#especially winions

[gareleia]

THE KNITTING SAGA CONTINUES

update: my co-writer friend FINALLY got a tumblr account, so I can tag them now!!

previously: part 1

next: part 3 part 4 part 5

a continuation because I have no impulse control and am in dire need of more Aeolus content

first of all, let's establish one thing - and I think we can all agree on that - Aeolus loves to fuck with people. they are a benevolent(-ish?) trickster deity, and they revel in harmless pranks

as a consequence, they are on pretty good terms with Hermes. while Hermes doesn't care much for the 'small fry' and doesn't pay that much attention to the wind god most of the time, Aeolus has their winions follow the messenger god religiously (pun intended), because? where Hermes goes, shenanigans always follow.

so when they get the tea that he's apparently hanging out on that one random Greek island, playing nanny? oh, they know it's gotta be good. so naturally, they go to check it out.

well, turns out that Athena is also there, and both of them are sooo bad with babies, it's hilarious

Athena, holding baby!Telemachus: Ehhh, shouldn't it be eating more meat? it's body is so weak, it can't even hold a spear! Hermes, exasperated: oh my me, 'thena, that's not how humans work!! babies eat liquids first!! how can you not know that!! here you go, champ, drink some wine!! Aeolus, hiding in the leaves: holy shit these guys are dumb

so now they can't just leave Telemachus alone with Athena and Hermes! they might not be an expert on child rearing, but surely they can do better than those two dorks! and the baby is adorable.

so they decide to stick around. just for a little bit. a week tops.

fast forward a few years, and they have been raising the prince of Ithaca

Aeolus: *shocked pikachu face*

and Aeolus is the much needed chaotic good influence to Hermes' chaotic neutral and Athena's lawful neutral.

the thing is, Aeolus is really good at hiding. so good, in fact, that no one but Telemachus had even realized they are here. everyone else just thinks that the prince has an invisible friend which, well… they're not wrong?.. and it's not like other kids are exactly lining up to be his friends anyway, cause everyone thinks he's weird (or their parents don't want to catch the attention of the suitors)

and the gods think that it's because they hang around too much and Telemachus can't make friends because of them. so maybe they try to spend less time in Ithaca, for his own good. which only makes things worse, because now the boy is upset, and Aeolus and winions have to try extra hard to cheer him up, which pisses them off.

Athena & Hermes: oh, goodness us, we shall try not to interfere too much with the mortal affairs, so that the young prince grows up healthy and happy ¯_(ツ)_/¯ Telemachus: (T⌓T) Aeolus: ヾ( ･`⌓´･)ﾉﾞ

and then they have to subtle bully the two dumb fucks to come back.

on a less serious note, Aeolus also has a sweet tooth, especially for marshmallows (idgaf there weren't any marshmallows in Mycenaean Greece, they're a god. they can make all the damn marshmallows they want)

and of course, since they are sooo generous, they always share with Telemachus.

what they don't know(?) is that winions, who all get their own treats, also collectively share them with the baby, because they are secretly evil adorable little freaks.

which results in a very hyper prince sugar rushing seemingly out of nowhere.

Telemachus, running all around the palace and crackling madly: I AM SPEED- Penelope, unimpressed: and who, pray tell, had given my son sweets right before dinner? Athena, equally unimpressed: yes, I would also like to know. Hermes, sweating nervously: heyyyy, why are you all looking at me like that???? ( ಠ‿ಠ ) Aeolus, from behind a tree, unseen by anyone: (｡•̀U-)┘

Hermes always gets blamed.

It's the only time he doesn't do the thing

and he's seething, because nobody believes him.

[adm-starblitzsteel-4305]

Great Wind God Aeolus 🌬️

[sirjo-esque]

I just woke up but Jay saying he might make a musical based on the Illiad is already the highlight of my day

[gotstabbedbyapen]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What? Just... why with that choice?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But not enough to excuse all the terrible cinematic choices.

[stupendouspaintblob]

On the topic of fatal flaws and epic the musical:

I have been giving this a lot of thought lately, and this is what is going on. Epic Odysseus' fatal flaw is not necessarily the same as Homer's, obviously. Homer Odysseus does not go through the same character arc, and his flaw is hubris. Makes sense. Some people do characterize him with the flaw of curiosity or heroism, but honestly, in the ten year journey where he changes the most, hubris fits best. However, epic Odysseus is different. The biggest example of Homer Odysseus’ pride is the cyclops' island. However, his anger is further justified in epic by the death of his best friend, as well as bitterness and the spur of the moment, reckless decision in order to prove Athena wrong after being antagonised, getting abandoned and yelled at by his mentor in one of the worst moments of his life. The common fatal flaws of greek heroes are hubris, arrogance and loyalty among others. For epic, i entertained several flaws before landing on arrogance; the sheer confidence with which he approaches Aeolus, certain in his own abilities to convince the god to help them. He is arrogant with Athena in their song, and increasingly so with Eurylochus throughout the musical. Due to his love for Penelope and Telemachus, loyalty, especially when interacting with Circe and Calypso struck out, but anyone who knows the bare bones of the plot might argue in favour of arrogance.

For Eurylochus, it was somehow more difficult to chategorise. Homer' Eurylochus has the usual flaws; greed, arrogance, at least from what I can gather. But I read someone say that Epic Eurylochus' fatal flaw is, in fact, hunger. That makes so much sense, given how he is always the one to bring up food, or the lack thereof, as well as the fact that he literally killed Helios' cows due to his hunger and subsequently got everybody killed, BUT, what is he hungry for in his daily life? It can't just be food that is his weakness, obviously, but then what? Friendship, love, family, validation? Bottom line: I don't know. I could go one even longer about his arc throughout the musical and dissect each moment to figure out his flaws and talk about him in general because I adore his character, even if he is not necessarily a good person and though he makes too many mistakes because he is human and so inherently flawed, but I won't because this post is long enough as it is.

Polites was pretty straightforward; optimism. But, was it really? Indirectly, sure. His optimism, naïveté, led to his death. But at the end of the day, I think it might be his loyalty, maybe trust, that was his demise. I mean, the entire song, he's trying to convince Odysseus about open arms. He believes the winions, hell, it was his insistence out of concern for his friends that was, in the end, the thing that caused his death.

Then again, there isn't much difference between optimism and trust in both cases, so anything works.

[its-your-girl-geekerella]

EPIC: The Vengeance Saga

I've procrastinated on this post for as long as I possibly could, but I'm here now! Let's get into it:

Not Sorry For Loving You. I love this song and I love Calypso, and you can't change my mind. I will not apologize. I'm not entirely sure why everyone hates her, but she is my smol child. The animatic cracked me up though, because while Calypso is sobbing and singing, Odysseus is hopping on his boat and sailing away like, "I'm just gonna go... yeah. Bye." It made him seem like a jerk, but it was also kinda funny.

Dangerous. It was a genuinely great song. The "Full Speed Ahead" callback showcasing Odysseus's loneliness was great, Hermes was great, the Winions were great. Everything was just great. There is literally nothing I could say about this song you haven't heard.

Charybdis. Honestly? This is the one song from EPIC that I would call truly "mid". Don't get me wrong, all of Jorge's work is epic (haha I'm so funny), but this one was slightly... less epic. Also, I'm more of a dialogue and emotions person, not really an action-enjoying one, so that may have contributed. I will say, however, that Odysseus's "NOOOO" was incredible and deeply relatable.

Get in the Water. Yes. Yes. And yes again. I had waited for this one for so long, and it did not disappoint. The dialogue between Poseidon and Ody? Chef's kiss. Immaculate writing, Jay. Poseidon's "I can't" really made it seem like he wasn't really that angry anymore, like this was something he put on his "to-do" list a few years back, and had to check off. But when Odysseus told him that he should "learn to forgive", implying that a mere MORTAL knew something more than a GOD, he got peeved. The character depth we see in this song is great, especially in comparison to the next song. Part of me does hope that aside from the finale, this is the last "dead people sing to Odysseus" we see for the rest of the show.

600 Strike. I know I said that I'm not super into action scenes, but this song SLAPS. HARD. The singing is so good, and the music really encapsulates the title of the show. When Ody says, "you're going to call of that storm", I got freaking SCARED. That last 1:40 of the song is my favorite part. The vocals are legit my favorite. And "next to my wife"????? WHO APPROVED THIS???? Jorge??? Are you OK???? Am I OK??? After listening to this last song, I literally went into an early-life crisis. I didn't talk to anyone, I ate some ice cream, and silently pondered to myself, "what just happened?" over and over again. I was fine two hours later, though😀

This Saga was everything I hoped it would be, and it was written really well. (Why am I surprised?) My two favorite songs were "Not Sorry For Loving You" and "600 Strike!"

My biggest "thing" with EPIC is that I want it to become a staged musical. I know that Jay at some point said that it may not work out like that, but then a few moths later he said that it could work, so I'm holding on to hope. After all, if EPIC never becomes a staged production, how are countless people supposed to play these characters we know and love? Don't be stingy, Mr. Jalapeno. /j

My largest concern with this Saga is that it would be the hardest to stage, especially with songs like "Charybdis" and "600 Strike". For example, the part where Poseidon drowns Odysseus. How to show Odysseus being drowned and the wind bag floating just above him and the dead people helping him WHILE still showing Poseidon above the water? I have some concepts, but it would still be really hard. Any ideas are welcome!

[snugg-bugg]

I love the Vengeance saga sm….

so here are my thoughts

NOT SORRY FOR LOVING YOU:

This was SO pretty. Wangui has such a beautiful voice and she added so much depth to the character. But i still HATE Calypso. They could never make me like you Calypso. I liked How Jorge really made her seem like she just never learned how it was wrong to expect love in return regardless of circumstance. Especially the part “Was cast away when I was young

Alone for a hundred years

I had no friends but the sky and sun

So when you washed ashore

I thought for sure that you were my dream come true”

It really did a good job at showing she never learned because she never got a chance to learn these things.

DANGEROUS:

HECK YES HERMES!!! He was so so iconic and I loved how we was just partying while Ody was fighting for his life. My favorite part was defined the Wing Bag. Especially the winions. The melodies just seemed so much darker and serious then the playful tone of Keep Your Friends Close. I also loved the Athena reference at the end. I honestly hope Odysseus doesn’t learn it was her, it would make it so much more tragic.

CHARYBDIS:

This was the song I was looking forward to the most and I was not let down! The musical storytelling was so so good! Everything about it that I imagined is practically exactly what was on the animatic. Also extra points to part of it being done by @anniflamma (i’m not even gonna try to lie, Anni is my favorite Epic Animator) I LOVED the final verse. It was so pretty and Jorge portrayed the Longing of Odysseus SO WELL. I also adored the expectation diversion leading into…

GET IN THE WATER:

First off the Intrumentals starting the song were BEAUTIFUL!!! The piano was so striking and i loved it! Steven Rodriguez is genuinely PERFECT for Poseidon. I’m not gonna lie Poseidon is my favorite Greek God(Blame PJO) and Ruthlessness is actually the song that got me into EPIC. So it was amazing to hear him again. My Blood ran cold during the “Ruthlessness… Is Mercy Upon… Ourselves” part and I loved the overlapping vocals of the “Die”. And because it’s a bossfight it just has to end with making me cry. The “spirits” of Odysseus’s comrades was so pretty and I think it was my favorite(besides love in paradise ofc) of the “Heartbreaking remembering comrades” moments.

600 STRIKE!!!

1st of holy shit the Wind bag is such a cool Bossfight instrumental. It was so freaking cool(I love all the Wind parts in EPIC). I was a little disappointed by the Visuals, no disrespect to the artist at all! But i just thought the 3d was a little jarring. I truthfully think it would have been a little better if it was 2d. Enough of visual art talk though MUSICAL art talk time! I LOVED the chanting throughout the first-half. It was such a great(I think) wrap up to the Crews story and it also sounded awesome.

600 STRIKE: PART 2(that part)

Steven Rodriguez’s voice is really hot. I just had to get that out of the way. But in all seriousness this is my favorite moment of the Saga. I don’t think 600 strike was my favorite song, that title goes to Get in the Water, but 600 strike is a close 2nd solely based on the epicness of this moment. The way my heart just stopped when Odysseus said “Exactly” was just something I’ll never get over. Also I’m weird and i loved hearing Poseidon in pain.(I like my fav. characters to suffer). Also the overlapping vocals(can i even call poseidon’s part vocals it’s just him screaming in pain) was PHENOMENAL! I especially loved the 2nd “OOoohhhh” I saw someone say that Poseidon likely regenerated around the trident before it was pulled out and that’s engraved in my brain now.

And hot Take.

I think that Poseidon was actually ASKING Odysseus how he sleeps at night. During Monster Ody says “Is he scared that he’s doing something wrong” and I actually think Ody was right. Poseidon’s “I can’t” during Get In The Water seems genuine. I don’t know if it was because He literally couldn’t forgive Ody because of what Ody did, or if He’s is actually just trying to “keep us in check so we respect him, and now no one dares piss him off”. This may just be me over-analyzing/trying to sympathize my fav character but does Poseidon actually wonder if he’s doing something wrong.

And Finally, NEXT TO MY WIFE was actually so FRAKING cold. If someone said that to me i’d be devastated.

Ultimately the Vengeance saga was probably my 2nd favorite saga(after wisdom i just adore god games) Jorge did an AMAZING job with it and I’m so excited to see how much more a monster rawr rawr rawr Ody becomes.

I hope you enjoy my thoughts (:

[puggsnotdrugs99things]

So lately I have become obsessed with the musical Epic, which if you haven't heard I highly recommend. But as I was going on with my normal daily routine my brain started to cook.

Epic follows Odysseus who has left his kingdom of Ithaca for 20 years to fight in the Trojan War. However, he longs to return home to his wife Penelope and their son Thelemacus. And then as my brain was heating up the stove, I got to thinking who else do I know that is on a journey far from him and longs for his wife and son… Astrodude

Then it all came to me a SolarBalls Epic Au

Astrodude = Odysseus

Astrowife = Penelope

Astroson = Telemachus

As for the planets they would assume the roles of the God’s they were named after, which I know this will mischaracterize some of the solar balls characters but bear with me (it’s for the plot). Now some characters will have to be characterized under different god’s just because to my knowledge the gods they were named after don’t have a role in the musical.

Jupiter = Zeus

Saturn = Hera

Uranus = Hephaestus

Neptune= Poseidon

Sun = Apollo/Helios

Mercury = Hermes

Venus = Aphrodite

Earth = Athena

Mars = Ares

I have an idea for the moons as well, especially on which roles they can partake

Europa = Calypso

Luna = Tiresias

Titan = Aeolus

Phobos and Deimos = Winions

Callisto = Circe

I still don't know if these characters somewhat match up with those of Epic

But do what you will with this information

[merp-blerp]

Just thinking out loud about The Thunder Saga and everything connected to it.

I get why people are mad at Eurylochus for opening the windbag, but I don't understand blaming him for the crew getting caught by Poseidon. Sure he definitely sped up the event, but even if they were inches away from Ithaca right before that moment like they were in the original Odyssey (which seems to be hinted at with Ody saying "And I'm getting closer to you"), Poseidon would've gotten to them eventually anyway because he's a god, a major one at that. And gods get their will no matter what consistently, even if mortals try to twist it like how Ody does when opening the bag a second time. I can only assess what sagas we have currently, so I could be really wrong as future sagas come out, but I think Aeolus must've known that fact and that was the game he was playing. As if he's saying, "I'll help you, but I can't stop Poseidon with a bag. The Winions will even make it extra hard with a treasure rumor." The bag was supposed to aid the crew home, not stop Poseidon, so they would've had to deal with Poseidon anyway in Ithaca, which probably would've made more casualties because they would've brought their trouble to the whole kingdom. Remember Ithaca is on an island. Poseidon is the god of the sea, so Ithaca would be a perfect target for him to destroy because of that. But it's not his will to do that; he wants to play games with Ody to avenge his son. The only reason why mortals feel like they have a choice and can manipulate fate is because the gods like to play games; it's still their will if Ody wins a game like he does in "Ruthlessness" because it was their will to play in the first place, and they can win if/when they want to. Just 'cause Poseidon "lost" in "Ruthlessness" doesn't mean he actually did, he just let Odysseus go. For now. If his will changes and Ody gets no consequence from him it's on his terms, not Ody's. Just like with Circe, as I've talked about.

But back to Eurylochus, I adore the parallels between The Thunder Saga and The Ocean Saga. During The Ocean Saga, Eurylochus only opens the bag, not for treasure, but to give the crew closure, as we know thanks to Aeolus's "Now they wanna get the bag open so they can have closure". Especially if they were close to home, I imagine his thought process might've been that opening the bag was wrong but morally okay since the journey was almost done and Odysseus was sleeping so it seemed like it wasn't a big deal anymore in his eyes. But that's more my hypothesis. In terms of canon, his trust in Ody, which wasn't high to begin with, was dwindling, as Ody bragged about how no men died in war and then several died with the Cyclops. "Everything's changed since Polites, so". In The Thunder Saga, it's similar, as Eurylochus knows killing the cow is wrong, but they've all lost hope on getting home with their captain going to extremes to get there himself, killing them slowly like with Scylla. They know that deep down the whole time Odysseus wanted to get home himself mainly, only bringing the crew because he cared out of the kindness of his heart, and now that his heart has changed they know they won't get to Ithaca if the gods keep messing around (and they do). This post pointed out that Eurylochus was likely just trying to provide for the crew and himself in their final moments before another trap emerges and Odysseus decides to continue to sacrifice his men if he feels it has to be done again. Eurylochus isn't dumb, he knows their goose is cooked if they kill the cow, especially with Ody in his ear telling him, but they'll die either way, in the hand of the gods or Ody. They will die and not see home, but at least they can die not starving, and go on for a bit longer. They had nothing to lose. Eurylochus had doubted Odysseus this whole time and he does so till the end. When Eurylochus says, "But we'll die", it's not a plea to stay alive, it's him confirming out loud that Odysseus will not choose his men over Penelope and Telemachus. He's reaffirming to Ody that they'll die; almost like he's finishing Ody's sentence "I have to see her". Odysseus couldn't say it, but Eurylochus could since he'd known they'd died for so long already. In the live stream animatic, the crew attempting to kill Odysseus near the end of "Thunder Bringer" isn't them trying to escape their fate, but trying to bring Ody down with them so Ody won't get his choice. They've long accepted the fact that Ody isn't to be trusted and they all are going to die, but Ody is, for lack of a better word I can think of, cheating in the crew's eyes by having an out thanks to Zeus. In their view of fairness, they all have to die if they aren't getting home. It's a last attempt at a mutiny. It fails because that's not how Zeus wants his game to work, and he gets his will.

They are all puppets of the fate the gods have chosen, whether that fate benefits them or not.

(The only "exception" to the "Will of the gods" rule so far is Ody and the baby, since Jay has said it's "ambiguous" whether or not the baby is spared. If not exactly by being dropped, I'm sure he'd die some other way honestly because the gods want that. It'll probably come up again in a later saga—"ambiguous" is too cryptic of a word to use when everyone assumed he died in the first saga)

This is all just my take, by the way, no one has to agree with me.

[mgert-m]

MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE EPIC FANDOM:

You guys are so kind and understanding and unhinged. I don't think I've seen a musical fandom that was this much like a close-knit family. Especially on the discord server.

The inside jokes and the chatting during the livestreams are my favorite parts of this musical.

I sent something in the EPIC discord server because last night I was having a hard time and didn't want to bother anyone I knew so I though that maybe chatting in the server could cheer me up a bit.

I said that I felt like crying, I needed some positivity, etc. etc.

And the fact the people saw that message and actually gave me words of motivation and advice really helped me. I honestly thought my message would get ignored.

A lot of the winions are so kind and talented and you guys are amazing. Odysseus may have embraced ruthlessness but we will never give up on open arms.

[gareleia]

THE KNITTING SAGA BUT MAKE IT SAD

update: my co-writer friend FINALLY got a tumblr account, so I can tag them now!!

previously: part 1 part 2

next: part 4 part 5

lets talk about relationships, shall we. i'm gonna focus on Athena & Telemachus this time, but Hermes will have his turn later

let's be real, Athena is a hardass. sure, she cares, but she's so emotionally constipated that it really doesn't show that much. especially before she goes through that character development arc after her break up with Odysseus in My Goodbye

(and what a crisis that is)

(because her masterpiece??? failed her??? but she trusted him??? she made him much as in her image as possible??? he was supposed to be perfect???)

(and if he's not perfect, then she failed,,, and she can't fail, she doesn't fail,,, she's a goddess,,, war strategy is her domain, surely there is no way her plan could be flawed,,,)

(what even is the point of her if she's not perfect)

so yeah, she's a hardass. even on baby Telemachus who'd never held a sword before - especially on baby Telemachus, because he's the son of her favored Champion. he may be waaay younger than any of her previous pupils, but she's expecting him to shine just as bright.

Athena, on the first day: let's get down to business! make your father proud! you won't have a weakness! by the time we're done! you're the saddest pupil that I've had! and you haven't got a clue! but I will make a man outta you! Telemachus, a literal toddler, holding a wooden sword as big as himself: ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

and for years to come she trains him relentlessly. she's honestly trying to be nice about it, too. it's just that Athena doesn't do soft or gentle, her default is a neutral face of displeasure, and her idea of encouragement is saying 'you're not as bad as you used to be', or something along these lines.

Telemachus: *succeeds at something* Athena: *raises an eyebrow in a slightly different manner than usually* Telemachus: *le gasp* could it b-be? am I doing a good job??? Athena: it's… acceptable, for your age.

she never once tells him she is proud of him. because surely he already knows. he doesn't need to hear it. his father didn't, after all (ody so fucking did)

and this goes on until Telemachus reaches double digits. then My Goodbye happens, and Athena has Feelings™. she's having an existential crisis, and has to confront the fact that she had done something wrong while training Odysseus, and she can't understand what. which is terrifying, because what if she makes a mistake like that with Telemachus. will he fail her too?

will she have to leave him too, so she doesn't watch him die horribly in a tragedy that could've been prevented if only she had made him see-

so Athena doubles down and starts demanding more and more from Telemachus. the praise goes from sparse to non-existent, and nothing he does seems to be enough anymore. she goes from tough love to borderline verbal abuse, thinking that it's the only way to keep him safe and prepare him for the future.

and Telemachus endures. he has to, because he doesn't want his mother to worry. doesn't want to appear weak. Odysseus had done it, so it's only fair his son should too. and when his dad comes home, he'll be sooo impressed. he can do it!

except…. not really. it's been a losing battle since the beginning, and deep down he knows it. he can't win with Athena, not on his own.

???: if you want to impress her, you'll need the blessing of a certain god! divine intervention! someone who's not afraid to- telemachus: aeolus, what are doing in my closet?!

so anyway, Aeolus and the winions start helping him via winds and stuff, and Telemachus actually starts exceeding everyone's expectations. it's not that he'd been bad before, but he's soft, and not quite strong enough physically to make up for his gentle constitution

everyone is cheering him on. he's the talk of the palace! his mom is so proud! the suitors start sizing him up with consideration instead of dismissing him outright! (and tele, baby, that's not a good thing! ಠ_ಠ). Athena seems pleased for the first time in ages!! but he knows that it's all a lie, and it's killing him.

cause he's a good, honest boye, and he wants to succeed on his own merit, not because of cheating and lying to everyone he loves. that's vile and dishonorable.

que some very important island-wide competition that everyone is expecting him to join and win. maybe it's even his duty as a prince. like, a right of passage from complete boyhood to adolescence.

and there's,,, a lot of pressure on Telemachus to suceed. everyone and their mother are telling him that of course he's got this, he's a prodigy! def his father's son! nobody doubts his incoming victory! he's got this! he definitely won't disappoint them!

random noble: we'll be cheering you on, young prince! truly, we are blessed by the gods to have such a talented successor to the throne! we'll watch with keen eyes as you triumph over your foes and bring even more honor to your family! b(￣▽￣*) telemachus, eye twitching: y-yeah… thank you… (ㆆ _ ㆆ)

so, the night before the competition Telemachus can barely sleep, he's so wrecked by guilt and nerves. he keeps thinking - what would his father do in this situation? all the stories he'd ever heard of Odysseus always painted him as some kind of invincible, righteous, all-capable genius. so the idea of his dad ever grappling with guilt and feelings of inadequacy is just laughable. (oh, if only he knew)

so, he goes to his mom for advice. because Penelope is awesome. but he can't bring himself to admit that's he's cheating - what if she's ashamed of him? he brought dishonor to his father's name, and if anyone knows - will he get exiled?

so yeah, he basically has a panic attack and cries for like, half an hour straight.

telemachus, bawling: if I lose tomorrow, will you hate me? will dad hate me? I can't do anything right and I'm a failure and a horrible person and- just- what do I do, mother? penelope, holding him: oh, love. sometimes you're so similar to your father I wonder if the gods haven't returned him to me in spirit through you.

because no matter what everyone else says, Penelope knows the truth - Odysseus always followed his heart. oh, how he may have tried to forget he had one, to only ever use his head. but a heart he did have - does have, they have to believe that - and it's a bright and gentle one. he may have been hardened by years of pain and struggle in a way that Telemachus hadn't been yet (and Penelope's heart breaks from knowledge that her son will be, one day). but deep down, at ther cores, Odysseus and Telemachus are strikingly similar. and she loves them all the more for it.

and so, with his mother's blessing, the young prince does just as she told him to: follows his heart. he thanks Aeolus for their help, and asks them to stop giving it from now on. either he'll suceed on his own merit, or he'll wear his failure as a badge of honor and an incentive to do better.

and he loses. badly.

and the world,,, doesn't end? sure, the suitors sneer and jeer, but there's a surprising lack of disowning and exile going around. and the nobles tone it down significantly with undeserved adoration, which is definitely a plus, as far as he's concerned.

the only thing is. Athena.

oh boy.

because she's not stupid. Telemachus may have gotten away with cheating so far, but now he'll have to answer to her why he had flunked so badly, and she won't buy his go-to excuse of 'I got nervous!'

athena, expression unreadable: so. care to explain yourself, my stupid pupil? telemachus: w-well, you see… ha-ha… it's, uh… a funny story… athena: you threw away your best advantage! you've had a god perfectly willing to assist you and yet you still somehow managed to lose! telemachus: wait, what-

so yeah, Athena knew all along.

athena, mildly insulted: how stupid do you think I am, boy? telemachus: but! but! but!.. you never said anything! didn't even scold me for cheating! athena, even more insulted: child, I am the goddess of war strategy, where did you get the idea that I ever play fair and straightforward? leave that to ares, the simple-minded fool!

to clarify, she's not upset at him for cheating. she's upset that he stopped doing so. so she throws some choice words at him, implying he lacks both talent and intelligence

and Telemachus defends himself by saying that he'd rather fail on his own merit, than abandon his principles and win by lying and dishonoring his family. in response, she calls him naive.

he tries to implore to her connection to his father by saying that he was just trying to do what's right. he was following his heart, just as Odysseus had always strived to. and he's training to fight for his loved ones, not for glory of being known.

it's a one hit K.O., because it reminds Athena of her recent break-up with Odysseus. of everything they spat at each other during My Goodbye. of anger, of hurt, of disappointment, of betrayal, of I loved you and you failed me, of I loved you and I failed you, of good riddance! and y̶͈̔o̴̘̖͆u̶̻̱͆͒'̸̫̩̌̉r̷̼͝e̴̩̒ ̴͎̻̈́̎ȧ̸̦l̵̗͙͌̐o̸͚͕̚n̷̟̯͠e̵̳̩͠

and is their whole line just cursed? is this their way of punishing her for something? why do they both hurt her so? is it her fault?

telemachus: athena? are… are you okay? (‘-’*) athena, coming off MG flashbacks: well, obviously, boy, why would you even ask that (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Telemachus just hugs her, because she obviously needs it. and she melts into it like never before.

because she wasn't made for empathy or kindness. she's been born to be ruthless and cold. she's not supposed to love and be loved care about anything but winning. it doesn't come natural to Athena, until recently she had truly thought herself unable to, and yet-

yet here, right in front of her, is a boy who loves for the both of them. loves the whole world - sincerely, selflessly. a truly kind and caring soul (the nobles even joke that his true father is Polites).

she can't love.

but maybe… maybe he will teach her.

maybe he already did.

or maybe she always could.

she forgets sometimes, that her fingers know not only the roughness of swords and spears, but also the gentle softness of weaved silk. creation goes hand in hand with destruction, and she can bind countless threads together without breaking them.

and what are humans, if not strings, waiting to be cut by the fates?

also, if Telemachus can teach the goddess of cold cynicism and detached cruelty kindness of all things, then she can teach him swordplay.

yes, it's a threat.

[artyheartz]

Question .. heard that you like Epic the Musical. Have you listened to the Vengeance Saga yet, and if so, what are your thoughts on it? I'm curious .. smiles

I have listened it and even watch the stream

HOO BOY WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?? I KNOW THE VENGENCE SAGA IS GOING TO BE MINDBLOWING AND I THOUGHT I WAS PREPARE BUT JORGE ALWAYS PROVE ME WRONG

ok spoiler free thoughts! Everyone did such an amazing job like always! Jorge really wasnt kidding when he said this saga is gonna have those video game feels to it. SPEAKING OF FEELS HE HIT IT AGAIN WITH THAT ACCURATELY. Probably not as hard as the last one but still, hit with those feels a lil. Im still a bit of mix feelings with Calypso, but I definitely feel bad. Sorry girl but he's taken. The rollercoaster of emotions I when, the callbacks and all those familiar motifs was a ride indeed. Charybdis and Dangerous is the one I was looking forward the most and Jorge did not miss. I'm so gonna listen to it on repeat

-- ok now for the spoilers --

again, WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?? Jorge reallly went forward and beyond with his performance here, especially in six hundred strike, like godamn that screams!! six hundreds strikes for each of his six hundred men that has die. I got chills when the souls start singing "waiting" in unison like damn. literal chills omg.

I actually did not expected for the wind bag to return (not sure if that is a thing in the original odyssey story) but I'm so glad it did, get to hear the silly winions again. I can feel the dread and fear when they say he wont make him after the wind bag is open, then when back to jamming. (also the "I'm not the one who fought for you" im not ok. Athennaaaaaa 😭😭😭)

Just hermes dancing and breaking it down while Oddysues is struggling fighting monsters are such a mood. I love u hermes dont change aendkjdn

oh and that ending... bro that ending.. out of all the things I could have imagine for it went, THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT ONE OF THEM. LIKE I THOUGHT ONE OF THE GODS IS GONNA INTERFER OR HAS ANOTHER TRICK BUT NO. HE STRAIGHT UP STAB POSEIDON WITH HIS OWN TRIDENT TILL HE CALL OFF THE STORM. HE USED THE FACT POSEIDON CANT DIE TO RELEASE HIS ANGER, EACH STRIKES WITH A PAINED SCREAM OMG. Im speechless. but at the same time KARMA!!

Odysseus literally ask for forgiveness and mercy but noooooo you just have to be full of yourself. "You.. Monster!!" bish look who's talking ur the one who cause this monster

oh at the "how will you sleep at night" "next to my wife" dang thats cold. I got no words

i think that's all I wanna say abt the new saga. when I say this ask I knew Im gonna do a full on rant lol. sorry not sorry crescent but also you probably wanted this anyway wdknqwkd

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

Just listened to the new music!!! My thoughts in brief:

Some good changes from the two earlier sagas: Polites's voice sounds WAY more natural/less autotuned and it's much easier to tell that it's him who's gotten smashed; Athena sings the word "warrior" in "create the greatest warrior" much more properly (a personal pet peeve of mine with the originals); soundscaping in the Cyclops saga is clearer/easier to picture

Some not so good changes: idk I'm not big on change in general but the biggest crimes were that what the winions are saying is MUCH more emphasized in Open Arms (a bit jarring), some of the extra vocals in the background distract from the moment, and Odysseus's vocal choices in Remember Them are a little wack (very breathy and not a fan of the drawn out "Oooodysseuuuusss!!")

Overall: kind of an even split for me. I tentatively like the new versions better for five of the nine songs, but prefer the originals pretty definitively for the other four. Totally support them for releasing them (they deserve to get residuals!!) but my autistic brain that listened to these songs literally non-stop for weeks does not like change much so I will definitely still listen to the originals at least in addition to the new ones lol!

The new saga: very nice!!!! I love the second and fourth songs in particular. Jorge did some EXCELLENT voice acting in Thunder Bringer and honestly I am 100% behind Odysseus's choices in that song!! They did it to themselves tbh!!! The first song is a little weaker on its own but when paired with the second and third it is much better. Overall the Underworld Saga is probably still my favorite but I will definitely be relistening to this one once it drops on Spotify in a matter of minutes (at time of writing)!!!

Would love to hear your thoughts as well--especially if you've already noticed some musical motifs or symbolism!!!

[theexhaustedqueer]

My Very Coherent Thoughts About The Remastered Troy and Cyclops Sagas

(this is a long one)

Firstly, I’d like to say that no matter what these are the versions I’m going to be listening to now, period. Jay and the crew deserve to reap the rewards of their hard work, no question about it. But I do have a LOT of thoughts, some of them might even makes sense. So here they are.

Horse and The Infant feels the most changed to me. Some of it I like, some of it feels weird. It’s definitely going to be an adjustment listening to this version. But just because something is different doesn’t mean it’s bad

Jorge’s vocal performance is a lot gruffer, his voice is lower. It’s interesting, I think it definitely conveys more of that ‘soldier whose been at war for a decade’ energy but it also doesn’t sound as pretty.

The soldiers sound crisper and louder than they did before, which is great, but at least to me it kind of also makes it sound like there are less of them?

I liked the rap in the original better. Idk why, if it’s the vocal delivery, the instrumentation, or what. But this is the one part of the remaster that I can categorically say I like less now. To be clear, it’s still very good. This is just my opinion.

there’s something almost synthetic about the backing vocals in Horse and The Infant. I don’t know enough about audio mixing or music to know what to call it, but both the soldiers and Zeus’s backing vocals sound synthetic. It’s less weird with the gods at least, but my brain cannot stop telling me that human soldiers should not sound like that

LOVE Jorge’s new “Augh!” It sounds so real, especially paired with sword slicing sound effect

Luke Holt sounds SO good, as always. Love how crisp and clean his voice sounds in this version

The “I don’t think you’re ready” gets cut off early and it feels really weird to me

I LOVE the new overlapping singing between Zeus and Odysseus. The change is so subtle but so effective, love how much clearer it is what Zeus is saying

“This is the will of the Gods!” has the intensity behind it that I feel it always should have had. Same goes for “All you can choose is whose.”

I have less thoughts on Just a Man

the vocal performance is just as gorgeous as it was the first time, same goes for the instrumentation. It’s basically no different and that’s how it should be

I will say, when Odysseus starts singing the whole “when does a comet become a meteor,” etc, the instrumentation no longer includes a choir/vocal element. This makes sense given the lore of EPIC, ie, only Gods can summon their own backing vocals, but it takes a little bit away from the intensity of the moment (only at first though)

In a similar vein, it is now obvious that the backing vocals are the soldiers singing and really does a lot to clarify that moment to us as the audience. Unlike in Horse and the Infant as well, the soldiers’ vocals sound fantastic to me here

Time for Full Speed Ahead

the synthetic sound of the soldiers’ vocals is back in the lines “make it back alive to our homeland” and “it’s what lies in between”. Again, it sounds weird to me. Humans don’t sound like that when they sing together

LOVE Armando’s new vocals in this. So crisp. So clean. So clear.

Open Arms

Love that the Winions are easier to understand now.

yeah that basically it, Open Arms is just as fantastic this time around, no notes

Warrior of the Mind time!

Again, it’s almost completely unchanged, so I have very little to say

Jorge’s “hahahaha” is so cute, and I really do like it better than the first one

The emphasis on ‘Enlighten me’ is so funny knowing that it’s apparently something a lot of people misheard

The backing vocals when Ody is hyping up Athena are louder and more obvious this time which is also very funny (selfish and prideful and vain)

Cyclops Saga!!!

Listen, I thought the soundscaping of this saga was unreal the first time around. And this blew that out of the water a thousand times over

the sheep sounds, the arrow flying and hitting it’s target

The crackling of the torches!!!

when the Cyclops appears you can hear it’s heavy breathing, and you can hear it get heavier as he notices his dead friend!!!!! Incredible

On the topic of the Cyclops, the new vocals?!?! Hello?!?! Somehow just as distorted and terrifying while now being clearer and easier to understand?! AH! So impressive

The sound of the entire cavern shaking when Polyphemus stands up! You can hear the rocks crumbling and the dust!!! It’s so good!

the revamped Cyclops roars are SO good

Polites’ body hitting the ground sounds TOO real

I really REALLY like the new ‘Captain’ as Polites dies.

The club smashing the men sounds just as wet and bone crunchy as it did before, which is exactly what I wanted

Polyphemus falling to the ground has so much more weight behind it now. You really feel it just from the sound it makes.

Eurylochus’ voice fading in sounds so good

I love how the combination of the change of instrumentation and sudden lack of sound effects except for the clock ticking and distortion when Athena pulls Ody into quick thought really makes it feel like a different dimension

Ody’s “No.” is SO GOOD

Athena sounds PANICKED when she says “DON’T” in this version. I like this direction of her character being more concerned for Odysseus and not just angry, I feel like it gives her more depth and lends credence to her actions later in the story

Jorge’s shout of “Odysseus!” sounds so angry and almost deranged

Athena’s little growl on ‘waste’ is so good I love it

Athena sounds like the she’s genuinely hurt after Ody tells her she’s alone. It actually really hits

the “Just a Man” in My Goodbye is so punchy and that’s all. Overall I really love most of the changes and everything else is just something that’ll take some adjusting to. I’m so glad Jorge and every talented individual who worked on these gets to finally reap the rewards of their master pieces.

[banana-pancake5]

YES YES YES YES YES THAT LAST LINE TOOK ME OUT I FELL ONTO THE GROUND AGFHFHDHFHHFHFJF LEMME GO SONG BY SONG

-Not Sorry for Loving You

😭 this one made me so sad. I basically knew all the lyrics already from the released snippets so I was BELTING my heart out. Her voice is so so pretty and when I just listened to it at first, I took the ending with Odysseus as a sort of “hey we’re friends but not like that so sorry but I’m gonna go now. It’s been good and I’ll miss you” and then she finally accepts it but when I watched the animatic it was so much more tragic imo. Ody seemed like he might’ve been just saying what she wanted to hear in one way, but if it was genuine he moved on quickly and she was just left on her island. Alone again forever. She knows now that what she did was wrong but she really just thought he was a gift from the gods. A companion to join her once lonely life. And the ending shot of the animatic with her alone on the island breaks my heart bc unfortunately he’s not for her. She will just remain alone forever. Makes me SOB

-Dangerous

The beginning sounding like full speed ahead is fantastic I loved it. Ody singing sounded so sad tho bc I’m not used to him without his ensemble backing him up. But he’s just on his own :(((( especially the silence after the “cause I had one goal in mind” and then when Hermes popped in with the “all you gotta do is not open this bag” confirms my beliefs that he’s been watching Ody this whole time (that’s why he sounded so knowing when saying it: he knew he was doing a call back and I love him for it) and I feel like he didn’t sound as peppy as he did in would you like. I like this bc it seems like he’s adjusting to Ody and instead of being blindly optimistic he’s trying to just motivate him (and also just vibe with his buddy) and the WIND BAG. Idk if I got the correct thing from this, but I sort of assumed that Poseidon set a storm in front of Ithaca to stop Ody from getting home; then Hermes and the winions managed to trap it and give it to Ody for “safe keeping.” Anywho I also love it being “it’s a little bit dangerous, my friend” and then “don’t you know that danger is my friend” that’s just great. AND THEN ATHENA REFERENCED FIGHTING FOR HIM FHDHDHDKDJKDDJNDKD she better be fine or ELSE

-Charybdis

This one’s just really vibey and I love the chorus. It’s also really nice hearing Mr. Mind Warrior doing his little plan. OH AND THE SOUND IT MAKES AS ITS STARTING LIKE THE HORROR-ADJACENT SCREECHEY THING IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER. Oh and idk how familiar you are with this, but certain instruments and riffs are repeated in the musical for certain characters. Odysseus has the guitar and the different types of guitars mean different things I really like the sound of his electric guitar in this one dgdgshhdgdjd and the holding on for his family is so sweet :(((( but bro said “I’ll be there today” XD um idk man maybe don’t jinx yourself like that

-GET IN THE WATER FHDHDHDHHDHD

I LOVE how powerful popo’s (that’s his new nickname his name is too long) music is it’s just dhdhdgdhhdhdhd very good and strong I love it it really imposes that power and dread and stuff. And I’m kinda dumb ig bc I didn’t realize this before but I love how he threatens to gauge ody’s son’s eyes (like how Ody did to popo’s son) like ooookay yeah settle done please don’t get crazy. Then I LOVE how Odysseus tries to talk his way out of it which is so in character dhdhdjdjdjjsk and then popo seems so determined like he doesn’t particularly care enough to want to do this, he just thinks he HAS to. So he will. And his “no” is just dhdhsgdhdjdjdk very chilling I love it. And the freaking GHOSTS OF HIS PAST BRO FHDHDHDKDJDJ polites, eurylochus, and his mom killl me everytime fhdhdhsjdhjdd and the whole crew??? They’re making me emotional. And I love that with using these call backs, when I’m listening I don’t know exactly what’s going on but they give me a pretty good idea like bro is VERY near death rhdjdjdhdjsksk then I am reminded of the no longer you prophecy. “I see you on the brink of death. I see you draw your final breath. I see a man who gets to make it home alive, but it’s no longer you.” The end of this song IS THAT MOMENT. He’s about to die, he’s taken his final breath, and after this moment I think Odysseus is dead. The monster is who takes his place. And the next song REALLY cements that

-SIX HUNDRED STRIKE (<- probably my favorite of the saga teehee)

THEHDHDJDHDJDKLAJFHEHDJDKEKDHDJD again it’s very electric guitar and the genius of bringing the riff from keep your friends close is killing me. It’s so gorgeous and just perfect for me shdhdhdkdhdkshd bro keeps using wind bag on Poseidon and honestly yeah do your thing. And the “I WILL GET BACK TO MY SON AND I WILL GET BACK TO MY WIIIIIIIIIFE” is fantastic fhdhhdjskdjdjg yes bro get him and after the strike, popo was so smug with the “can’t you see? You sealed your fate” and Ody was NOT taking it and shot back the “you’ll call of the storm” AND RIGHT BEFORE HE SAYS THAT, YOU HEAR THE RIFF THAT COMES IN DIFFERENT BEAST, THE ONE RIGHT BEFORE HE SAYS “MY REAL WIFE KNOWS IM NOT SCARED OF THE WATER” AND JUST SHDHSHSJKSKSN and then bro just TORTURES HIM LIKE FHFHDJDHDKFHTKD THIS IS PRETTY GOOD PROOF THAT THIS ISNT ODY THIS IS THE MONSTER HOLY FREAK. Then I absolutely adore his monologue as he’s stabbing him. It’s so beautiful and tragic and broken and rageful and I can’t get over it. Idk if it’s a little trick to make us kinda get in ody’s shoes but Poseidon’s screams sound so nice?? Like to us that’s because they’re sort of singy screams but to ody it’s because this is his long awaited vengeance?? “calling their captain in vain” takes me back to cyclops saga and makes me wanna sob and then the “look what you turned me into” is him basically acknowledging that he’s no longer himself anymore bc of all that’s happened and what he’s done. “You didn’t stop when I begged you” bro really has learned ruthlessness and this is his outlet dhdgshshdhfhfj and popo calling him monster it just shfhdhbfhfhfhfj it kills me man it kills me. And yeah when mr. “Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” is begging you to stop you know you’ve done some stuff dhfhdhsjdjkd

AND THE LAST LINE FHDHDHDHDHDHUEIRHFHFHEHDHHEHFJFITHFHFHTH INSANE. I SHOULD’VE EXPECTED IT BUT I DIDNT AND IT TOOM ME OUT THAT IS MY NEW FAVORITE EPIC QUOTE FHDHDHHDHDHDHRHTHTJJTJTJTJTJT

Oh my gosh I’d love to hear your thoughts

OKAY OKAY OKAY I WANNA SOB NOW STOP THIS HURTS IJDEFNKJCDSNKCJEANACEKJNCAEKJ

Okay so I think how I’m gonna do this is song by song, responding to your thoughts, and then sharing mine UNDER THE CUT CUZ ITS GONNA GET LONG

- Not Sorry for Loving You

Bahhhh ikkkkkk it really makes me just feel so bad for Calypso!! Her voice is literally gorgeous I love the way her songs sound so much decnihedcncijedncidjeniec I feel like he was just saying what she wanted to hear but at the same time I think it was genuine (platonic)?? It didn’t SOUND like he was just lying to her face but I can totally picture him doing so. But if he was being genuine then, yeah, BOY MOVED ON QUICK. I didn’t realllllly like Calypso in the being because she was …kind of a creep…. But now it makes so much more sense and it’s heart wrenching looking back on how she acted. That was the ONLY person she’d seen/talked to in SO MANY YEARS. She thought he was gift from the gods and she hears him talking about this Penelope girl and is like “who that?” And he just says “She’s my wife“ that must of crushed her bro!!! But of course she persisted bc that’s the only person she has!!!!! Then he leaves. Her life that had finally changed for the better is back to its usual loneliness. I want a song called “Alone in paradise” about her before he comes and or after he’s gone. It would be DEVASTATING.

- Dangerous

Okay wow I did not realize that!!! Ohhhhh that’s why it sounded so different!! Well 1 he’s sorta depresso, but yeah his ensemble is gone! Okay honestly I love Hermes so much but “All you gotta is not open this bag” DUDE THATS KINDA A MEAN JOKE DONT YOU THINK???? Heheheh I love that part of the song tho so I can’t be mad at him XD oh I can totally imagine hm watching Ody the whole, and the fact he knew he was making a call back (bc of course he did) is just so funny to me. Hermes adjusting to the current mood makes me love him so much more. He’s not just being all annoying and teasing Ody because he is aware of everything that Ody’s been through (which is A LOT), but that said, Hermes is still vibing and as he does he encourages and helps Ody too. WHOLESOME FUN FRIENDSHIPS I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!! OHHHHH OKAY OKAY THAT CLEARS THAT UP. I was genuinely so confused like they already used all the wind??????? But that makes a lot more sense!!

I HAVE THOUGHTS ON ATHENA. ONE, THAT REFERENCE CDEIHNCEDIJNCEDIJENJICFENCE I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Two, I thought she died but now I no longer do!!! Partly because I watched a ton more God Games animatics and a good couple of them she survives (I think? Maybe I’m remembering wrong lol), and…. Well okay turns out I don’t have another point. Maybe I just gaslit myself into thinking she was alive with no evidence XD

- Charybdis

Listening to it again rn to remember it lol

Honestly yeah I agree and I also don’t have many opinions on this song ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I mean it’s GREAT, just as every song in the musical, but it didn’t stick out too much to me :/

OH BUT THE END. HE SEES HIS HOME AND THEN STUPID POPO (love the nickname) POPS UP TO KILL HIM.

The instruments!!!! I may be watching a lot of the videos the main guy has made bc it’s so interesting, but! I did see stuff about this! I think he said that Electric music is correlated with magic, so the more magic in the scene the more electric components. That being said I am apparently garbage at noticing these motifs and instruments in the music bc I didn’t even notice the electric guitar ;-;. BUT I HAVE HEARD SOME INTERESTING THOUGHTS I WANNA TALK ABOUT!!!

Have you seen the one short talking about the Sirens Powers? If not then you NEED to. Idk how to find it tho…. But anyway, basically it’s talking about how the siren’s song, depending on how clearly the recipient can hear, gives her access to memories so she can lure her prey into the water. THATS WHY THE SIREN SAID DAUGHTER INSTEAD OF SON!!!! Since he had the beeswax in his ears she couldn’t fully access his memories and so she got stuff wrong! That’s alllsooooo why the song has stinking Polites’ instrument (a mallet or something like that) instead of Penelope’s!! THE DETAILS IN THE MUSIC ARE SO COOL AND THE AMOUNT KF THOUGHT PUT INTO IT IS SO AWESOME EIJCNSDJINCDISJNCKSJDNJCKSD

- GET IN THE WATER YES ISCDUNWDCJINWCDJKNCDWKJNCSD

Ikkkk all his songs set the mood so perfectly! OKAY THE LITERAL GASP I MADE WHEN I READ THAT. YEAH I GUESS IM DUMB TOO BC THAT WENT WAYYYYYY OVER MY HEAD. NXSXJINXSDIJWNCKDJSNCIWJDNCJDIWDECN THAT COMPARISON KILLS ME. Ody is Leo 100% every single time Ody is talking his way out of something I’m reminded of it XD. It’s kind of a relief seeing Ody try to talk his way out of it. Yes he has changed, but he is still him yknow? Popo’s line delivery gives me chills. It’s so spooky and dramatic. and he’s got a point! If he lets Ody go then people will definitely see him as less of a threat. Doesn’t mean I appreciate Popo’s actions one bit though lol. I LOVE the following scene when he starts singing “Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves” the peril, chaos, waves crashing all around Ody. Even without the animatic you can just sense the threat. Also it sounds epic (hehe puns). AND FOLLOWED BY THE GHOSTS BROOOO DWIHBCDSIHBCDAJHBWDCIUNCDS. WAIT. WAIT WAIT WAIT. YOU ARE SO CORRECT. THE PROPHECY THATS IT. THATS INSANE. AGHHHHHHHHHHH. Noooooooooo Ody is gone. The monster takes his place and that’s devastating. I’m gonna get emotional disncjkjsdncjidsn

- THIS SONG. AH. SIX HUNDRED STRIKE. (<- Probably tied for first or second fav in this saga Dangerous is just such a bop) (listening to this song on loop as a write this)

I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE THAT THATS WHAT THE RIFF WAS FROM SDCNDUCEHBDDWUHNWDCHINUHCDWNW Popo you should’ve learned by now, Don’t let Ody have the stinking wind bag!! Popo fell for the same trick twice in a row XD. ALSO JUST AHH ODY “CANT AFFORD TO DIE” I LOVE THAT LINE VERY MUCH. BC HE LITERALLY CANT. HE HAS DONE SO MUCH TO GET BACK HOME HE AINT GONNA WASTE ALL THAT EFFORT AND DIE. and yesssssssss that’s such a good line asnswihxnxwsjinxweijnxdwnjixwdjinxdw. HOW DO I KEEP MISSING THESE MUSICAL MOMENTS NCJIWDDNIJDEWNIJDNWDDIJWNCD I DIDNT NOTICE THAT RIFF EITHER!!!! AH. Okay I just wanna ramble a bit about the whole torture and pre torture bit. The second Popo said “or what? You can’t kill me,” so stinking naive Popo, I KNEW what was gonna happen. THAT CONCEPT. USEING HIS IMMORTALITY AGAINST HIM. HE CANT DIE BUT HE’LL WISH HE COULD. I JUST— AHHHHHHHH ITS SO GOOD. AND HORRIFIC BUT DECNSDCIUNCDWJINWDCJINICEF. And then Popo begging for mercy, which he was oh so against previously (ironic right). When he sees Ody approach with his Trident and starts panicking “Wait …Wait!” ODY IS SO RUTHLESS BRO. HE DEFINITELY IS THE MONSTER. AND SOMETHING ABOUT HIM COMPLETELY IGNORING POPO WHEN HE SAID “ENOUGH” AND THEN SHUTTING HIM DOWN WHEN HE YELLS STOP. And when Popo yells out, “you MONSTERRR” I died. Nuidceiuecdnjidecnjindec. It’s so cruel and messed up but that was Popo’s outlet. he just let out all of his pent up rage, all of his guilt, everything. Oh and yes, “calling their captain in vain” gives me FLASHBACKS to Survive AND the Ruthlessness (it’s faint but the crew yells “captain” in the background) which justs add more to that sick irony of the scene.

— Okay, slight side tangent, but Popo saying “the line between naive and hopefulness is almost invisible” durning Ruthlessness is just killing me bc of what I said earlier, “‘or what? you can’t kill me,’ so stinking naive Popo” I just can’t dfwnuhedcnudhe —

“After everything you’ve done …how will you sleep at night?” “Next to my Wife” BRO THAT LINE IK ITS KILLS ME CEDIHNCUHEFNCEDIJNIUDXWNIJWXDNWCDJ OH DEFINITELY ONE OF IF NOT THE BEST EPIC QUOTE

Oooooookay think I responded to basically everything you’ve said and told my thoughts…. Hopefully this whole ramble makes sense :P

IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS OR JUST THINGS YOU WANNA SAY ABOUT ANY OF THE SONGS PLEASE HOP IN MY IN BOX MORE CDEJINFDEIJDCENIDEJCNECDNIJCFE

[vint-knight]

Besides Poseidon, Hermes and Circe being my favourite that I have in terms of designs for EPIC, I still love my version of Aeolus, she was so fun to design, especially when coming up with the Winions! I really wanted to make them slightly separate from the Lotus Eaters