#it’s actually one of the reasons I started reading the odyssey again

[adrift-in-thyme]

Gosh yeah, I’ve barely been obsessing over the odyssey but I too am sick on how some people characterize Odysseus. I don’t think I could consume any Odyssey media that isn’t Epic the musical cuz I feel like because Odysseus is a super masculine dude, they’ll give him toxic masculinity traits and make him a cheater. Which is entirely false! He’s a kind and caring man who loves his wife and son more than anything! Sure he’s a little violent but only because he HAS to be. He HAS to do things in order to survive and to protect those he cares about!

even if it’s their own interpretation, I feel like characterizing Odysseus as a cheater in any way shape or form is EXTREMELY disrespectful to male SA survivors. That’s a more off topic thought tho (won’t talk about that anymore I just wanna throw it out there)

EXACTLY

I completely agree!!! It’s this weird thing that’s always driven me nuts where masculinity is equated with toxic masculinity just as often as femininity is equated with weakness. As if a manly dude can’t be a family man who’s both soft-hearted and fiercely protective. Which like WHAT?? It’s yet another infuriating stereotype. And it plays into the whole disrespect to male SA victims thing. Him being a victim doesn’t make him any less of a man per se. It freaking makes him HUMAN.

I don’t get the whole thing with the maids and suitors either. People do realize that they betrayed Penelope and plotted to kill Telemachus right?? They do realize that by completely victimizing the maids they take away the agency they did possess, however little? I’m not saying it’s cut and dry or that’s it’s ok to slaughter a bunch of people (though don’t western heroes do that ALL THE TIME and don’t get slack for it??) or that the maids had this wonderful situation where full consent was given. But come on. You’re gonna villainize the dude whose home they invaded and ransacked and whose family they endangered?

And I feel like with Ody especially he gets characterized by his mistakes (real and contrived). People see him as the guy who got all his men killed by telling the cyclops his name (an understandable mistake because the worst of us comes out under duress. Of course he displayed pride and hubris! He was exhausted and sorrowful and infuriated!). They see him as the guy who “cheated” on Penelope with Circe and Calypso. And they forget the source material. Homer was over there making a character to rival the vast majority of those we have today, a sensitive, traumatized, flawed man who endured SO MUCH to return to his beloved family. A man who, unlike all of his fellow warriors, identified himself as the Father of Telemachus because Penelope and Telemachus are his LIFE. He wrote this awesome character, even gave him a character arc in the Odyssey, and he gets reduced to a cocky cheater.

[risestarkiss]

Being Baby Blue

Rise Ramblings #313

Leonardo Hamato is…an interesting individual.

As a middle child, he doesn’t have to shoulder the responsibilities of the oldest, nor is he fawned upon or babied over like the youngest. Therefore, he ends up having more of a lackadaisical approach to life.

In his free time, instead of training like Raph, Leo can normally be found reading comic books.

And for good reason! Someone has to be up on the latest issues of Jupiter Jim and his space odysseys.

But, other than being a Jupiter Jim superfan, who is Leonardo Hamato?

If you ask Leo, he's...*takes out a list*: “Primetime,” “First,” “The Best,” “Number One,” “The Champion,” or some other iteration of all of the above.

...Huh. Anyways...

Of course, the first thing Leo would tell you is that he's the team's "Face Man."

As the "Face Man," he’s the one that turns up the charm when they need to schmooze their way out of, or into, something.

He's the face of the group! It's a very important title, right?

Well, in this scene with Hueso, we learn what Leo really feels about his place on the team.

"There's no team with just a face man." "I'm nothing without them."

Hmm. If he thinks that he is nothing without his brothers, then what's the deal with all of this "Number One" and "Champion" talk?

I believe that Leo is exhibiting a form of Reaction Formation.

Reaction Formation is a primitive defense mechanism that involves transforming one's unacceptable feelings or emotions into the opposite.

"Solicitude may be a reaction-formation against cruelty...romantic notions of chastity and purity may mask crude sexual desires, altruism may hide selfishness, and piety may conceal sinfulness."

Leo has been creating these grandiose titles and this larger-than-life persona for himself as a means to cope with his feelings of insecurity, his anxieties, and combat his self-deprecation.

Gee, forming a larger-than-life persona to counteract their suppressed feelings also reminds me of someone else we know…

But, I digress...

Behind the fabrications, his insecurities, who he pretends to be, and who he wants to be, the real Leo is still on display, starting as early as the first episode.

He's attentive, he understands the team's strengths and weaknesses, he assesses situations, he comes up with great plans on the fly, and he is a voice of reason.

These are all the characteristics of a great leader.

However, something happens when he’s actually appointed as such.

There he goes again. He's cocky, arrogant, and act's as if he's unphased even by the prospect of loosing his brothers. If this is Reaction Formation, then what is he trying to mask with these behaviors?

Previously, he was masking his insecurities, his anxieties, and his self-deprecation, but with the faces he pulls when he thinks no one can see them, I want to say the newest emotion is fear.

He is terrified of being the leader and floundering under his new responsibilities. He's scared of the consequences of his actions, and what those consequences may mean for his brothers. However, instead of voicing his insecurities, or communicating with his team, he doubles down and falls back into old habits.

The "Face Man" persona is turned up to an 11, and things get worse and worse until...

His greatest fears have been realized.

He has failed as a leader. He has failed his brothers. He has failed to stop the invasion, and they are all going to die because of his failures.

Now he's faced with the harsh reality of his own mistakes, thus he finally faces himself.

"It's scary to be responsible for the lives you protect, your team...your family. But we do it anyway because that's what it means to be a hero."

He may be speaking to Raph, but he's talking about himself.

His words are his true feelings, the same feelings that have been holding him back this entire time. By opening up, he's able to surrender to himself and let it all go.

And it's the breakthrough we all have been waiting for.

What Leo doesn't know is that through letting go, he's able to become the true face of the group he is destined to be.

He's the face of hope.

Update: This post now also exists in video form. 😌💙

○○○○

Previous | Being Big Red

Next | Being Purple ○ Part One • Being Purple ○ Part Two • Orange, Baby!

Finale | Being Hamato Yoshi

[leaawrites]

Read to me

Percy Jackson x fem!reader

Summary: in a world full of monsters, Percy just wants to protect his girlfriend.

Warnings: mentions of rainstorms, mentions of threats, self doubt, angst, fluff

Wordcount: 0.8k

Masterlist

The night started off with soft rain falling from the sky on the top of the beach house. Montauk. It started quiet and not threatening. Being the Son of Poseidon it shouldn’t make him lay away at night in fear of the storm outside, right? He shouldn’t fear it. But since the dreams got heavier and he finally had something - someone to lose, it felt all a bit more threatening. His life was now not only weighting him down - threatening him - but also her. The girl in his arms that was unaware of everything that happened during summer.

He felt bad for not spending the holiday with her, but she also couldn’t accompany him. Being left to wonder what he was doing there. She knew Grover already and she listened to Percy talk about his friends there - like Annabeth, a girl he mentioned one time too much in her opinion (but she would never actually say that to him) or Tyson. She knew about the lake that was there and capture the flag, but everything else was a mystery to her.

“Why are you still awake?” Y/n asked, waking up in the middle of the night from her boyfriend shaking in fear of a lightning and thunder.

It wasn’t the first time they have slept in the same bed, often doing sleepovers on the weekends. And it definitely wasn’t the first time she woke up because of him. But when she asked for the reason it was always the same.

“Just a bad dream,” Percy muttered, rubbing her arm gently to assure her that it was all fine.

“Percy,” she said, pushing him further than before. Mostly she would just let it go, nod and give him a kiss before snuggling back into his side and fall asleep again. Assuring him that he was safe was her. But he feared that she wasn’t safe with him.

“What are you dreaming about?”

The questioned lingered on her mind for longer already but she finally spoke the words. She needed answers. Not just lame excuses as to why he had scratches down his skin or why he always carried a pen with him when he never even used it.

She needed answers and he knew that, but could he give them to her so easily without putting her in danger? He couldn’t, so what would he give her? What could he give her?

“You,” he answered. Y/n looked at him confused, leaning on her arms to look at him properly. Her fingers moving through his hair. “It’s always you and it never ends good. I don’t want whatever happens in my mind happen in reality too.”

“It won’t,” she assured him, laying her head in the crook of his neck, planting small kisses on his skin.

“What if it will?” He couldn’t keep the possibility of it all away from his mind. He couldn’t block out the pictures he saw when closing his eyes.

“They’re just dreams, Percy,” she said again.

“Maybe they’re not,” he argued back.

“Dreams can’t hurt you.” She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. “I’m here. I’m fine. And as long as I’m with you I will be.”

Silence filled the room. She was right, partially. As long as she was with him nothing would happen to her. He was able to protect her, fight whatever would threaten her.

“Can you read to me?”

Y/n looked at him surprised but nodded nonetheless. Climbing out from under the covers to grab the book, which she would be reading to him whenever he asked, from her bag. The Odyssey. She was confused and taken back when he asked her the first time, taking the book from her shelve and telling her about his interest for Greek Mythology. That was the first night he stayed over at hers. Listening to her read the words written on the pages for him to better understand them.

Saving herself from the cold again by laying back down next to him, Percy rested his head on her chest like he always did. Her hand found it’s way into his hair and gently playing with a few strands. Percy would ask some questions about who was who again sometimes, making her giggle in embarrassment when she didn’t know herself and then they would try and recite which characters they still knew had which part in the story.

The thunder still followed the bright streak of light closely behind but it got less and when she felt him finally relax against her fully and she turned off the light all which was left was soft rain. Kissing the top of his head, she closed her own eyes, falling back into a deep slumber surrounded with her own dreams of him.

[kingeparr]

abt percy jackson's middle name - a long post

let's talk about percy's middle name, its implication and what is my headcanon for it!!

first a warning!! i know very little abt actual greek mithology. i've tried to read my copy of odyssey and illiad a total of 10 times and i CANNOT for my life understand that shit. having said that, my mythos knowledge is based on hours on wikipedia sources pages, greek miths articles and more. anyways, this will have spoilers of the Percy Jackson Universe by Rick Riordan.

having been warned, I should start with one point:

percy doesn't have a middle name in canon. From what we've known it's never mentioned a middle name at all, wich is not very uncommon in the PJO universe, as most character do not have one (from the top of my head the only ones that canonically have one are Rachel and Reyna (Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano))

BUT in most fandom fanfics that feature his middle name, he is called Perseus Achilles Jackson. Again, it is not canon, but it is so common that most people think it is true. Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense.

It's canon that Sally was the one that named Percy, and she chose Perseus, a son of Zeus, as her choice because he was one of the only Greek heroes that in most versions of the myths get to live a long and relatively happy life after their adventures. From what I've known most times Perseus dies of old age or ascends as a constellation along with his mother and his wife, Andromeda.

Now, what are the implications that we know of?

this will be mostly speculation and head canons, so beware!!

i don't think Rick Riordan ever stated, but it is possible to draw parallels between Percy and Annabeth with Perseus and Andromeda, essentially in their first quest, even more in the series. The same is possible to associate with other characters with names derived from Greek myths.

and, until now, all of Percy's quest he has come back alive, even if the world was ending or if he has gone trough Tartarus, he has come back alive.

As it stands in canon, it's often said that names have power !! saying gods, monsters or others names will call their attention, or give them power. it could be associated that those names with History, or a Legacy HAVE more power and purpose behind them. Ex: Castor and Pollux, Jason, could even say Leo etc.

that is great, and reforces that its possible Sally did something right about the naming.

now, next part is a FULL BLOWN HEAD CANON!!

to me, his full name is Perseus Ulysses Jackson. let me tell you why.

Ulysses = Odysseus

Ulysses comes from Odysseus, yes, the Greek hero hated by Poseidon from the Odyssey. Why would Sally do that? Same reason of why Perseus.

Odysseus, despite all his Odyssey, came back home. In the Odyssey, is said he will live the rest of his life peacefully, and apparently he lived mor 10 years as Ithaca's King. There is another myth where he is killed by his son with Circe, but ignore that for this post.

I think it would make sense for the way they both lived that even if Poseidon hated him, that Sally would have her son named after a hero and a general that even after everything he went trough he still made home, still had people who believed in him, even if Sally herself were not there to see him, like Odysseus' mother, at least he would be alive.

Someone that is selfish in a way if that means he lives. In the same way Sally calls herself selfish for trying to have Percy with her for more time during the years before TLT. For that she endured Gabe.

Not that she knew that of course, but the fates could be at work. I'm always fan of a good foreshadowing.

Now Speaking of foreshadowing, next topic

2. Ulysses - Roman name

Ulysses is the roman version of Odysseus, still has the same meaning and the roman version of the myth is not that different. Why roman, then?

First, because my Odyssey copy was with the Roman names and I was very pissed at that when I was 12 and tried reading it for the first time and discovered that the FUCKING ODYSSEY MAN WAS NOT CALLED ODYSSEUS IN MY VERSION, to my frustration.

ANYWAY, second point: Percy has a connection to the Roman since the first book.

In his classes with Chiron, Percy fights in Roman armor, swords and has Latin classes, and while that is all good and cool, i always found it strange of Chiron to teach Latin, and not Greek. Of course, it could be a ruse of Chiron to distance Percy even more from his greek side, while still helping him learn about the world. it could be nothing.

but to me is not nothing.

Percy has a weird facility with Latin at 12 that Jason did not have with Greek at 16. And while it could be argued that they did not have their memories, Percy was a 12 yo boy that CURSED IN LATIN in a time of distress. I bet they did not have classes about "How to curse in Latin" and i doubt Percy searched for that somewhere.

Percy is very connected with the Roman side of the demigod world, he feels drawn to New Rome, goes to the Roman Uni and he gets so wrapped in it he becomes PREATOR in like a week!! while Jason spent months on the Greek side.

Percy has a lot of participation in Both sides of the demigods being a kinda important figure in both camps.

now, a subtopic.

Percy Jackson: Son of Neptune

Percy is presented as a son of Neptune from the get go in camp Jupiter, wich he doesn't protest at any time (from what i remember), the thing is Poseidon IS different from Neptune specially their roots.

Poseidon is primarily the god of the sea. Neptune is the god of rivers, springs, and waters.

Technically, Percy should not have control of any type of water or rivers, his father is the god of SEA, saltwater. Even then, he can control even the rivers in the Underworld. He has such control of "water" that he can control ALL LIQUIDS! That is not Poseidon's domain, the control of Waters is Neptune's.

knowing this i like to believe the following.

Percy is the son of both Poseidon and Neptune. Don't ask me the logistics, i wouldn't know, and i don't care. HOWEVER when you add things up, it makes sense, in my head, at least.

In conclusion, Sally associates her son's fate with two heroes that go trough MANY hardships but get back home, are strong and live kind of happy lives after that. One of them is mainly Greek, being his first name, what he is primarily called. The other is Roman, it is there, but it's not mentioned, but it still is his name, and it gives him power.

Specially, when you think that the roman counterparts all have a child, except Neptune. Pluto has Hazel, Hades had Bianca and Nico. Jupiter had Jason, Zeus has Thalia. Poseidon has Percy, Neptune has no one? seems unequal and unbalanced in a way the gods wouldn't allow.

Not only that but why would Neptune "claim" or let be claimed a son that wasn't his when Rome hasn't been grateful or careful with him? His last child was scorned (i don't remember the name but it's said that they were basically blamed for earthquakes or something in the 1900)

as the series goes and percy draws MUCH MORE POWER from rivers and other liquids than from the ocean, and the time it took for percy to be born he could be powerful from both sides. he is the first demigod of Poseidon in 70+ years, but he is the first demigod rrom Neptune in 100+ !!!

it makes sense that even if he is called a greek, as his name evokes, he is connected and powerful on his Roman side. It is not a coincidence that people thought he was a god when he first arrived in Camp Jupiter.

It's a tribute for both his Roman and Greek sides, to invoke the names and fates of two powerful kings that are burdened with responsibility, and that learned and lived after their quests.

i could talk about this for hours, specially if Epic's Odysseus by Jorge Rivera-Herrans is taken in account (wich I am doing) but I will not elaborate

anyway, Percy's middle name is Ulysses and I'm right, idc.

[katerinaaqu]

hello :D I hope you’re doing well! I really liked your understanding and knowledge of Greek mythology and as someone who also really likes it and always wants to learn more I’m often in spaces that discus such things. But there is a little “problem” that I have encountered and I just wanted to maybe ask you to know if you know more about it! Long story short I saw a video discussing calypso and a comment saying that ppl who say that she 🍇 ed Odysseus didn’t read the story well enough. They also said that they only slept one time together which is when he left and that was consensual apparently. I didn’t read the odyssey in a bit and wanted to ask if there’s like a specific part that you remember that says the opposite. Idk if what I asked really makes sense so if you can answer tysm!!

Hello and I am doing okay thank you very much Anon.

Thank you very much for the compliment and your kind words and it is great that we see more people actually getting interested to the ACTUAL material and it is always great to have new people into this reading and understanding process.

I have answered or analized on that matter before but it is always great to do so again and again! ^_^

I see so again we have more on this rape denial (and yeah I am using the actual word! No euphemisms and censory of words in this house! Hahahaha!) well then the person who said that probably forgot this passage here:

However the nights he was sleeping with her at her hollow caves out of necessity for even if she was willing, he was not

(Translation by me)

I believe the most important part eludes this OP that said that because I don't believe that Homer added the last words there by chance. He specifically uses the terms οὐκ ἐθέλων ἐθελούσῃ

οὐκ ἐθέλων -> adv. negative form m. that shows opposition "even if he was not willing.

ἐθελούσῃ -> adv. positive form, dative f. "by the willing" or "at the side of the willing"

Which is why many translators translate this small phrase as "unwilling lover by the side of the willing" So it clearly indicates rape given how I doubt that Homer indicated they were just...cuddling by each other's side for 7 years! So it is an indicator of the lack of free will. In fact the word ἀνάγκῃ (coming from the verb ἀναγκάζω or ἀναγκάσσω which means "to force") indicates need but not the need as "I need you badly" but as "I have no choice" or "I am forced to" either by the circumstances or by someone clearly imposing their will upon me. So there is a clear of factor of force here. So by definition rape.

So I will break down the rest and sorry if it is long.

Now there is a phrase, which I also memorize to this other post of mine here:

Which is this as you can see from my post:

Because he didn't like the nymph anymore

(Translation by me)

Given that this οὐκέτι means "no longer" or "no more" seems to be indicating to some readers of the Odyssey that the whole thing started willingly and that at some point Odysseus got bored of her and stopped it. However I disagree with that reading for many reasons. For once that the term ἁνδάνω -> past tense ἥνδανε means "to please" or "to gratify" but not necessarily in a sexual way. It generally means any form of gratification or likeness (even though in modern times we have connected the verb more with sexual gratification or ηδονή in modern greek) so I also agree more to the translators who also interpret the passage as "her sight no longer pleased him" aka after years and years of being a prisoner, all the likeness and gratitude he had for her as a person is gone (see also my other post)

Two I do not like this reading because many people who see it that way also deny the rape as that person in the comments. As I have stated to some other replies of mine, the affair starting willingly doesn't exclude the rape. Even if we say that Odysseus started it or accepted it (and as I said I doubt it given the context) Calypso was still raping him at that point. Either he was unwilling from the very beginning and Calypso was forcing herself on him, not taking no for an answer, or he at some point had a change of mind and wanted to stop and Calypso didn't take no for an answer.

Now for the part that the OP in question mentions that "they have sex only once". Yeah technically speaking there is only one scene in the Odyssey that could be interpreted as of sexual nature and is spoken in only one lyric, as I mention to my post I liked and it's this one:

People who interpret that Odysseus started the affair willingly, for some reason by n large also think that the rape is not a thing. I mean would they say the same for let's say a girl nowadays, starting an relationship with a boyfriend, eventually she realized he is not for her, she decided to stop it but the boyfriend would't take no for an answer and continuing forcing himself on her, wouldn't we call it a rape at that point regardless on the smooth beginning?

Then why would anyone who for their own personal reasons read the passage as Odysseus willingly starting the affair and then wishing to stop it but Calypso not having it assumes that Odysseus was not raped?

And they enjoyed closeness resting by each other's side

(Translation by me)

On a much darker note, Odysseus was abused constantly for years. The existence of the goddess as the only source of warmth and close contact he had for years (no matter how forceful) might have done something to him enough to just try and reconsile fully with Calypso. Someone might say that this is...too modern to say but honestly I doubt it. Homer was a master of expressing psychology and in later passage made Odysseus totally unwilling to be touched by Nausicaa's servant girls and wished to bathe himself instead. It is not like the Phaeaces would recognize him or his scar at that point to fear for his identity (not to mention he was already naked anyways) but he uses as an excuse that "he is ashamed". Being washed by female servants was customary and not seen as shameful in ancient Greece.

So for starters yes it seems that the scene is positive of emotions given the verb τέρπω "delight" or "enjoy" so the whole verb "to force" seems to fly out the window and then comes the word φιλότης which I assume people who read some words in Greek know that comes from he verb φιλέω-ώ which in ancient Greek meant "to love" so they translate the word φιλότης as "love". Honestly is not hard to see why given how other parts of homeric poems (more specifically during the Deception of Zeus) the same phrase pops up to signify lovemaking.

However the interesting part is that the word does not mean just love. It also means "friendship" or "reconsiliation" or just "closeness". I also find it interesting how people ignore the passage of "sleeping by her side although not willing" as a sign that nothing happened between them but they are very much certain that this passage here implies sexual scenes. As I mention to the post I linked it seems more likely that the passage translates "they enjoyed closeness resting by each other's sides" and that also of course imply mutual enjoyment of their reconsiliation possibly because Odysseus was happy to finally return home and Calypso took an oath that she didn't aim to trick him. Another thing is what could Odysseus do basically? Hold a grudge against an immortal goddess? How? Much more BEFORE he had the chance to build his raft?

Odysseus denies the help of women because he doesn't seem ready to accept a female touch just yet!

Homer also doesn't imply that Odysseus's stay at Calypso's island was in any shape or form willing. In fact Athena, Zeus and Homer himself all alike speak on how Odysseus was being kept against his will and nowhere in the passage apart from these small ones that I give here was it implied that Odysseus was being there pleasantly but rather that he was imprisoned or retained perforce. And that is without counting Odysseus's own words that neither of the goddesses got his heart and that both retained him. Odysseus also speaks with fear on both but Calypso in particular. Yeah he isn't hateful to them but again what can he do? He was roaming about for 10 years with the worst consequences because he was offensive to one god. I doubt he would want to badmouth any other no matter how small. And he also wants to appear pleasant to the eyes of his hosts to gain their sympathy so he doesn't really badmouth anyone apart from calling Calyspo and Circe "terrifying" or "dreadful" and occasionally his men "careless" or "mindless"

I think it is up for everyone's conscious to interpret his affair with Calypso starting willingly (and even then "willing" seems interesting to say the very least given that, as we said, Calypso was literally the only contact with anything remotely human Odysseus had for years. Even if we assume that for some reason he started an affair or accepted it, even the setting is messed up; loneliness, loss, mourning, fear for a powerful goddess etc) he still was being held prisoner and forced one way or another.

I hope that makes sense and I am sorry I was so long.

***

Some other parts that I replied on the matter of Calypso and consequently Circe:

And this is my reply to another person who did analyze the passage differently so you will have that idea as well and I also elaborate on my counter-arguements as well (and the discussion was really productive as well and the OP was really open and respectful to other insights and I was happy to contribute to the conversation:

Sorry again for the long reply!

[mask131]

I have seen someone say, to accentuate the fact a certain book needed a basic knowledge of Greek mythology to fully understand all the references and jokes in there, "You better have read the Percy Jackson novels, else you will be lost".

You guessed it: it bothers me (every time I begin a post like that, you can expect me ranting about something)

I don't know if this was said as a jest or not. If it was said as a sort of joke or as a light-hearted comment, I fully get it and I have nothing to say, because of course that's a funny nod. However I fear this was said in all seriousness. And even if this person was not serious, I have seen a LOT of people treat mythology... out of fictional works. Especially the Riordan novels (a similar thing is happening with Norse mythology where people start using God of War as a reliable source but that's a discourse for another day).

I get how popular and beloved the Percy Jackson novels are. I myself am a big fan of them. It was my butter and jam in middle-school. I never was a Harry Potter fan, but I WAS a Percy Jackson fan. So I get it, I get how it can be... But it doesn't mean these novels should be treated as a source of reliable and certain info on Greek mythology. People seem to forget that these novels are rewriting, reinventions and adaptations of Greek mythology. Back in the days, nobody would have went around claiming Saint Seiya or Ulysses 31 were reliable sources about Greek mythology, and yet today people treat stuff like Blood of Zeus or Wonder Woman Historia as almost primary sources when it comes to handling the Greek gods...

I guess it is due to a change of generations, and a change of point of view as time goes on. Today Greek mythology is treated, handled and accepted more as a source of narrative material, as a host of characters, as a compilation of folktales, rather than an actual culture, or a literary corpus, or a set of beliefs and rites linked to a religion. Probably because people are getting more and more used to Greek mythology being used for entertainment and narrative purpose - Disney's Hercules, God of War, Class of Titans... People don't have their primary contact with the Greek myths through classrooms and school lessons, they have it through movies and animated series and novels. And so for them, Greek mythology becomes "fiction" before "study".

Before, to make the point that you needed to know the basics of Greek mythology, someone would have said "You need to have read at least a Greek mythology encyclopedia". There's a SHIT TON of these around. Today it's just "You need to at least have read a Percy Jackson novel". I mean, again, if it is for humoristic purpose or for a light-hearted comment, okay, it's funny - but if it is serious, than it is as stupid as to say "You need to know about witches and witchcraft... so you need to at least have read the Harry Potter novels".

Again, I don't want to spit on the Percy Jackson novels. I adored them, I still love them, and I think it is great and amazing how it boosted and popularized Greek mythology and made it such a casual topic. But I always thought the series was much more enjoyable when you knew already a bit about Greek mythology BEFORE reading the books, instead of learning things from it. The reason I fell in love with these novels was because I was a HUGE Greek mythology fan as a child and unfortunately as a result the range of media exploring my interests was limited (Mission Odyssey, the classic italian Odyssey movie, The God Beneath the Sea). Until the Percy Jackson came along and I had a blast seeing how they reinterpreted, reinvented and reused things I was already familiar with. That was the fun of it, see their interpretation of mythology.

Because I am sorry, but if you try to learn Greek mythology with the Percy Jackson novels, you will learn a LOT of misinformation. You will learn that Athena can have kids, that Poseidon is one of the coolest Olympians, that Demeter basically has no role whatsoever in anything, that Venus and Aphrodite are one and the same, that the demigods all inherit the powers of their parents like super-heroes... In fact we do see today a lot of the effects the popularity of the Riordan books had (like the overblown and excessive villainization of Zeus). But that's something endless and eternal: as I pointed out, after the OvertlySarcasticProductions video about Dionysos with them having horns as part of his design, EVERYBODY on Tumblr and the friggin' Internet started putting horns on Dionysos. It wasn't just something that spread slowly, it was a real boom and fashion.

I was NOT expecting this rant to go that far, as usual I got carried away X) But here's kind-of my point: people originally brought forward the idea that "There is no "real" canon to Greek mythology because there's tons of conflicting versions and alternate tales" to defend the idea that fictional takes and adaptations could deviate from the dominating versions. It was nice and a needed reminder. Except... people of course used it wrongly and started use it to A) just allow themselves to do anything and everything while B) not bothering to do any research by pointing out how since there's no "canon" and not a set of defined clear-cut legends, they don't have to justify their adaptation choices.

Yes, there is a lot of variations, alternate continuities, rivalizing characterizations and conflicting elements in Greek mythology, as in all and every mythologies, from Norse to Indian. It doesn't mean however that the modern fictional works about Greek mythology have as much importance as the actual original texts of ancient civilizations... I get that you love your Song of Achilles and your Epic the Musical, but it doesn't mean that I won't judge you if you never bothered doing any research about what Greek mythology was about outside of seeing other people adapt it. (And don't even get me started on the so-called "devotees" of the Greek gods who aren't even true neo-pagans and are just fad-following pseudo-poets who bring forward random ideas as facts and literaly have "headcanons" about gods as if they were OCs... Random personal take but I have never seen any dog-loving "devotee" of Hekate ever question or mention how THOUSANDS of dogs were killed in the name of their "patron")

I guess it is because how people have a hard time getting what a "mythology" is about... I mean a lot of people really don't know the difference between a "mythology" and a "religion", and yeah, in mythology the gods are as much figures of worship/centers of cult as they are literary characters and narrative archetypes, so it's this weird in-between... I don't know, this rant literaly leads to nowhere so I'll just stop here and leave you to your own thoughts :p

[rin-sith]

Now that Jorge posted the trailer, let's talk about my hopes for the Ithaca saga

I didn't really do this for the Vengeance saga, despite that being the first saga I actually watched on release day. But for that saga, my expectations were a lot vaguer; I kind of just went into it expecting nothing and everything ... and honestly, by this point enough time has passed that I can confidently and without recency bias say that the Vengeance saga is my favorite saga to date.

Honestly, I could sit here and talk about expectations such as "let Athena reappear and reconcile with Odysseus", "flesh out Penelope and give us insight in her yearning for Odysseus", or "give us more background and characterization on Antinous and the suitors" but honestly, that feels a bit superfluous because I trust Jorge to do those things anyway (especially the last two.)

So, I'm going to talk about some expectations that are a lot vaguer and bolder instead ... Which is why I call them "hopes" in the title, rather than expectations.

Before anything else, I'll talk about my thematic expectations here. Namely how, if I were to guess the theme for the Ithaca saga, I would guess "the necessity of forgiveness and acceptance", contrasting the Vengeance saga's "the unnecessity of vengeance and resentment."

This would make the last two sagas two sides of the same coin, in the same way that Thunder and Wisdom are (one explores a formerly merciful character trying out ruthlessness, the other a formerly ruthless character trying out mercy.)

There is also so much room to explore this theme, not just in terms of how Odysseus' family receives him. In the way he might have to accept the changes in his family and his life since he left, in how he might start showing signs of accepting himself and his own changes, and also in the way he might interact with the suitors.

First, I actually want to talk about a character from the Odyssey who I, against all odds, really hope shows up because his inclusion would be so perfect for EPIC's themes and exploring the complexity of Odysseus' character: Amphinomus.

Disclaimer: I haven't read the Odyssey in ages and while I did some research for this post, please correct me if anything I say is wrong.

Now, in case you don't know, in the Odyssey, Amphinomus was one of the suitors, and specifically described as the most decent man among them. He would occasionally try to restrain the other suitors from their more aggressive or inappropriate behavior, showed kindness to Odysseus when he was disguised as a beggar, and demonstrated better judgment and more respectful behavior compared to the other suitors.

Because of this, Homer's Odysseus actually tries to warn him, and convince him to leave while still disguised, so that he wouldn't get caught up in the slaughter. However, he does not heed this warning and stays ... because of divine intervention: Homer apparently specifically mentions that Athena had "bound him to death".

It is ultimately Telemachus, fighting at his father's side, who kills him along with all of the others.

Now, again, if any of that recount was wrong, please correct me, but also ultimately it doesn't matter that much because EPIC isn't the Odyssey. I don't expect or want it to play out the exact same way in EPIC ... Actually, I'd be pretty disappointed if it does. I want him to be included in EPIC for a completely different reason, on which I will elaborate shortly.

For the Odyssey, it makes perfect sense for it to end badly for him. From what I know, in the moral framework of the ancient Greek world, his participation in the suitor's actions and his being part of their group, regardless of his personal character, made him culpable along with them. Individual accountability wasn't a focus of ancient Greek stories the way that it is in modern stories.

In EPIC, however, he could be such a great example specifically to portray individual accountability and complexity. Now, in terms of how it plays out for him, it could go a couple of different ways.

He could straight up survive, either by being warned or spared in the end by Odysseus, to show Odysseus' dual nature as both merciful and ruthless. For EPIC's Athena it would make no sense to condemn him to death since she has embraced mercy, and for EPIC's Odysseus it would make no sense to kill him if he conveys that ruthlessness isn't required to deal with him.

I'd personally be very much for this route since it provides a great opportunity to show Odysseus showing mercy in a moment otherwise dominated by ruthlessness (the suitor slaughter); this is probably how I would write it.

He could be killed by the other suitors instead of Odysseus and Telemachus. This route falls more in line with the tragedy, but it could be a great way to escalate the dynamic among the suitors and portray them as individuals as opposed to just a unanimous group with one mind. Honestly, his sheer inclusion would already do this, but an outcome like this even more.

He could be killed by Odysseus or Telemachus for a justifiable reason, as opposed to divine intervention. Maybe it would be self-defense, or maybe Amphinomus himself is portrayed as more morally gray. While having some decency he still does something that makes it clear that ruthlessness is necessary to deal with him ... such as, for example, not heed Odysseus' warning of his own accord and instead of begging for mercy, insist on wanting his throne and Penelope's hand either way.

He could be killed by Odysseus or Telemachus because of divine intervention from another god. This is honestly my least favorite option because it takes agency away from the characters, when we seem to have reached a point in the story where agency has seemingly been reclaimed. It could probably be made to work, but at that point it would almost be a wasted opportunity.

Honestly, I could probably come up with a few more of these scenarios, all of which depend on how exactly he would be portrayed in EPIC. But ultimately, these are the main few that I can think of. We'll just have to wait and see.

Overall, I'd just think not including him in a story as heavily focused on moral complexity and nuance as EPIC would be a missed opportunity since his entire existence is kind of an expression of complexity—specifically among the group of suitors who are, in my opinion, in great need of more nuance.

Amphinomus and the suitors aside, something else I am hoping to see very much is a nuanced and satisfying portrayal of Odysseus' newfound dual nature.

Something that makes it absolutely clear that Odysseus is neither "just a man" nor "a monster" anymore, but rather something in between. A being capable of both ruthlessness and mercy. For example, a scene showing him be merciful in one moment and ruthless in the next, both being entirely justified and correct approaches to two separate cases.

At least a hint toward a beginning of a self-acceptance arc. So far, we've only seen Odysseus blame himself, demonize himself, judge himself more than he has ever judged anyone else (I talked about this a little in my "Monster" analysis essay, if you're interested.) It feels like a natural final step in his character arc to at least attempt giving himself more leeway, maybe with the help of his family and their acceptance (also oddly in line with the "Next to my wife" line, if you think about it.)

A callback to "I am neither man nor mythical", the line first brought up by @glisten-inthedark as likely having been foreshadowing (I agree with this heavily.) You might even adjust this slightly, to be "I am neither man nor monster" and it gives us exactly what he has become now. Don't give me another "Just a man" reprise, and don't give me a "No longer you" or "Monster" reprise either. Give me a "Remember them" reprise instead.

If you have to give me a "Just a man" or "Monster" reprise, make it clear that he is neither anymore. He's not the man who would use "I am just a man" as an excuse in act 1, and he is not the monster who would act ruthlessly in every situation. Similarly, if you have to give me a "No longer you" reprise, please make it finally clear that Odysseus is most certainly still "himself". He may no longer be the same man he was when he met Tiresias but putting it like that is highly misleading and I just have a personal problem with "No longer you" for this reason. Objectively, it's a great song. Subjectively, I can actually not stand it.

Alright, I think that's enough setting up expectations that can now be disappointed for myself for one essay 😂😂 I hope you enjoyed! And if any of these won't happen, well I might be disappointed, but Jorge might also give us something entirely different that will be surprising in a good way as well, so I'm definitely open for anything.

Please feel free to share your thoughts down below through a reblog or comment and see you all in Ithaca saga!

[lizzyscribbles]

In honor of the Vengeance Saga's release tonight, I'm taking a break from my regularly scheduled MHA content to have a little ramble about something Epic related that I've had brewing for a while.

I want to talk about Eurylochus (who, for some reason, my brain desperately wants to call Eurydice, which is an ENTIRELY different greek myth inspired musical that I love but it REFUSES to remember that, but that's besides the point), specifically the hatred he seemed to get after the Thunder Saga.

Now, let me just say, I have not read the Odyssey, I don't plan to and I don't particularly want to. I am solely coming at this from the perspective of someone who has just listened to Epic and kept up with Jay. So, if you have read the myths, this is probably not the post for you. :)

I understand where the hatred of him comes from, I honestly do. At first glance it is kind of hard to understand why he had the right to be upset with Odysseus after everything he did, but I think just taking it at surface value is doing the story a huge disservice.

Let's start allllllll the way back in the Ocean Saga with the wind bag incident. Now, I'm absolutely not saying that Eurylochus should bear no fault for this, he DID disobey Odysseus's direct order and could some of that have to do with the fact that he wanted treasure?? Maybe? But I'm not convinced that was entirely it. That's mentioned at the beginning of the song, and then never really brought up again. (Yes, I am aware that the in the myth it is because of treasure, but again, I'm going off just Epic).

Jay tells us that every character in Epic has an instrument, those in the fandom know this, and we also know that Eurylochus's instrument is actually the crew. So, when he sings, he's usually singing for the combined opinions of the rest of the crew. In "Keep Your Friends Close", we hear Odysseus start to really deteriorate for the first time. You can hear the crew start to get a little weirded out by it, because until this point Odysseus has been pretty steadfast and strong and suddenly he's turned into this paranoid, tired mess. He doesn't talk to anyone after the beginning, he just sings to himself while the crew sings backup. The crew has never seen Odysseus like this before, as far as we can tell, and I think it worries them, especially since this whole bag situation seems to have started it. What I'm trying to get across here is that Odysseus is acting really suspicious in the crew's eyes. We know this because the crew actively tells us this in the line "Everything's changed since Polites." There has been a massive, unsettling change in Odysseus and I think it's deeply concerning them. I think they brought those concerns to Eurylochus, who I think was also being actively shut out, and Eurylochus got worried that there was something much worse than a storm in that bag. If you come from that perspective, it makes sense he waited until Ithaca was so close to try to open it, because with home so close, if there was something horrible then they were close to salvation. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, and I guarantee Eurylochus tortured himself for that mistake for the rest of his, unfortunately short, life.

Again, I'm NOT saying that this was the right decision, but I am saying that I can kinda see why he did it.

Let's move onto the Circe Saga. I hear a lot about how it wasn't fair that Eurylochus was so mad about the Scylla incident when he wanted to leave the men who became pigs behind on Circe's island. However, think about it this way, Eurylochus didn't actively send those men into Circe's palace, nor did he choose to turn them into pigs to save himself. When they turned, he had no idea whether they COULD be brought back, he probably already considered them dead. He was not the one who condemned them, and I don't think he wanted to leave them behind, but he didn't know if they could be saved and trying to do so may have lost the rest of their feeble crew. Remember, they've just lost nearly their entire fleet, I wouldn't be surprised if Eurylochus was scared he'd lose even more if they tried to save the men that may have already been condemned.

Was this the right decision? No, I don't think so, but I understand why he thought it was.

That's why I think trying to compare the Scylla incident with the Circe one is like looking at apples and oranges, they're really not the same thing.

Next, the cow incident. The infamous "my father will hear about this". I don't have much to say here. It was stupid, yes. However, have y'all ever been so starved you'd do anything to get something to eat? I become a bitch if I wait a few too many hours between meals, going for days, your perception is going to be MASSIVELY screwed. Still, after all, not too surprised that Eurylochus didn't listen to Odysseus. Again, stupid ass move, Eurylochus, but I get it.

Finally, Mutiny, the song that brought this all about. I think a lot of people took this song as Eurylochus being a bit of a hypocrite, that Odysseus isn't allowed to do the things he, himself, did. I don't think that's the case here. I think Eurylochus is confused, because this is COMPLETELY out of character for Odysseus. This entire musical has been Odysseus trying to avoid death in any way he can. He's tried to protect his crew even when it puts himself in danger (see the Circe Saga) and then, seemingly out of nowhere, he sacrifices six men to Scylla without so much as a discussion with his crew. This is very, VERY unlike him at this point, and it scared Eurylochus. It scared all of them.

I don't think he's doing this because he's mad that Odysseus gets to do shit he didn't get to do. No, I think he's terrified because this is a complete 180 and now they're all at risk. He's confused as to why Odysseus is suddenly okay with everything he's told Eurylochus NOT to do up until this point. He's saying, "you told me not to do this, why are you now doing this? The whole time you fought for the crew and now you just killed them no warning, what the hell?? What's happened to you?? This isn't you??" He's not saying that he didn't do anything, he's saying this whole time you've protected us and now you're not, wtf? In simple terms, "you told me not to do something and then you did it"

The prophet said as much, "It's no longer you." This was no longer the Odysseus they knew, and when he willingly sacrificed his crew, they realized that they were no longer people in his eyes, they were tools to get back to his wife and child.

I'm saying this to bash Odysseus AT ALL. In fact, the scariest part of Thunder Bringer is that I fully understand why Odysseus did what he did, and in his shoes, I'm not sure I'd have done anything different. I think Odysseus is an excellent character and I LOVE HIM, we see that these decisions haunt him constantly throughout the rest of the Sagas, but we have to remember we get to hear a lot more about the situation than the crew did. We're inside Odysseus's head, they were not.

Again, was Eurylochus completely in the right? Absolutely not. But he also wasn't completely in the wrong. He was working with the information he had available to him, it just happened to be missing important pieces.

Eurylochus was trying to protect the crew and himself from a man he didn't recognize anymore, and I can't blame him for that.

...Plus, I think we can all agree that the real bitch here is Zeus who made Odysseus choose between himself and his crew and then immediately punted him to Calypso's island FULLY KNOWING that the only reason Odysseus made that decision was because he wanted to see his wife and son.

Screw you, Zeus.

[aeide]

I've had quite a year. It was one of the worst years of my life and also, I suppose, one of the most notable.

January: exactly one year ago today, I was in a tent in tanzania, about to begin my climb of mount kilimanjaro. I summited on January 7 and emerged from that trip having lost a lot of brain cells to hypoxia (it's not like I was using them). would I do it again? literally never. did you know you have to walk the whole way???

February: I planted my first fig tree!

March: a true lowpoint—I was forced to create an instagram account to promote my book. (I am happy to report I have since fulfilled my promotional obligations and have archived said instagram account).

April: I finished my first semester as a full co-instructor for my law school course. I love teaching, and it is also exhausting. more importantly, I updated my ac odyssey fic for the first time after an unplanned 6-month hiatus.

May: My fig tree bore its first fruit 😊

June: I had my first public reading for my book.

July: new tattoo!!!! (surprise, it's a spear)

August: I published my debut novel Memento Mori. despite all my sighs about publishing as an industry, I am really very proud of the book itself, and also thrilled to announce that it is almost certainly a national worst-seller 😎 (though I have no actual way to know until I receive my first royalty statement a year from now). also, I started learning how to ride horses.

September: I spoke on a panel at the Brooklyn Book Festival about aforementioned debut novel, and a ton of people came out despite the absolute pouring rain. I also started my post-bacc program for classics and learned that I love Plutarch almost as much as I love Thucydides.

October: I dressed as Kassandra for Halloween, which is obviously my greatest accomplishment to date. and I made this arrow earring!

November: I harvested approximately 40 tomatoes from my one tomato plant somehow. and made a lot of cool jewelry, like this armillary sphere ring, these caryatid earrings, this palestinian tatreez-inspired pendant, and this snowflake pendant.

December: I finished winding a warp I had abandoned for nearly the whole year and wove this fragmentary wall hanging. and FINALLY updated aforementioned aco fic for the first time since august.

For reasons both spiritual and legal, I won't go into the worst parts of this year except to say that, at the risk of sounding earnest on main again, I am deeply and eternally grateful for the loving support, listening ears, and 100% correct assassin's creed takes I received from the communities I found here on this beloved hellsite, without whom my life would certainly be joyless ❤️.

[nonokoko13]

Ok so today I found out Nanbaka ended some time ago so I spoiled myself and man, the ending was so rushed and angst for no reason and overall disappointing??? The author threw very important lore info and a plot twist that felt all out of the blue near the ending... I love angst but when it is well written, and this was not. Their friendship was real, even if prior to the series start wasn't I know what I read was real friendship and this ending ruins for me one of the main themes of this show.

I don't post a lot about this series because I started it before I even had Tumblr but Nanbaka was everything to me back then. Even after I was forced to move on because the english translation stopped and finding all chapters fan translated was very difficult I'd find myself thinking about these characters sometimes and I almost dare to say that it was a comfort series. Not being able to keep reading it without going through a Odyssey was already upsetting but the ending? What in the actual fuck is that. Is not even the fact it was a sad ending what bothers me the most, it's that it was sad and felt bad written or without proper building 🙁

This literally summaries my opinion regarding what happened to the main group:

Now I feel bad? Bad like when you receive bad news irl? Like I've received a punch in the stomach or a betrayal from a dear old friend

If spy x family or yuu & grim (including all of their friends in twst) separate in the end I'm losing all hope of being happy and relaxing with this trope without fearing the chance of getting backstabbed again forever

God please let them stick together or I'm going to make you the same thing you have done with me

[mochilorddrakeinferno]

(another spm thing haha I should actually play the game at some point also I read your entire dimentio doc and I LOVED IT) why do you think Luigi is the ideal host for the Chaos Heart?

Oh, glad you liked it, thank you! As for your question, it's a good one, but... I don't know if I really have a great answer on it. Let's start with some important information about the Chaos Heart. Its name in the original Japanese is the "Love Power of Chaos". This is significant because it tells us a lot more about the type of thing it is. Throughout Super Paper Mario, it is repeatedly emphasized that the power of pure love is capable of... well, just about anything. Reviving the dead, restoring the *beyond* dead, bringing worlds back from non-existence, even defying fate itself.

But that power isn't a purely positive one. Love at its core is passion, it's caring about someone, it's a bond between hearts. But that care isn't always mutual, benevolent, or healthy. Obsession is a kind of love, unhinged devotion a kind of care. But it's a different kind of love, something corrupt. Chaotic love. Where pure love is a thing of light and restoration and possibility, chaotic love is a negative power, associated with destruction, darkness, inevitability, and madness. So when Peach and Bowser completed the worst marriage ever, that is why the Chaos Heart was born.

(Side-note: The fact that he would later try to marry her again in Super Mario Odyssey does suggest it's a one-time occurrence that wouldn't happen if they got married a second time, which in turn probably means the specific circumstances of the wedding in SPM and/or the Dark Prognosticus's prophecy played a part in things, but to what extent is unclear.)

Now, the other thing about the Chaos Heart is it's weirdly parasitic in behavior. We know from Count Bleck's tattle that it grants certain powers (presumably related to dark magic) to its bearer, as well as placing a protective barrier around them. But unlike the Purity Heart, it needs a host to continue existing, disappearing if they die and fleeing a mortally injured host. It makes sense that the Chaos Heart would get along with Count Bleck. He's a man haunted by overwhelming grief, swimming in the exact sort of chaotic love from which the Chaos Heart was made. Dimentio's ego could suggest a self-absorbed form of chaotic love is at play with him as well. But then where exactly does Luigi come into this?

Some theorize that he's a perfect host for the Chaos Heart because he wasn't actually Luigi at the time, he was Mr. L. This doesn't really work, as Dimentio only refers to him as "man in green" in the Japanese version of that scene, with Mr. L's name just being invoked in the English localization for some reason. There might be some merit to the idea that he wasn't truly Luigi at the time, but by that metric, he also wasn't... anyone. In Japanese, Dimentio specifically says the Dark Prognosticus predicted Luigi's *body* was the "perfect vessel" for the Chaos Heart. This, along with the fact that Luigi spends his entire time as part of Super Dimentio with his mind overwritten, weirdly kind of implies that his mind and so his personal connection to chaotic love might be irrelevant to what makes him a good host for the Chaos Heart.

However, since that matter is rather unclear, it's worth looking into another popular theory that does touch on the actual mind of Luigi and what chaotic love he may feel. Namely... the universe is not always kind to our plucky plumber in green. He's far less popular than his brother, often the butt of circumstance's jokes, and often disrespected by those around him. Some believe that this has created a repressed jealousy within Luigi for his brother, such that even though he loves his brother deeply, there is a wellspring of chaotic potential beneath it. And... this is a good idea to explore in fan works, there's a lot to dive into, fascinating interpretations you can make of Luigi's character through that lens, but from a canonical perspective, it's just not very supported.

For one thing, you never see it explored in the game. Super Paper Mario features one of the most confident showings of Luigi we've ever seen. Luigi never expresses dissatisfaction in his relationship with his brother, and he isn't even really mocked or negatively compared to Mario, at least not in any way that's given much thematic weight. Heck, even as Mr. L, who's lost all his memories and been hypnotized into a whole new purpose and identity, he still develops a brotherly connection through Brobot. And looking to other games, we continue to see their brotherly bond as not only positive, but aspirational.

Starlow comments on how much they trust each other. On Star Hill, wish is to be a great plumber like Mario. In Dream's Deep, we see his thoughts and feelings toward his brother laid bare, and they're all supportive and positive. Mario and Luigi's relationship may not be perfect, no relationship can be, but from all indication those two are about as close as you're gonna get. The closest we ever really get to a hint of a negative side to Luigi's perception of Mario is in Luigi's diary in PM64, where he says it's unfair that Mario went on an exciting journey alone. In other words... he's upset that he didn't get to go along and spent time adventuring with his bro. Hardly a statement of resentment. So the resentment theory analytically seems to fall flat as well.

This leaves only two real options of which I'm aware, and they're kind of the least narratively satisfying ones. One is that it's just a mystery and we don't know why, and the other is that it's true because it's what the Dark Prognosticus predicted. He's the perfect host because destiny says so. There is quite some evidence that the Dark Prognosticus itself is the reason many of its prophecies occur, and indeed that it may be what forces them to, but for a case such as how suited a person is to being the vessel of a very specific kind of dark power... well, like I said, it's not especially satisfying as a conclusion. So this is kind of a roundabout way of saying I'm not sure there is a definitive answer here.

[sardonic-sprite]

SPRITE OH MY GOODNESS

NOW THAT YOU’RE BACK

Thoughts on The Underworld Saga?

ALL I HEAR ARE SCREAMS

They're mine. I'm the one screaming. Loudly.

It's so good it's so fucking. Ahhhhhhhh.

I accidentally like half memorized it already lmao, as well as Circe Saga, which I already had to catch up on and I ADORE them both, I will have literal blow-by-blow rants coming for every song in this show BUT IN SUMMARY FOR UNDERWORLD SAGA

"The Underworld"

So cool to have them GO to the underworld bc I asked my dad (who read the odyssey a long time ago) about the prophet and in the poem odysseus just summons Tireas's spirit so.

It starts quiet then eventually you actually hear the wails of the souls and it's v chilling and a great detail to add

The entire chorus is so good, it's survivors guilt in like 3 sentences, Jay, how?

I keep thinking of the infant from that night, I keep thinking of the infant from that night

POLITES!

And then it goes dead silent and then this soft wail of "waaaiiittttinnnnng!" And odysseus's reaction, oh lord, the way this of everything seems to hit home. The soft, quiet "Why, Mom?"

KEY CHANGE! DRAMA! And then unlike ending down the two previous times, where it gets softer, they end shouting DOWN JN THE UNDERWORLD! And it's almost like the underworld owns their screams too now

"No Longer You"

Tireas's voice is perfect I just. It's got this breathy edge making it ghostly ad then it's so low and soft it's kind of like

Ugh the whole song seems like a cross between a lullaby and a waltz and both are minor key and creepy as FUCK and I love it and wish I had the vocabulary to express this concept better

What?

A man who gets to make it home alive, but it's no longer you. As the audience we know what this means. Odysseus survives and makes it back but he is so vastly changed that he is "no longer" the man who left for war. But in the pernicious way of prophecies, this is left unclarified and I don't even know if Tireas does this on purpose. Maybe he genuinely sees it all fuzzy (unlikely to me given other details he gives) maybe he thinks Odysseus is clever enough to understand (you'd think he'd change his literal tune when Odysseus keeps reacting the way he does) and maybe... maybe Tireas just doesn't fuckin give a shit. Here's your prophecy bitch let's see you battle it til you come back down here to never leave again

The rage in Odysseus's voice when he screams WHO!? This might be me wanting to make him like unrealistically good with his wife, but it almost seems like rage on behalf of Penelope? Like he's angry someone perhaps tricked or forced her into wedlock? Idk it feels like if he was reacting to the idea that she was cheating, he'd scream "what" again

And tireas literally repeats himself he's so fucking unhelpfjl and tbh of course odysseus is gonna go off the rails. I can't honestly blame him 😂

"Monster"

I'm the only one who's line is haven't crossed. Um. Boyo I'm pretty sure you did a long jump over your line with the infant thing. Other than that tho it's such an interesting line esp bc it's true like. So many people have given odysseus advice and told him limits they want to set, and he's pushed through all of it. That literally has made him the primary danger to his crew in a lot of ways

OK the whole section where hengoes through the examples of the cyclops, circe the witch, poseidon the god, and finally turns to himself and the horse, basically SPITTING out the words- I love it all, I love the rhythm, the rhymes, the reasoning he goes through... so good

OK it gets quite andnthennthat soft, low "Oh, ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves" and it starts to build, he's shouting out what he's lost and what he needs to keep, and his plan, and finally screams "THEN ILL BECOME THE MONSTER"

Ugh building om that last it's so fucking interesting bc this is both corruption and sacrifice, this change that odysseus is kindnof allowing within himself. He's built up all this time thar he wants to stop losing his men, so it can be read as him being a good leader, willing to put his personal need (integrity) aside to keep them safer.

But on the other hand, who is he talking to/about the entire end? Penelope and telemachus. He's got to see them. He wants/needs to, and he's frankly doing this for them, and like it all sounded reasonable until he says he'll fucking drop a baby off a a wall "in an instant" and you go WHOA.

He's no longer himself. All itntakes is one fucking song, odysseus declares he's not just crossing his own line, the last line, he's obliterating that line completely. There is no more line for this man, anywhere. He's going to do anything he fucking has to

But not for his men. For Penelope and telemachus

It's so much devotion and corruption and love and desperation and holy hell it is so good and it flows through so naturally that you hardly notice what's really going on unti you watch thr lyrics change

So yeah I think the underworld saga is near 🙃

[littlesparklight]

Why do Patrochilles fans always seem to forget about the Trojan women and children do they not matter?

To be fair, there are probably several reasons, and, I'd guess, no matter which other reasons there might be, being uncomfortable with the violence and the cruelty is probably a big reason.

Which is neither strange nor wrong!

But - well. This is about war. War in a society where slavery is a thing and where, specifically, the captives taken are enslaved. If (general) you like an Achaean character in the Trojan war narrative, then your blorbo absolutely has traumatized an unknown number of women personally by killing members of their natal and/or potentially marital family, long before Troy falls. And are, at the very least, using them as slave labour.

And a smaller number of said captive women are serving as personal status objects, including serving in their captor's beds. (And, you clearly don't need to be one of these ~special~ slaves for this to happen either, if circumstances change, as Diomede (the woman Achilles sleeps with/next to the night of the embassy) shows.)

(The discomfort is, presumably, also part of why some people are working overtime in trying to soften and cutiefy the Odysseus-Astyanax situation with ~he saves him~ AUs or just general angst and regret in the moment and milking it afterwards. I had to see "father son duo" in connection with fucking Odysseus and Astyanax a couple days ago, and, ugh. Like, sorry, but even when Odysseus isn't the killer he seems to always come up with/champion the idea! Make your peace with it instead of having Odysseus cry as if he fucking CARES about this one child that he's advocating for murdering. (I would not really think it odd if Odysseus potentially has PTSD from this, but man, the way I've seen it used just makes me pissed off, sorry not sorry. Astyanax is basically just a prop.)

Anyway, ok.

I have no idea if TSoA is actually the most usual way for shippers to get into Patrochilles any more, but it still seems like that? And TSoA works very, very hard to soften and smooth out all and any uncomfortable bits. The Troilus incident doesn't exist, and the Achilles and Patroklos are basically running a ~women's shelter~ and not doing anything questionable with the women with their power or whatever.

If this is where you come into Patrochilles specifically and the Trojan war in general, no wonder you'd like to keep ignoring all the unpleasant bits. Which like. Fine. If they would keep to TSoA, but usually they don't.

The Hades game, too, did its work of presenting a more palatable Achilles. It is post-war, so basically nothing comes up, and the Achilles we get is unexplainedly regret- and shameful over his earlier behaviour and actions. I say unexplainedly not because I couldn't necessarily see this change, but it's not actually shown to us. We're just shown a personality that isn't actually very/at all connected to what those of us who knows the Iliad and the Odyssey have seen.

Even the Odyssey doesn't show us an Achilles who regrets anything of what he did (and he's proud of his son's achievements, even if Odysseus doesn't enumerate them in detail). What Achilles in the Odyssey regrets is being dead, specifically, and he seems rather depressed over being so.

So, again, if you come in to Patrochilles and the Hades game, it's once again easy to just... ignore stuff you don't want to touch on (even more so, since it's (long) post-war, which is undoubtedly a plus, genuinely).

The thing is, though - when you start dipping into the actual Trojan war, even just by reading, say, Achilles' wiki page, especially Troilus is right there. And making jokes (I have seen several) about "what would Achilles need Lesbian women for, Agamemnon, you idiot!!", is just... unpleasant. What are enslaved women used for, huh? Sexuality jokes have no place in this instance, just because someone might be uncomfortable and/or clinging to "Achilles is totally and only gay and doesn't fuck women".

But, tl; dr; no I don't think that, in general, most Patrochilles shippers think the Trojan (and every other woman who was enslaved during these ten years) women and the children matter. They're here for the ship.

And there is not really anything wrong with that, but the way the war (and the women, children etc) are usually dealt with (or not) in the course of that is extremely lacking because it's basically all whitewashed. (And Hektor gets used as some sort of handy ship-obstacle in any way they like to. Leave Hektor alone, damn it.)

[lttllovely]

NEWSPAPER CRUSH | Zeke Thompson x Reader

Summary: You are the head writer and editor of Summerton High School’s newspaper. Bored with writing the same fluff stories about the school’s glorious football team, you find the sudden appearance of the Minutemen to be a welcome breath of fresh air, writing-wise and life-wise. You find yourself becoming more drawn into investigating just who the guys behind the snowsuits are. And maybe a little too invested in the life of one of your main suspects, Zeke Thompson.

Movie: Minutemen (2008)

Pairing: Zeke Thompson x Reader

Genre: Fluff/Romance

English class was one of your favorite classes, just behind journalism. Of course, this didn’t come as a shock to anyone since you were the head of Summerton High’s very own newspaper. Not like there was much competition for the position, but for what it was worth, you thought of yourself as a pretty damn good writer. Of course, you loved English class because of all the expected reasons. You loved expanding your knowledge of the literary greats, experimenting with your creative writing, and getting into discussions about whatever novel you were currently reading. But those weren’t the only reasons that you loved the class. 

As of recent, another reason you loved English was that you were seated next to Zeke Thompson himself. Or as you liked to call him, much to his chagrin, the tall snowsuit guy. Of course, this happened since Mrs. Zaninovich was one of the few teachers that enforced assigned seating. At the beginning of the year, neither you nor Zeke cared too much about the seating arrangement. Zeke mostly brooded about having to sit near the front and was pretty quiet. Meanwhile, you gladly volunteered to speak in class discussions about novels such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Homer’s The Odyssey.  

This dynamic changed once the infamous Snowsuit Guys had shown up. Now, you used your time in class to get any information that you could out of him about his being a part of the group. At some point during your investigation, Zeke became one of your main suspects. Despite him either not responding to your questions or outright rejecting your claims, you persisted. Yet, even with your original intentions, the two of you had strangely become friends. Well, in your own way.

You would question him about the snowsuit guys and chastise him over his responses, and if you were lucky, you’d get an actual smile out of him. And if you were being honest, his smile was pretty cute. Now, you were approaching him just after his welding class had finished. It was pretty convenient for you to stop by since lunch was about to start, and his class was right by the cafeteria. You waited expectantly by the door, watching as he packed up his equipment for the day.

Upon seeing you, he perked up, even straightening his back rather than staying in his regular slouch. You were touched by it, but only smiled in response. He joked, “Oh, so you’re waiting for me now?”

You snorted, rolling your eyes. “Oh my god, don’t say it like that,” You protested. This didn’t stop Zeke from forming a small smirk on his face. “Y’know, for such a quiet, mysterious loner-type, you sure are cocky,” You commented. At the comment, Zeke’s smirk disappeared. He replaced it with his usual blank, broody expression, but you could still see a hint of a smirk peeking through.

You laughed. “I saw that. God, you are not good at keeping up that act.” You pointed out.

Zeke tilted his head at you. “Who said it was an act?” He asked.

“Me, Zeke, Me,” You emphasized. “Look, you’re just as bad at keeping up that broody, loner persona as you are at pretending that you aren’t one of Summerton High’s proud knights in shining snowsuits.” You quipped.

He shook his head. “Once again, not one of them.” He declared.

Quirking an eyebrow at him, you continued. “Sure, sure.” You mumbled off-handedly. “By the way, I came by to see which of these photos you think is better for the newspaper. Y’know, to see which of these you think makes you more appealing to the ladies?” Shuffled through the papers in your satchel, you pulled out two versions of the newspaper, each having a different cover of the Minutemen on the front page. You handed both to Zeke.

He laughed, his gaze going between the two newspapers. “Wow, how will I ever choose? Now, should I go with the one with the guys in snowsuits or the one with the guys in snowsuits?” He asked, sarcasm oozing from him.

Your eyes narrowed at him. “Hey!” You shouted, grabbing a newspaper out of his hand and swatting at him with it. He let out a yelp and looked around to check that no one else had heard it. It took all the willpower in you to not burst out laughing, but you still let out a few chuckles. “Look, if you end up with a photo in the newspaper that makes you guys look even uglier than you already are, then that is your fault. Not mine.”

Zeke handed you back the newspaper, shaking his head. “Oh, I doubt that you think I’m ugly.” He remarked.

Your walking slowed to a crawl. You returned his comment with a pointed stare, clutching your newspapers a little tighter than necessary. “What does that mean?” You questioned.

The two of you had polar opposite attitudes. While you were rigid and stuck in place, he carried a casual, almost arrogant swagger with him as he entered the cafeteria. “I don’t know. I’m just saying that maybe you made up thinking that I’m one of the snowsuit guys so you could have an excuse to talk to me.” He said, shrugging as he ventured further and further from you.

You gaped. “Oh, you know that’s not what this is about!” You shouted, but you could practically feel the smirk on his face as he headed toward his usual seat with Charlie and Virgil. It almost made you feel sick with embarrassment, especially since there was a hint of truth in it. Your cheeks were flushed red as you headed toward your own table with Jeanette.

Of course, nothing got past Jeanette. You could already tell that you couldn’t escape talking about the ungodly exchange with her when you saw her looking back and forth between you and Zeke. And to add insult to injury, she had definitely caught Zeke’s attention thanks to how unsubtle she was. Great. “Am I going crazy or was Zeke Thompson just flirting with you?” She asked, practically already jumping out of her seat at the exchange.

“What? He wasn’t. We were just talking about the newspaper.” You explained, but Jeanette knew better. Her keen eye for detecting lies and her love for romance couldn’t be deterred by the most effective of liars and aromantics, and you were a terrible liar.

“Oh, come on! You’re blushing hard! You’re totally into him!” She squeaked, squealing from excitement. While you loved Jeanette and her bright, bubbly personality, she made it very, very easy for anyone and everyone to hear what she was saying.

You quickly covered her mouth, gritting out a bitter “Shut up!” as you surveyed the room to check that no one had heard her. Jeanette quickly stopped, but you could tell that her brain was still whirring with ideas about how to set you two up.

Thankfully for you, almost no one had paid attention to Jeanette’s little outburst. Well, except for the one person that mattered the most. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Zeke staring at you two. You immediately hid behind your hand. But it didn’t exactly help. Zeke chuckled, then began laughing when you decided to flip him off instead. 

God, you were not going to survive this year. You could only hope that by the end of it, you didn’t feel as embarrassed as you did now. And that Zeke would stop messing with you. But you knew that neither would probably come true.

[i-spilled-my-soup]

could you explain your asklepios au ? genuinely curious and invested in the solangelo -> asklepios pipeline

alright this will be long. tl;dr it's a greek mythology au about mortality and righteousness and hubris and has like. no romance at all. if this is written i plan for no making out; hugs and kisses probably but romance lies only in interpretation. tw/cw for death, corpses

will centered and will pov where he takes the place of asklepios/asclepius/ophiucus(constellation was asklepios to the romans) in a sort of greek myth universe, like a camp half blood in 300 bce ish? in the relative time of the popular tales like homer's iliad and odyssey, virgil's aeneid. setting where songs and hymns are well known (let me imagine a place where everyone gets the obscure balls jokes i so adore). and important detail about worldbuilding, there are no powers. only gods can control the elements, and its only in threats/blessings that in modern times could be written off as delusions but in characters' minds is concrete evidence. nico is just some guy.

will keeps his canon mom and siblings and medical prowess, his frustration with death is amplified to an unhealthy amount. nico is still just some guy at this point

assuming this is a finite to be written work, the story starts after will and nico have gotten acquainted. nico does his thing, begins as a weird unfriendly guy but after being acquainted becomes a good friend. they bond over losing their siblings and feeling responsible for their deaths, less of a "you did nothing wrong" and more of a "yeah that sucks balls" kind of empathy. then will learns that nico is a child of hades(the guy) and (after an orphic hymn infertility joke) has to fight the urge to use nico to bring people from hades(the place)/keep them from ever going there

in typical nico fashion he disappears like fully. will is reasonably concerned and tries to look for him whenever he isn't practicing and teaching medicine in case of impending war with a neighboring state? this part is funny and i want to say war is the conflict because battle is the usual conflict in the myth and history i've read and also in riordan's series itself. turns out the guy is dead. yippee! (probably some scene where will sees nico but its actually just the ghost or nico visits in a dream or will actually just finds the body preserved in snow. the last one's a little too intense)

so will takes it upon himself to help give nico proper burial rites as a last favor. he gives nico a drug/ritual to aid in the burial process and accidentally brings him back to life. they both recognize that they have, unintentionally or otherwise, defied the will of the gods reigning and primordial. will is reluctant to let nico just straight up die again (for selfish reasons) and argues that nico could regain the favor of the gods if he did good stuff in his new life (supposedly selfless reasons). nico is skeptical but dude's love language is acts of service at the cost of his own health and comfort so he agrees

no one else had known he was actually dead and they pretend that he was always alive. nico gets himself mentally ready to die at any moment (cause psychopomp hermes could pull up at any moment) but will can't let go of how he actually resurrected someone. and the power before him is tempting him to fall into hubris

augh something something something. probably a battle and will saves more people and he is slowly going mad with power against his own conscience, defying the gods for his own goals of helping people

uh. eventually nico dies again. the feds(god) got him. will goes out into a storm to look for him, and to forage more of the drug that brought him back to life, and gets killed in the storm, supposedly by zeus(asklepios moment)

since will succumbed to hubris and consciously defied the gods he gets a punishment, and that's immortality. with his mortal person taken away he can no longer practice medicine. he cannot save anyone anymore, he has become the lost sibling and friend he had sought to rescue. he loses the solace(haha) of joining his family and friends in the underworld, instead he is separated from them for eternity. he will outlive everyone he knows, and will not be able to see them after they die

so here i imagine a dual bad ending. nico gets a bad lot cause he will lose his life at the peak of potential, at the exact point where he could find peace and help so many more people than before. will gets the same, where he can no longer achieve his aspirations in life, discontent with a self-serving existence, but now separated from everyone he holds dear, trapped in the realm of those he defied

potential happy closure ending? will escapes to the underworld and works under hades and sees nico once and even though he's torn away from the shades as per his punishment he is happy that in the forever he exists there he could see his friends again, that they could both be assured of another's existence and history and regain the selves they became in each other's company

fear of death prevails. but they won over it because so long as they could know each others' names it proves they had once lived? mutual immortality sculpted in the eternity of death?

[the---hermit]

end of the year book tag 2023

I did this tag last year more or less at this time. This book tag was created by Ariel Bissett over on youtube, and I recently heard her talking about it again in her podcast, which is how I got the inspiration of doing it again this year. As I think I have also mentioned last year when doing this, I tend to be a mood reader so planning my next reads never really works, but it's fun to sit down and reflect a bit on what is coming next into my reading life before the year is over.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?

As I am writing this I have three main books I am in the middle of: Hell Followed With us by Andrew Joseph White, Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson and Queer: A Graphic History by Meg-John Barker. I have technically also started reading Walden by Thoreau a while back, but I don't have a plan to finish it quickly, it's more one of those books I read a little bit every once in a while when I feel like it, because I want to grasp as much as I can and while I am also taking classes and studying for exams I always struggle a bit with enjoying non-fic on my own.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?

I am once again doing this tag in the middle of autumn, so idk how much it counts, but I don't think I have a proper autumnal book on my tbr/wishlist. I am still waiting to get the sixth volume of Something Is Killing The Children, which is an horror graphic novel so that might count as a spooky season book. But I don't really wait spooky season to read horror books.

Is there a new release you're still waiting for?

As I mentioned the sixth volume of Something Is Killing The Children has very recently came out here in Italy and I am desperately waiting to find a copy of it. I am also waiting to get Bookstores And Bonedust by Travis Baldree which is coming out at the beginning of November. There are a couple of other 2023 releases I still haven't got my hands on but I don't know yet if I'll get them before the year ends (mainly He Who Drowned The World by Shelly Parker Chan, and The Land Of Lost Things by John Connolly). I am also waiting for the release of the final book in the locked tomb series but I don't think a release date has been set yet? (and regarding that I have yet to decide what I want to do because I would like to get physical copies of the English editions, but it will be a future me problem to solve).

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?

One of my goals for 2023 is the read all the books I have bought this year, or at least as many as I can. I must say I have been very good with this goal, but I do have a couple of books that have been sitting on my shelf for a while. I don't know if I'll get into the right mood to read them before the year ends but I will add a couple of those to this list. The first one is Nel Buio Della Casa by Fiore Manni and Michele Monteleone. It's an horror novel of the hauted house genre which is one of my favourites but for some reason I haven't picked it up yet. Next is a book I cannot wait to pick up The Ballad Of The Reading Gaol by Oscar Wilde, I love this author and after reading De Profundis earlier this year I have been really intrigued by this poem. Finally I bought a prose edition of The Odyssey and I might end up picking it up before the year ends.

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?

Not really? I expect to love a lot of the books I'd like to read before the end of the year but there's a couple of books I read this year that I doubt can be topped (Gideon The Ninth being at the top of that list alongside The Priory Of The Orange Tree).

Have you already started making reading plans for next year?

I actually have, weirdly enough. I was thinking about goals for next year and I think I will definitely keep the goal of trying to read all/ most of the books I buy during the year. I certainly need to find a way to read more of the books that have been on my shelves for years, so I will have to think of a more structured plan to reach that goal. I am also considering to create a goal to finally complete my Neil Gaiman collection since this year I have read all of the books by him I own. That could be a fun goal I think. Lastly I'd like to try and get as many books as I can second hand. It's not really super easy for me to do, because where I live there are no second hand book stores, and generally what I look for is quite difficult to find in regular shops, but there's a few exceptions, like classics for example are easier to thrift. Again these are more brain dump thoughts than an actual plan, but it's more than what I had last year at this time.

(no pressure) tags: @just-a-cup-of-anxietea, @fluencylevelfrench, @dreamofghosts, @upside-down-uni, @la-galaxie-langblr