#i was literally about to go What. my name is orpheus.

[jesterbots]

aiba knowing about my new name felt like some kind of evil wizard trick

[livvyofthelake]

once upon a time is fun because all these ancient fairytales literally happened 30 years ago. snow white? yeah she was doing all that about 30 years ago. hercules? fought cerberus around 1970. king arthur pulled excalibur from the stone AFTER the release of disney’s the sword in the stone. mulan saved china (china? magic china? unclear actually) about 35 years ago. and it slaps and makes total sense don’t even worry about it

[kawareo]

Thank you lovely people for giving me a chance to ramble more about something (this is genuine, i mean no shade)

I find it really cool how every character has a parallel with Durge! In general every single romance pairing has reasons for why i think "yeah i could see them being good together", but I love those for Durge especially since I think about Durges way too much

Gale. Prodigy, Chosen of a God(ess) with a relationship that went far past god/Chosen, with him and Mystra being 'lovers' and Durge and Bhaal being 'family'. They were also both groomed to a degree to fulfill a role and have since fallen from grace of their gods.

Lae'zel. Raised in what is essentially a cult, having her entire world fall apart when she learns the truth about Vlaakith and Orpheus (while Durge's world falls apart when they learn about who they are in act 3). Cult has harsh and merciless punishments for those that disappoint, with death and beatings for githyanki and... Well. You know what, for Durge (looking at you, deleted bad ending).

Shadowheart. Having an equivalent of an electric collar on you that her God(ess) can punish her with (for Durge, that punishment isnt so immediate but Bhaal can literally stop their heart if he wants to). Amnesia. Having to choose between leading your cult or leaving everything you thought you knew and being an outcast. Depending on what you do with Shart, they also both kill their parents.

Karlach. Having your body changed without your consent, in drastic ways that you have no control over; the engine for Karlach, lobotomy + Slayer form for Durge (slayer in a more minor way but i will say that even in evil route you dont get a say whether or not you transform the first time). They both hurt people that get close to then without meaning to. They both have someone more powerful who sees them as property. Also, ties to Gortash.

Wyll. Daddy issues! And being rejected and outcast by your Father, wanting to prove yourself that you're still worthy. They were also both given shitty fucking names by their dads. They both at some point chose between power at the cost of freedom and freedom at the cost of literally everything; Wyll when he made a deal with Mizora, Durge at multiple points through the game when it comes to Bhaal. They both struggle with being tied to an evil, manipulative being that wants them isolated and weak and alone. Similar with Karlach, unwilling body modification, but specifically one that turns you into a 'monster'.

Astarion. 'Father'. 'Siblings' that you are in constant and brutal competition with, for momentary approval of your Creator who will never have enough of anything short but the world. Creator who's end goal very much includes you dying for him. Having no bodily autonomy as your Creator can literally violate your mind whenever. Sexual abuse. Struggling with bloodthirst! Your existence itself is violent, you can't live without hurting someone! (Bloodthirst for Ass, Urges for Durge)

Halsin. (Potential) guilt for something you have done, being pushed in a leadership position (Halsin at the grove, Durge with companions) that you may or may not be unsuited for. Being so, so alone, without anyone to care for your feelings. They both also have sides of them that they sometimes can't control, with the Bear and Urges, or more literally, the Slayer.

Minthara. A proud and efficent warrior that got one upped by a person they underestimated. Ties to Orin. Living as someone with the highest social status in a brutal, cruel society. Fanatic worship of an objectively evil god(ess) and then the betrayal that follows, waking up from quite literal brainwashing, seeing how your God(ess) turns against you.

And I could go on! Theyre all so good and interesting and depending on what path you decide to take, there is always something that Durge can relate to on with any companion! I tried to avoid repeating points or talking about my Durge specifically by just talking about what is set in canon for them, and there is still! So! Much!

[gabessquishytum]

i keep typing out asks to send you but stop working part way through 😔 so instead of letting them sit in my google docs, i'm just gonna send what i've written and just summarize what i wanted the rest to be 🙃

so. here's one of them lmao

---------

loosely inspired by Abigail (2024)

---

Hob is a reformed criminal, ok; he got out of that life when he met Eleanor and created a new life for himself when they married, identity and all. He didn't want any children they had to have to deal with any of that. He was even going to school to become a teacher.

And then Eleanor died and Robyn was taken and now Hob is being forced back into that life to get him back.

It's a kidnapping job, some rich fuck, with a large payout and Hob doesn't fucking care, he just wants his son back.

When he sees it's a 12 year old boy who's scared out of his mind, though, that's when he snaps.

He can't do anything, not yet, not when they- whoever they are, he still isn't sure- still have Robyn. All he can do right now is wait and protect the boy.

--

so it eventually gets revealed that the kids name is Orpheus, that his father is Dream (who's known to be incredibly dangerous, there are stories about him, most of which Hob doesn't believe because hello, vampires aren't real!!!)

except Hob gets proven wrong when Orpheus gets scared (and hungry) enough (he's just a baby!!!) and starts killing off his abductors. he only leaves Hob alone because he was nice to him and confided in Orpheus about his son.

Dream finally shows up at the end of the bloodbath (he was out of the country or something, idk lmao) with Robyn, who had been taken by Burgess (he wanted to force Dream into turning him and that's where Dream thought Orpheus was at first) and is all "you protected my son in the end and ur hot, i'm gonna turn you and make you my bride :)"

and Hob is like "!!! I don't want to get murdered if I say no so I guess I don't have a choice!!!"

and so Hob gets turned, he and Dream are now vampire married and fuck often, and Robyn and Orpheus bond over having weird dads (and when he's old enough, Robyn chooses to be turned as well; no way was Hob gonna make him go through puberty AND deal with being a vampire) (really Hob just didn't want to deal with the angst that came from it all, it's like the normal teenage angst bullshit got doubled and he was NOT doing it, thank you very much) (Orpheus was bad enough, and he was a born vampire; he definitely got the dramatics from his father)

Awww so cute! I remember the trailers for Abigail and thinking that the young lil vampire killing people was a cool concept.

I think the vampire family with Dream and Orpheus and Hob and Robyn would be so cute 🥺 like they live in a big spooky chateau with lots of vampire servants (who are also their friends tbh. Cori is their terrible terrible butler and Matthew is meant to be a valet but hes honestly just Dream’s weird friend at this point) and they go on hunts to kill bad people and eat them, and sometimes they go into town and do normal human things (Dream is really not very good at pretending to be human, but it makes Hob and the kids laugh a lot to see him try). Of course Dream hosts fancy vampire balls sometimes, and persuades Hob to get all dressed up in flowing red ballgowns because they're vampire married and Dream wants to show off his bride to everyone!!!

Orpheus and Robyn have to get Matthew to help them in solidly soundproofing their bedrooms because their dads are having NASTY sex every night. Orpheus has it worse because he has super vampire hearing - he did NOT want to know about his dad and step-dad's kinky strapped to an altar drinking each other's blood sex. But he gets his revenge eventually with a fellow vampire called Eurydice when they fuck on Dream’s favourite red velvet couch. DEFINITELY dramatic just like his father, honestly.

But next time someone tries to kidnap literally anyone in the Endless-Gadling family, they're in for a big surprise. Dream and Hob are protective of their baby boys, and Orpheus and Robyn are soon fully grown vampires ready to protect their dads. They really are the cutest family! As long as you're not squeamish!

[solaireverie]

sv5 | stars all aligned and they intertwined

y/n's music: explained

[ fic here! ] originally y/n was just supposed to borrow parts of taylor swift's and maisie peter's music, but then i had to go and make it complicated because i really like coming up with headcanons. go figure lolololol

songs with links are the ones that are referencing irl artists' works. all others are my own ideas and any similarities with actual songs is completely accidental and coincidental.

this isn't y/n's full catalogue. this is the music that was relevant to the smau (and seb) and therefore the ones i put more thought into. the first photo of the three is the album cover.

if you'd be interested in hearing more about any of them (albums/songs/lyrics/ideas behind them) please please please send me an ask. literally all of the albums and songs are fully fleshed out and i just need an excuse to talk about them.

champagne — written during sebastian and y/n's first relationship. released sometime during seb's championship years (2010 - 2013). y/n wasn't quite as famous or established. they never confirmed their relationship to the public but it was an open secret. this was the album that became the precursor for her fame and popularity.

tracks: five, top step, call it what you want, liebling, four leaf clover, i can see you, watercolor skies, willow, in your arms, king of my heart, i know places, splash, castle tower

no man's land — written after sebastian and y/n broke up. released about a year after they split. this is the fan favorite and the one with the best writing. this was the album that truly catapulted y/n into stardom and made her a household name.

tracks: midnight rain, point taken, april showers, the archer, forgive and forget, caution, there it goes, tsunami, tightrope, wonderland, behind the smile, evermore, the black swan, playing house, picture perfect, finis

adore adore adore — written after they got back together and released sometime in late 2023. seb helped create a few of the songs. honestly i did a better job describing it in the actual fic. this is your sign to go read it if you haven't already. if you have, here's my undying love.

tracks: bouquet, this love, orpheus, spotlight, pillow talk, morning afters, candy floss, carnivale, crystal clear, reminisce, gilded age

likes and reblogs are appreciated!

masterlist

[wen-kexing-apologist]

SHADOW THE SERIES!!

ALRIGHT Y’ALL I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BINGED ALL SEVEN EPISODES OF SHADOW (2023) THAT HAVE CURRENTLY BEEN RELEASED AND MY BRAIN IS GOING A MILE A FUCKING MINUTE. I HAVE ABOUT 25 THEORIES ALL BOUNCING AROUND IN HERE, ALL OF WHICH ARE PROBABLY WRONG. 

Thank God for @so-much-yet-to-learn deciding not to watch this, meaning he can’t be spoiled and I can spam his DMs with all the twists, and turns.

I literally do not think at this point, even seven episodes in I can really write analysis of the show. I’m almost certainly going to rewatch this, and maybe that will inspire conversations around lighting, and blocking, and use of reflection but for now, I am just going to talk about some of the things I have been noticing and some paths I see those threads taking. 

First of all, in a ghost story, I do not think that I am actually putting too much weight on the use of Hamlet as a play in this story. However, I will admit upfront that I am very potentially putting too much weight on the Greek mythology (River Styx, and Orpheus and Eurydice) that were referenced in, I think like…episode 1 or 2. 

gif by @pharawee

But, what can you expect when some of the first supernatural happenings we get is Dan waking up on a boat in the middle of a body of water (River Styx)? This does not hold consistently, but there is a trend I have been noticing, of following. It has been making me think of Orpheus and Eurydice, that Orpheus is supposed to guide his lover out of the underworld, and back to the land of the living, but he cannot turn to look behind him. He has to trust that Eurydice is there, following behind him. 

And I have been noticing some point in the show where following behind and not turning back to look have been particularly relevant. In Episode 6, Dan sees a reflection of Trin in the bathroom mirror. Trin is technically behind Dan, but the second that Dan turns to look? Trin is gone. When Dan looks away, he sees a reflection in the mirror of Trin leaving the bathroom, and he follows behind Trin all the way to the funhouse. 

This scene had some particularly striking and beautiful uses of mirrors and reflections. Namely that we see Trin, walking, and Dan following far behind in a number of mirrors. But every time a mirror appears Dan stops for a moment to look at himself. At this point, Trin has continued moving (in fact Trin never stops moving) and we see Dan completely alone in the mirror. What does this have to do with anything? What is the show trying to say about what purpose Trin, the shadow, the visions Dan have serve? Not sure yet! But it’s fucking fascinating. 

Hamlet, of course, is an obvious choice of story for a boy that can see ghosts, especially because Dan sees the ghost of his father at some point(s) in the show. Especially because there is a recurring theme/motif of drowning in this show. We have multiple boys who are haunted, both Dan and Nai being able to see ghosts, we have Dan who harbors anger in his heart for the way his father abused the family, we have a boy who went missing, last seen by the lake and whose ghost consistently appears waterlogged. We have a shadow that grabs Dan by the ankle and tries to keep him below water, we have a moment where Dan sees Trin’s lifeless body floating in a pool. Where are they going with this? I don’t know! And I want to find out. 

photo from @sparklyeyedhimbo

I have thoughts about water and it’s relation to baptism, that these boys are attending a Catholic school, that Dan is constantly pushing back against the way the school functions and the beliefs that Brother Anurak holds. I am so fascinated by the fact that Catholic priest Brother Anurak cannot confirm the existence of spirits, (when Dan has been haunted by this shadow for almost a decade of his life), and that he turns to Buddhism, and a venerable monk to help him navigate the moments where he slips between reality and dreams. 

I am fascinated by the fact that the Shadow we see gets progressively less scary, at least to me, as time goes on. This is an entity that has been following Dan from the time he was seven. When he was a child, at his mother’s funeral he called this Shadow his friend when he was talking to Brother Anurak.  

This may seem tangential, but, about a year or two ago, I played a little indie video came called Gone Home. The premise is that you arrive back to your childhood home, unannounced only to find that no one in your family is home, they have vanished without a trace, and all that remains are these letters your sister left. When I started playing this game, I was tense, I thought perhaps the house was haunted, perhaps my family had been killed and a murderer was about to pop out from around a corner. But as the story unfolds, as you read more letters from your sister, you realize that she’s queer, she’s telling you a story of why she has left, she has gone to reunite with her girlfriend. And I cannot explain the level of safety and comfort that washed over me the second I realized this was a queer story. 

In some ways that is what this Shadow feels like to me. At first it is scary, it is set up to be, it creeps up, background music builds tension, creates jumpscares of sorts, the shadow is what keeps nearly drowning Dan. But as the episodes continue, the shadow doesn’t do that anymore, Dan turns around and hugs the Shadow, and it takes him to his father (who is a massive fucking asshole to be fair).

gif by @pharawee

In Episode 6 or 7, Dan is dreaming of one of the few peaceful and happy memories he has of childhood, and the Shadow rests it’s incorporeal hands on his shoulders, almost familiar and comforting, and Dan talks to it. Dan asks it if he can stay there a little longer, and the Shadow lets him. And for me this begs the question, what is the Shadow? Is the Shadow one entity, or multiple? Are the different interactions with the Shadow meant to signify Dan is interacting with multiple different people? Is the Shadow a spirit, or a manifestation of something else: grief, anger, pain? Did Dan die/is Dan dead?

We see two instances of almost sexual acts performed by the Shadow on Dan. Once happens in a dream, and within the dream Dan is conscious. But he wakes up the next morning wet and covered in scratch marks. The second time, Dan is unconscious, but the Shadow appears in the real world, not the dream world (as far as we can tell) and starts pulling up Dan’s shirt, leans in close, so that they are almost mouth to Shadow…mouth? Both times, there is some form of pleasure on Dan’s face, but both times Dan is technically unconscious, and not really able to give consent. 

Is Dan supposed to be enjoying these moments? If so, are they coming from a lover of his, either one from the past or are we perpetuating circles of time where Dan is retroactively being haunted by someone he loves and loses in the future? I don’t know about you all, and personally I don’t want every story that involved Catholicism to focus on the known history of pedophilia within the Catholic church, but…

gif from @pharawee

Dan has been seeing the Shadow since after he was shot accidentally by his mother and she had a mental breakdown, but this is around the same time that Brother Anurak, Catholic Priest, Brother Anurak enters the picture. And Dan says that the Shadow has been getting stronger since he started at this boarding school where Brother Anurak is a teacher. Could the Shadow be a metaphor for childhood sexual assault trauma that Dan cannot remember, or does not want to face? Possibly. Brother Anurak has seemed a little bit suspicious in the show thus far, (not wholly in the like, “possibly a pedophile” way to be clear, just in the “this dude almost certainly knows more about this student’s disappearance than he is letting on” kind of way). 

Then again, according to the precisely thirty seconds of google searching on name meanings I did, Anurak as a name apparently means “the one who takes care” or “male angel”. I would love someone who is not me and has an actual understanding of the Thai language to correct me if I am wrong. (@recentadultburnout or @lurkingteapot are either of you watching this show? If so, would you be willing to discuss name meanings for Shadow the series? Obviously, no pressure or obligation). 

ANYWAY, the Shadow does not really seem like all too much of an antagonistic force at this point, more of a neutral or potentially positive force, so again, I have 25 different theories that are all possibly wrong, and this is one of them. 

Other theories about the Shadow: Dan started seeing it after almost dying of a gunshot wound, it’s just like the manifestation of death and Dan has been running from it for awhile, it is a manifestation of the people Dan cares about in his life, it is actively trying to possess Dan and keeps getting interrupted, it is a spiritual guide that is supposed to lead Dan towards helping other spirits find justice and peace. It’s a physical manifestation of queerness. Like seriously, I could probably go on all day. 

And actually, queerness is something I do want to talk about while I am here. Because this show is certainly not shying away from homophobia.

gif by @pharawee

Nai has suffered for revealing his crush on Anan the previous year, he is still suffering for it. It did not escape my notice that the only known queer kid at an all-boys Catholic boarding school does not have a roommate. Nai is pretty much always alone, until Dan shows up, and Nai is warned by his teacher to stay away from Dan to make sure “Dan stays out of trouble”. Ever time that Dan and Nai are seen walking together, touch each other casually, exit a room together, they are called a slur. Nai tries to tell Dan to stay away from him so that Dan isn’t condemning himself to the life of a social pariah. We get one good Token Straight Friend in Josh. We learn that Trin was queer, and Trin was friends with Nai, and now Trin has disappeared. 

The queer kid(s) or the kids associated with the queer kid are the only people getting beaten up at this school, and the actor that plays dickbag Anan is truly committing to the bit, because the (fake) punches he delivers look like they got some force to them. 

I was actually just chatting with @so-much-yet-to-learn and as I was writing out the sentence “what if the Shadow is a physical manifestation of queerness?” he wrote “ooh, so Nai sees them as human figures whereas Dan sees his as a shadow commentary on how aware they are of their sexuality, maybe?” Dan does see Trin in full form, so I am not sure how much this does track, but it is at least worth acknowledging that Nai is aware of his queerness, has been outed, is The Known Queer at school, and has a very visibly obvious crush on Dan. Meanwhile, Dan reads queer (to me), some of the things he says, the way he laughed at Josh asking him if he liked Cha-aim, the fact that he sticks with Nai, make me think he is aware of his queerness. But, we as the audience have not actually gotten any explicit confirmation that Dan is queer or aware of his queerness. 

photo from @blmpff

However, it is worth noting the physical ghost that Dan is able to see is Trin, another queer boy, (who everyone at school knew was queer because they knew he had a crush on his male theater teacher) and then some random boy that we have never seen before that he, once again, only sees in a mirror. But in Episode 7, Dan has lost this grounding stone, and the line between reality and dreams is constantly blurring. In Episode 7, Dan dreams of a near empty place, the only thing on the floor are drawings of a boxer, a naval ship, a sailor. He sees a man with one arm missing, the remainder of the limb bandaged and bleeding, he sees a man (again, only from behind) handcuffed to a table, behind bars, reading a letter by candlelight, he sees a man tied to a post, blindfolded and about to be executed, once again facing away, back turned to a firing squad. 

Dan finds out like, practically the next day about the local legend of the One Armed Man, who was a boxer, joined the navy, lost his arm, sold himself to homosexual millionaires, and got arrested for selling drugs to party goers who ended up dying of drug overdoses. You know who else has currently been associated with a narcotics related drug overdose?

Trin. 

The missing, queer boy who was trying to break tradition, and bring progress to his school. 

Trin, the missing queer boy who has hallucinations. Hallucinations like… 

Dead bodies. 

You know who else saw dead bodies in the most recent episodes?

Dan. 

photos from @sparklyeyedhimbo

I don’t know where I am going with this beyond the fact that Trin is established to have bipolar disorder, for which was on medication. In flashback he is shown stating that he wants to get off his medication, we are told in the present that he had stopped taking his medication, and that instead he was treating his bipolar with narcotics, and that he had smoked week the night of his disappearance. It is at this point I would like to say, this show would be absolutely fucking based if they actually gave Trin bipolar disorder, and then had the adults that are suspicious and clearly hiding something, weaponize the stigma against his mental health disorder to try to discredit whatever Trin was trying to do, as well as distance themselves from any potential suspicion around their level of involvement in Trin’s disappearance. (This is not to say this is behavior I support irl, it is to say that it would be excellent commentary around how someone’s mental health can be weaponized against them in truly terrible ways)

So by my count we have two instances of drug overdose mentions from two separate people and stories (Trin’s disappearance and the One Armed Man), and two instances of “hallucinations” of seeing dead people (Trin’s vision he discusses in an audio recording and Dan’s vision in art class). These are not enough data points to say they are definitively doing something with this, but it is just something I am noting. 

Another theory that @so-much-yet-to-learn floated in conversation with me was the idea that the boys that were being haunted were ones who were breaking the status quo in some way. Trin was trying to do away with hazing at school and was called in to the administrator’s office multiple times and told to change his student president campaign policies, Nai is currently the only known queer at school, and Dan does not engage in anything even resembling filial piety. (Again, his dad is a Grade A Major Fucking Asshole).

photos from @sparklyeyedhimbo

Where am I going with this? I don’t know! Maybe nowhere! Again, my brain is going BRRRRRRR and I am just rapidly cycling through a thousand unformed theories. God, I just want to know what happened, I want to know what everyone knows, I want to know what the fuck is up with Anan and the teacher he is fucking and their involvement in all of this, I wanna know why the fuck he is as reactive as he is (like he literally almost strangled Dan to the point of unconsciousness at the end of Episode 7), Anan and HIS TEACHER keep making references to Trin, to “the nurses other daughter”, throwing suspicion on Dan about knowing about them. I want to know how they are involved in all of this. 

I JUST WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING, I CAN SEE A MILLION DIFFERENT OUTCOMES, I AM HAVING A GREAT TIME AND I FUCKING HOPE THIS SHOW CAN STICK THE LANDING BECAUSE I AM ENJOYING IT SO MUCH.

[milflaszlo]

the ground vs the sky in hadestown

(in which i go very long on hadestown's lighting design to strengthen my eurydice = hades, orpheus = persephone agenda)

TL;DR: eurydice and hades are ground, orpheus and persephone are sky. the "ground" characters need the "sky" characters to be free, to dream, to remember that there can be a better world than this.

all screenshots used in this post are from a video by @medium-observation, thank you for your service as always

there's a ton of evidence in the show for this dichotomy, with the most obvious and literal one being the lighting associated with each character. during how long, hades and persephone take turns to sing, and as it switches between them the lighting changes too -- orange for him, blue for her.

orange for hades feels fairly obvious considering hadestown as a setting is bathed entirely in warm colors. per lighting designer bradley king:

Hadestown is very furnace-like: amber, orange, and rust.

persephone gets blue, which she brings with her at the beginning of livin' it up on top.

so that's what i mean when i say ground vs sky. for hades it's pretty literal - the ground is his domain, but it also reflects how he "keeps his head low, he keeps his back bending". persephone gets the blue of the sky because it symbolizes freedom - not just being free but feeling free. from the NYTW version of livin' it up on top:

Give me a sky that you can't buy Or sell at any price

the sky is a big thing for hades and persephone, because it's the one thing he can never give her. he expresses how he feels about that in chant:

Lover, I was lonesome So I laid a power grid In the ground on which you stood And wasn't it electrifying When I made the neon shine? Silver screen, cathode ray Brighter than the light of day

to him, that's the closest thing he can give her to a sky, which he hopes will outshine the real daylight (though of course that's not what she really wants from him).

in our lady of the underground, everything persephone offers up is also sky-related (moon, wind, stars)

I got a sight for the sorest eye When was the last time you saw the sky?

ok so we've established the hades and persephone part of this. what does this have to do with orpheus and eurydice? because the exact same lighting design is present with them, too - and it's especially clear in wedding song:

when eurydice sings during this song she's bathed in yellow and amber. then orpheus sings and the blue light starts creeping in to show how slowly, and despite herself, she's beginning to believe in him.

this all culminates in the dance they do in all i've ever known, where the entire stage is bathed in persephone's dark blue. the literal meaning in the scene is that it's nighttime, but the color - and choreography - is eurydice finally letting herself be free and untethered from the ground.

But when I saw you all alone against the sky It's like I’d known you all along

from 'working on a song':

It was a brief choreographic / staging moment, after the lovemaking, when the lovers lay on their backs side by side, holding hands and looking up at the sky. At the stars. It reminded me of how the stars had played such an important role in the early Vermont version of the show, with the Fates naming the constellations, and the idea of our destinies being “written in the stars.” And it moved me, I think, because of the knowledge of where our lovers were headed: a world without stars.

i actually find this dichotomy especially interesting because of the associations with the characters and the colors. temperament-wise, you'd probably say hades is "cold" and persephone is "warm", which is true. but hades gets the warm colors and persephone gets the cold ones.

why? because hades' orange is the suffocating kind of man-made heat, whereas persephone's blue is the endless possibility of the sky. and yet, artificial warmth is still warmth, while the open air can be bitterly cold... something that eurydice knows very well, and is the reason why she makes the choice she does.

during epic iii, when orpheus begins to sing, the scene is still orange. then as his song begins, the light on the walls becomes blue, like he's actually finding that "crack in the wall" to let the sky shine through. from a cut song that orpheus would sing called cloud machine (per 'working on a song'):

There’s a crack in the wall It’s a little bit wider It’s a little bit wider, that’s all

then, after the climax of the song, when the scene re-settles, the light goes back to being orange. but as soon as hades remembers the melody and he and persephone begin to dance, the light turns blue again, like the exact same thing is happening to hades that happened to eurydice in all i've ever known -- he's remembering how it feels to let himself be free.

ok i think that's about it. thanks for reading this super long post starring my brainworms

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

The Bird And The Man

Chapter Eight

Rated: Explicit | Warnings: mixed feelings

Ao3

Chapter Seven | Chapter Nine

You have been trying for weeks to write another book, the drafts are uh… Questionable. The last book, a standalone, was a normal book, with a bit of romance and a bit of adventure. This one is straight debauchery, if anyone read this they would think you are sex-crazed!

Are you?

You have been thinking about your night with Orpheus a lot, sometimes you write about the things. Naughty things. Those papers are hidden away in your wooden wardrobe. Agh, it plagues your thoughts! And though it has been three days since he touched you… You swear you still feel his hands all over you.

“Damn it!” Whispering to yourself as three papers of paper is literally all sex. Or how you imagine sex would be like. Nightmare gave you a taste with only his finger, you wonder what it would be like if he… 

You rub your eyes and lean back against your chair to scratch your back. What time is it? Then you look at the time and see you should have slept hours ago. Three in the morning! You cannot believe you wrote so much debauchery, oh no. Worse is the mess of crumbled pieces of paper around you, other attempts at lust written down.

You groan, maybe you should go to bed! Yet, the bed feels empty these days. A loneliness has settled in as your sheets are cold, you want him here to warm you.

It is funny how needy you feel, after that day you are more physically affectionate with him. You are affectionate naturally but it feels more needed on your side. He enjoys it though, like holding you or sharing his coat with you. You thank God every day for the creature who holds your heart in his hands and his in your hands.

Just thinking about it makes you feel warm, fuzzy, and eager.

“No! Go to sleep!” Scolding yourself. When you close your eyes, your body turns over to lie on your side. Your eyes stared at the wall, the slight cracks in the wall as your eyes followed meaningless patterns. You pull the blankets closer to your body, curling up in a ball as your hand wanders between your legs.

You squeeze your eyes shut picturing Orpheus’ claws between your legs a few days ago. The second you touch your clothed crotch you jerk and pull your hand away, it feels weird— Odd? God, bury your face in the pillow and let out a long whine of despair.

At some point, you fell asleep and woke up to a gentle but sharp knock at the door. You groan, blinking several times, burying your head in the pillow that begs you to sleep some more.

“Hypnos,” Orpheus’ voice calls out to you, “Are you well?”

This makes you check the times. Your eyes are blurry then they focus to see… Oh no, it is twelve in the afternoon!

“Hypnos?” Hearing stumbling and something fall before you open the door slightly, “Good afternoon, no one saw you most of the day and I grew worried.” A gentle voice as his eyes take in the details of your barely awake form. Cute.

You yawn behind your hand then nod, “Sorry,” Rubbing your eyes, “Had to a burst of inspiration last night.”

“Understandable, I have had my share of those. Glad to see you are well. Lunch is ready but I am sure the kitchen staff can make you breakfast if you wish.”

You nod again.

“Also,” He clears his throat as he adjusts his monocle, “If you are free in the afternoon, might you join me in the smoking room?” 

“Sure! Hope you do not mind that I do not smoke.”

“Not at all. All I wish for is your company.”

You smile, “Of course, anything for a friend.”

Orpheus finds that endearing, disappointing, and a pang of sadness. You should be careful who you call friends here; quickly calling those in the same situation as your friend does not mean friendship blooms.

Sure, Eli has said some are easier to befriend and can be called friends. He, Emma, Lucky Guy, Tracy, and Luca; to name a few. But everyone has their own motivations and Orpheus knows none of them are to be trusted.

Himself included though he would prefer your trust to be with him, he will not backstab you— If he must stab you it will be quick and with him looking into your eyes apologetically.

“Take your time. I will be there shortly.” Leaving as you close the door.

.

.

.

.

Mealtimes are usually social time for some of the survivors. The non-social ones might take their meals to their rooms or other places where it is quiet.

When you first arrived here, you had accidentally sat in Norton’s seat as you were anxious and shaking like a leaf. The man had terrified you to the point you left without eating and did not return for dinner.

You would sneak out of your room to eat or hoard food in your room. It was bad until… Orpheus spoke to you when he caught you taking out dishes from your room.

That day you felt like a bird that just flew out of the nest, him there beside you as Eli had encouraged you to join them during dinnertime.

Turns out Norton is not bad, still intimidating but he is true to his word about watching your back.

Being at this dining table watching the others is like being around family. Sure it is probably only a feeling Emma will understand but you imagine what a big family is like.

Busy, busy, a few laughs and conversations. You eat your lunch in peace, a few times greeting those who pass by you. A normal afternoon in the manor.

Upstairs there is a smoking room.

Not many use it as not everyone smokes but few do like Orpheus. You find the man standing in the middle of the room facing the left wall which is decorated with paintings. A smoking pipe in his mouth as he takes a few puffs before taking it out of his mouth and holding it in his hand. His gaze is focused, another puff, and he lets out a sigh shaking his head. There is something very distinguished about him, there he stands in more casual clothing with rolled-up sleeves. His monocle switched for small circular glasses, the picturesque sight of a high society man in leisure.

There is no denying Orpheus is not a handsome man, the type who probably had many ladies around him vying for his attention. From what you heard he never had a partner, he was focusing on his writing but never was unwilling to entertain a lady.

When he looks upon you there is a shift from his intense gaze to a gentle look, a practiced smile the second you smile at him. You wonder how many have ever seen him actually smile, a true smile that reaches his eyes.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Speaking up after realizing you might have been staring for too long.

“Heh,” A small chuckle from him as his head turns in your direction, “Musing.” His gaze goes back to the painting on the wall, “The days after Christmas are always the oddest.”

“How so?” You move beside him until he gestures to you to take a seat. There are a few chairs around with small tables with ashtrays. He sits across from you and facing him you realize his shirt is a bit open, just a few buttons but enough to further show he is relaxing right now.

“Two days of celebrating, sometimes three if you know where to look for more parties,” Lean back against his seat with one leg over the other, “A calm before the storm effect. After those few days, New Year's parties start the year with a bang.”

“Sounds like you enjoy those parties.”

“Occasionally,” Taking a smoke, “Did you?”

You shook your head, “I was at one but that was it.”

“The announcement party.”

“You saw me?”

“In passing. The son you ghostwrote for doesn't hold his liquor well. The man flaunting about you during the private party. You have my condolences for dealing with him.”

“Did you… Read those books?” You once read Orpheus' rare review of books. He word making or breaking an author.

“I did.” He gazes slightly to the left, “You have grown since then. The maturity of a writer is fascinating to witness.” Those dark brown eyes back on you, “Has the manor provided you inspiration?”

You think about the question before answering, “Ma always told me to write what I know, and research what I don't.” Speaking your train of thought out loud, “The people here, all from different walks of life with different reasons for being here. Hmm, maybe, I never thought about it.”

There is a chuckle from the author, a look of you wonder if it is adoration, “Such is the lot of a writer. Art often imitates life, we write what we see then alter it into a new world on paper.”

You nod in agreement, “Do you still write?”

“I do.” Taking a smoke then blowing the smoke away from your direction, “Call of the Abyss takes time but the first draft is complete.” Then he leans forward with his feet on the ground and his arms resting on his thighs, “You? Are you going to continue your book?”

You shrug, “Right now, I'm not sure. My mind isn't cooperating, hah.”

“Writer's block?”

“Oh, nothing like that just…” You look away, “New inspiration.” Nervous laugh.

“There is no shame in switching projects. Perhaps a fresh idea will inspire you to continue your previous book.”

You nod then look at him with a questioning expression, “Have you ever written something… uh… Questionable?”

“Hypnos, my genre of literature is dark fiction,” Raising an eyebrow, “Questionable is often what most use to describe my work.”

“I mean… but what if it was really questionable and yet you are proud of it?”

“There is nothing wrong with pushing the boundaries of our society through literature. Many great works we enjoy had to break out of those limited spaces and flourish by being true to reality through fiction.”

“Even the sexual kind?”

“Especially the sexual kind.” He stands up and you follow as he goes over to the serving cart by the wall with the pool table in the middle. The smoke room is barely used but is very fancy to you. “Does that help?” He twists open the bottle of you guess is bourbon and pours a glass.

“A bit. I doubt I could let this one see the light of day, however.” You shake your head at the offer of a drink, “How can you drink that?”

“As you get used to it.” Drink a small sip of it, “Try it.” Offer his few sips of alcohol in the glass. You take it, smelling it makes your face scrunch up making him smile then your drinking makes him laugh at the way you make sounds of disgust. “Perhaps a bit too harsh for you.”

You socialize with Orpheus the rest of the day, being in his company is like living a dream the young you would be so happy to have.

“Here I will show you.”

High society always seemed like a dream, the glamour and what seemed to be the only way to be happy is with money. To a degree, the latter is true to a point. Watching Orpheus explain billiards, watching him bend over slightly as he breaks the triangle of colored and striped balls. You grip your cue as he tells you it is your turn. You chose stripes. 

“This is not easy at all!”

“Hah, take your time,” Standing to the side as he watches you attempt to get the solid white ball to hit a stripe ball, “Pull back slightly.” He advises as he saw you had pulled the cue too far back and knows already that will make the ball bounce off the table. “Now tap it.”

The white ball hits the other ball but does not go into the hole.

“Orpheus,” Speaking as he prepares for his turn.

“Hm?” His eyes are on the table seeing where to strike and the angle.

“Can you do the thing with the stick behind your back?”

He raises an eyebrow at you then makes a ‘oh’ sound, “Yes.” You stand back watching him move the cue behind his back and strike the white ball as one colored ball is stuck and falls into one of the pockets.

You give him a little clap, “Wow!”

“If you know where and how you are going to strike, tricks like that are easy for show.”

“You make it show easy, Mr. Detective.” Laughing a bit, “My turn!” He hands you the chalk to use on your cue and you do with vigorous twisting at the tip with excitement. The Novelist watching with amusement but a bit of worry, what are you doing?

Then he sees you bend and nearly lay across the table with your leg hooked over it. 

At the position he is behind you, the sight is well, as a gentleman he will not let his gaze linger for too long. You strike the ball but still no win, “Damn it.” Getting off the table and standing there scratching your head.

“Here let me help you.” Placing his cue down on the edge of the pool table, “Hold it like this.” Slipping behind you as if he a piece of your puzzle. Suddenly you are aware of how he smells of cologne and tobacco, his hands are soft but not as nimble as you thought, they brush down your hands as he adjusts not only your positioning but your arm placements. “Now strike.” His voice is so low and close to your ear.

The ball strikes true and removes himself from your person before it can be considered any more inappropriate the move he just made.

“Well done.”

You nod looking away, strange how you miss those few seconds of his warmth, “Thank you!” Standing there trying to hide how flustered you are. That was… Familiar like when Nightmare held you close for the first time, minus the scent of fresh tobacco. The game goes on and your mind wanders to his counterpart, Nightmare, and how different they are. Yet, the same. You can see it because you know Nightmare intimately… Thus you know Orpheus perhaps on the same level? No, you just know a part of him, the part of him that is hidden behind smoke and mirrors.

“Looks like you win, hah!” It is a good game and one you would not mind playing again, “Hm?” The way he looks at you lingers, his gaze as intense as the one you saw when you entered the room.

“What does he have that I do not?”

[latibulater]

Venture Bros Rewatch notes: Eeney Meeney Miney Magic

I love Rusty's bedroom but do we think that look is a holdover from the last time Jonas remodeled (as it's not dated enough to be 60s when the compound was built) or did Rusty remodel the bedroom as soon as he inherited the master bedroom?

Dean and Hank are playing Ouija is so cute

ENTERING....MR ORPHEUS. He comes OUT of the orphan heart machine (??? why?) and zaps Helper and knocks out Dean and Hank, so Dr. O can disable electronics and also cause instant sleep all with just a single nonverbal look...And his lankiness...his sharp edges...EARLY SEASON ORPHEUS ILU

"His magical Dracula powers" "youre standing there in FLAMES" whoever wrote this scene has a child

"brock is it okay if i cry?" after brock just choked him for waking the bodyguard up too sudden. there is both so much to say yet nothing needs to be said its all there

i can't figure out if you need to go outside to get to orpheus' part of the compound, dean is wearing a jacket over his pjs but no shoes and rusty has his rarely seen bathrobe and slippies

"abandoned arachnid lab" WHAT was GOING ON????

i LOVE the pan-ups for introducing characters

Orpheus was saving Helper........"his feeble mind had perceived what's not possible" this is contributing to my idea that our Helper is like Ben's Helper in that they are uh....not cyborgs exactly but meaty machines

Led zeppelin is pretty much the only music brock listen to during sex

How does Rusty not know Orpheus' name already? He's literally the landlord

"junior college upstate" "fEEL it's evil grip PuUUUUUULL ME BACK IN"

"scuba" "scuba" "scuba"

TRIANA girl of the hour. How is she so well adjusted and normal-acting. I want so badly to see a scene or two of Triana at school. Can she use her magic there? Is she is similar classes as Dermott?

"Single parent eh? Common ground" Rusty is so desperate for a friend as soon as he realizes Orpheus is bit like him he drops all snobbish pretenses

THE QTIP COMMENT. I LAUGH. "a walking reminder of our common shame"

"I saw him kill a guy with sock full of party snaps" okay but then doesn't in the next episode Dean get confused about Brock killing people at all? The whole body bags were sleeping bags bit? More evidence of mind erasure

"I'm kind of home tutored in a box my pop made. it sometimes gets very hot in the box. that my pop made" "wow that's kinda screwy" this is the entire moment of what made Triana hang out with dean and her bemusement tolerance and at the end (before prom) fondness

Brock fixing Helper is soooooooo sexy i wish i could chew on his forearms like a rawhide bone

Hank seeing an endless expanse of nature with Rusty wanting to spend time with him, contrasted then by Brock actually being the one present to get Hank out of the way

"we two doctor dads" LITERALLY RUSTY STOP he's got an instant crush and he is just so thrilled to have someone to hang out with. okay with the message O leaves for Triana who just left for school, but at the end she gets bored waiting for her dad at dinner. they seriously spend all day at rusty's lab?

"dont think i didnt notice the neon appointments" GAY BOYS

Rusty acting like an overly typical irate father, he was so channeling jonas trying to impress the only other single father he's ever met

BROCK WITH THE PULLED BACK HAIR MEOW

"i DARE you to make less sense!"

Orpheus just pulled...a singular cupcake with pink frosting out of an upper cabinet....why do the Ventures live like this. 4 boys and a robot.

okay but the whole kitchen scene is so funny and really contrasting rusty and orpheus' character designs, in s1 orpheus really is all long lines and huge blocky black cloak, compared to rusty's tiny little frame, honestly we need more ...(rustyxorpheus=.....thapheus?) of this. the way rusty asks if he wants another brew "kaey"

hank's impression of their dad is hilarious

"the beast hungers for them...i just dont get how they can get the door open"

Orpheus commands the open "by the crimson name of lord balayseeta(?) i command you to open" and shit really DOES open for like a mile around and in-universe implications are that somehow Rusty has created this deeply magic resistant bio-engineered machine

the whole play by play about the orphan heart...........it was probably a clone of hank or dean....

marco

POLO

mAARRRRCO

polo polo!

m a r c o

POLO

Brock sitting down to hug Dean for feeling bad that is so sweet.

True love seems to be flimsy yet real and based upon chemicals, so could be the person they love most who makes their brainvlight up most when they see them

the way Orpheus stretches out his hands and launches it at the joycan to go into hell. he can just send shit to hell if he wants. and he can NOT go to hell or traverse, but he punches one way tickets.

i LOOOOOOOOOVE this episode truly 9/10

[shera-dnd]

Once again trying to talk about Themes™ and probably just saying the obvious again BUT

Baldur's Gate 3 is a game about freedom of choice, both mechanically and thematically

Not in the "Your choices matter! (not really)" way most game market themselves on

But in a "The fact you can choose matters" way that is much spicier.

Like that's literally the core driving point of the plot. You shouldn't be able to choose, you shouldn't be free, but you are and now it's up to you to fight to maintain that freedom, and decide for yourself what to do with it

(funnily enough this is also why this game doesn't hit my trigger, because all the mind control is completely opt in)

And every single companion reinforces that in one way or another.

Gale freeing himself from his past and choosing who he wants to be now, without Mystra.

Astarion killing Cazador and stopping generations of abuse in their vampiric line

Karlach escaping Zariel and choosing to make the most of the life she still has

Wyll breaking his contract with Mizora so he can choose for himself what he fights for

Lae'zel and Shadowheart both unlearning years of indoctrination at the hands of their messed up cults

And if you're playing Dark Urge you get to reinforce this again with your conflict about trying to determine for yourself who you want to be, when every fiber of your being demands that you be a monster

It's not even just the main characters. Like how often do you get sent on quests to free people who have been imprisoned or enslaved.

Volo, Halsin, the deep gnomes, the tieflings, Aylin, Volo again, Minsc, Orpheus, even Hope itself

Hell, one of the main bad guys is the chosen champion of the God of Tyranny and is using a magical mind control mcguffin to control a giant magical mind control GIGA BRAIN!

I guess that's why it feels so obvious. Every last bit of this game is used to forward this theme of freedom vs control, but it's this consistent reinforcement that makes it so good for me

And then of course this all comes to a grand conclusion towards the ending. My own feelings about the ending's execution and the parts I felt were a bit... lackluster, can wait for a different day

But thematically speaking they managed to end with a real bang, and it's all thanks to the narration

Because whatever decision you make, that woman sells it. No matter what you want your ending to be, she will fucking deliver it in just as triumphant a way as any other

BG3 doesn't want you to leave the game thinking "did I make the right choice?" it wants you to feel like whatever you choose WAS the right choice for you

I literally had my character turn into a squid and them kill themself and she still managed to make that a glorious moment to finalize my story on.

"After so many deaths in the name of your father, this one is just for you"

(god so many lines from the durge playthrough have my brain in a vice grip)

And speaking of daddy dearest, the only endings that come across as being bad, are the ones where you surrender your freedom.

When you surrender to the Absolute, when you do as Bhaal commands you, when you give the crown to Raphael

The entire game is one giant conflict between your freedom to self determine vs more powerful beings and their drive to take absolute control

And so the only way for your story to end "badly" is if you surrender to those powers and give up

...so yeah... that's all I got

Baldur's Gate 3 is a good game

Could use some work here and there, and my nitpicks could make their own needlessly long post, but it's still really good

Go play it

[wrongcaitlyn]

i wanted to know if you have any plans for the og campers???? like luke, clarisse, silena, beckendorf, etc etc

this is SO funny bc i was literally JUST talking to @wronghuntress about them like a few hours ago😭😭 BUT to answer your question,,, it's sort of complicated. bc i didn't realize that i was doing it until like a good way into the series, but i've been unintentionally picturing pretty much all of the og campers/people from the main pjo series as part of the acting side of hollywood, whereas i've been leaning more toward, like, toa/side/minor characters for the rest of the main cast! this makes sense to me because like, nico and will get their big moment in toa, and apollo's a huge character too. percy and annabeth are actors obviously, but i did give them some connections to nico - but either way, i guess i just saw all of those characters as not really having any sort of connection to nico & will (even though i'm the hugest fan of will being close with clarisse and silena and beckendorf- he was totally will's bi awakening it's canon u heard it from me)

but anyway im getting off track, i've sort of had like a completely separate plotline for them going on in my head (not really detailed at all, i'd have to think about it more), dealing with more of those og characters, including percy annabeth and grover! i'm not entirely sure if that'll ever be included in the main fic seeing as they don't have much connection to nico's storyline specifically, but who knows... maybe a spinoff fic one day? i definitely won't be able to write some long 100k fic for them but i'd love to dive into that!

the only thing that i DO see happening is - if you remember this, a while ago, i mentioned the possibility of a third fic or some future plans for nico to write a musical to get that egot, namely hadestown. while the idea was being organized in my head, i've been thinking of silena as helping nico write the musical and playing eurydice, and then ofc i'd love having beckendorf play orpheus - i think he gives the vibes?? or is that just me???

and then jenna (wronghuntress) gave me the BEAUTIFUL idea earlier today of this... silena and charlie as actors, specifically broadway/musical theater actors (though im sure they have also been in some other projects), clarisse as silena's bodyguard,,, and im usually so against love triangles but like. there's so much potential there - again, nothing's finalized, i dont even know if i'm gonna write it, i don't really have ANY plans other than potentially making nico contact silena when he wants to work on his musical and having them + beckendorf work together for the demo recording - it's all VERY vague and blurry so we'll see if i come up with anything more to fall down that rabbit hole!

and as for luke, i pretty much have this: he's an actor, at some point he was prob friends with annabeth after working on a show together or smth, and ends up getting cancelled. for what? i'm not entirely sure yet, but it's probably very shitty for the internet to turn against a hot white guy. actually that fact might make him getting cancelled very unrealistic. but like it's my fic so that's what i'm saying happens! unfortunately he prob still gets roles and he's prob still like a millionaire and stuff but in general: bad person. though he probably (and thalia, because she used to be an actress too before running away) were in a movie/show/something with annabeth when she was young and they kinda mentored her/helped her learn the ropes before her big break. they started a club of neglected child actors which eventually turned into just annabeth, but at least she has percy and reyna and jason and piper and magnus on her side now :)

so long story short: i don't have specific plans, but they're all actors and definitely have a lot of lore that one day i would like to try to figure out!! for now i'm still very focused on tgol/the side stories that take place in THAT main timeline (so right now it'd be 2020-2024), whereas all of the main drama/plot in the actors' timeline would be happening BEFORE talk your talk (percy + annabeth + thalia + luke + silena) (around 2008-2015) or AFTER the greatest of luxuries (silena + clarisse + beckendorf + chris(??? i have no idea what's going on with him?? he's prob famous somehow but idk??? or maybe like childhood friend tis the damn season vibe. god there are so many fame tropes i have yet to unlock and so many characters i have yet to mess with) (around 2024-2026)

thank you for the ask!! i hope that one day when i have some more time to make some playlists, properly listen to hadestown, and learn more about musical theater/broadway/acting in general, i'll be able to answer the question more thoroughly!!

[crescencestudio]

hi there! i'm so curious about this and unsure if you've answered (but really want to know), if van is placed in a situation similar to orpheus and eurydice, him in orpheus's place, would he look back or continue walking forward?

❝ A love that transcends lifetimes... ❞

-------

“It’s a shame. His works were so good before they died.”

“I heard he went to hell and back for them. Like, literally Hell.”

“What? Don't tell me you believe that? Rumors nowadays… People just say whatever they want.”

-------

I poured over my new drawing. Black, charcoal etchings swept over the canvas, filling in the crevices left behind by my forceful strokes.

The pieces came faster now. Ironic, given my muse was...

Gone.

But this was the only way I could still feel their presence. The only way I could remember the warmth of their skin, or the safety in their caress.

If I wasn't creating art, the only thing I would feel was their absence.

"Your grief is unbearable."

Who--? The new voice tore me from my drawing, and before me stood a figure clothed in obsidian robes. The shadows lapping at their feet, the smell of ancient, untouched dust, the chill of the room. This was...

"Death."

"Hades, actually. Death is Thanatos."

They stepped forward, and with that simple movement, it was as if my bones turned to ice.

"You artists and your grief--your love that surpasses even death itself. Can't you give me a break? I'm just doing my job."

"Give you a break? What do you...?"

"I could feel your grief from the Underworld. Calling for me. Pulling at me. Nothing could be more aggravating."

"...Shall I make you an offer?"

Hades wanted to make me an offer?

"I'll let you into the Underworld, and you can retrieve your beloved. If both of you make it back to the land of the living, they can return with you. But keep in mind, you may only look forward, never back at them. Fail, and you can never be with them again, not even in Death."

"Fair warning: artists like you never succeed."

"I'll do it."

-------

"Remember. Only look towards the land of the living. Never back to the land of the dead."

"I remember."

Next to me, my love shifted in and out of vision--a mere shade of the person they once were. But it was them nonetheless, that I was sure of.

And we were going to make it out of here. That I was sure of.

When they were ready, I walked forward. I focused on nothing but the light of our realm to guide me.

The journey was longer this time, more strenuous. Was it because Hades wasn't here to guide us?

We passed Elysium and the River Lethe, crossed River Styx and the guardian Cerberus. The rocks around us were familiar now. No longer were they tainted with the shadows of Death. Now, there was light.

Behind me, my love's steps were heavier now. The shade of Death was dissipating, replaced with the weight of the living.

We were close.

Through the caverns we walked, until sunlight broke through the crevices. It took everything in me not to start running--I couldn't leave my love behind now of all times.

The air was warmer now! Just a couple more steps and--

I stumbled on the rocks beneath me and crashed harshly onto the ground. There were hands on me, helping me and lifting me up again. Their words were nothing more than a whisper on the wind, yet I could understand them clearly:

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm..."

As I turned to reassure them, I realized my mistake too late.

The shadows of the Underworld rushed forward, grabbing hold of their silhouette and pulling. All semblance of life they had regained faded in an instant, and they were returned to the shade they once were. I called their name, reached out to take hold of their hand.

But it was futile.

Death took hold of them once more, and I was left alone. Again.

"Do not despair."

Something whispered to me. Voices upon voices layered upon each other, echoing off every corner of the cavern.

"Who...?"

"Your Fate does not end here."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?"

"We have watched your plight for generations upon generations. For as long as Time itself has existed. You and your Fated lover."

"Tell us. When you asked for the Fates' help all that time ago, did you foresee the pain it would bring? The destiny to relive this very moment over and over?"

"I don't understand."

"We suppose you would not. The River Lethe is known to have that effect on mortals."

"It is no matter. We look forward to seeing how the Strings of Fate determine your destiny in the next life."

"There's no point in seeing the next life if I can't be with my loved one."

"Do you say that because of Hades's offer? Do not worry, mortal."

"Even Death must abide by Fate."

-------

❝ ...but not one that transcends Death ❞

[kiawren]

Hi... Im no legitimate poet or anything...Was listening to these deft.ones songs and started writing something about kiawren on the bus home

This is so self indulgent I'm sorry.. idk if you can understand my abstract writing and it's okay if you don't 😭😭

For anyone that bothers... I'll try to explain the poem but you can interpret it how you'd like :))

These are some of the lyrics inspiring it (romantic dreams, diamond eyes, sextape)

The title—I was thinking that the only constant of his between real life and my self insert world is his name, I can say it here just the same as I can there, everything else about him otherwise isn't real.. Hence the two realms, and the inspiration from the lyric "I'm hypnotized by your name" (more to add to this towards the end of the poem!)

The Vermillion bird (basically a phoenix) is from Chinese myth, I think it represents both of us becuz fire and bird.

'Take me one more time/Take me one last wave/Take me one last ride' is from Sextape, I heard it as I started typing the poem, so I just added it in hehhee .... for 'wave', I often think about us sitting in Wela volcano park overlooking the ocean together. It's vast and beautiful. For 'ride', I also like to imagine us going for rides on char.izard together.

'rilles' are from volcanic flows on the moon, with i learnt when Googling while writing this. Actually I thought they were for normal volcanoes too, before I googled again when typing this, well they're only on the moon, lol that gives another meaning (kiawren sun/moon dynamic loll). The rilles here are in my veins cuz he just has that impact on me☺️

There's stuff like 'burning a visage on skin', 'place my tongue where you blaze' 'bleed the sea whole' cuz that's what people would typically do for their lovers you know. (/sarcasm) I just mean I would go to such lengths for him.

Synonyms of red—cherry, ruby, cardinal, in a way those lines are getting more intense.. The plush of youth (our young love and its dreaminess) and the clush of rubies, then cardinal in my head also alludes biblically like 'cardinal sin' that's why I wrote 'cardinal hell', the red becomes so red! And yes more on the hell later.

Clush is also a song by Isles & Glaciers that makes me think of kiawren so I added that word :)

'rose-cauterized eyes' — I like the phrase 'rose-tinted eyes', took a different way here with the cauterization, something more graphic like those other stuff I had up there, I feel like if you'd cauterize eyes you'd see through foggy, patched-over, maybe painful vision. But if you cauterize with roses... There's also layer of romanticism.

'meteors-heavy stubborn blue sky'... When I listen to 'diamonds reign across the sky' in the song diamond eyes I think is us watching miniors together (a poke.mon that's basically a meteor). Hmm, it's hard to explain it, but the red-rose overworld downturning into stubborn blue sky kinda has the feeling of the worlds and skies turning and colliding, and the red/blue kiawren you know... like a merger, something dynamic and disorienting... Anyway it kinda leads into the last part too!!!

'My heart' —yes it's both my literal heart going up in flames when I love him and also him, becuz this is also my term of endearment for him. And he burns in his passion. He burns brighter than I ever can.

Ok last part that Im excited to type out

While a mythical being all proud and overbearing yet unhelpful in the alluded Nirvana, and 'romantic' people look up to this fictional mythical heaven-ruler (they're idealistic hence the word romantic, also that this 'romance' is more insincere),,,,,,

I have independently travelled inside the Earth to unite with my Kiawe!!!!! Orpheus and Eurydice!!!!!!!! I am Orpheus for real.....i'd cave so hard.

Last two lines are interesting becuz I 'see my baby', but Orpheus doesn't get to see Eurydice..... Meanwhile don't 'turn back to a blue sky', I reject the reality of a blue sky, like how the red overworld downturns into it earlier, for the fantasy of a red realm with my loveeee... Instead of not being able to turn to 'Eurydice' which here is Kiawe!!!!!, I *can* see him!!!! instead I do not face a reality, and I succeed in uniting with him away from it.

Also I've been wanting include the Vermillion bird in writing for kiawren. Didn't expect to be hating on it in the poem LOL

[forget-me-maybe]

Tav/Durge datasheet

Got tagged by the lovely @savriea, thank you!!! tagging @adoenamedjane @elizauh if you wanna <3

This is Tav from You keep showing up. She and I haven't even gotten to the grove yet buuuuut with a pinch of imagination and the knowledge of what she gets up to afterward, I made this up together with some of my general opinions. I probably could've chosen some Tav/Durge I've finished the game with buuuuut (2) she's all I can think about lately.

Tried keeping this simple, yapped a lot.

Name: Ester 'Tav' (there was another Ester in her class and Tavanthuriel is just a mouthful)

Family name: Tavanthuriel

Age: 155

Race: High elf (Moon elf, I've decided)

Class (if multiclass, levels): Sorcerer of the stormy flavour

Alignment: Chaotic good bordering on chaotic neutral sometimes

Deity: Aerdrie Faenya

Favorite spells/skills (only three): Chain of lightning, shocking grasp, and she's a master at persuasion.

Armour during Act 1: Sorcerer robe

Armour during Act 2: The Protecty Sparkswall

Armour during  Act 3: Vest of Soul Rejuvenation (Gale snatches the robe of the weave which Tav was fine with because honestly that robe isn't pretty)

Camp clothing: Astarion's camp clothes (mostly to get him out of that slutty shirt so I don't accidentally romance him again).

Favorite dyes: Black and Jade dye

Weapons during Act 1: Starter quarterstaff/The Spellsparker

Weapons during Act 2: Spellsparker!!! (lightning charges go brrrr)

Weapons during Act 3: Markoheshkir, Gale ain't snatching that (Thank you, Rolan!!!)

Buffs you have achieved:

None this far but girl's gonna get whipped (Loviatar's love) and she'll read that book without sparing a thought (Tharchiate Vigour).

Best bro/sis companion (until two): Astarion

Main love interest: Technically Raphael, thinking about romancing Lae'zel in the play through though...

Favorite NPC (only three): Lia (they are BFFs), Raphael (reluctantly), literally anyone she can tease a bit

Favorite enemy: Raphael 😈

Favorite battle: Halsin in the portal (I love that battle don't @ me)

Favorite scene: Lifting the shadowcurse

Favorite dialogue: Ummmm not quite sure

Decision about Absolute at the end: Frees Orpheus, destroys the brain, gives crown to Mystra.

Your Tav/Durge screenshot:

I should get one in good lighting but cannot be arsed booting up the game right now.

Fun fact: Our girl studied at Arkhen's Invocatorium but hardy graduated so that failed Arcana is completely in character.

[identitheoret]

My Thoughts on the Story/Lore of “Ashes of Memory: Part 1”

(I might make this into a video if I have time btw)

Hey guys, IdentiTheoret here! :)

I’m not really sure what else I need to say here before I just jump right into my thoughts on Ashes of Memory. I think this Tumblr thing will actually work super well with what I’m aiming for here, but I’m still kinda new to it, so if you guys have any tips for me there I’d love to hear them. And my DM’s are also completely open, so you guys can ask me directly about literally anything you like or need help figuring out, lore related or whatever else you wanna talk about or say to me.

Anyways I guess I’ll just get right on into my thoughts now.

First of all, I had like no idea they were going this hog wild with changing up everything in terms of how the system works. I wasn’t keeping up a whole lot with the update prior outside of the one major teaser, so when I hopped on after maintenance and saw everything they changed I was kinda stunned.

I won’t be going with any particular order of events, rather I’ll try to go through each particular topic with all the details in mind from the beginning to end of Chapter 1.

Alice DeRoss (Reporter)

When I first saw her in the teaser I was like “Eh, not sure how to feel about her, it’s a little jarring seeing her like this.” And I didn’t even look back over it again to analyze because of the stuff I mentioned in my update video that was draining my energy. Although even then, I thought the idea of following adult Alice was absolutely dope.

But then I played the new story and got an actual good look and feel for this version of Alice and—OH MY GOD SHE IS SO FREAKING PRETTY LIKE AAAAAAH I CAN’T 😳🫠

Seriously they did such a good job with these new designs. And they kinda had to because they were gonna have far more normal designs outside of just Orpheus. I’m not going to go into any detail about my opinions there though, I’ll save that for a separate post soon after this one. I’m just looking at the story and lore right now.

So when it comes to everything leading up to her visiting the manor, they don’t really show off anything too odd. After her separation from Orpheus when they were kids, Alice suffered great social trauma/isolation, which we knew a bit about already with certain letters. But what we didn’t get to see was what happened after she left the orphanage. I was assuming maybe her trauma was going to mess her up in the long term, and if it didn’t I assumed she was going to lose her memories entirely or something because it seemed like things were just that intense during her time in the orphanage. But no, she has a fairly decent memory of her past by the looks of it. However, just like Orpheus in Time of Reunion, we are told she has little memory of the actual events of the manor tragedy, and in general some of her memories are a bit hazy. Not to mention the fact that she doesn’t find anything to be odd about Orpheus when she meets him in the manor.

Yeah, she hadn’t seen him since they were super young, but as we’ve seen before, the nickname of “Orpheus,” was a major detail of the two’s past friendship, because it represented their bonding experiences of making up stories and playing characters. The Orpheus nickname catching on and eventually being the name young Alice used for him exclusively was meant to show how close they were. But by the looks of it, she doesn’t remember the nickname at all.

And sure, it doesn’t mean she should immediately be like “ 😱 Oh mah gah that’s the same name it must be him ☝️🤓 .” However, this detail doesn’t even strike her as odd in any way. This could just be nothing, and she just decided to pay no mind to it, but when it comes to Identity V writing, these things are usually pointed out afterwards at the very least with a little “Huh, [Insert Minor Detail] is pretty odd” sorta thing. It happens a lot.

Outside of that, there’s not a whole lot she’s gotten involved in yet. I mean, it is only Chapter 1, so it makes sense. BUT, I do still have one thing to mention about her.

After you complete Chapter 1, you’re given the S-Tier Costume “Moment of Leisure.” And well, I mean, just look at it.

(Yes I am aware of the fact that one is a dress and the other is sleepwear but like, c’mon)

It’s possible that both the adult and child characters we always see together are probably BOTH meant to be Alice. There was really no reason for them to include this costume otherwise. Although, we do see in both the cinematics and in summaries by Orpheus that the older woman was a mother to the girl, and that she died a “horrific death.” Of course, the mother thing would make sense to conclude from Orpheus’s perspective so we can pretty much ignore that, but what about the death and it’s importance to the “Little Girl” after that? How would that fit into any of this?

Well, I have somewhat of an idea to propose for that, and for quick context I need to bring up two simple details: First, the character lineup was likely intentionally different from what we were expecting with Melly/Norton to draw attention to how the timeline’s gonna work out, since we know the Melly/Norton/Orpheus game was the last one Orpheus participated in before the amnesia and all that. And second, most of Alice’s personality and character in general is centered around her persistence and vigilance, literally stating word by word that in the face of her past traumas and mysteries, she needed to “Face it, and it’ll all be over.” This wording about it being “over” also specifically draws attention to the idea of moving on after facing the issue instead of just facing it persistently and learning to live with it or something like that.

So, with that all in mind, this is my early theory for how I think this is all gonna go. Either:

Alice will find the answers she needs to understand the missing bits of her past so she can come to terms with it, and she moves on while Orpheus stays in his ways. And maybe after Alice finds out who Orpheus really is, and she realizes he is actively choosing not to face his own traumas and is beyond persuasion, she escapes the manor and leaves him behind because she simply has to move on. The depictions, both written and seen, of her “horrible death” would be based in Orpheus’s (subjective, rather than objective) view of her facing her issues head on and suffering through the worst of it before she finally is able to overcome her sorrow. To her, she would be getting through the worst of it to finally rid herself of the prolonged pain she’s felt for so long. But to Orpheus, that short phase of pain needed to overcome his trauma seemed far too horrible of a thing to be worth suffering through. Thematically speaking, this would definitely make sense (and because the depictions of the “mother” and girl are clearly not literal or direct about their meaning at face value). All the depictions of young Alice trying to guide Orpheus are things he put into his own head from a deep regret for not listening to her and a desire to have her take the lead for him once more because he doesn’t feel like he can rely on himself to change. But these feelings are still hidden under his repetitive denial, and that’s why it’s something he doesn’t know he’s aware of yet.

Alice dies during the game, either because she wants to try and save Orpheus from himself and fails, and/or because Orpheus starts to believe he can do it but hesitates and gets her killed in the process. This would make sense because most of the themes in Orpheus’s story center around his inability to stay firm in what he needs to do with his trauma, and to not look back with doubt based on what he’s done before. And this would also tie perfectly to the Orpheus myth of him turning to Eurydice with doubt and dooming her to the Underworld, leading him to a life of sorrow and regret in the land of the living. Since this is, well, Identity V, I am pretty certain that this aspect of the myth is intentionally tied into Orpheus’s theme of traumatic repetition and him constantly choosing not to look forwards. This persists in most of the elements of his story, especially with the major details such as the “Don’t Look Back” line that comes up a whole lot when you think about it. So assuming that to be the case, and also assuming that Alice dies, we can conclude that she becomes a spirit in the form of her past younger self as she embodies that wholly innocent part of her life, and maybe just to make herself easier to recognize to Orpheus I guess…? The reason why she’d stay in the form of a child is harder to explain here than it is in the other point. It’d make sense why the child version would be there when accompanied by the older version because it was so long after Orpheus saw Alice that he separates his view of her into his memories of what he thought she was like and what she is now in front of him. That also explains why he tries to see her in the exact same dress as the younger version of her, because at the core the two versions are still the same person.

Those are just my initial thoughts at the moment. I may build onto these conclusions more later on after giving it more thought or when we see more of the next chapter. I guess I’ll leave my thoughts there for now though and move on.

“Orpheus” DeRoss (Novelist)

Well, there’s not much to say for him really. Same’s gonna go for the other two as well for the most part because of how early we are into this, but I do want to point out the way he interacts with everyone. It sometimes may give off a vibe like he knows way more than he lets on, but I don’t think that’s the case. I think the depiction here is still accurate/still will be accurate going forward with the explanation given in Time of Reunion about him having his memory wiped over and over. I don’t think he is actually aware of anything behind the manor in this state. The way he pushes certain details and questions towards others, like the point about betrayal directed at Melly about her insects, and the other point about Mary’s French heritage with Fredrick, seem to just be derived from his intrigue for drama stemming from his interest in writing. He likes a good mystery and finding little things out. We even see him do this with Alice herself in the cutscene after Chapter 1, where he asks her to play the piano for him in exchange for some information on his new book. Besides that, not much needs to be said here.

Fredrick Kreiburg (Composer)

Okay, imma just be real here, I am COMPLETELY lost when it comes to this guy. I was really confused when it was revealed that he was going to be one of the four main characters of this thing, because the guys literally just came out not that long before and we didn’t even get like any buildup for him in the lore before his release. And when it comes to his connections to the racecourse with Mary, like yeah I’m completely clueless. But that actually has nothing to do with the Mary thing though, because I was well aware from the start that there was the theory that Mary wasn’t the actual Mary Antoinette but rather a noblewoman of some sort (based on bday letters if you’re confused). And I knew it was probably true, and was most likely gonna be important later on, but I still was just like “Nah I don’t care right now I’ll just wait on that one.” And now it’s already introduced but I’m still confused about like, why?

I will say one thing though, all the details surrounding that weird Mary subplot, such as the “was it a suicide or a murder?” mystery that’s almost treated like a legend, and the way the death is presented generally, and how the backlash against the racecourse afterwards is completely directed towards one man in particular, and how everyone just kinda goes like “🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️ Uh idek why she did that 🤷🤷‍♂️,” it all gives off MAJOR Atropos Ropes vibes and it’s definitely intentional. Not sure how to feel about that just yet, but that’s mostly because of my big lack of understanding about anything Mary/Kreiburg related.

Not only that, but look at the way they describe the legend of the past owners of the manor and the mysterious death of the male owner’s female lover before the closure of the course and selling of their manor before some seemingly random dude who is clearly a descendant (Fredrick) suddenly shows up upon invitation from the new owners, and he is is heavily associated with a certain art expression and deals with social pressures.

Like, dude. That’s literally the plot of Lone Moon from T&I. The husband is the Knight, Mary is the princess, and Fredrick is Narcissus.

(+ We have already gotten thematic connections between Lone Moon and Atropos Ropes in terms of the themes of repetition and supposed fate, but we also have literal connections through the Amethyst Duchess, linking Narcissus to Bella (aka, you know, Mary)).

And also, I think the way they use the racecourse specifically of all things leads me to believe that there must be a connection to COA 4. And no, it has nothing to do with the horse imagery in that story, because that was directly linked to Cavalier and his Don Quixote inspirations (but if you wanna get refreshed on that go watch my COA Lore vid). The reason why they did horses here and not cars is simply because, well, rich people shit.

The thing that really makes me certain about this, outside of the obvious specificity, is once again that reoccurring theme of repetition and mistakes from those who came before. It’s present in Atropos Ropes, it’s present in Lone Moon, and it’s definitely present in COA 4, because that story is entirely based around that concept. And all of these have strong connections to either the manor’s history or the DeRoss family, which I highly doubt is a coincidence based on the theories about the DeRosses I’ve been making for the past while.

Melly Plinius (Entomologist)

Not much to say about her either. She’s got that same weird personality that we’d expect from her, and talks about the betrayal thing in a very weird way with connecting it to bugs. But the most important thing I can really point out so far about her is how she has little to no importance of any kind to the events going on regarding the manor and the Kreiburg racetrack. I think this has something to do with what the devs want us to notice about how this timeline works, since Norton hasn’t appeared yet. So I’m guessing Fredrick either dies or just leaves and is replaced by Norton sometime in the story. Knowing how weird some of the other diary stories were written, I’m sure Fredrick just gets like a little bit deep into how he may be involved with the racetrack and the Baron as a result of that, gets uncomfortable and goes like “Nah no thanks” and just kinda bails. I’m not even kidding, I could see that happening tbh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, anyways, that’s all I have to say for now. Like I said before, I’m already planning another post sometime soon, and I’m also thinking about making this post into an actual video as well, but I’m not sure which will come first. Thanks for reading, I’ll see you guys again soon💖💖💖

[thefringespod]

We're gonna do something a little different this #AudioDramaSunday! This week was one where music was my go-to rather than podcasts so instead of episode reviews, I'm gonna do a track-by-track breakdown of all of the music released so far for The Grotto as I had it on repeat

Starting off with Hush which is the first song on the album and also the show's theme. It's got a brilliant beat to it accompanied by these bursts of vocals that crescendo into a harshness that's excellent. The HUSH gives me chill every time. I'm fully obsessed with this song

The next track is the first instrumental. Dejected feels like the music you would find in a cave. It's creeping and wet and a little haunting before the softness of the piano and the beat hit. This song has a heartbeat to it that feels tangible in the best way

Buried Alive has some of my favorite lyrics Athan has written. There's just something about the way he sings "Maybe I would be happier buried alive" that chills me to the core. Also something you'll notice is Athan likes vocal modulation a lot and it always works so well

Matt's (Usually) Confused is very aptly titled. It starts soft and slowly builds to become more all encompassing, feeling like Matt's racing thoughts as it does so

I Will Follow You Into the Dark fucks me up (positive) "Love of mine, you will die, and I'll be close behind" like Athan how am I meant to recover from that? This song as a depth to it that can be felt, like it's carving its way into a deep cave and submerging itself in the dark

I absolutely adore Emily's Theme! There's something about it that brings the word "fleeting" to mind, like Emily is running through the music and making her way out through the song itself

Which leads us to Stumble Into You and holy fuck yall Lyssa Jay has a lovely voice. Yes I'm biased because I love Lyssa but I'm also RIGHT! This song makes me a little feral, especially where Lyssa and Athan meet in the song its beautifully done

We're at the first cover on the album! This is literally the only version of Ghost of You I will listen to, Athan brings a life to this song that punches to the lyrics way more effectively than the original version does

It's Cryptic in the Grotto is another very well named song because it sure can be cryptic in this godsdamned Grotto. The whispering of it all leaves me unsettled in the best way before opening into this plucky instrumental I'm obsessed with

Looking for Answers is so Orpheus and Eurydice coded that it drives me insane. "I still feel you behind me. Your breath is slow. I'm terrified I'll end up alone." Athan you can't do this to me. There's also a lovely fast bit in this with lyrics ricocheting through the verse

Athan's cover of Hurt might actually be my favorite version of this song I'm sorry except I'm not. It suits Athan's range so well and has this almost gravely texture to it that makes me feel like I'm going feral. Everything about it is deep and dark and wonderful

Coping is NOT aptly named. You know what Matt ISNT doing? Coping. He's not coping AT ALL. It's a beautiful song and it also has some of my favorite Athan lyrics but it's from an episode called Coping and let me tell yall Matt is not making good choices in this show

If You Could See Me Now breaks my heart in the best way. The idea of trying to make someone proud while knowing that you're disappointing yourself so you're not making them proud kills me. The instrumental/electronic portions of this song are incredible

Hush (Acoustic) is wonderful and light and I cannot hear it without thinking of the episode 4 credits which make me want to shake Athan (affectionate)

There is a cover of Chasing Cars (one of my favorite songs of all time) performed by the Fringes' very own @taytayheyhey (one of my favorite people) and it became my most played song of the year *so fast* Its a wonderful and almost haunting cover of one of the songs of all time

Last song! Waiting Room also breaks my heart open in my chest because Athan did lyrics too good. "If you were a waiting room, I'd never see a doctor I'd just sit there with my first aid kit and bleed" circles through my brain at all times and I'll never forgive Athan for it

Everyone should listen to The Grotto because it kicks ass And you can check out the whole album on bandcamp https://thegrottopod.bandcamp.com/album/the-grotto-season-1-part-1. Athan said it should be on Spotify soon as well

In terms of shows I actually listened to this week, I listened to the new eps of @tellnotalespod , @woebegonepod , and @camlannpod which were all incredible as always

Here on the Fringes you can access episode 21 right now by visiting patreon.com/PineTreePods! This episode is very dear to my heart and I can't wait to share it with y'all

Thats all for this week! Please check out The Grotto if you haven't already (and not just because my friends are there it really does kick ass) Should be back in the swing of podcasts this week so expect a regular ADS post next week :)