#discord epic moments

[koifishhies]

I don’t know what’s happening with the livestream but I want you all to know that in it’s last few moments of being open, the epic the musical discord chat looked like this:

“CAPTAIN??”

“guys please stop spamming captain”

“yall where is the stream??”

“Captain?”

“i can’t find it is it on yt”

“CAPTAIN”

“where is it??? I cant find it”

“happy ithaca saga everyone 🥳”

“GUYS PLEASE STOP SPAMMING CAPTAIN”

“Someone get the mods a medal”

“Guys wheres the stream”

“WHERE IS HE?? WHERE IS HE???”

“KEEP YOUR CHATS CALM HE’S AIMING FOR CONFUSION”

“its 4 am in ithaca calm down”

“CAPTAIN?”

[knightobreath]

covid-induced shitposty art requests from discord (i inserted popcorn into as many as i could) (cool looking popcorn design by @skythealmighty)

confessiony and comicy ii 16 reactiom

and epic oliver moment

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side B

firestar art by @kudos-si-do

Propaganda below ⬇️

Kirei

He fucked up so many people's lives so badly in just one decade (not on purpose) that the universe put him in the summoning pool of all world influencing souls. He doesnt really have any special powers but he does serve as a vessel for rasputin at one point. He's the guy who says "people die when they are killed"

please please please there's literally a type moon character in the gif on the top of this form so it's typemoonphobic if none of them get in but it shouldn't be her it should be kirei bc he's 50x funnier & more iconic than jeanne. funny lil murder priest who's fucking THE gilgamesh (from the epic of) in the church basement and dies in a knife fight w a 17 year old whose dad he wanted to fuck back in '94 before realizing that he was actually kinda lame and he's been bitter abt it ever since. he has an orphan torture factory in his basement but he's also canonically good at being a priest. he's so funny you should def try his mapo tofu i swear it's totally safe for human consumption and not made with any california reapers. did i mention he's a deadbeat dad.

Priest claims to be Pro Life to make Sakura Matou the most miserable girl on the planet, but he dies anyway.

bro became a catholic because he loves suffering

He’s a priest. Kind of. Not a very good priest obviously. There is something seriously wrong and fucked up with that man. It’s so entertaining.

he's gotta be one of the most insane catholic men ever with a very in-depth and interesting relationship with his religion and his relationship with god also he's the sexiest man ever to be conceptualized in the known universe and all of time

Will never forget the 40+ minute monologue in heavens feel being a thinly veiled metaphor for abortion

he wants to torment churchgoers and make them face their failures and suffering but all he ends up doing is motivate them to improve themselves. cringefail moment for him

he's absolutely insane. the coldhearted mercenary that barely reacts to anything is terrified of kirei. he's super fucked up. his ult in stay night is literally him channeling divine power into something called kyrie eleison. he's the vessel of rasputin (on account of being a priest with a huge....no i shant say) the biblical beast in grand order among other things. he gets drunk with and tops gilgamesh from the epic of gilgamesh in the church basement after gilgamesh from the epic of gilgamesh bats his eyes a little too hard at kirei in some of the horniest shot scenes ive ever seen. he also used to be a heretical "fixer" for the church, cleaning up scenes that would expose shit to the public. uhh what else. he holds cool swords between his fingers like a kid pretending to be wolverine but in my favorite route he just squares the hell up with the protagonist and they fight to the death outside planned parenthood

Firestar

Kitty jesus, he believes in starclan which is the kitty version of heaven/god and yea. All the warrior cats characters except those outside the clans or those that are atheist believe in the kitty heaven and would irl be bri-ish and christian as hell so. The authors are all older british christian women and so the way starclan is written is like undoubtedly that.

The main religion in the series is extremely catholic coded. Most clan cats believe in Starclan and the Dark Forest(or heaven and hell). There is a set of rule they must uphold and follow, where following them leads to heaven and breaking them leads to hell. Their religious leaders are sworn to celibacy, and the punishments that "code breakers"(or cats who break the rules) face are extremely similar to situations people with religious trauma have gone through.

OP notes: apparently converted to avoid getting his balls cut?? Idk. The discord yet wild for firestar so I had to include him because it's hilarious hehehe

[oddyseye]

Things I did NOT like in the Ithaca Saga.

Okay, it was fine, but there were just...choices... There’s just stuff in that section that had me rolling my eyes so hard I thought they’d get stuck.

First up: "Hold Them Down." I get that Epic is trying to make the suitors worse villains, but the way they went about it was disgusting. That song outright says the suitors were planning to force themselves on Penelope, which is not even remotely in the Odyssey. Yes, the suitors are terrible — they’re greedy, arrogant, would-be killers who exploit her hospitality — but this crosses a line that feels like shock value rather than staying true to the source material. They included that song, but erased Calypso’s actions toward Odysseus? In the Odyssey, she held him captive for years and forced him into a relationship. That is literally such an important part of the story. Yet, not only did Epic omit it, but they also banned people from even discussing it in their Discord server. How does that make sense? You can explore one kind of assault but not acknowledge the other, especially when the one they ignored was actually canon? The double standard is infuriating, and it completely undermines the narrative’s integrity. Yet somehow this suitor nonsense made the cut? Make it make sense, because I can’t. Next, Telemachus. Why did they do my boy so dirty? In the Odyssey, he was brave, capable, and growing into his own. He fought beside Odysseus, killed suitors, and even comes this close to stringing Odysseus’ old bow, which is supposed to be impossible for anyone but...well. Odysseus. That’s a huge moment! It shows how much he’s grown and how much of Odysseus’ strength and legacy he carries within him. But in Epic? They turned him into some weak, helpless little thing who can’t do anything without Odysseus. Like, hello? Telemachus isn’t just Odysseus’ son; he’s a fighter, a prince, and a man trying to defend his home. Stripping that away to make Odysseus look like more of a hero is just lazy and disrespectful to the original story. They took away his courage, his growth, and his ability to hold his own. It’s like they didn’t trust the audience to see Odysseus as a hero unless Telemachus was made to look useless by comparison. And then we get to Odysseus and Athena. What even was that? Yes, the idea that Odysseus has become a “monster” is a fascinating angle—he’s been through so much that revenge, violence, and survival have completely overtaken who he once was. But Ithaca does nothing to earn this shift, and it outright ignores the groundwork laid in earlier sagas. Two sagas ago, we saw Odysseus at his lowest. He was stranded on Calypso’s island, completely defeated, and begging Athena for help. Let me say that again: begging. And this wasn’t just any goddess he was calling out to — this was the mentor who had abandoned him as a student. She had walked away, and he still reached out, still trusted her to save him when no one else could. That moment showed Odysseus’ faith in Athena and their deep, complicated bond. Calypso.

And Athena? She didn’t just listen—she fought for him. She went up against Zeus himself to make sure Odysseus could leave that island. She defied the king of the gods because she believed in him. Odysseus doesn’t know that detail, but we do, and it makes her devotion to him so much more impactful. She risked everything to give him another chance at life, at home, at redemption.

Fast-forward to Ithaca, and what do we get? Athena shows up, vulnerable and introspective, questioning the path they’ve taken and the world they’ve built, and Odysseus just brushes her off. He doesn’t just say no — he dismisses her entirely. His response boils down to, “Not my problem. I’ve got a wife to see.” Excuse me, now? This is the same man who was crying out for her intervention just two sagas ago. The same man whose survival has always depended on his intelligence, resourcefulness, and the help of others — Athena most of all. Now he’s too proud to even engage with her? It doesn’t track. It’s inconsistent, and it cheapens their relationship. She’s opening her heart, showing her vulnerability, wondering if there’s still a way for them to fix what they’ve broken. She didn’t owe him anything, but she did it because she believed in him, because she had invested in him from the start. So for him to now completely disregard her — when she’s in front of him, showing empathy and pain — feels like a betrayal of everything that came before. Odysseus’ monster arc didn’t need to erase Athena. In fact, rejecting the one person who literally raised him, who fought for him, who saved him so many times, doesn’t even make sense for his character. That’s not the arc of a man who’s become a monster; that’s just cruelty for cruelty’s sake.

This is someone who has given everything to Odysseus, and in this moment, she’s realizing that the person she fought for is no longer the man she thought he was. And that’s what’s tragic.

But Ithaca doesn’t explore that. Instead, it uses Odysseus’ rejection as a cheap plot point, stripping away the emotional weight of his relationship with Athena. She was the woman who raised him, who guided him, who saved him — and they reduced her to a mere plot device to show how “monster-ified” Odysseus has become. It’s lazy, it’s cruel, and it completely disregards the depth of their bond. The pain in Athena’s voice, the heartbreak in her words, is completely wasted.

Odysseus doesn’t need to be a monster who rejects Athena to be a tragic figure. The tragedy would have been in him choosing revenge and violence at the cost of his humanity, not in cutting ties with the one person who raised him into the hero he became. Ithaca could’ve explored that, but instead, it gave us a shallow, hollow portrayal that didn’t respect the characters, their history, or the emotional weight of their relationship. Ithaca is a hot mess, and it’s honestly embarrassing. It had all this potential, and yet it chose to phone it in with lazy writing and shallow plot twists. It throws out big ideas and then does nothing with them, leaving us with empty, unearned moments that just fall flat. Instead of digging into anything meaningful, it relies on cheap drama to get a reaction. The story feels rushed, disconnected from the other sagas, and like the creators couldn’t be bothered to put in the work. They had an opportunity to make something impactful and then just decided to half-ass it. If you're looking for a mess of missed potential, Ithaca is your go-to. That being said, the songs are sick and I will sob again over the last song. Thank you.

[katyawriteswhump]

top of the world, steddie microfic

For @steddiemicrofic May prompt ‘Top’.

Rating: T  CW: None WC: 510  Tags: kid fic, flashback, established Steddie, mild angst.

Inspired by a discord plot bunny from @bananahoneycomb that I've totally not done justice to (where steddie have been dating for a while before they realize they once knew each other before. ) Thank you anyway <3

... 

Eddie’s gotten Steve squished between him and a tree, and they’re kissing each other stupid. When they break apart—breathing is tragically necessary—Eddie glances to the treetops to snatch a giddy, Is this real? moment. Steve dabs his tongue around kiss-swollen lips and leans in to start the kiss over.

Eddie’s still staring upward: “Holy shit!”

“What is it?”

“I remember this exact tree. Some kid I once knew got stuck in it.”

Steve glances skyward, tenses, colour draining from his face. “Jesus, Munson—that was me.”

…

1977

“Johnny?”

On hearing his friend shouting from the treetop, Eddie cringed. If he’d known he’d pass the best month ever with this kid, he wouldn’t have lied about his name.

“I’m at the top, Johnny! C’mon!”

“Still gonna pass, Han. Not a huge fan of heights.”

“Wuss.”

“Ever coming down?”

Eddie waited. And waited. Han shouted, “Sure you won’t climb up?”

“Look, you win. You’re the dude. I’m a candy-ass dweeb.”

“Johnny, please.” Han’s voice turned wobbly. “You gotta help me. I’m stuck.”

…

“Hey, kid?” A voice rumbled from the bottom of Steve’s tree. “It’s Deputy Hopper. Got a ladder here. You think you can climb down?”

Steve’s arms and legs ached from clinging to the branches. He’d been AWESOME going up. Descending, he’d peeped downward, totally frozen up.

“N-not sure.” Steve sniffled. “C-can’t move.”

He daren’t even wipe his tears. This epically sucked. Being rescued like a stranded kitten was humiliating. Knowing he’d made a dork of himself in front of Johnny hurt worse.

“It’s Han, right?” called Hopper, ascending the ladder. Steve cringed. The dumbass things he’d done to impress Johnny! Then again, who wouldn’t want to be Han Solo for a summer? “You local?”

“It’s not Han. It’s Steve Harrington.” He bit his wibbly lower lip. When his parents discovered he’d been playing with strange kids in the forest, he’d be in deep shit. Right now, he didn’t care. “I want to go home.”

…

Eddie and Steve start garbling as one:

“Seriously?” Steve plants his hands furiously on his hips. “You deserted me up the stupid tree! I never saw you again!”

“Got help, didn’t I? I was scared too. When I knew you were safe, I basically fled—inherited my Dad’s healthy suspicion of the police, okay? Anyhow, you never showed again, either.”

“I was grounded till fall!”

“My mom moved away for work! I came back to Hawkins, years later, and then… I guess I had tats, the rocker hair. I looked for you, but… You used to be blonder, right, Han?”

“Yeah, Johnny?”

“Wanted to be Johnny Rotten—my short-lived Sex Pistols phase. Felt bad for lying. I didn’t expect to like you.”

“Well, I did all that shit to impress you. I guess you were my first crush. I was miserable for ages when you literally vanished.”

“Back at ya!”

They glare. Eddie’s fingers return to the nape of Steve’s neck, stroking tenderly. “Guess this makes us childhood sweethearts. How vomit-inducingly sweet.”

Steve huffs, rolls his eyes, and they launch into another blisteringly hot make-out session.

[felassan]

EA Press Release. [source link]

"Unite a Team of Heroes to Defeat Rampaging Elven Gods in Dragon Age™: The Veilguard Arriving in Fall 2024 June 09, 2024 Meet the Most Captivating Companions in the Franchise with New Cinematic Trailer; Official Gameplay Reveal with More Game Details Coming Tuesday, June 11 REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) and BioWare premiered a new cinematic trailer showcasing a brand new cast of companions who will join players in their journey through Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an all-new single-player fantasy RPG experience coming to PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S and PC in Fall 2024. Dragon Age: The Veilguardbuilds upon the pillars the iconic series is best known for, delivering a bold and heroic adventure guided by rich storytelling, fluid and strategic combat, companions and fellowship, and choices that matter. Tune into the official gameplay reveal of Dragon Age: The Veilguard featuring more than 15 minutes of gameplay from the opening moments of the experience on Tuesday, June 11 at 8:00 a.m. PT at the Dragon Age YouTube channel. In this next chapter of the critically-acclaimed saga, players will step into Dragon Age’snewest fully-customizable hero, Rook, battling on the front lines alongside an extraordinary cast of heroes known as the Veilguard. Fellowship is central to the experience of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, with each companion entering the fray with their own storylines, motivations and skill trees. In this tale that will decide the fate of Thedas forever, Rook must rise up, rally a team and forge relationships to become the unexpected leader others believe in. “Dragon Age: The Veilguardfeatures some of the deepest companion storylines in Dragon Agehistory, navigating romance, tragic loss and complex choices that will affect relationships with players and the fate of The Veilguard,” said John Epler, Creative Director of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. “BioWare’s storytelling roots shine through every chapter of this adventure, and we are incredibly excited for Dragon Age fans as well as those new to the series to experience this crafted, character-driven narrative that is so intertwined with our studio’s DNA.” Each companion in Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings their own expertise to the field of battle, summoning the grit to stand together and face impossible odds. Throughout their adventures, players can mix and match different team combinations of two of the game’s seven total companions at a time, to adapt to certain challenges and link powerful combinations that can turn the tide of any battle. The game’s cast of companions includes: Bellara, a creative and romantic Veil Jumper obsessed with uncovering ancient secrets. Davrin,a bold and charming Grey Warden who has made a name for himself as a monster hunter. Emmrich, a necromancer of Nevarra's Mourn Watch who comes complete with a skeletal assistant, Manfred. Harding, the dwarven scout, returns to the fray as a companion with her big heart, a positive outlook, and a ready bow – as well as unexpected magical powers. Lucanis, a poised & pragmatic assassin who descends from the bloodline of the House of Crows, a criminal organization renowned throughout Thedas. Neve, a cynic fighting for a better future, both as a private detective and a member of Tevinter's rebellious Shadow Dragons. Taash, a dragon hunter allied with the Lords of Fortune who lives for adventure and doesn't mind taking risks. Fans can add Dragon Age: The Veilguardto their wishlists on PlayStation, Xbox and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store. For additional information and to stay up to date on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, visit the official website, like Dragon Ageon Facebook, follow the franchise on Discord, TikTok, Tumblr, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), and subscribe to its YouTube channel."

[source link]

[wish-i-were-heather]

"if i can make it there i'll make it anywhere"

★ masterlist ★ spotify ★ pinterest ★ family ★

ABOUT ME~ my name is eunoia!! ★ i'm a minor, adults can interact but as a general rule for anyone if you're weird you get blocked ★ she/her★ christian ★ asexual biromantic ★ writer ★ greek mythology nerd ★ etymology enthusiast ★ wannabe photographer ★ poet ★ pianist ★ cabin 7 ★ slytherin ★ icarus apologist ★ true crime lover ★ neurodivergent ★ bookworm ★ estoy aprendiendo español ★ I AM SPIDERMAN ★ tea > coffee ★ spotify girly ★ CONAN GRAY, olivia rodrigo, the arctic monkeys, mitski, tv girl, chappell roan, sabrina carpenter, billie eilish, hozier, lana del rey ★

FANDOMS~ the inheritance games ★ shatter me ★ a good girl's guide to murder ★ dead boy detectives ★ percy jackson/heroes of olympus ★ heathers the musical ★ the folk of the air ★ arc of a scythe ★ epic the musical ★ the darkest minds ★ the good place ★ the maze runner ★ hamilton ★ marvel cinematic universe ★ stranger things ★ the hunger games ★ probably a lot more that i'm forgetting ★

CRACK INTRO~ don't ask about the cookie monster ★ I AM GRAYSON DAVENPORT HAWTHORNE'S ONE AND ONLY WIFE NO IF ANDS OR BUTS HE IS MINE ★ heather and lacy's #1 enemy ★ i promise being a redhead isn't my whole personality ★ i IRONICALLY use brainrot ★ i change my theme a lot, don't get attached ★ GO TO SLEEP ★ odds are i probably haven't eaten yet today ★ <- this is all just the nonsense abt myself i like to overshare ★

CURRENTLY~

reading: games untold by jennifer lynn barnes listeining to: the exit by conan gray watching: dead boy detectives

OTHER BLOGS~

arc of a scythe - @only-a-moment-ago yapping abt writing - @xxcxelum online diary - @ursogoldenn valencourt chaos - @freaknoia tig rp - @therealgraysonhawthorne yes i rp him i know i know let me be

moots can dm for my discord & insta!!

also if we're moots we're literally besties, message me or send an ask or tag me in anything even if we've never talked ily <3

TAGS~

random: #eunoia annoys '♡' mutuals: #moots 『🎕』 music: #headphones ♫ asks: #who asked ౨ৎ fics: #mightier than your sword𓂃🖋 edits: #in my editor era! ༉‧₊˚.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

The Wisdom Saga: My Thoughts

Hey all!!!! Here are my thoughts on the Wisdom Saga from EPIC: The Musical!

Overall it isn’t my favorite (Circe/Thunder my beloveds), but it’s still pretty good imho!

Legendary

Love how upbeat this one is. MICO as Telemachus is VERY good, and I especially liked the little trembles/voice cracks (?) as he sang! Gave Tem a “young” vibe.

also loved that “L-L-L-L-Legendary” lol

ITS THE ANIMATIC FROM THE REFERENCE VIDEO :D

The Suitors’ voices 👌 also ANTINUOUS JUMPSCARE. HOW DARE YOU CALL PENELOPE A TRAMP WHEN YOU’RE THE ONE TRYING TO GET INTO HER BED.

Antinuous’s lines are the perfect ick. The ToA Discord and I were all typing out various amounts of EW, ICKY, GET OUT at his parts.

Fight Little Wolf

This is possibly my favorite from this saga! I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while, and I was really excited for it! Athena coming in was brilliant and I love it :3

We’ll Be Fine

ATHENA CALLED ODYSSEUS FRIEND. OWIE.

Anybody else pick up on a similar melody to Open Arms? Because ow.

Love In Paradise

LOVED the flashbacks at the beginning!

The unhingedness Gigi gave Calypso LMAO Zero social interaction does that to you lol

“Last I checked goddesses can’t die!” Stream gets censored

I PANICKED AT THAT LMAO

all I hear are screams…the ptsd is real

“Stay in my open arms” and then IMMEDIATELY triggering an Open Arms reprise. HOW DARE YOU JAY.

NOT ONLY THAT. BUT ALSO EURYLOCUS REPRISING LUCK RUNS OUT AND ANTICLEA’S WAITING. OUCH.

God Games

This is in battle with Little Wolf for favorite Wisdom Saga song lol

THE INTRODUCTION TO THE GODS SLAPPED. WOLFY YOU WONDERFUL WOLF THAT WAS AWESOME.

APOLLO GIVING A LIL BOW AND CASUALLY WAVING TO (us) HIS ADORING FANS (also us)

don’t mind me fangirling he’s my favorite and he was GORGEOUS

Hephaestus being voiced by Jorge’s dad!!!!

I really liked how Luke Holt delivered Ares’s name. Very gritty and perfect I love <3

APOLLO’S LITTLE SMIRK WHEN HE SAYS “GREAT.” I’M DEAD I’VE DIED RIP ALDER

APOLLOOOOOOOOO

his part was sadly short, but honestly? It makes sense why it would be! Apollo really has no beef with Odysseus, and the Sirens are a little out of pocket, like he was assigned to play the game but is throwing Athena an easy thing to counter so he can get back to Orestes and also Athena owes him a solid so EPIC’s explanation for Athena helping Apollo in the Oresteia? 👀 I’m a nerd connecting the dots leave me be

“If that’s true then release him 🙄💅” Apollo has no time for this bullshit he’s like “come on dad why did you pull ME into this?” Lmaoooo

Hephaestus’s part about trust!! I love. Also the lyricism here and in Apollo’s is very very good <3

APHRODITE. Unlike Apollo and Hephaestus, who were rather quick to support Athena, she’s moments away from going “no ♥️💋”

ARES’S ENTRANCE WAS SPETACULAR NO NOTES I LOVE

DISCO HERA!! ANNIFLAMMA THAT WAS SO GOOD AHHHHHHH THE STYLE THE SWAG THE SASS 100/10

THUNDER BRINGER REPRISE AHHHHHH WITH BEAST MODE ZEUS

Also Athena ain’t dead lol she comes back in King isn’t it? Also she’s a GOD. Who CAN’T DIE.

I’ve seen criticism about Zeus attacking Athena, and about how he wouldn’t do that because she’s a favorite…but the thing is, in The Iliad, he does threaten to blast her and Hera off their chariots at one point…plus Apollo’s a favorite too, and he was nearly thrown into Tartarus by Zeus! Being the favorite doesn’t automatically mean you can get away with anything and everything, so I headcanon that Zeus got a bit more peeved than usual because of just how quickly Athena swayed the others (this can connect to the Odyssey then too, because the majority of the gods already agreed that Odysseus had suffered enough and were quite willing to let him go).

I have additional thoughts on God Games, but that’s for another post since it detracts from the actual livestream, but overall I really enjoyed this one! It’s the first livestream I’ve seen in full, though I do think Thunder Saga was more impactful to watch (I watched that livestream too, but came in at the end of No Longer You).

Two sagas to go!! I’ll be updating my tier list sometime soon as well, so stay tuned for that!!

[wellofdean]

Thinking about @luckshiptoshore and her liveblog of watching Supernatural and how much I love following it and how great it is to watch someone just fucking ENJOY the show...

And then, there were a couple of people in my Discord who love the fic, but have never watched the show, and folks in there were trying to convince them that it was worth watching (duh!) and that knowing the show by heart makes the fic so much better and like yes, again... DUH! And then I was suddenly overcome with such a feeling of ENVY for all the people who still have the chance to watch Supernatural for the first time already knowing what happens in the end.

I mean, I watched 14 years of it in real time (after downloading and bingeing season 1) and at least I was clever enough not to be in the fandom trenches that whole time, and just enjoyed it for what it was, but the end broke my brain, and changed the whole show for me.

Because, like, here's what happens in Supernatural by the end: Dean and Cas are in love. It was not subtle. Dean can't say it because he never has a single moment of not being up to his pretty, pretty eyeballs in dealing with the ongoing and constantly multiplying trauma of being the man his father raised him to be, and god's specialest boy to boot, but in the end, Cas finally does just fucking say it. Not only that, he waits until he can use it to save Dean, and show him once and for all in an incontrovertible, undeniable way exactly how deeply and truly loved and SEEN he is.

When you watch it knowing that, knowing that the the whole story is going to end in that stupid bunker dungeon with Cas telling Dean who he is and dying to save him, the whole thing just HITS DIFFERENT, because the Dean of season one with his outcast liminality and pretty, pretty lips is the poor, lonely, weird boy who will one day be loved like that by Castiel, an angel of the lord -- an impossible Eldritch being who learned what love and selfhood are from closely observing Dean.

The consensus amongst most Supernatural fans is that it is trashy and bad and that its all evil queerbaiting, but I would contend that it's actually deeply entertaining, culturally rich and interesting (yes, even its flaws and missteps), often impressively well-written and acted, never puts on any airs about being prestige television or high art, but still manages to be ultimately epic and somehow sublime, and that it's a queer story, about queer love saving the universe, and it is so, so worth watching.

Like, my brainworms are not 'they strung me along all that time and then never let them make out', by brainworms are 'they told us so many times and in so many big and small ways, and now I need to watch every bit of it again and again and again so I can finally REVEL IN IT (and, friends, that is the Supernatural rewatch journey: realising it was ALWAYS THERE). My brainworms aren't 'but does Dean reciprocate??' they are: 'of course he loves Cas, and of course Cas knows that Dean loves him, and the one thing Cas can't have? That's just his chance at happiness and a soft epilogue with and for Dean, because Cas, impossible, cosmic, Eldritch being Cas, traded his chance at happiness for his family's lives and sacrificed himself for love of his son and Dean, because that is what you do when you love someone, and what he has watched Dean never stop doing for even a minute of his beleaguered life.'

And then, Dean dies (yes, it's stupid), and he cannot just go to heaven, drink a beer and hang out, he needs to climb into his magic soul vehicle, hit the axis mundi and tear the universe up looking for his angel and his happy ending in The Winchesters? Fuck me.

And like, it's the most romantic, and devastating story I have ever been told? And I love it so much?

[cowboys-tshot]

A Beginner's Guide to Epic: The Musical

Are you new to Epic: The Musical and overwhelmed by four years worth of content to go through? This is for you! (Note that this is a work in progress post that will be added to in the future as new information and Sagas are released).

LAST UPDATED: 09/01/24

*There will be some spoilers in this! The Odyssey is thousands of years old, but Epic: The Musical is an adaptation, meaning things are different. I recommend listening to all the songs in Epic before reading this, as this guide is intended to clear up misunderstandings/confusing moments and provide context.

**All of the underlined bits are links to whatever it is I'm referring to, just in case I'm making no sense. I will try to include sources for everything, or at least indicate where I got certain information from if there's no link available.

General Info:

*This is basic information about Epic: The Musical as a whole. This includes where to find new information and content, BTS things, etc.

• First of all, here's a quick rundown by the creator himself. There'll be some overlap in terms of what I cover here.

• Epic: The Musical is created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, often referred to as "Jay" or "Mr. Jalapeño" by his fans. This is who writes the songs, casts the characters, and voices Odysseus himself!

• Epic: The Musical was originally (pre-Ocean Saga) produced under Blair Russell Productions, but Jay has never been paid the royalties from the songs released under them (and they have yet to give back control of the Epic social media accounts), so Epic is now produced under Jay's own company, Winion Entertainment LLC. (source)

• Jay is most active on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. All videos that he posts to these platforms are generally the same, so don't worry if you can't follow him on all of them. He talks about several Epic-related things, including release dates, BTS, animatics, details about the music/story, snippets of released and unreleased songs, and also plenty of funny videos. He is very active within the fanbase, and you're likely to find him (and other cast members) leaving comments on posts by fans!

• Here are Jay's other links, including the Epic: The Musical Discord server. In my experience, the Discord server and Tiktok are the best places to get information as quickly as possible.

• Epic is still in progress. As of the latest update to this guide (09/01/24), the Wisdom Saga has just been released last week, leaving only two more sagas before the end. The songs are all part of a concept album, and there is currently no stage adaptation.

• Jay takes many creative liberties with The Odyssey for the sake of this adaptation of the story. He made a video recently explicitly saying to NOT use Epic as a basis for your knowledge of The Odyssey, at least when it comes to academic settings. Many of the things that occur in Epic DO NOT occur in the original story, and some parts of the original story have been cut out. Here is a video where Jay explains the purpose of Epic as an adaption. (I won't be including a list of differences in this post, but I might make a separate one if anyone's interested.)

• Although Epic takes a lot of these creative liberties, there are several little easter eggs sprinkled in among the actual plot points from The Odyssey. (I'll go into these later.)

• Jay will usually do a recap video before each new saga, going over all the events of the previous sagas for any newcomers.

• When a new saga is released, Jay will hold a LIVE listen-through. I highly recommend being there for these events, because they include lots of cool and important things such as:

official animations, animatics, and artwork, all of which provide insights into character design and events within the songs

Jay's live reactions (his facial expressions and little dances/lip-syncs are delightful)

details about the events within the songs that aren't made clear within the music itself (like what a character is doing, what is happening around them, etc)

Jay's comments in the LIVE chat, which includes details/easter eggs, BTS stuff, jokes, headcanons, and LOTS of love and praise for the actors and fans!

• Seeing as there is no stage adaptation for Epic, a lot of the visual elements come from artists and animatics/animations. Jay actually works with several of these artists for official trailers, artwork, and animatics/animations! Some of these artists include: Ainhoa Velasco, @wolfythewitch, @gigizetz, @_mircsy_, @drawing_angie, @anniflamma, Scilla_nimation, el_crafts, samantha_artt, and Giulia Toneatto. These people are all incredibly talented and deserve all the love from the Epic fanbase!

Info About the Music:

*I am not musically adept at all, and this post is already very long, so I am not going to list much specific information—just general common themes and some examples of them. Most of this information has been confirmed by Jay, in videos that I've linked below.

• If you're having trouble understanding the lyrics and/or the meaning behind the lyrics, Genius lyrics has the entire album and is full of helpful notes about the context within the musical. A lot of lyrics get misheard, so even if you think you understand what's being sung, I'd recommend checking just in case lol.

• The Troy Saga and The Cyclops Saga have been rereleased under Winion Entertainment LLC! This includes new vocals, altered music, etc. These were released alongside The Thunder Saga, along with new cover art. It's preferred that you listen to these versions of the songs, and NOT the originals, because Jay only gets royalties from the current ones.

• Many characters have their own musical motif, or even multiple motifs. There are also other motifs that are more general, like the "Danger is Nearby" motif.

• Many important characters have their own instrument that plays an integral part to the songs they're in. You can typically tell which instrument accompanies each character by listening to what is most prominent in a song that focuses on that character. (ex. Hermes with harps and the lyre, Athena with the piano)

• If you hear a character's musical motif or associated instrument in a song they don't play an integral part in, that can mean a few things (listed below). With the more general motifs, they have their own separate meanings outside of the characters.

That character is present, even if they're not singing. (ex. Hermes in "Puppeteer," signifying that he's listening to Odysseus' speech, which is brought up at the beginning of "Wouldn't You Like")

That character is related to whatever event/conversation is occurring. (ex. the same musical motif in "Ruthlessness" and "Storm," signifying that Poseidon is the one that sent the crazy storm)

The kind of instrument being played can indicate the emotion or tone of a scene. This is scene primarily with Odysseus, where the use of a nylon or acoustic guitar indicates that he is not being ruthless (source).

• When background vocals are accompanying a mortal, there is always a physical, in-universe source for those voices (ex. Odysseus' crew as background vocals in most of his songs). When background vocals are accompanying a god or other powerful being, there does not have to be a physical source for those voices—gods can basically summon a choir of voices at will (ex. "Ruthlessness"). (video explanation)

• Background chanting specifically is a common element in Epic songs. Typically, this chanting consists of the names of characters present/focused on in the song (as seen [heard?] in "Survive," "Ruthlessness," and "King").

Unclear/Vague Moments Explained:

*Some of the plot points, characters, etc. in Epic can be confusing on the first or second listen. So, I'll clear up some of the common things people (including myself) didn't notice or understand at first.

• The deep voice at the end of "The Horse and the Infant" is Zeus, voiced by Luke Holt. Zeus shows Odysseus a vision of Astyanax, the infant son of Hector, and tells him to kill the child.

• Odysseus drops Astyanax from the walls of Troy at the end of "Just a Man." Many people didn't catch this until the callback in "Monster" at the end of Act 2.

• "Warrior of the Mind" is quite confusing to those that don't have context. It is a flashback to a younger Odysseus, when he first met Athena and took her as a mentor.

• Athena has an ability called "Quick-Thought," which lets her have telepathic conversations with someone within milliseconds by pulling their mind into another dimension.

• Polites dies at the end of "Survive." He is the voice saying "Captain...". (I didn't realize this for a good while when I first started listening to Epic.)

• The voice telling Odysseus to wake up in "Keep Your Friends Close" is Penelope, not Aeolus.

• The lil' guys in "Keep Your Friends Close" are called winions (they're also the Lotus Eaters in "Open Arms"). Jay describes them as "little wind creatures that dance when they get excited and then float away uncontrollably." They don't actually exist in The Odyssey, but they're pretty cute!

• At the end of "Ruthlessness," the line "remember me" is said by Poseidon, who's basically sending his voice through the ocean fog (since Odysseus is very, very far away from him now).

• In "Done For," the yelling you are hearing in the background is essentially a Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh battle between Circe's chimera and the monster Odysseus summons using the moly plant given to him by Hermes. There is an animatic by mircsy to serve as a visual aide, which I find very helpful!

• In "There Are Other Ways," Circe was holding a knife and planning to stab Odysseus as she tried to seduce him. When he pulls away and rejects her, she quickly hides the knife.

• In "The Underworld," shades (souls) are in a constant loop, repeating whatever they were thinking when they died. Tiresias is an exception to this rule, seemingly because of him being such a powerful prophet. (confirmed in "The Underworld Saga" LIVE listen-through)

• I feel like this is fairly clear, but for those that aren't familiar with The Odyssey, I'll say it anyways. (Spoilers? I guess?) The prophecy in "No Longer You" is SUPER heavy on the foreshadowing. I won't go into it here, since many people already have, but let's just say the Greeks were big on self-fulfilling prophecies.

• As mentioned previously, background chanting is a big thing in Epic. In "No Longer You," the background chanting also serves as a prophecy detailing the future events of Odysseus's journey. Currently, only part of these lyrics have been confirmed by Jay: "SIREN SONG - SCYLLA THROAT - MUTINY - LIGHTNING BOLT." This leaves two lines that are not confirmed.

• In "Mutiny," after Odysseus is stabbed, he is tied up and knocked out before the crew sails to the nearest island. Right before he says to get to the boat and row away, he manages to untie himself.

Fun Facts/Easter Eggs:

• Circe is voiced by Jay's girlfriend, Talya Sindel.

• When Poseidon kills off most of Odysseus' crew in "Ruthlessness," he says that there are only 43 men left. But in "The Underworld," the souls of his crew say that 558 men died under his command. Considering Odysseus started off with 600 men ("Full Speed Ahead"), this math doesn't add up. This is because in The Odyssey, when Odysseus and his men party with Circe for a year, a man in his crew named Elpenor woke up drunk on Circe's roof and proceeded to walk off the roof and die from the fall. He actually has a cut song.

• Jay messed up the amount of years in "There Are Other Ways." It had not been 12 years, but 10. This little screw-up is referenced in "Different Beast."

• Odysseus' mother is voiced by Jay's actual mother.

• If you see people commenting "rawr rawr rawr" or "🦖" on Jay's videos, they're referencing his April Fool's prank this year. He made a video saying he'd completely changed the Act 2 closing song, "Monster," and proceeded to play a happy-go-lucky sounding song going "I am the monster, rawr rawr rawr."

• In every single saga, Odysseus says "what." in an absolutely bamboozled manner (or "huh" in The Troy Saga, and he does it twice in The Ocean Saga). It happens in "Open Arms," "Polyphemus," "Keep Your Friends Close," "Puppeteer," and "No Longer You." Occasionally, this "what" will be said by a different character (Poseidon in "Ruthlessness," the siren in "Different Beast")

• Perimedes (another man in Odysseus' crew, who lives all the way until "Thunder Bringer") and Elpenor were best friends.

[madamofthestars]

“An epic wishing session”| streamer au Jing yuan headcanon

✨Jing yuan was a well known streamer often streaming in the evening to early morning hours.

✨he plays a few different types of games on stream from horror games to a few indie games that caught his attention.

✨He does a few collaborations with a few other streamers one of them being Dan heng.

✨Jing Yuan one day got a discord text form Dan heng with a YouTube short that shows a character for the upcoming game honkai star rail.

✨Jing yuán definitely founds himself interested especially for the character looked pretty and even more so voiced by one of his favorite voice actors.

✨That in turned made him excited to try out the game even more so putting it on a pull for people to vote for the next game he could play on stream.

✨Jing yuan was quite aware of the factor that it was a gacha game for he wasn’t a stranger to gacha games and often played a couple on stream.

✨When honkai star rail launched he was excited he started to grind for your character for while he was disappointed that you weren’t on the banner at the start he didn’t mind waiting.

✨he mainly use the standard wishes to help him wait for the second phase.

✨The day came and soon it was the day of your banner with the stellar jade he accumulated while waiting he was prepared.

✨He got an early five star but it was a lost fity fity which he didn’t care for it just means an easy guranteed.

✨Jing yuan continued to pull and was now nearing 75 pity and with one single he was able to get you.

✨Jing yuan took a moment to make a social media pull before using the left overs to for the light cone.

✨he was unfortunately not able to get the light cone in time but he got his redemption during your re-run.

✨Jing yuan still continues to main you even going to look at up incoming support to buff your damage potential even further.

[fluffysminion]

Commission Info

I do digital, watercolour and beadwork commissions specialising in creature and character design and illustration. I can do fantasy, sci-fi and horror; for more examples please see my portfolio.

I am happy to work from photo or art references, writen descriptions or stick-figure drawings, and I will always send a sketch for your approval before finalising it. I ask for payment upon completion but before delivery, upon receipt of payment I'll provide high and low resolution versions of the image, as well as a version optimised for printing.

Traditional Art

Primarily watercolour paintings, my traditional art is priced by the size of the finished piece. If you want me to send you the original I will be happy to do so as long as you are happy to cover the shipping cost.

A5: Small paintings 

Normal price: £50

A4: Large paintings 

Normal price: £150

Digital Art

My digital artwork's price is more variable, as the medium lends itself to pieces epic in scale and complexity. As such I offer one option for fixed price digital commissions of a single character or subject, and anything beyond that in scope is priced on a case-by-case basis. I am always happy to give price estimates though, so please do ask if you are interested.

Simple digital piece

Normal price: £60

Complex digital piece

This can really be whatever you want it to be. A stained glass window summarising a character's emotional arc over the course of a story, an epic fight scene, a ridiculously detailed dragon? All are possible and I'm always happy to discuss what I can do and at what price, and help figure out how to achieve what you want with the budget you have available.

Beadwork

My beadwork also has a lot of scope for varriation in complexity so rather than have pages and pages of things I could do and what I'd charge for them, I think it's easier for all involved to say ask and I'll give you an estimate.

Enquiries

If you want to commission me or have some questions about what something might cost please either send me a message on here, or on discord (where my username is fluffysminion). I'm always happy to answer questions, even if it doesn't end up going anywhere.

In addition to my standard commission, I also offer time-limited discount commissions of things I'm particularly inspired by at the moment, so keep an eye out!

Patrons get discounts based on their supporter tier!

[the-fabled-void]

Headcanons I've written in my discord server over the span of ~10 months 

Warnings: Lust mentioned at the very end, will be under a cut, The last part of Horror's section is also under the cut for an implied ED, and emetophobia

Misc/AU instead of Sans related, multiple at once: 

All actual Sanses have the same birthday, but they celebrate their creation days as one too, if they know it most Sanses talk in sans-serif type fonts  Only Classic talks in Comic Sans  Dream, Nightmare, and Fresh don't talk in a sans serif font at all Error's* font is also different Outertale: When you're in a quiet spot, you can actually hear the stars twinkle (hc inspired by a part of my comfort MLP fan animation Snowdrop) AUs have cultural differences, and I'm not talking about stuff that's obvious like Underfell You know how some creators speak more than just english? What if it's because their underground is located under a mountain in a different part of the world Not only do AUs have different languages sometimes but also different accents

Classic

Classic doesn't have inside or outside clothes, he sleeps with the clothes he wears outside He'd love Weird Al's music Would absolutely wear crocs  Smells faintly like books and chemicals even if he hasn't been in a library or lab recently Do you think he washes that jacket if it's not stained? Absolutely not  Sci: smells like plastic wrapped books that have just been opened

Killer

is really good at pretending to be sober when drunk (In the more fanon bad sanses dynamic) forces the rest of the bad sanses do take stupid BuzzFeed quizzes Smells like handwritten books Stage 1/2 has a lot of quiet moments where he just analyses listens to Set It Off

Cross

listens to Nightcore music & Set It Off

hogs blankets

Cross, I love you...you use axe body spray

Absolutely illegal that people think Cross is taller than Dream, he's shorter

Any time Cross and Epic are in a room together, they're glued to each others side even if theyre currently arguing

Nightmare

has a high alcohol tolerance, you can't tell me those apples weren't rotten enough to be alcoholic would talk in the Money Penny font

Ink

The star sanses go to cafes and judge people's outfits jokingly, as if Ink with his toeless socks can judge anyone

Their  alcohol tolerance is highly dependand on what vials he drinks before 

sends either an insane amount of small voice notes or one really long one, no in between

They're strong enough to pick people up but it looks so funny because they're so short

Ink, as a parent, would be the exact opposite of those 'Beige moms' 

He refuses to deprive his kids of sensory input like that Would be fascinated by Killer's soul

They sneeze like a dad

Coffee has no effect on them

We all agree his vials are like mental illness medication right? 

Error: 

Can hear Undertale's soundtrack sometimes and it drives him wild 

*His font is partially comic sans, partially other sans serif fonts

Gets headaches very easily

Smells like comic books, especially those that smell more like printer ink

We already know Error's eyesight is shit, but it's especially horrible and close to nonexistent on his smaller eye

Geno 

Soul beats very unevenly

gets drunk really easily bc he's constantly bleeding, so there's less alcohol-free blood in his system for it to filter out (cough cough CPAU)

I feel like he would die from a sip of energy drink

Once he gets to the surface, he'll suffer from chronic headaches and other pains 

He would would drop his backstory exactly the way dads drop Dad Lore (if you know, you know) 

Geno looks like a coffee drinker but drinks tea

Smells like old books, specifically dry basement ones

Reaper

has haphephobia that stems from his death touch

At the same time, touch starved af

He drinks coffee despite having tea drinker vibes to people

Fell

Sometimes he just imagines random shit happening that would make him angry, and then gets angry over that

His summer outfit is the exact same but a sleeveless sweater under his jacket instead of a normal one

can only make 3 recipes and burns those sometimes too

giggles after getting kissed (he will deny this) 

Uses Old Spice deo 

Short king short king

has shoplifted before

Swap/Blue

gets hungry really fucking quickly

(I have a huge hc list specifically for him)

Dream

is a coffee drinker

He gives me the vibes of old people trying to use modern slang, but doing so incorrectly

sucks at modern technology

Once he finds out about emojis, it's over for everyone

is into astrology

the opposite of a Disney princess. Animals don't like him

Dream's insults hit harder than Nightmare's, he just knows what hurts you 

High alcohol tolerance

Ccino 

exhausted

has a Morning Special he makes himself before working at his cafe. It has way too much caffeine in it

One day Dream walked into his cafe, Ccino took a good look at him and gave him his Morning Special™

Only certain people can drink it though - this means both that only some tolerate it, but also that Ccino only gives it to some

Dust/Murder

Soul beats faster than others' souls

has absolutely horrible posture

jumps to conclusions easily 

Dust hated Swap as soon as he first met him 

I mean, Dust doesn't like himself much for he did, ESPECIALLY to his brother

So a Sans who acts kinda like a Papyrus? Nuh uh 

Is this the basis of Dustberry? 

Anyway

Smells like an old, slightly burnt book

Concept: Phantom Papyrus but he used to be a hallucination that turned into an actual ghost somehow -> Phantom and XChara can see each other

Horror

doesn't like horror movies much

he's seen enough shit

Likes chickens 

Hc for fanon horror: cooking for the bad sanses, at first didn't trust anyone else

Canon Horror probably can't cook very well 

Faint smell of damp books

TW ED, TW Lust

Horror has moments where he binge eats and then regrets it later

Lust

Is like the only Sans who enjoys warm weather

Infertile, compromises by being a cool ass babysitter

Loves flowers

A tea drinker

Transatlantic accent

Listens to Mitski 

When he's looking at something he likes/loves, his eye lights turn monster soul shaped instead of heart shaped

[oddyseye]

Okay, I wasn’t going to say anything else about EPIC. I really wasn’t. But then I remembered I’m a survivor of SA, and staying quiet about things like this is just not in my nature.

This is your last warning for SA discussion before I go on. Cool? Cool. Here’s the deal: Epic the Musical erased Odysseus’s experience of sexual assault at the hands of Calypso, a key element of his story in The Odyssey, and then went ahead and invented a new storyline where the suitors plan to rape Penelope. Yes, you read that correctly. They removed male sexual assault entirely from the narrative but decided to increase Penelope’s suffering by adding gratuitous violence that wasn’t in Homer’s text. This is a deeply troubling creative decision, and I can’t let it slide. First, let’s look at Odysseus’s ordeal with Calypso. In The Odyssey, he is trapped on her island for seven years. This isn’t some romantic getaway — Odysseus explicitly says that he longs to return home to Ithaca, to Penelope, and to his life. Calypso refuses to let him go, keeping him against his will. But Epic completely erases this part of his story. There’s no exploration of what it means for Odysseus to be a victim of sexual violence or how this impacts his journey. Instead, they pretend it never happened, as if male SA is something that can just be brushed under the rug because it’s uncomfortable to address. And that’s a huge problem. When you erase male sexual assault, you contribute to the stigma that male victims face in real life — the idea that their experiences don’t matter, that they’re not “real” victims. Odysseus’ story is one of the few examples in ancient literature that acknowledges male vulnerability in this way, and for Epic to cut it out is not just a missed opportunity but a blatant dismissal of an important aspect of his character.

Now let’s move on to Penelope. In Homer’s text, the suitors are undeniably vile. They invade her home, consume her resources, and harass her with unwanted advances. They also sexually assault the female servants in the household, a horrific but historically grounded detail that highlights the suitors’ depravity. However, Penelope herself is not subjected to physical sexual violence. Her suffering is primarily psychological and emotional. She endures years of torment as she waits for Odysseus, using her wit and resilience to protect her home and her son. She doesn’t need to be physically brutalized to be a compelling, tragic figure — her strength and intelligence speak for themselves. But Epic decided that wasn’t enough. Instead of respecting Penelope’s original characterization, they added a plotline where the suitors actively plan to rape her. This change is not only unnecessary but also deeply harmful. It’s yet another example of modern media using sexual violence as a lazy shortcut to create drama or “raise the stakes” for female characters.

What makes this even worse is the way the creator, Jorge, has handled this topic in the Epic community. Discussions of Calypso’s sexual assault of Odysseus have been explicitly banned in the musical’s Discord server. Imagine that for a moment. A canonical instance of sexual violence is considered too taboo to talk about, but inventing new sexual violence against Penelope? That’s apparently fine. This double standard is infuriating. It shows a complete lack of understanding of the source material and a disregard for the real-world implications of these narrative choices.

This adaptation could have done something powerful by acknowledging Odysseus’s assault and exploring its impact on him. This could have been a valid artistic choice if handled carefully, if, for instance, it had been used to explore Penelope’s fear and determination in the face of such a threat. But in the context of Epic, this addition feels hollow and gratuitous. Why? Because while the musical amplifies Penelope’s suffering, it silences Odysseus’. I will only add that adding a storyline where the suitors plan to harm Penelope isn’t inherently a bad creative choice. Sexual violence is already present in The Odyssey. The suitors’ treatment of the female servants, for instance, is a horrifying but integral part of the story, showing how power and entitlement corrupt them. Expanding on the danger Penelope faces in her own home could have been a powerful way to explore her resilience, intelligence, and the stakes she faced while waiting for Odysseus. But Epic the Musical completely erases this part of Odysseus’ story. There’s no mention of his captivity or the abuse he suffered. Instead, his time with Calypso is framed as little more than a delay on his journey, a footnote rather than a defining trial. When Epic decided to add a plotline where the suitors plan to rape Penelope, it fundamentally changed her struggle. Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad choice, it could have been a way to emphasize the danger she faced as a lone woman surrounded by violent, entitled men. But for this addition to work, it needed to be balanced against the rest of the story.

Imagine if Epic had included both Penelope’s new storyline and Odysseus’ abuse at the hands of Calypso. This could have been a profoundly meaningful parallel. Odysseus and Penelope, separated by years and miles, both endure profound violations of their autonomy. He is physically held captive, forced into a relationship he doesn’t want. She is psychologically held captive in her own home, under constant threat from the suitors. Both fight to maintain their sense of self in the face of overwhelming violation. Both cling to the hope of reunion as their anchor and their strength.

The Odyssey is one of the most enduring stories of all time because of its complexity and humanity. Stripping away that complexity in favor of cheap, exploitative drama is an insult to the original text and to the audience.

[epic-the-musical-confessions]

tbh I don't think we should be shying away from critiquing Epic or Jay as a creative, but the fandom is starting to become an entirely hostile and toxic place where critique and discussion isn't welcome unless it's 100% positive. People get sent death threats if they say they don't like a saga. They get called terrible things if they say they don't like how certain themes were handled. Any sense of discussion and critique (particularly about Calypso) has been banned from most servers on discord, including the official one.

It's fine if you love the musical, but the moment you don't like one thing about it or think Jay should have or could have handled something a little differently or even want to point out certain patterns in the writing (SA being glorified, the treatment of black characters, the way the narrative is set up so Odysseus can't have any accountability, etc.), the fandom jumps on your throat about it. And I do think how Jay interacts with his fandom and how he went about fostering the community plays a big role in that.

There's important discussions to be had here. But the ones in the fandom who want to have those discussions are being driven out.

The last time I saw a fandom get this bad about defending every choice a creator makes and driving out anyone who has critiques was the RWBY and Hazbin fandoms. That is how bad the Epic fandom is turning.

.

[felassan]

New BioWare Journal post -

"Journal #12 Top Things to Know before You Play A few tips from our Team on launch day Hey everyone, Today is the day! Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches at 9am PDT globally on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. We are so excited to share this day with you. Whether you’ve been waiting since Dragon Age: Inquisition or only a few days, we appreciate you and your support.  Dragon Age: The Veilguard is designed with the flexibility to play the game your way, customizing your experience to best suit your play style from the menu options to combat. We have some tips from our team to share as you get started and find what works best for you! Customize your Experience As you begin your journey, we also encourage you to take some time to look through the Settings menus. There are a lot of different customizations you can make to tweak your game to your preferences, including accessibility options. Read more about these options in our Accessibility blog so you can play how you prefer at launch. Combat & Respec Throughout Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you’ll be fighting various enemies in Thedas, from demons to corrupt blood mages, and each type of enemy has their own weaknesses and resistances. When creating your Rook, you’ll be able to choose between three classes - stalwart Warrior, deft Rogue, or spell-slinging Mage. If you want guidance on which class to choose and an introduction to our combat system, we encourage you to check out our Combat blog.  You can swap your abilities, and those of your companions, at any time outside of combat. You can also respec individual nodes or the entire skill tree to try out entirely new builds. We hope you feel empowered to try out multiple builds, abilities, and specializations areas. Read more about the skill tree in our Progression blog. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out a few of our team’s favorite builds:"

"Mage: Spellblade Specialization - Meteor - Wall of Fire - Chain Lightning - Ultimate: Thunderous End"

"Rogue: Duelist Specialization - A Thousand Cuts - Lightning Flask - Explosive Daggers - Ultimate: Murder of Crows"

"Warrior: Champion Specialization - Whirlwind - Grappling Spear - Deadly Ground - Ultimate: Warden’s Fire Explore Thedas to Unlock its Secrets Dragon Age: The Veilguard opens up for exploration after the Prologue ends. As you progress through the first several quests, you’ll find more and more places to explore, from the Hossberg Wetlands to Treviso. We really encourage you to take some time to delve into each area you come across for extra side quests and loot. Check out our Exploration blog for more details! Companions & Choices Companions have always been at the heart of the Dragon Age franchise, and there will be plenty of opportunities to get to know each of your allies in this game. Each of their stories, and those of the factions as well, adds to the story and experience of the game. We encourage you to complete side content and companion quests, as they will have a direct impact on how the later stages of the game unfold. We’re so excited to share Dragon Age: The Veilguard with you. This moment has been a long time coming, and we can’t wait to hear all of your thoughts about our game. We hope you enjoy diving back into Thedas! Join our BioWare Discord to join in with other fans, ask questions, and receive tips. Get Dragon Age: The Veilguard on PC (Steam, EA App, & Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S NOW!             — The Dragon Age Team"

Controls:

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