#i say this about every musical but I want to animatic whole thing or as much as I can

[saltavenegar]

Back on my bullshit 👹

[the-storyteller78]

Ok, midterms are officially done and I’m finally getting my Vengeance Saga thoughts together. HERE WE GO.

I will be very frank. This was not my favorite saga. I did really like portions of it, and I was still left gobsmacked and mouth agape by the end of it, but overall, it was not one of the stronger sagas. Of course, I have nothing but respect for Jorge and all the amazing voices who contributed to this musical. Epic is still very dear to me, whatever qualms I may have. And I have the privilege of yapping on Tumblr without having done any of the work in figuring out all the logistics of creating a musical, so just remember: These are my opinions. Just me blabbering cus I like talking about Epic.

(And I know this would be very unconventional, but when the stage production of Epic comes out, I almost want there to be an intermission sort of thing after the Wisdom Saga or something. I don’t know how that would work out, but I feel like it would provide an indication of how much time has passed for Odysseus on the island.)

“Not Sorry For Loving You.” I felt nothing. I understand that Calypso has suffered because of her punishment of isolation, and I sympathize with what she had to go through. But I do not like her at all. I loathe her. Her tragic backstory does not give her permission to keep a man prisoner for seven years and ignore his desperate pleas to be allowed to leave. It does not give her leave to constantly pursue him when he has unequivocally told her that he is married and very much NOT. INTERESTED. And that’s barely even touching on the implications of sexual harassment. I was not happy with the choice to make Odysseus say that he loves her at all, even if it’s not romantic, but I was honestly very satisfied by the absolute stone-cold expression he had in Gigi’s animatic. That is not the face of a man who cares one bit about someone who kept him captive.

Anyhow. Moving on (because I’ll never stop talking about it if I don’t).

I really feel that “Dangerous” and “Charybdis” could’ve been combined in some way. Look, I love Troy Doherty’s voice. Every verse he sings in Epic is such a jam. But I have to say that “Dangerous” is probably one of the less narratively important songs in the entire musical. We know the journey is dangerous; it’s BEEN dangerous the whole time. No reason that would change now, especially with Poseidon still after him. And I know some people think “Charybdis” could be taken out, but I kind of like that the idea of him being dropped into this super scary situation right after leaving Ogygia but rallying himself and declaring that he’s still fighting. He’s not giving up. The way I see it, Odysseus’ lyrics in “Charybdis” are a meaningful specifically because he is returning to himself, he’s not willing to just die anymore like he was seriously considering on Ogygia. He has hope. I think it would be interesting to have “Charybdis” come right after “Not Sorry For Loving You,” have Hermes appear towards the end of the song, then have Odysseus sing his adorable little Penelope I’m coming home my love don’t worry moment. I don’t know how that would work out musically, but I’m sure someone could figure it out.

AND THEN POSEIDON POPS OUT OF THE OCEAN. “Get in the Water” was pretty intense; I don’t really have much to say about it. The voices of his mom, Eurylochus, and Polites echoing around him as he teeters on the brink of death had me teary-eyed. I’ll be real though, I’m not sure why the wind bag was relevant. It was such a lose-lose situation. If he doesn’t open the bag, he gets drowned by Poseidon. If he does open the bag to survive and fight Poseidon, he can’t go home. Either way, he loses. Was it like that on purpose because Zeus was trying to be a jerk even after flash-frying his daughter??

(Also, I don’t know what the physics or whatever of a super powerful storm bag jet pack is, but I somehow doubt it would be a viable option)

“600 Strike.” I wanted to like this song. And I will freely admit, the ending had me breathless and absolutely on the edge of my seat. However, I was definitely struggling not to cringe when he yelled 600 strike. I don’t know why. I was trying so hard to be cool about it, but I just could not. And I don’t get how he beat Poseidon with a regular old sword in the middle of an ocean. AN OCEAN. WHICH POSEIDON CONTROLS. We saw how helpless Odysseus and his crew were against Poseidon in “Ruthlessness,” and now he just goes down after a few blows from Odysseus who, by the way, does not have any divine enhancements or support at the moment. The wind bag doesn’t give him super strength. His sword isn’t magically able to cut a god. How is he suddenly able to beat him? The power of friendship?? At least the trident doing damage makes sense because it’s Poseidon’s own weapon. Which brings me to my final point. Like I said earlier, the end of “600 Strike” was really impactful. However, because I don’t think it makes sense for Poseidon to have been in that position to begin with, I can’t say that it sat entirely well with me from a narrative standpoint. I’m not sure what I would’ve liked to see, but maybe I’ll make a separate post about it once I mull it over some more.

OK THAT’S A WRAP. Thanks to everyone who managed to get to the end of this rant. Went waaaay longer than I expected, but what can I say. I’m just a girl.

[capsizedskeleton]

epic the musical live review over a few days ft. getting high during storm saga

TROY SAGA thunder bringer was one of the first songs i heard so going to the horse and the infant and hearing don't make me do this please don't make me do this!!! i didn't know that was a callback reminds me of pathologic is great and here's why, where hbomberguy points out child murder is such a taboo and it's that game's opener (depending on the character) here it's the musical's opener fffuck okay ruthlessness was also one of the first songs i heard so "600 men under my command" after i know it will become at least 43 then 0 is hghhhhh. esp when they're similar melodies, the first time the number is mentioned in full speed ahead

CYCLOPS SAGA so i watched a few animatics of these as well before troy saga just bc mmm animatics and oh recontextualized w the last two songs of the saga thats. hm. IIIIII AM YOUR DARKEST MOMENT all the uses of die with the last sound stretched out emphasizing the eye sound oough remember them. remember us. remember me OOHHH ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT THAT. ARE YOU SURE

STORM got up to the first few animatics i ended up watching. by now i might be able to categorize the animators? gigi as Action, Cinema, wolfy as a few lines seeming delicate and shape so solidly, nealillustrator as the GOAT (ok im biased they've only got thunder bringer but it's really good and i know them from bnha animatics ok), ximena as line. color. solid expression fav things from various ruthlessness animatics: poseidon being a shadow horse with front-facing eyes, a spiky merman but tentacles on bottom, literally water that could form into different things, only his hair being water, a horse, a guy, the stageplay version, everyone having different amounts of frames and different styles, like every!! time i watch an animatic i spot a new good take, beauty in everryy style, all the goregous water animation, capturing odysseus, submerging him, putting him in a whirlpool. that man is now a truly soggy cat am i insane or is there wind blowing in the last verse of that. after what have you done. maybe ive just had shit earbuds before. brutal

i got caught up in listening to done for even though that was skipping ahead. i am going to eat gigi's animatic whole. the corresponding basslines for each character how ody's replaces circe's?? now watching there are other ways. the two together as a beautiful story in 6 minutes is amazing

CIRCE normal now i like done for and there are other ways a lot more than puppeteer. this seems to be a pattern in which songs i like in each saga eury's bit leading up to "a woman" reallyyyyy sounds like hamilton wouldn't you like beat drop??? done for and there are other ways are fucking brilliant they're a whole story like i said before. ill say it again. absolutely entrancing. love the take that circe's about to kill ody before he rejects her and starts going on about his wife. also the transition after "that prophet is dead" bungggg and then the backing track hghh i am going to eat the melodic motifs i am going to swallow the chords whole AAAAGHHH

underworld again. weaker start, but oooh full speed ahead a bit of a reprise moment there and ody's mom i did not expect that. left for too long wandered too far gods REPRISE OF I SEE A SONG OF PAST ROMANCE HELLOOOO halfway into no longer you and OOOOOHHHH FUCK this shit HITS despite everything it's NOT you

NO MONSTER THE SLIP INTO CORRUPTION gigi i would die for you and this sequence. you know the one

THUNDER suffering is so good (normal sentence) i love the back and forth the you know im too shy the tone change at the lair of scylla listened to different beast on the train (first time listening to a song w/o animatic at first) and oooh the switch up!!!! we're in it now! DIFFERENT BEAST NOW HE'S A DIFFERENT BEAAST NOWWWWWW scylla.... oho the harmony. mutiny ok the opening i fw but why tf is eurylochus upset about the six men sacrifice when he was the one who suggested with circe that they just leave the men behind. also luck runs out callback i love my reprises why is helios lowk brushed over like i wouldve expected odysseus or eurylochus to talk about heyyy dont anger the gods like we did before thunder bringer slay. we already know. the bumping beat from the horse and the infant we knowwww. it's a little funny mutiny is RIGHT before thunder bringer like. hey crew you just stabbed him you should be a little less surprised he chooses to sacrifice yall. not even chosen. not even zeus was surprised by odysseus' immediate reaction

MISC. THOUGHTS

talked to a few friends while making this, wrote the sentence "i can feel the old greek mythology elementary/middle school neurons firing up again" because i CAN feel them god and it's also like watching musical animatics after school except im not 13 and deeply lonely this time. decided to write a fic of what happens between each saga and in a bit of wondering for that decided to look up the actual story of the odyssey (shmoop is not perfect but it is decent) and wow that's a lot of changes made from the original that contribute to a well-characterized musical! god it's such a good time. is this what dracula daily people felt like, reliving an old (relative to present) story and relishing in the Themes?

FAV SONG(S) FROM EACH SAGA

the horse and the infant

survive, remember them

ruthlessness

done for

no longer you (the OPPOSITE of that undertale quote)

different beast, thunder bringer

TLDR

excited for wisdom saga !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[waywardsunlight]

Post Hoot 4/28/2023

Cissy, Dana, Rebecca, Sarah, Avi, and Zelda Black

Reactions to the finale? 

Sarah cried really hard when she saw the Quincera (“a whole chapter in my life is over” line). Avi was excited to play a villain, Sarah said they were scary. Avi liked to play with character. Dana loved seeing Avi’s evil Raine, said it was intense. They said they wanted to see more evil Raine, but Dana wanted to avoid it. Rebecca’s birthday was the week the finale came out, talked about their appearance in the episode. Cissy started crying, said it was neat.

Continue reading below:

Cissy had been travelling, and got back right on time to see the finale, she was super tired. Cissy was crying, her kids were asking her if she was crying. Avi cried too. Sarah said she was choked up but she was more excited. Avi felt like it was surreal. Cissy said “no sequel” “we can hope” “It would be fun to do more but it would require Disney to agree” Dana. Sometimes Dana gets so pissed off about the cancelling. Rebecca said the finale aired and they were back to being angry. Wished they had gotten more episodes. Sarah was angry, upset and sad about the cancellation but she loved the finale. “It couldn’t have been more impressive”.“There’s always gonna be a thousand things we want to improve but it came out well” Dana

Dana loved the fight scene between Luz, Eda, and King v Belos. 

Music? How does it work? Brad has been on since season 2, he already knew the style of the show, so for every animatic, you put in temp music, and you send the composer the stuff and the spot notes, follow the concept of the temp music but add a horror genre spin on it. Brad’s first take on the episode was great. TJ did a remix for the epilogue, Dana cried hearing the remix for the epilogue. 

They brought back every single actor for the bye. Everyone’s last line is bye!!! Hooty originally had a line where he kept saying goodbye. Hooty coming out of Papa Titan’s eye? “I won’t say much, in hopes I get to do more in the future (slim chance), this youtube reviewer- The3rdBill got it right in an offhand comment”

“How did the writing change for season 2/season 3?” Dana had an ending she wanted, wasn’t able to do it bc too much set up. All of season 2A was written without the knowledge of the cancellation, Follies was the first episode fully written with the knowledge it was cancelled. Dana wanted to do more with galdorstones, coven heads, Bat Queen, it’s easy to see what we had to prioritize. It was a hard situation in the writer’s room. We did our best and we’re happy people still connected to it.”

“Keep being loud about how much you love the show”

“Support the Etsy artists!” Had a pin by SophieScrubs

“It’s not like we had whole episodes written that were trashed, they were one sentence ideas”- they were in Dana’s head “I’m just happy with what came out” 

“We kinda got to go out, 45 minute specials, it was fun to work with”

Cissy “There’s no way you can’t be a fan”, Cissy was wearing a King beanie and got recognized as a fan in Ireland!

Sarah met people who liked her shirt and the show lol (didn’t say if they knew who she was) Rebecca wore a king sweatshirt in DisneyLand, saw somebody else with a king sweatshirt and they side-eyed her lol “Anyone who ignores Rebecca can catch these claws”

Owlberts in the title of the show, Stringbean is there too, the L and S, when they made the pilot, they had a different logo, it wasn’t made intentionally but they saw it and they liked it.

Luz had a connection with snakes, having her reclaim snakes.

Sarah was a snake believer!!!

A lot of ppl had ideas in the writers room, Dana loves bad puns and loved snakeshifter (the guy who has Barkus named after him), Beastkeeping bc Dana loves animals, Oracle bc she could see the future of the show.

“Avi needs wrangling” Sarah, they joked around.

Raine’s Palisman: The Palisman was disguised as the violin, Raine smashes their violin- it was the staff part of the Palisman that was smashed.

Did they Clawthorne family ever discover they were descendants of Evelyn and Caleb? Eda and Hunter don’t know, the rest I won’t say.

Who had the old house? Who did that belong to? 

Sarah has a Stringbean! 

“The artistry of the fandom is inspiring” Cissy

Somebody’s making Cissy a Lilith one.

Caleb, Evelyn, Flapjack? “Save it for the spinoff” Dana: “One detail I like to think of, is when we were writing TTT, Flapjack is not Evelyn, to Belos he saw Flapjack as the culmination of the corruption in his brother “if it weren’t for you”, you can see a hint at it in the halloween decorations, Evelyn’s hand had Flapjack. First magic Caleb was introduced to, Evelyn was hiding her ears and pretending to be human, follow this bird into this portal? “Dog owners passing eachother and becoming friends and bonding over dogs”. I like to think that Evelyn and Caleb was sweet- platonic curiosity to romantic, it was good for a bit.

“Who did the shack belong to?” We never got to explore this, it was originally the home of Caleb and Philip, Eda comes out there for the first time when coming out of the portal door. Eda fixed it!!! Everything doesn’t matter, google death of the author, I am just a fan now bc the show is finished. If you prefer your version, it’s valid rn.

Eda becomes the owl beast before getting Owlbert. There was going to be an episode where they showed her reclaiming the image of the owl and learning to carve palisman with Dell.

When Luz and Hunter went down to the basement originally, there were graves down there for Philip and Caleb, based off old buildings in connecticut (no story purpose)

Belos concepts when he was taking over animals, didn’t end up in the show, Belos animal designs, alluded to but not shown

Eye on the portal is Papa Titan? Yes. 

Hunter is bisexual, Willow is pansexual.

Amity and Lilith rekindled mentor relationship, Lilith has a lot of history, Amity likes history + reading. They liked the blueprints for the library.

Cissy hadn’t seen anything she didn’t speak lines for, Cissy just got her lines/scenes.

Apparently they’re not supposed to bring the scripts home, before the pandemic they got full scripts

“Excuse me I’m talking” Avi (joking), Avi and Sarah are high energy

Avi didn’t have time to read the script, Sarah was confused when Luz died

Sarah got the script when Flapjack died, she said “no! Take me!” and they said “you’re going too”

Avi had trouble with the “you’re fluffy” line

Rebecca sent animatics to help the actors, it was easier for them to see the animatics

“It’s always up to the showrunner to show as much as they can” we go pitches in house with our own voices, Dana did Terra in For the Future animatic.Dana hates hearing her own voice, she talks really fast in her reads. When you pitch, you also do the sound effects. When they did the pitch for the finale (hour and a half), the line that got Rebecca choked up when Dana did Luz’s “Eda, King, thank you” “we got you kiddo”

There’s a recording of all of season two b  and season three of Dana pitching doing the lines.

If the show had not been cut short, would Amity and Hunter have had more time? Everyone would’ve gotten more of a chance to talk to each other- yes. Hunter would’ve talked to more characters like Vee and human realm kids, Camila. Literally everyone would’ve had more time. Dana loves the sibling relationship.

Luz and Raine barely interact, they’re bickering jokingly. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to hang out” Dana, “we can’t get the hexsquad to hang out”

Where did Luz attend school after WAD? She went to human realm high school, she had renewed motivation, even if high school was difficult, she had a goal, having a safe space for her and a family outside of the human realm made high school more bearable (that was the cause for Dana, having that escape was good).

Gus’s hair!! :D Emmy designed him. Dana designed Emira, Skara, Eber for the finale. Dana had two others but she forgot. 

King’s dad’s name is unpronounable. 

Does the Collector visit often? Has their relationship with their siblings improve? (STRONG LAUGHS) Dana can’t say much about the Archivsts, the Collector didn’t have a flashforward design bc they didn’t grow up that much, got a little taller but not really. Immortal space child. Dana was inspired by creepy dolls, and a nightmare. JBO had a google folder with cool references of creepy dolls, liminal nightmare scapes, stars. We know who is the Collector is gonna be but what’s their vibe. That was one of the most fun parts after the shortening. The Collector was always a part of it, not solidified, but yeah they were a part of it. The Collector has stayed connected, visits. Dana loves fan comics about King and the Collector. 

Won’t answer questions about the archvists. 

Hooty doesn’t have to be vacated from the owl house if he doesn’t want to, the door has a star motif on it, when the door isn’t active, Hooty can be there, but the portal door can fold up but Hooty is buddy. 

Who are the current residents of the Owl House? Raine and Eda’s business is their business, not all love stories end in marriage, that doesn’t diminism any kind of love? They live together in the owl house. Raine moved in.

Zach Markus invented Matt so he gets to answer Matt questions.

Vee and Masha dating? It’s hard to say, bc we didn’t include Masha in the finale, Vee has a crush on them. Yeah! Maybe.

Sarah’s husband is texting saying hi lol.

Odalia? Divorced. The kids happily live away from her. They see her when they have the energy to, they recognize she’s toxic and they don’t have to put up with her if she’s being awful. May have been explored if more episodes. Rachael MacFarlane (VA) is great. She’s not British, she’s just pretentious.

King’s Tower? Dana’s thinking… “dumb answer. The plans we had, it had something to do with… it was related to someone who you all know who may have amnesia

There was gonna be a moment for other characters to get eye glow (strong emotions)

What’s the mouse that looked like alador? In the boards, Dawn animated the scene, he has a pose where he looked like a t-rex, Dana saw it and thought he looked like Remy from Rattatoue, when they got to the scene with the lab, he remembered that convo and drew in the rat and Dana laughed so hard “keep it, don’t change it” “It’s his palisman”

“A show should be enjoyed as is, knowing how it’s made is also cool” “when the show got darker- we got to do the fun stuff we got to do, if we all tried to force ourselves to write a happy go-lucky show they’d be unhappy, we’re gonna put our feelings into this” It was a dark writers room for a bit.

Sarah likes the darker elements, mentioned the masks (maybe TTT?), not totally removed from reality

“It clearly struck a chord, we lived through a global quarantine, we’re feeling the fallout of it”

“What was extremely hopeful for the crew was that the characters would have a happy ending, Luz gets to study magic, the characters stay together and form a community” 

They got questions they couldn’t answer like about the quince 

They don’t know if this is the last post hoot

They opened presents but they didn’t get one for Avi bc they didn’t know they’d be there until 2 days before. Rebecca got them funko pops of Lilith and Luz. Rebecca said thank you.

“Hey disney, if you’re watching, this could be you”

Elizabeth (Camila VA) called her mom to translate stuff into spanish. 

Said byeeee!

[dadjokesbutgay]

Ok but none of the sticks would be immune to epic

(Kinda a long post, so rambles under the cut)

green starts the group obsession, he's been in his room for a few days and when someone goes to check on him he's just. full on sobbing, screaming out, "THIS LIFE IS AMAZING WHEN YOU GREET IT WITH OPEN ARMS"

within the next week, everyone on Alanspc gains a new hyperfixation

Green and Yellow notice most of the repeating motifs and melodies and love dissecting the musical to infodump on everyone else. Sec likes the animatics and all the different art styles, and will occasionally spot more details that even into Yellow and Green's theories (they're more focused on the animation part than the symbolic details, but still think all the layers and things are cool) Red's favorite songs are Ruthlessness, Remember Them, and Warrior of the Mind. The others know this because he has not stopped listening to them for weeks. Blue doesn't do the analyzing themmself, but is happy to discuss theories and observations Green and Yellow make. If either of them get hung up on what a certain repeating melody might mean, they'll often times go to Blue because of his uncanny ability to see what they've missed and give them new ideas.

they put the livestream on the big tv for a movie night and there was a full-fledged P A N I C when it went down; Yellow was trying to recommend ways to fix it through the chat, Red and Green kept screaming, "CAPTAIN!!" at the yt window as it that would make it work, Sec was just trying to help/calm everyone down, and blue was helping Sec until they smelled the burning popcorn (but afterwards, everyone was laughing about "last I checked, goddesses can't die-" being the last thing before everything stopped)

eventually, the CG get Purple and MT to try it during another movie night with everyone and they were NOT prepared, like, those two got their hearts RIPPED out

bonus - when I think everyone would cry:

MT started first during Just A Man when Odysseus mentions his son (he didn't really cry, just made a Sad Face™ and got a hug from Purple)

no one really follows suit until the Underworld Saga, when Blue hears Polities and kinda cuddles into Yellow, sniffling and saying smth like, "he just wanted Ody to be happy tho, he didn't deserve it!"

Purple tried to thug it out, but failed as soon as Odysseus's mom appeared (again, they didn't cry cry, just a few tears, but that's a lot from Purp)

Sec was sad through various points of the musical, but for some reason, the line,"every friend, I saw them die," really upset them. They can't entirely explain why, though.

Yellow got emotional during We'll be Fine at how close Athena sounded to tears

The first time he listened to it, Green sobbed almost the whole way through Thunderbringer

Red doesn't count. He cried when Polyphemus's sheep died.

[activatebutterflyshield]

Songs that make me really really really want to learn animation so I can make epic sequences with them as the soundtrack

- Notos by the Oh Hellos, itd make a great phoenix-rising, defeated-character-realizing-their-power-and-absolutely-destroying-someone-who-did-them-real-trauma thing. Also the metaphors and imagery. “Every inhale I take, swallow the ocean whole and I am one / With the hurricane, tall as the tide that laps with a rabid tongue”??? “With every exhale I break you down with a fury, I lay the hills undone / Like a dog gone untamed, bellowing out a river from my lungs”??????

- Boreas by the Oh Hellos, the perfect sort of ‘Im completely defeated but by god I’m still going to do something to help’

- Okay I should just include all of the Four Winds EPs in here. Get over here, Eurus and Zephyrus. Passerine and Rio Grande specifically.

- The Horror and the Wild by the Amazing Devil, see this one fandom post I made that was basically a desperate attempt to visualize an animatic I could never make

- Chords by the Amazing Devil, entirely different vibes but bloody hell it lights a fire in my heart every time I hear it. Just. “We were the winter nights / So you could be the morning snow / Your life begins by leaving / And our love is shown / In the letting go”????????

- Rockslide by the Crane Wives. Im writing a whole thing about that album, Coyote Stories’, relationship with climate change and the generally horrible state of the world and this song is the reason. “Oh I pray today my soul to keep / But we best get a move on or the devil we will meet”?? I mean. Mates. It hits hard.

- Sleeping Giants by the Crane Wives. Same album as Rockslide and just as strong if not more so. It would make for a great call-to-war or prelude-to-a-big-ol-battle.

- Rule #3 Paperwork by Fish in a Birdcage. By goodness is Paperwork underrated (though methinks Rule #2 Moonlight is even more underrated but thats just a good song) and I love it to death. Just a great song for an easygoing time. Or, alternatively, a great song for a subtle call to action.

- Rule #33 Pyre by Fish in a Birdcage. Its just great. A final, fond farewell from a beloved parent or mentor or loved one or other dear person telling you that you’ll be fine after they’re gone. Also the accordion is really neat in this one. “Trust yourself and live it your way”. It just is great.

- WOLVES OF THE REVOLUTION. ARCADIAN WILD. This gave so much inspiration for writing a revolution and the people involved in it. Its perfect for that arc. It doesnt bloody matter if said revolution is in a war tragedy of a fanfic.

Theres more but I dont have much to say about them, so just know that Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier (Corb Lund), Solar Waltz (Cosmo Sheldrake), Mvmt II Begin and Never Cease (The Oh Hellos (really bloody Christian but its so good just music wise)(Also Christmas as hell)), The Day Goes On (Bill Wurtz), and my very dear Discord’s Smallest Violin (The AJR Discord) are also very dear to my heart and would probably become something if I had enough commitment and free time and all those other extremely volatile factors to actually learn how to animate. I will, someday. But that day is not today.

Also I swear to you @writer-of-random-things I am writing the climate-change-Coyote-Stories thing. It exists. Or, about half of it exists. I got to The Hand That Feeds and its. Uh. A lot.

[crabsnpersimmons]

Hi, hello, your animatic has been living rent free in my head and I've rambled to a friend how much I love it, so I thought I probably should do the same directly to you! (I know this was a gift for someone else so I hope it's not weird gkjhdsf)

First of all, thank you for introducing this song to me, I'll be listening to it a thousand times XD

Second of all, aaaaa I love how well you fitted all the images to the lyrics!! All the shenanigans and fumbles are absolutely endearing! I love Sun using his leg as a fake guitar haha! And Moon flying away dejectedly with the cable when they think they already blew it. All the expressions are amazing, and I love how they can go from smooth and suave to nervous wrecks in a second XD But they always look so heartfelt in whatever they are saying! And I think my favorite part is when they are complimenting y/n, quickly switching so that each can say what they love about them!

And omg when they turn into Eclipse to get on one knee, because that's the part they both want to be present for aaaaaaaaaa

I am so not normal about this animatic at all, incredible work with it! The art style is delightful and colorful and so much fun! I hope you are proud of it because my god is it an amazing animatic! ^_^

chaotik!! this is so sweet thank you!! i had a long day driving in the snow and reading this revitalized me!! (and no worries at all, a gift to one is a gift to all in the fandom. that's why I love gift exchange events like this! we all get to enjoy the fun!)

you actually covered a lot of the reasons why i wanted to do an animatic of the full song. it's a great song (sad it was cut from Frozen 2, but it understandably wouldn't have fit plot-wise) and just a wonderful balance of fun and vulnerability and sweetness. one of my favourite songs about love tbh. the line "I planned to really try to be the opposite of me" just gets me every time—the words, the way the music begins to slow, the way Jonathan Groff delivers the lines—it's just so raw

and Sun's guitar part was one of the first ideas i had for the animatic! just the way the lines are delivered always made me think of air guitar, so i was really anxious to get that part right (haha) it's still one of my favourite moments in the whole thing (the fact this silly bean is acting all suave one moment and then pulls back to strum his leg like a jester rockstar. gosh i love this guy!)

i initially planned to cut it off at the part Moon gets carried off, because i was worried about time. but there was just so much i wanted to do with the animatic (especially the rapid-fire compliments and Eclipse coming out) so i'm glad i was able to do it all! it was a big project, but i'm so happy with how it turned out and happy i could share this wild song with everyone too!

also! you reminded me i still need to share all the thumbnails and the memes i said i would do once i finished! expect those soon!

[leynaeithnea]

( girl send me whatever you want I am at your mercy kaksksksk )

18.song hasn't even started yet and it's already so good najdjjd chills literal chills

Just a man is that song that when you first listen to it you're like " wow , that really hurt, surely it can't get worse than this" but then SOMEHOW every reprised is worse :) , hurray for suffering I guess

HOW COULD HE NOT BE HAUNTED HE KILLED A WHOLE ASS CHILD IN SUCH A HORRIBLE WAY WHILE THINKING ABOUT HIS OWN SMALL CHILD HE LEFT HOME AAAAHHHJSKKSJSJS

Polities' part hurts so so much but realizing he died believing the open arms mentality somehow hurts SO MUCH MORE , WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WAS BRUTALLY MURDERED BUT STILL BELIEVED THE SOLUTION IN LIFE IS BEING KIND??? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT HIS DEATH IS ONE OF THE EVENTS THAT MAKE ODY LOSE FAITH IN THAT KINDNESS??? AKSKKSKAHJA

aaah Ody's voice changes when saying polities- * sobs*

The part of Ody's mum is already criminal. You listen to it , cry your eyes out bc there's no other acceptable way to react to that , drink some water and that should be it BUT THEN you find out that's Jorge's mother and at that point you're a goner, you'll never stop crying and you need to accept it. Good to know your eyes are teary, it means you're human

Also I can't even imagine how hard "I took too long" hits for you I'm so sorry that your loved ones are all so far , missing people sucks :(

OOOH the scream after bye mum is so akdkdkmans AAAH THE ANGUISH THE PAIN IT'S SO RAW IT HURTS SO MUCH AKSMSNB MY POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW ODYYYY

Elpeneor's whole thing is honestly hilarious bc it's so random I'm so glad jay cut him bc it would have been too funny LOL

19.*taking notes * check out... more animatics ... Tiresias is... hot ... in them

Alright we can proceed now

WE SHOULD DANCE TO IT TOGETHER PLEASE ( I do not know how to waltz at all but that's besides the point )

This song is my absolute fave after rember them so I just can't think straight when we talk about it bc I love it so much!! The prophecy!! His voice!!! The way he sings !!! The music !!! Too amazing mskskskmssn ( also for "I see you on the brink of death" I always think it's about when he goes to Calypso's bc I remember from Percy Jackson that heroes get to Ogygia when they are on the brink of death but since my source it's Pjo and not the Odyssey I could very much be wrong )

( "i see your palace covered in red, faces of men who had long believed you dead" I'm in love with the way he sings this line and the picture it paints with all the suitors , super chill in his palace cause they think he's dead and him ready to slaughter them all asaandnnsnsnsn )

( The fact that this fandom was able to come up with this many memes it's honestly astounding I don't know how these people can even think through the angst but I love them so much for it )

Lol I missed the chorus completely I thought it was just people making noises I had absolutely no idea there were words in there, but it's nice to know no one can understand them either way

20.again you're so right why didn't I think about that??? My man is not sleeping and feels like he's going insane nooooo

( Can't imagine him not being afraid of Poseidon tbh, as a sailor you are completely at his mercy at all times and you have no way to escape him that shit is scary you're helpless all the timeee)

OH GOD YOU'RE RIGHT HE WAS SO HAUNTED AFTER TROY THAT HE WANTED TO BE BETTER AFTERWARDS "we should try to find a way no one ends up dead " and then desperately trying to keep this mentality " I still believe in goodness , I still believe that we could be kind" HE WAS TRYING SO HARD NOT TO BE THE MONSTER SKSMSNNS

"Everyone but us" at this point I honestly think 'us' is him and his family but his men don't know that and think he's gonna save them too (which I mean, maybe he wanted to save them a little but , as we know, it was NOT his priority )

Ody embracing ruthlessness HITS SO HARD but like we have followed his journey so closely, suffered so much by his side that I was immediately like " YEAH BABY KILL ALL THE GODS AND THE MONSTERS YOU WANT YOU DESERVE IT AS A TREAT SLAAY BESTIE" I support Ody's rights but also his wrongs

( I'm so excited for Telemachus too!!! I did not know anything about him but then I stumbled upon an animatic of legendary and now he's my little cutie patootie I WANT MORE )

Can't form any coherent thoughts about the vocals and the music it's all soooo good just assume that I agree with everything you said ( bc definitely I do )

Welp, I think this was one of my longest yet ? Love you so much for reading all my ramblings and can't wait for the thunder saga bc I love your ramblings!!

Im finially homeee Im finially freee

Lol I missed the chorus completely I thought it was just people making noises I had absolutely no idea there were words in there

so fairrrrr at least now we know the first part sings "siren song, scyllas throat, mutiny and lighting bolt.....and i think one of the last lines is semi-confirmed to be "kill for love" lets start with the thunder saga... 21. Suffering i tried sooo hard to avoid the title spoilers for them, but i failed because literally the first three posts i saw when opened tumblr the day they got leaked (two days or so before the release) were about them...but alas it told me..nothing AND THEN I STAYED up well no i didnt stay up, i went to bed early and put my alarm for 3:45am and then i woke up at 2am....for the livestream at 4am and then we watch the first act and then act two starts and its THIS???? I DIDNT EXPECT IT BECAUSE, GOOD JOB JORGE; YOURE A LIAR ahem anyway THE BEGINNING?? the siren...noises?? i was so shook when they sang penelopes name and then SHE STARTS SINGING I love her voice so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhh btu i was so confused bc i was so sure sirens werent in it so what else was this supposed to be??? Is Ody suicidal and hallucinating penelope? is this a flashback? nah that didnt make sense, it was 5am and i was so confused but Jorges vocals omgg theyre so niceee "you know im afraid of the water" CONFUSED ME SO MUCH, BUT ITS HILAROUS that he would say that the duet between them is so gooooooooooodd the way ody tries to explain why he doesnt jump in the water while pretending to get along with her.... and then Ody: "fineeeeee" (finially) and penelope: "of course!! :D" (finially) so lets say i was on the run or hiding....yes, very hypothetical questions youre asking ody penelope: oh nyo :o (just ask the question already boy) I looveeeeee how the vocals in penelopes reply "is sailing wheres scared to roam, oh its through the lair of syclla" (*beat drop*) "No-" (ODYS MASK FALTERS) "this is your only way home, the lair of syclla (such beauuutttyful vocals) "but syclla has a cost" HE KNOWS, HE KNOWS HE HAS TO SACRIFICE MEN IN ORDER TO GET THROugH THERes nO WAY He CAN GET EVERYONE ALIVE THROUGH IT "now jump in the water :D" (getting impatient, but smiling) MY FAVORITE LINE IN THIS MUSICAL "Penelope Why, you know im too shy and terrified" THE SMIlE IN HIS vOICe, this SLEEK MAN is liYIng THROUGH HIS TEETH; THIS IS ODYSSEUS; KING OF ITHIKA; THE MAN WHO TOOK TROY, AND HE SAYS heS SHY "Oh for you I would die but cant you let me stay dry?" wonderful ryhming ESP BECAUSE in this song hes not JUST lying, no hes also using this as a way to cope and letting himself induldge in a flicker of believe that hes acutally talking to penelope right now, theres a handful of comments that are clearly not lies, this is one of them. (sigh) "the things i do for you" (talking to/about real!penelope again), so good. beautiful voice acting i love it so much I love my short little liar kings so much (Ody, Neil, but esp Ody rn) Im going to do this song by song here rn, because im afraid that the posts will be too long again siegsegj

[purplemninja]

Little Nightmares: Rewind - Very Little epilogue

Continuation/fix-it of @hezuart‘s Little Nightmares ‘Channel Change’ AU

[1]

[2]

[3] (warning: eye gore)

[You are here]

[Next]

[Animatic]

[Novelisation]

~~~

Some little lost things decide to group up to face the big scary world together. And with the her future saved, kindness won’t be Six’s undoing this time.

~

This isn’t really that necessary to the rest of the comic, but I wanted to add a little fluff. Also because in ‘Change Change’ the boys get to have some Nomes with them in their happy ending, so Six and RCG will have some Nome friends with them too.

These Nomes were the ones who RCG helped out of various snags in the Pretender’s playroom, bedroom and bathrooms, and jumped on a bed until it broke. They decided that they’d had enough time to chill in the pillow room and found their own raft to freedom, joining the girls in their freedom.

I believe in equality, so if the boys are going to have some Nome friends in their happy ending in ‘Channel Change’, then so will the girls in this one. This is also to spit in the face of the fandom trope where Six devours every Nome on the spot.

Since she never met Mono, Six then never got wronged by him/Thin Man when Shadow Six was created (and do I need to mention her being turned into a monster, and the whole Mono torturing her by destroying the music box that also worked like a voodoo doll because each hit to it causes her physical pain?) and so because of that, she doesn’t have the hunger. And she isn’t in a situation where the only food available is made of human flesh, I say that because the devs have said that attempting to avoid cannibalism is the reason why she ate the Nome instead of the sausage: https://twitter.com/LittleNights/status/886929810873884672

But none of them will have to worry about that since she doesn’t have the hunger, since Shadow Six never came to be, because Six wasn't taken by Thin Man, because she never met Mono (who is the one who released him in the first place).

Escaping from the Hunter, being given a second chance to save RCG, succeeding in doing so, gaining freedom with her, having some new Nome friends she can share with RCG, and not having the hunger or trauma that LN2 and LN1 gave her (therefore no risk of eating any of the Nomes and she isn't really jaded to the point of looking out only for herself), surely this is one of the best outcomes that Six can get. There are no doubt happier endings that Six could get in other AUs (like all four protagonists are alive and together, or she and the others live in a world that isn't a kill or be killed world), but I’m sure that this is one of the best outcomes for her (and for RCG too, of course).

The last image is inspired by what I consider to be the cutest piece of LN fan art I’ve seen, which you can see right here: https://at.tumblr.com/ryuucha/dont-let-the-nightmares-get-you/ojdkby9crsz2

And I used this as a reference for Six hugging one of the Nomes: https://www.deviantart.com/walten-kun123/art/MMDxLittle-Nightmare2-Meet-Nome-872690299

I hope you enjoyed this comic!

Here’s some music that you may use as credits for this comic (0:20 onwards ideally):

[2minutesnotice]

You don't have to post this if you don't want to, but I just wanted to say that I read your personal rant and my gosh, same. Like I've just been thinking about HB pretty much non stop the past week or two, especially Blitzø because he's my favorite. To the point where I dream up scenarios for them while I'm falling asleep or if I'm listening to music, I'll just be watching a full-on animatic in my head of the characters singing the songs, even when I'm driving which is a bit spooky because I don't think I'm fully paying attention but I legit don't think I can turn it off. I don't really have anyone to talk to about it tho, the only one who really knows I'm autistic is my brother and I don't want him to see me differently because of how hard I obsess over things. There have been so many times I've wished I could just turn off my brain or wish that I could like things a normal amount or just be normal in general, but I guess it just wasn't in the cards. Anyway, sorry if this is a weird thing to send, I just relate very much. I hope you're having a nice day ^_^

Hey!

First of all, thank you for reading through my insomniac meltdown haha, I really should delete that .

More under the cut because TW:talking about neurodivergent behavior that sucks

Then, I'm sorry that you feel you can't people about your feelings and all, as you can think, I can relate to all of your conflicts. It took me a while to accept myself and my neurodivergent brain and how it works. My family is still in denial, even after I told them about my OFFICIAL Diagnosis from 6? years ago.

There will always be people who think you're just overdoing things. Especially the traits they know you so well for, if they change from trait to symptoms.

Hyperfixation for me is a blessing and a curse, as I stated in my rant, I LOVE to deep dive into something. I don't do things half assed. In just two weeks I looked every video in which Brandon Rogers appears (to find out I KNOW him from Vine lol?), slithered through the slippery path that's Vivs past and why people are so weird about her, to watching full con panels, reading the posts of the animation crew and of course, do nothing but fan work myself. I'm through the whole Helluva Boss canon pairing tag complete only on AO3.

And it's not healthy. I know and yes, I KNOW it's not normal behavior. That's obsession. That's the thing that nearly drove me into an ED when I was a Teen.

I'm really happy that I found into the fandom, but I'm also very good with it if my brain calms down a bit. I was lucky to have this week off to get it out of my system, even if it destroyed my sleeping pattern COMPLETELY hehe.

So Anon, I hope that at som point in your life, you feel you can share your feelings with your close ones. They can help, if they're the right people and accept you with all of what's going on in your head. If you don't share how you feel, people are not able to understand.

And to those who don't WANT to understand you, for those people who tell you you're not good the way you are, even if you're bending yourself to the point you're uncomfortable, here's the advice to these people from our favorite jester(I had to make this about HB, you know it):

Have a nice day Anon 💖

[apurikottotii]

march song recs!

this month passed way too quickly. i finally put confronted the thing that has been plaguing me for the past few months. it saddens me that it turned out the way it did, but to be honest i don't have enough energy to care anymore.... so! i also did some things that scared me a lot (which were easier than i realized), got some really good scores on a couple of tests (i'm very proud) and realized that i need to continue improving on myself in various aspects. i cannot always hold other people to my standards, since we are all so different.

--- fight or flight - conan gray

my friends were shocked to see me listening to a "normal" artist for once. smh. ngl i did find this song from a ship edit- a DAMN good one at that, it tore out my heart. i seriously love the lyrics of the chorus and how "i'd rather lie" and "i'd rather die" contrast each other. it's. so. good. my second favorite part is the part that goes "they've got eyes like mine...". the way he sings is also so amazing.

--- 一笑江湖, this december

i've featured these songs before haven't i??? i'm surprised to see them so high again lol.

--- If I Could Ride A Bike - Park Bird, Chevy

i first found this song in 2020 (of course i did), from a ship animatic (of COURSE i did) so it brings back lots of very nostalgic memories listening to this song. i don't always love romance songs, but this one is super cute and ends on a terribly sorrowful note. it's always a easy listen with its cafe ambience vibes and simple metaphors. "but, I will never be, able to do these things", and the whole slow section, always hurts.

--- William Shamsphere ~ Back Alley Bard - Yasumasa Kitagawa

listen. do not get weirded out by the guy's name. this theme absolutely slaps. the castanet sounding like percussion in the background are so satisfying to listen to. it's so flamboyant and dramatic... like the guy himself. i've been on a dgs rewatch lately, so maybe more of its music will show up.

--- Being low as dirt, taking what's important from me - TUYU

okay i have no idea what this song is about, i don't even know the lyrics, but i wanted to try listening to some tuyu because i have a friend who really likes them (and i LOVE song titles that are extremely long and specific), and this song really stood out to me. it's so catchy and raw, vocally. also a very easy listen. i will check out more tuyu in the future.

--- rabbit hole - deco27

i don't know why this song is so popular right now. it released a while back... is it because of the animation? i only listened to it because i decided to click a random deco27 song, not because i was recommended it, so i was surprised at its current popularity. all i'm gonna say is that deco27 needs to stop making soulless music that sounds good on the surface...

honorable mentions: harrow, magic (milgram project), ghosting (mother mother), it's not like i like you (static-p). every time i listen to inlily i lose a bit of my soul from cringe but it's regained by the end of the song because its honestly pretty sweet.

[lilacthebooklover]

OH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!

pure vanilla looks so happy at the start, hjdhkfd that blush is making me m el t

the lower opacity hand to show he's waving it in the air!!! shadow milk's so dismissive of him and it showss

that look with the one closed eye? it scares me. brilliant job <3

the way sm softens as he lifts pv's chin only for him to immediately look so gleeful with those shadows on his face? aCk, he's so manipulative and i am having Feelings

continuing on from 4- shadow milk's just the right amount of lighthearted to make his questions look casual in the next frame- it would seem innocent if we didn't know what he was saying and i love that

something in my brain is obsessed with the pose & facial expression at "come on now, really?". it's sO GOOD

the spotlight on pv!! i adore the way it fades after he frowns, bc shadow milk's whole thing is putting on a show & controlling every aspect of it. if he doesn't want pure vanilla to keep leading the story he is, it doesn't seem like pv has a choice in the matter

they're on complete opposite sides of the screen and while i know that's probably just for visual effect, it has such a cool impact spacing-wise as well! they're distant not only emotionally but physically here too :D

the way pure vanilla's shoulders rise before he objects!! the shading over his face!! AGH i adore this animatic SO MUCH

hand on where his soul jam would be!! sghghfj!!!!

the INSTANT REGRET on pv's face right after that "no" is just chef's kiss.

shadow milk is so perplexed and it's magnificent. he goes from an expression that screams "what did you just say?" to challenging confusion, since this is practically unfathomable to him. he's used to being powerful, but once pv's defied him, that's a lot harder to hold onto

hand on his hip! sassy man

the frame at 0:36 is probably one of my favourites in the entire animatic, and that is saying a lot. it's such a visible shift and i love it so much. that grin, the way his eyes narrow and his pupils turn into slits, the remaining shadow over his face, the confidence he emanates,,, op you are so talented hhkjfh

pv's so tense and making himself a heck of a lot smaller, and it's a phenomenal contrast to how relaxed and confident shadow milk is throughout! he's defensive and guarded, almost as though he's preparing for a physical attack

!!! the close proximity in the next frame!! shadow milk has a total of 0 respect for pure vanilla's personal space or anything like it, pv has to literally push him off. sm looks so mocking & condescending

PV'S "wth" FACE I AM CACKLING

i'm so sorry but the next frame looks like pure vanilla's about to be shoved into a boxing match against his will & shadow milk's going to star in a 1980s music video (and i mean both of those things in the absolute best way possible)

the height difference! it's little, but it's noticeable!! <33

shadow milk so unashamedly treats pure vanilla like a child & it is verrrry effective, great job op

dramatic tiptoe walks are the best kind of walks

SGHGFDFGHJDFGHGJGJGFJGDJFGJGFJD

THE BLUE THAT'S ADDED IN WHEN HE PULLS OUT THE SOUL JAM IS SO GOOD HSJHFJKHFJD

the shirt grab!!! agresssion!!! i am!! screaming into my pillow!!!

i love the pose at 1:04 so much you don't understand, shadow milk is in fulll jester mode

the finger click without fingers! it sure is lucky for fanartists that cookies' hands are just blobs lol

the black spiralling out of shadow milk's soul jam is such a neat detail, freaking corRUPTION

THE WAY THE CAMERA PANS UP OVER PV?? WITH THE SHADOW?? AND THE GLOWING EYES?? IA M N OT OKAY

HEIGHT DIFFERENCE X 100 HELLO

EYES IN HIS HAIR, THIS IS NOT A DRILL- it's like we can see the corruption happening and i am all here for it

the constant colour in the marking over his eye is wonderful, i am eating your art so much right now

pv's so scareddd :((

shadow milk crying near the ending??? no idea what i'm feeling right now but i am feeling

dramatic cape brandish because we all know he would

never getting over shadow milk's shadowy form, it's so freaking smart <3333

the zoom-in on pv as though we're seeing from sm's eyes is awesome. again with the defensive poses!! and his face!!

what an ending, oh my gosh

probably more i could say but i'm too busy fangirling over this right now hjdhgk, sorry for such a long reblog!! don't mind me about to show this to everyone i know and never shut up about how marvellous it is <33

Finished the animatic!

[ariapmdeol]

I don't think I have to sign these anymore lol but still, 8:11 anon back once more

Yeah I noticed that S was canon, considering the start of the DLC implies such. I should have been patient, my bad.

Purple? Damn it genuinely looks blue. Easy mistake to make, thank you for clarifying. And noted on the ending conditions, it's all very interesting just how much matters.

Kanou even in death and specifically after threatening Atou, still wants to help out. RIP <3 and I figured something akin to that? My running theory was that he might have been a doll at that point or something of the sorts.

I'll finish what's currently in the playlist and then see about contacting you, thank you.

UTSUGI THE WET CAT THAT REALLY NEEDS THERAPY PLEASE THIS MAN. They all suck. All these men suck and that's why they're so incredibly good characters.

Oh, do you have links to those solved ciphers, if you don't mind? They sound fun!

And oh! I completely forgot about Seodore disappearing from the picture and seemingly his entire existence. I assume that has to do with the DLC start sequence, so I won't ask but am very intrigued.

All these changes are so incredibly cool. This game is awesome. I wish I had better words but it's just so goddamn good.

I'll also reply to the music answer as well: WEEEE glad my instinct was correct!

If I may, next one for consideration because I have Hajime and Utsugi brainrot: The Good In Me by Jon Bellion. Without thinking it over twice. Yes I am going insane over these characters I love gay tragedies where both parties really need help.

And!! I am so willing to shout about 8:11 once you start playing it. So good

I HOPE YOU HAVE FUN WITH THE DLC!! the first scene of the dlc is actually one of my favorites in the whole game (oughghgh i understand whats going on there i explode).

I'll put the solved ciphers under the cut, though be warned that they won't make sense to you yet! These show up in DLC and the DLC 2020 credits, and i'll end with the ones from the artbook (alas no images for those bc we're not supposed to share artbook things publicly BUT i think the ciphers are fine).

YEAH. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! THIS GAME IS SO GOOD. every single detail is planned out in INCREDIBLE DETAIL, there's foreshadowing for things that only show up in Interlude as early as chapter FOUR. I HIGHLY recommend a rewatch after catching up completely, as certain information completely changes the context and makes some documents stand out more sdakjdkaslj. this game is so good COE forever!!!!! like. the ending variations mean EVERYTHING YOU DO MATTERS, and makes it VERY difficult to get S root first try (the youtube TL showed this, but there is unique text if you get S root without getting any of the others first. Similarly, if you do S and then E root, there is bonus text (Which the youtube TL showed as well!)

ohh this is an interesting pick for hajime and utsugi! I think it's very neat :D im not as familiar with the lyrics for this one but i think its a cool choice! my personal hajime and utsugi picks are With a Billion Worldful of ᐸ3 - Mili and 神曲 - R sound design (THERES A REALLY PRETTY ANIMATIC FOR THIS ONE BUT IT'S DLC SPOILERS orz ILL SHARE WHEN YOU CATCH UP).

ciphers: some have screenshots, some don't! anything bolded was encrypted.

DLC record 4: (italics is red text)

This is a concept you shouldn't know. Dante sealed it away. What right do you have to access this place? If this information were to be disclosed, it would be unstoppable. I need to do this to the end. I hope that those who have inherited the Sephira factor share the same motive as I.

DLC 2020 Credits:

reference definition: earth execution name: line A target period: 1912-2019

the border says 'square circle'

Draft: God

ARTBOOK:

the image of the Lantern says 'Protagonist'

the image of a certain character and with a horrifically warped text box says (bold is one cipher, bold+italics was in a diff cipher, normal text was displayed normally):

Unhandled writing operation has occurred in record __. ‘saving data…’ Error: player character does not exist. 2019-05.

fukao why did you do this one in two different ciphers. FUKAO. EVERY OTHER CIPHER IS THE SAME ENCODING EXCEPT FOR THE 2019-05 FUKAO WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME (this last one stumped me for a long time. i learned a lot of random skills in order to study cell of empireo)

[nat-20s]

my favorite part about a jmart wonderful au is that it’s the perfect chance for adhd jon to infodump about everything he loves to his beloved husband. also the idea of jon being deeply and truly into the music of carly rae jepsen just brings me ALL the joy in the world.

LITERALLY LIKE!! wonderful au aka two ND husbands lovingly infodump and lovingly listen to each other infodump in return

Also I always headcannoned Martin as the CRJ stan (if I had the skill to do it i WOULD do a s1 crew animatic of this) [Martin voice: Carly Rae Jepsen is the opposite of Boris Johnson, in every conceivable way] BUT I love the idea that Jon got really into her after hearing Martin talk about it that I'm gonna fuckin write a minific right here right now bc I think it would go like

Jon: For my second thing, I want to discuss the music of Carly Rae Jepsen.

Martin: Oh you bastard!

Jon, innocently: What?

Martin: My second thing this week was Carly Rae Jepsen. I cannot believe you stole her. I introduced you to her in the first place!

Jon: You're joking.

Martin, laughing: I'm not! Look at my notes! Behold my research!

Jon, also laughing: Alright! All right. Well, you were right! She's very good and I would like to talk about! You should feel validated!

Martin: There is a bit of vindication present, yes. Okay, wait, babe, we can compromise on this.

Jon: Oh?

Martin: Yes! You can do Carly Rae Jepsen as a whole, I'll, fuckin, off the cuff, do that specific feeling of being gay and hearing the sax solo on Run Away With Me for the first time. We'll just have a CRJ themed episode. She deserves it.

Jon: Despite the fact that both of our first things had nothing to do with Miss Jepsen?

Martin: Boo. Spoilsport. And can't everything be tied back to CRJ, really?

Jon: Hmm. Perhaps. If we make some reaches. Oh, though speaking of run away with me, did you know that during your, ah, lonely stint, there was a considerable part of me that wanted to just set up a boombox with that playing outside of your office until you finally came out?

Martin, delighted: Wait, really? You wanted to pull a Say Anything?

Jon: Well I've never seen that, so no, but I think the song captured my sentiment at the time quite well.

Martin: Mmm, I dunno. I don't remember anything about eye gouging in any of her discography, let alone specifically Run Away With Me

Jon, audibly rolling his eyes: The eye gouging was an action, the sentiment of let's get the hell out of here and maybe make out still stands

Martin: Well, that part I did take you up on, eventually.

Jon, smiling: Took you long enough. Maybe the song would have expedited the process.

Martin, fond: Like you were any better. We got there in the end though.

Jon, fond: That we did.

Martin: Speaking of getting there in the end, we should probably actually start talking about Carly Rae Jepsen, huh?

Jon: Right! One of these days we'll introduce a topic with meandering for several minutes.

Martin: Doubtful. And who cares? We promise to talk about wonderful things on this podcast, not to talk about them efficiently.

Jon: A fair point. Anyway, for those unaware, Carly Rae Jepsen is a Canadian performer-

[imnotgrimimjustagrumpyreaper]

Everything you never thought to ask and never wanted to know about my Josépan playlist/history with and opinions of the ship.

Intro:

The journey of this playlist has been a long one, starting on Amazon Music and my old, janky and now defunct Ipad.

STRAP IN, CHILDREN AS I TAKE YOU BACK TO A MAGICAL TIME WHEN NEITHER LEGENDS OF THE THREE CABALLEROS; NOR THEIR CAMEO IN DUCKTALES HAD BEEN ANNOUNCED YET, MY BLOG ON TUMBLR DIDN’T EXIST (THOUGH I WAS LURKING) AND PANCHITO WAS STILL THE LEAST POPULAR CABALLERO, otherwise known as around late 2017.

A word on the origins of the playlist:

The playlist was not initially Ducktales focused because the two didn’t exist in Ducktales yet. I was rather unenthusiastic back in the day about this ship (oh how the times change) but I had stumbled across a song that didn’t fit them and Donald but fit just them very well and wanted to make an animatic of it. So, I cobbled together some songs I thought fit the vibe and made a playlist.

The history behind the story that inspired it:

I’ll spare you from starting at the very beginning. But, when “The Town Where Everyone was Nice” premiered I was already thoroughly and utterly obsessed with the cabs; I remember how beyond ecstatic I was for the episode. My hype for the Ducktales versions of José and Panchito continued far beyond what seems to have been normal for the average cabs fan. I found myself drawn to the ideas put forth by those versions of them. I don’t really remember what the tipping point was for me to break down and make my own college AU but eventually I did. It was affectionately dubbed “The TV Show That Will Never Happen AU.” José and Panchito were enemies to lovers or at least to friends. And it was around that time I began to go CRAZY with the headcanons as I got more active in the fandom. While my ideas for the Ducktales versions of them grew and grew, so too did the time between them appearing in “The Town Where Everyone was Nice” and their alleged next appearance in the show. When fans noticed the distinct lack of José and Panchito in the season two finale of Ducktales, Francisco Angones, @//suspenderofdisbelief on Tumblr answered these two separate asks that I might have engraved on tombstone one day:

I was GONE for the ship after that. I developed another AU for them based around their time in Baia trying to get people to fund their attempts to become famous musicians. Also, slowly falling in love... It was affectionately titled “The Fan-Comic that Will Never Happen” but not yet connected to my college AU. I don’t have much of a timeline for it after this point, but with that AU I really hit my stride for interpretations of the two characters and their dynamic. The version of them I hold dear in my heart and headcanons came to be. Then “Louie’s Eleven” came out and absolutely destroyed a lot of my headcanons (just kidding, just kidding). Since the new canon material didn’t really jive with a lot of the wholesomeness I had built up I was left with a lot of something else: angst. I LOVE angst, but the two’s bitterness and arguing...It was hard to accept at the time. Me and @cartoon-lizard on Tumblr, my IRL best friend, wound up writing a Josépan fic fueled on a bit of that angst and by her grace, a lot of my headcanons. I titled it “My Reverie is Being Haunted by That Ass.” In it Panchito makes an ass (rimshot noises) of himself by running off with a producer he met by chance during a visit in Duckburg to try to become famous. And doing so without so much as a second thought to the person he’s been living with/sort of dating for over a year. It took me a while but eventually I figured it out. These weren’t three separate AUs, these were three separate pieces of the same AU. And so my masterpiece never meant to be made came to be: “The Trilogy: College/Baia/Reverie.”

“The Trilogy” Itself:

The story will never be written for a variety of reasons, personal and practical. But if it ever were to be written it would be three separate fics, aka: College, Baia and Reverie.

College encapsulates their college years (duh).

To set the stage:

Panchito: A friendly, arrogant and easily excitable musician with big dreams, good grades and a whole lot of anxiety and insecurity. He has complicated feelings towards his identity as both trans and pan and how that might affect his dreams of becoming famous, but is overall bright eyed and innocent enough.

José: A lazy (depressed), charming, pessimistic, tbh kind of a douche and deep in the closet gay man. He tends to push forward a very “Manly man” persona to make up for his own deep seated internalized homophobia brought on by a shitty upbringing. He just got away from said shitty upbringing and doesn’t really have any hopes for his future...Maybe to travel a bit?

José and Panchito start as enemies, both fearing losing their one real friend, Donald, to the other. Despite this the three start a band and the two’s rivalry becomes far more friendly. They get particularly close during the trip down to Acapulco for spring break where the general feeling of being disconnected from life and reality leads to several rather romantic moments between the two...They almost become a thing several times but never quite do. However, they are very good friends by the end of college. The three stay in contact for a while after college but eventually lose touch…

Baia timeskips forward 13 years later (I know it's only 10 canonically, I always say 13 for reasons) to a conversation between Panchito and José on the Sunchaser at the end of “The Town Where Everyone Was Nice.”

Panchito: Life hasn’t been kind to Panchito...His need to be famous, to be something in order to be someone has led him to push a lot of people out of his life so he can better focus on “Work.” Or drive them out by constantly asking for their support, financial or otherwise. He has no friends and even his relationships with his loving and supportive family are strained. Currently, he’s working freelance as a performer at childrens’ birthday parties (in his eyes: a clown) and goes home to a sad, empty apartment every night to stare at a notebook full of half written songs and muster enough energy to eat cereal for dinner for the third time in a row. Needless to say, his optimism is wearing thin.

José: A lot of hard work on his part, some good therapy and mmm; drugs have put him in a pretty good place. He’s more or less got his life together now, is way less of a douche and is more of a realist than a pessimist. He’s also pretty much completely comfortable in his identity as a gay man. He’s been trying to explore romantic relationships, but unfortunately (likely due to the loveless marriage between his parents making him strive so hard to believe that love is real that he puts the unrealistic goal of true love above all else) feels incomplete without one and double unfortunately has a tendency to be drawn to toxicity and abusive situations. So other than a string of (short lived) bad relationships, he’s actually doing great!

Panchito has already asked Donald to drop everything and stay with him down in Baia to try to get funding for the band. Donald said no. José has a steady job, a decent apartment and a supportive friend group back home. He's also long since lost interest and hope in their college dreams of being famous...José says yes. The two have a bunch of wild and wacky shenanigans trying to get funding and both dance around their growing feelings for each other until it explodes and overwhelms them. They rush into a romantic relationship head first with no real ground for it to be built on and unrealistic expectations of what the other can give them. Despite all this, things seem quite happy...for a while…

If you've made it this far, <3, CONT. in pt 2.

[muzzlemouths]

Well, I can't refuse an excuse to indulge lmao. Some of these explanations will have to remain very brief/vague in an attempt to tiptoe around spoilers, but I'll say as much as I can!

Honorary mention to Killers Walk which won't make it onto this list with an explanation because you know I just put it on here for sillies.

Be prepared for this to get pretty long!

(Don't Fear) the Reaper

This one's obvious, but I do want to mention that the change of parentheses placement was purposeful. (Don't) Fear the Reaper as in do, as in you should, as in you have every reason to fear them, but that "(don't)" is meant to imply a whisper from the reapers themselves. A plead. Please don't be scared of me.

One Way or Another

Also pretty obvious, but this one especially made it on to the playlist because I am struck with visions of an animatic of Sun going ham with his axe/knife on the counselors, montage style, every time it plays. It's just so fitting to how giddy and enthusiastic he is when getting his hands dirty. Then there's the final chorus, "One way, or another, I'm gonna lose ya, I'm gonna give you the slip, I'm gonna trick ya," which will be especially relevant in these coming chapters.

Wolf Boy

The first appearance of a modern song! I normally like to keep my au playlists to the era they take place in (take the Dead Mall Dare playlist, for example), but I had to break that habit for this au because there were just too many songs that fit too well to pass up. This being one of them!

The lyrics feel play a play-by-play of the experience thus far. Y/N has many bones to pick with them (murder being just the start), and they would give anything to just forget about this whole event and go back to how their life was before, but it's never that easy. I think "I ain't gonna play the same" touches on Y/N's refusal to look the other way. They had an opportunity to save themselves if they only played along, but they're playing another game entirely, and they don't intend to lose.

"Wolf boy" itself is undeniably clear (I mean, I literally made a Wolf Among Sheep reference last chapter), especially with the line about a puppy becoming a beast. They've seen how Sun switches on a dime, the way he puts his amicability up on the shelf like a prop, and now that you've made your decision, it's your head on the platter.

"Can you dig what I found?" reminds of moments where they first started putting the puzzle pieces together, and most especially when they discovered Jenn's drivers license. They won't be left alone anymore because they can no longer be trusted not to stick their nose where it doesn't belong.

"You think you're some tough stuff, I hope you're happy now," said after three of their friends have now been put to the blade, one way or another. They still don't understand why Sun enjoys their suffering so much, why it makes him happy to see them panic, and with how smug he's been about it all it's really starting to piss Y/N off. There's only so much empathy one can share with a serial killer before it becomes motive.

"If you're gonna huff and puff, I gotta save this town" because they've finally reached their breaking point, and they're prepared to drive the wolf out of town if they have to do it all on their own.

My favorite part about this song is how the vibe of the final chorus changes — and how sudden the change is. To me, this is the musical version of the moment the Final Girl decides it's time to fight back.

Shout

This one, to me, feels like a one-sided conversation between Sun and Y/N. "These are the things I can do without" being his implications of what he is willing to risk, and what he is willing to lose to get the job done. Because he has nothing left to lose, and that makes for a very dangerous person.

"I hope we live to tell the tale" The fish metaphor. The fish metaphor. You understand. "And when you've taken down your guard, if I could change your mind, I'd really love to break your heart" It bears repeating that he is still convinced he can change your mind, and you'll one day see his side of things. He would love nothing more than to wrap things up here and then live out the rest of your lives together as besties. But both of you know that's not going to happen.

Eyes Without a Face

The first song mentioned in the fic! (Actually, the only song actually mentioned in the fic so far. I gotta remedy that.)

"I'm all out of hope, one more bad dream could bring a fall."

"I spent so much time believing all the lies to keep the dream alive"

"Now all I can do is love what was once so alive and new, but it's gone from your eyes. I'd better realize." What can I say except that this guy is depressed and delusional. I hope you pick up on the themes of this one on your own because I keep trying to come up with ways to articulate why this one is important but I just look like a guy with his theory board and red string. Please tell me you understand. please. please. plea

Hungry Like a Wolf

This one is just for funsies. Something something Wolf and Rabbit dynamic. "Strut on a line, it's discord and rhyme" something something he be flipping on that dime again. You get it.

Private Eyes and Somebody's Watching Me

I'm not explaining this one. They're both about stalking and seeing through each other's facades it's not that deep (it is).

Psycho Killer

Come on man.

Dead Man's Party

Oingo Boingo beloved. This one is one of those songs that is a mix of Vibe and Lyrics. Sun would kill somebody to this. It's just bouncy enough to match his vibe perfectly. The lyrics themselves are pretty obvious:

"I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go. Walkin' with a dead man over my shoulder"

"Waiting for an invitation to arrive, goin' to a party where no one's still alive"

"Don't run away, it's only me"

There's more to it of course but alas, spoilers. You'll figure it out.

Dancing With Myself

If DFtR au were a movie this would be on the soundtrack, and yeah, Sun would kill someone to this one too. It makes me think about the times they've made their own company with the forest animals after being made outcasts, and especially when he extends an offer for you to join him— but, ah, that hasn't happened yet, has it?

Personal Jesus

What can I say except that this guy is too smug for his own good, and that kind of self assured vanity can only bring further tragedy. Sun and Moon are convinced that what they're doing is righteous, that it is justified retribution, that they are the heroes of this story. And Sun is personally going to do everything he can to convince you of that.

Bigmouth Strikes Again

"Sweetness, I was only joking when I said I'd like to smash every tooth in your head"

"Sweetness, I was only joking when I said By rights you should be bludgeoned in your bed"

"Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, as the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt."

This guy is not joking. And his martyr complex is showing.

Tear You Apart

I pointedly look away from the camera. Anyway—

Y'all Want a Single

This one is so self indulgent. I just like to imagine Sun beating the shit out of somebody to this song I'm so sorry. This is the song where he stops playing with his food and just goes balls to the walls.

Who is She

Hey, I drew that vhs poster to this song!

There's just something so eerie about the vibe of this one, and I really enjoy the mental picture it draws of Sun and Moon's opinion of Y/N; how conflicted he is about their presence, how intriguing they are, how their antics are equally exciting and frustrating. This song is about them losing you. You, who they never had to begin with.

#4, Portrait of Mr. Boogie, AHS 1984, The Quarry

Skipping ahead on the list a bit so I can save the best songs for last. These four songs are nothing but atmosphere music for me. They don't personally relate to the story in any way (I mean, they're instrumental, so yknow), and are just songs that I keep on the playlist because I've repeatedly written scenes to them.

#4, specifically, was played while writing out the discovery of Chet's body (for real this time), and I'd like to think it's the song that would play during that scene were this a true slasher film, too.

Run Rabbit Run

Yeah yeah rabbit is in the title. Yeah yeah Moon made reference to this very song in his rhymed threat about a hunter coming for a trapped rabbit. But also this song is immediately relevant to the next chapter :) and I can't say more than that.

Now we're getting into heavy spoiler territory. These next three songs will be kept purposefully vague, but I hope you'll remember them when the time comes that all of it is laid bare.

Disenchanted

This song is about the tragedy. The tragedy that befell the campgrounds, yes, but more so about the tragedy that Sun and Moon endured as a result.

"Well I was there on the day They sold the cause for the queen And when the lights all went out We watched our lives on the screen I hate the ending myself But it started with an alright scene"

"It was the roar of the crowd That gave me heartache to sing It was a lie when they smiled And said, you won't feel a thing And as we ran from the cops We laughed so hard it would sting"

Sun and Moon were never given a chance to prevent this. They were always doomed from the start. When tragedy struck, they could only stand back and watch as decisions were made for them, as their very life was tossed around in conversation like it meant nothing. So they took matters into their own hands, and decided to flip the script.

The outcome has been miserable, but the beginning — their life before that point — was wonderful. It was home.

There's more that has to do with the lyrics further down, but you'll have to wait for the explanation on that until more has been revealed.

Dead Come Talking

Ohhh this one gets me Emotional every time. I can't say too much about it because this song and the one after it are both entirely about Sun and Moon's personal hardships, of which have not yet been properly addressed or revealed in the fic. I will say that the haunting they've forced upon the counselors is a shared experience, something they've personally been enduring for years, already. Sun and Moon are haunted by their past, by their grief, and in that way they themselves are the ghosts haunting the campgrounds.

Spring Break 1899

This is it. This is the most important song on the playlist. This is the song that plays at the end of Act 3. The song that plays when Sun takes in all that he's done, when the carnage sits before him and he's made to face every wrongdoing, every decision and path that has brought him to this point, and come to terms with whether or not he still wants to continue. Whether he has the strength to continue. This is the song that plays when he makes one final choice.

Echoes

The aftermath.

Do you perhaps... have a playlist for dftr?

As a matter of fact, I do 😌

It's a little on the short side at 2 hours because I am very specific with what songs get put on my au playlists, but that means each and every song has been picked with purpose (and I'm still adding more every day).

Also — you're right on the money with that song choice, anon. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say it'll soon be very relevant.