll weird thing with timelines, though! They squish together myth and pick and choose different versions and inspiration. But honestly that doesn't bother me because it's all done deliberately and not out of ignorance. They're changing what they've changed to serve the story.

Plus it's great fun. It's one of the most creative shows I've seen in ages. Go and watch it! As a bonus, it's also hella queer.

[slutforgarlogan]

Dates with Peter Maximoff | HC's

A/N: guys peter is genuinely my fav to write i love him sm. anyways this was based off this req, no warning today!! just cute fluffy stuff. reqs are open! <3

Short and sweet but ive returned !!

Dates Peter would SO take you on!

➳ Arcade date! we all know he would, he'd get happy when he beat your score, proving he is in fact, the best gamer ever - but he'd reward you with soda and kisses for your efforts. Would show you how to play as epic as him (minus the superspeed advantage) would stand behind u at the machines with his hands on yours showing you how to do it properly.

➳ I said it before I'll say it again: SOFTPLAY/INDOOR PLAYGROUND. just you two, chasing each other round the softplay, giggling and playfighting and stealing kisses, going down the deathslide together. Also, probably after hours when there's no one in the place, he'll just speed you guys out if you get caught.

➳ IF HES FEELING FANCY, he may take you out for a nice little meal, i think he'd take you somewhere that does all you can eat of your favourite type of food, little buffet (sushi for me guys). If he couldn't find anywhere he thought looked cool, he'd set you up a little cutesy table at home, and just buy a bunch of your favourite foods, and set them up all nice and cutesy on at the table, maybe light a candle, handpicked bouquet in the middle.

➳ DEFINITELY a movie marathon kinda guy. you'd have an abundance of snacks, both in your pj's, maybe matching ones, under blankets all cuddled up watching movies together. star wars marathon !!

➳ Peter is the type to remember things you tell him, so if you tell him there's somewhere you want to go, he'd remember, he'd get you something nice to wear, and he'd speed you over with him. He would always wait for these types of ones i think, theyre more occasions or surprises, and it'll always be a location you mentioned months and months back, but he'd remember them all and he'd make sure to take you everywhere you want to go.