#this musical broke me long before epic

[madbard]

“You said that you would stay with me…”

As much as I love the 2019 original broadway cast recording of Hadestown, I will always miss the 2017 original cast recording for one major reason: the song “Promises.”

This song comes right after “Epic lll.” At this point, Orpheus has just made his greatest gambit, singing the song he’s been working on for years in the hopes of restoring balance to the world, now in a desperate plea to free Eurydice. After years of bitterness, of loneliness, rejection and pain, Hades and Persephone have finally embraced each other. They are dancing, and as they dance, Orpheus and Eurydice realize that they did it. They can go home.

In the 2019 recording, this moment is pure sweetness as Eurydice immediately reaches out to her exhausted lover, asking him to take her home. After the emotional hurricane that was the rest of the musical, there is a sense of joy and relief. The lovers are reunited. The story is almost over, and they are so glad to see each other again. It’s romantic, certainly… but something is missing.

In the 2017 recording, Eurydice still sings first. But she doesn’t ask Orpheus to take her home. Instead, she reminds him of the promises he made to her. She reminds him of his sweet words, of how those sweet words were torn apart by the winter winds, the pangs of hunger. She doesn’t absolve herself of blame, either. The music is soft and sad as she admits to breaking her vows, to flying away when times got rough. Orpheus replies in kind. We can hear the strain in his voice as he reminds Eurydice of the promises she made him, the future he had dreamed of - the future she may have destroyed. This conversation is quiet and heavy. Both blame the other; both accept blame. In the quiet, they admit to the pain and suffering they put each other through. They lay each broken promise bare. And then - they make a new promise. They choose to walk together.

Hadestown is such a multifaceted musical, intersecting with environmentalism, capitalism, greed, and so many other themes. For me though, the core of the musical will always be its story about failure and forgiveness, about the ways the people we love can hurt us. For me, Hadestown is a story about the risks we take when we forgive those people, and about that shining, quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, they won’t turn around this time. Maybe, we can find our way back home.

The 2019 version might be sweeter, more romantic. But it is the 2017 version that resonates because it shows, in the moment of calm after catastrophe, exactly how painful forgiveness can be.

[midnight-shadow-cafe]

Would You Fall in Love with Me Again?

Pairing: Simon “Ghost” Riley X Female!Reader

Warnings: fluff, tears will be shed

Authors Note: I hope you enjoy, this is based off of “Would you fall in love with me again” from Epic the Musical. 10/10 would recommend

Masterlist

MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+MDNI18+

The house stood still in the quiet of the night, its porch light casting faint halos on the frost-dusted steps. Simon Riley hesitated at the door, his gloved hand hovering over the knob. The key in his pocket felt heavier than his entire pack. This house wasn’t just walls and a roof—it was everything he’d left behind, everything he feared he’d never see again.

With a deep, unsteady breath, he pushed the door open. The familiar creak echoed in his ears, a sound he hadn’t realized he missed. The hallway smelled faintly of lavender, the same scent you always favored. It hit him with a wave of nostalgia so strong his knees nearly buckled.

The soft glow of a lamp in the living room cast warm shadows over the space. Simon’s eyes swept over every detail, drinking it in as though the house itself might vanish. The beige couch, the neatly folded blanket, the wedding photo on the mantle—it was all there, unchanged. Yet, it felt distant, like a life that belonged to someone else.

He stepped further inside, the creak of the floorboards beneath his boots startling in the silence. His bag dropped from his shoulder to the floor with a dull thud, his hands curling into fists at his sides. This was home, but he wasn’t sure if he still belonged here.

“Simon?”

Your voice broke the silence like a sudden, bright light in a dark room. Simon’s entire body froze, his breath catching in his throat. Slowly, he turned toward the sound, his heart pounding in his ears.

You stood in the doorway to the kitchen, wrapped in an oversized cardigan that swallowed your frame. Your eyes were wide, your lips slightly parted as you stared at him. The light from the kitchen framed you like a portrait, and for a moment, Simon thought he might be dreaming.

“Simon,” you said again, this time softer, your voice trembling.

He couldn’t speak. His throat felt tight, the words trapped somewhere between his heart and his lips. You didn’t wait for him to answer.

In an instant, you crossed the room, your slippers barely making a sound on the hardwood floor. Your arms wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him close with a force that took him by surprise. Simon stumbled back a step, but his arms found their place around your waist, holding you tightly.

“I’m here,” he rasped, his voice breaking. “I’m home.”

You clung to him like he might vanish if you let go, your tears soaking into the fabric of his jacket. Simon felt your body trembling against his, and it broke something deep inside him.

Your knees buckled, and he followed you to the floor, his arms never leaving you. He knelt there, cradling you as you both gave in to the emotions that had been held back for far too long.

“I thought—” Your voice cracked as you tried to speak through your sobs. “I thought you were dead, Simon. I thought I’d lost you forever.”

He swallowed hard, his throat burning. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice raw. “I didn’t mean to—God, I didn’t want to leave you like that.”

You pulled back slightly, just enough to look at his face. His mask was pushed up to his forehead, revealing a face that was both familiar and different. There were new scars, lines etched deeper than before, and a haunted look in his eyes that hadn’t been there the last time you saw him.

“You came back,” you said, your hands cupping his face. “That’s all that matters.”

Simon’s gaze dropped, his shoulders sagging as though the weight of your words was too much to bear. “I don’t know if I deserve this,” he admitted, his voice barely audible. “I don’t know if I deserve you.”

Your brow furrowed, and you tightened your hold on him. “Don’t say that,” you said softly but firmly. “You’re my husband, Simon. You don’t have to ‘deserve’ anything. You’re here, and that’s enough.”

He shook his head, his jaw clenching. “Two years, love. I’ve been gone for two bloody years. You’ve waited for me while I—” He broke off, his voice faltering. “I’m not the man I was. I don’t even know if I can be him again.”

Your heart ached at the vulnerability in his voice, at the way he seemed so much smaller despite his imposing frame. You leaned closer, your forehead pressing against his. “You don’t have to be,” you murmured.

Simon’s eyes lifted to meet yours, a flicker of hope mingling with his uncertainty. “Do you mean that?”

“I mean it,” you whispered. “Simon Riley, I would fall in love with you a thousand times over. Every version of you. Every scar, every flaw.”

His breath hitched, and for the first time in years, his tears spilled over.

Simon pulled you against him again, his hands gripping you like a lifeline. His lips found your temple, pressing a soft, lingering kiss there as his tears mingled with yours. “I love you,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. “I never stopped.”

You nodded against him, your fingers threading through his hair. “I know,” you said. “I love you too.”

The two of you stayed like that on the floor, wrapped in each other’s arms, the weight of the past two years finally beginning to lift. The world outside didn’t matter anymore. In this moment, in this house, you were home.

Simon shifted slightly, leaning back just enough to look at you. “I’m going to make this right,” he promised, his voice steady now. “For you. For us.”

You smiled through your tears, brushing your thumb over his cheek. “You already have, Simon.”

And for the first time in years, Simon Riley felt whole.

Hope you enjoyed! Please consider liking and reposting! -Midnight💜

[sibyllinebooks]

would you fall in love with me again? // s.s.

summary: in the aftermath of allison’s death and the nogitsune’s possession, stiles had pulled away until your relationship snapped. until one night when he has nowhere else to go but your doorstep.

a/n: this is not proofread we die like the suitors in the odyssey ( which is coincidentally the musical of which this fic was inspired by )

a/n: i have been trying to write this for days and i still am not fully happy with it but it is what it is ( also i recommend listening to “would you fall in love with me again” from the epic concept musical by jorge rivera-herrans while reading )

word count: 1k+

you knew things wouldn’t be the same. after everything your friends had been through, change was inevitable. allison was gone. and while you knew that the nogitsune had been the cause, you also knew that stiles couldn’t not blame himself. you knew that stiles had gone through something horrible, a terror that you couldn’t imagine. but you had assumed that he would lean on you, turn to you in his hour of need, let you comfort him and tell him that it would all be okay.

he didn’t.

instead, you felt the thread of your relationship grow so thin you weren’t sure it existed anymore. he didn’t seek you out, didn’t tell his usual jokes, didn’t offer you rides home, didn’t do anything that the stiles from before would do. you wondered sometimes if you were a painful reminder of things that had been lost— if he looked at you and saw something that he no longer was allowed to have for the things the monster inside of him had done.

he never officially broke up with you. there was no messy breakup, no screaming match or sobs. he was there one day and then he just. . . wasn’t.

you didn’t hate him for it. you wanted to. god, how you wanted to hate him for ignoring you, for turning you away when he so obviously needed you. but you couldn’t. because you knew that he was still your stiles. he hadn’t changed. he had hidden. you knew that he would come back eventually.

eventually came.

it was late, the last droplets of rain pelting the roof of your house with a slowly dissipating strength. you had dozed off while the storm outside had run its course, but something had roused you. a knock. two. several.

glancing at the clock on the wall, you had no idea who would be visiting at this hour. a gnawing feeling grew in your gut as you stood and walked towards the door. had one of your friends been hurt? was there an emergency to attend to? you threw open the door with a frantic look, panic in your eyes. but it wasn’t bad news.

it was stiles.

his hair was wet from the rain, his eyes rimmed in red and his breathing heavy. he looked awful. his frame was sunken in, almost as if he were trying to diminish his presence. like he somehow bothered you for showing up. like he was afraid you would turn him away.

you weren’t sure what to say. it had been so long since you had been alone with him, so long since he had intentionally sought you out. you wondered just what had happened to make him appear on your doorstep, shaking and afraid and looking as if he was going to collapse.

“stiles. oh my god, stiles, what happened to you?”

your voice was quiet, unsure if you would spook him by speaking too loud. he seemed torn. in more ways than one. you realized he hadn’t moved and you stepped aside from the doorway, your face soft as you beckoned him in. it only took seconds for him to collapse against you, his head buried in the crook of your neck as you felt the sensation of tears against your skin.

you held him. you didn’t know how long the two of you stood there, but you held him all the same. he was trembling, holding on to you as if you were the only thing keeping him tethered. you couldn’t stand it.

gently, you pried him away from your body and he looked so broken it made your heart ache.

“what happened?”

he froze at the question, looking back at the door and for a moment you were convinced he was going to bolt. but instead, he sat down on the couch, his head in his hands as he answered.

“i killed him. i killed donovan.”

you sat down gently beside him, removing his hands from his face and cradling them in your own. and while part of you wanted to be shocked, to say he would never do something like that, the other part of you said he would. but only, only, if he’d had no other choice.

“okay.”

he looked at you, his expression puzzled, as if he hadn’t quite understood what you said. and then his expression morphed to bewilderment.

“what do you mean ‘okay’?! i tell you i killed someone and you just accept it?!”

“because i know you had a reason.”

you paused, searching for the right words.

“the stiles i know, the stiles i love, would never kill someone without having a reason. it’s not who you are.”

“what if you don’t know who i am? what if i’m not the same person? what if i don’t know who i am? what if. . . what if scott was right?”

you paled, wondering what exactly scott had said to him. had he gone to scott first, tried to explain, only to be met with judgement and disappointment? had scott spurned him? the thought made you seethe. while scott was your friend, he had known stiles for years. how could he possibly question what stiles had done? how could he not believe that stiles was still at his core who he had always been?

“he was wrong.”

“no, he was right. i’m not the same person. how could you love me? after what i did?”

you were furious. you stood, whirling on him, your voice raised as you countered.

“you’re not?! then go take your jeep apart. scrap it! put that useless heap of junk where it belongs!”

he looked up at you, hurt in his eyes that quickly turned sour.

“how could you say that?! you know what that jeep means to me! you know it was my mother’s, that it’s the last thing i have of hers! how could you tell me to get rid of something like that?!”

“if you had changed, you wouldn’t care about that. the stiles i love always cared for it. so don’t tell me that you’re not the same person. you are. you always have been. i’ve been waiting for you to realize that.”

you had him. you knew you did the moment his gaze softened. his shoulders sagged with relief, letting out a shaking breath as you sat back down next to him.

you would deal with the aftermath later. for now, you had stiles. and that was more than enough.

[sammylkcho]

I have a jealous human seb request 👉👈, The highschool au is pretty cool maybe something with that? Or whatever u think works :)))

  ༷  ㅤ !    ﹢High School AU - Jealous, jealous   ִ     ੭

Did I end up creating an AU without realizing it? Yes. Am I now obsessed with human Seb and Y/N in these kinds of scenarios? definitely

Hope you like it, my dear anon! Btw, for the fans of Epic the Musical, I was inspired by certain scenes in the song Little Wolf heheh

Warnings/Notes: escena de pelea, golpes, physical insecurities, me inspiré en human painter en el Painter de Streamer AU, using pronuns she/her with Y/N (sorry :c)

You allowed yourself to lift your head from the desk as the bell rang, signaling the start of the first recess. At that precise moment, all your classmates sprang from their seats and bolted out of the room like wild animals, desperate to escape the classroom for even a second.

You waited until at least half of them had left to avoid being pushed and squeezed between their bodies just to get out yourself. After all, your entire group of friends was absent today, so there wasn’t anyone you were particularly waiting for.

“Get up. I don’t want the cafeteria to run out of empanadas,” Sebastian said.

You lazily glanced over your shoulder and saw him standing there, hands tucked into his sweater pockets, his messy, wavy black hair as unruly as ever, and his blue eyes sparkling with that peculiar glimmer they always seemed to have.

It had only been a few weeks since you’d started talking to him—or rather, since he started talking to you. It had surprised you when he chose to pair up with you for a group project, especially since your friend didn’t protest or complain about not doing the assignment together as you two usually planned.

And it just happened—you didn’t even know how you ended up getting closer to him. Once again, you were amazed that your social anxiety hadn’t caused you to say something stupid as it often did in so many situations.

A quick snap of fingers broke your trance, making you blink and focus on the tanned fingers in front of you.

You smiled and apologized before standing up to walk alongside him, leaving the classroom to head toward the place Sebastian’s stomach most desired: the cafeteria.

“How are your siblings?” you asked, trying to start a conversation to distract yourself from the overwhelming noise around you.

“They’re fine, though… my sister’s been annoying lately, and I have to be her poor victim. So unfair!” Sebastian complained, frowning dramatically.

His exaggerated gestures made you laugh. You always enjoyed hearing how he made every situation with his siblings seem over the top. There was never a dull story about them.

Hearing your laugh, Sebastian glanced at you out of the corner of his eye. A flush of warmth rushed to his cheeks, and his palms began to feel sweaty. He quickly looked away, pulling a childish face. Loverboy.

“Hey, I’m gonna head to the bathroom for a moment. Don’t wait too long for me,” you said, stepping slightly away from his side.

He gave you a confused look for a moment before snapping out of it and flashing you a lazy smile, giving you a thumbs-up in approval.

“Just don’t take too long. I won’t promise to leave anything half-eaten,” he called out, raising his voice to make himself heard over the growing crowd of students in the courtyard.

You walked off with a small “uh-huh” in confirmation, heading straight for the bathrooms. You hadn’t realized you’d been holding it in until your bladder gave you a signal that if you didn’t go now, there’d be a bit of trouble.

It was no secret that the girls’ bathroom always had at least five people inside, most of them standing in front of the mirrors for at least ten minutes. Luckily, you only needed to take care of business and wash your hands before heading back out.

You recognized three girls from your class in there and two others who you guessed were a year or two ahead of you.

You’d always felt a bit uncomfortable around them, especially since some of them drooled over Sebastian and fit the classic “queen bee” stereotype. Honestly, you never liked them.

You entered the stall without any issues and finished up quickly before heading to the sinks to wash your hands.

Catching your reflection in the mirror, you felt a twinge of self-consciousness as you took in your appearance. You felt uncomfortable with yourself. How could you even show up to school looking like this? How could you stand next to him when—

You shook your head quickly, pushing those intrusive thoughts aside as you hurriedly left the bathroom. You’d gotten better; you didn’t need to dwell on those things—at least not as much.

Your eyes widened as you stepped outside and saw the courtyard completely packed. It was almost impossible to make out individuals in the sea of students.

You began weaving through the crowd, narrowly dodging a small paper ball some boys had decided to use as a makeshift soccer ball.

Your eyes scanned every corner of the courtyard near the tables, searching for one specific person. It was challenging, considering almost everyone had black hair. But no matter—you’d find your favorite Chilean.

Your gaze landed on a head of snow-white hair, and a smile crept onto your face as you spotted Vincent Painter in the crowd. You knew full well that where Vincent was, Sebastian was sure to be close by.

You pushed your way through, tuning out the rest of the world as you zeroed in on those two specific people.

“Painter, Seb—” The words died in your throat in an instant, the air abruptly leaving your lungs as you felt a sudden force. A hand clamped down firmly on your shoulder.

A chill ran through your body from head to toe as your heart began pounding faster and faster. You forced yourself to relax enough to turn and see who had grabbed you like that.

“Clay.”

The name seemed to slip instantly from your lips as you turned to see who it was.

It might sound cliché to say it this way, but it was the number one bully, troublemaker, and overall pain in the ass for both students and teachers alike. Always bothering people in the most unpleasant ways just to have something to do—including you.

You’d struggled to turn him into background noise back in sophomore year. Every time a teacher publicly scolded you for being late or some other "important" issue, he was always there to rub it in, mocking you for every mistake.

"Busy?" he asked with fake interest, his hand still firmly gripping your shoulder.

"A little, yes, maybe. Actually doing something worthwhile, unlike some," you muttered the last part under your breath, quickly and quietly, cursing yourself a thousand times over the moment you realized what you'd said.

His grip on your shoulder seemed to tighten and grow more forceful. You’d struck a nerve.

"Why don’t you come hang out with me and my group for the rest of the break? We’re not as boring as some," he said, maintaining that same hypocritical tone.

His hand slid down until it rested around your shoulders, as if you were lifelong friends. The gesture made your skin crawl with disgust. You wanted to shove him away, to curse him out in every way possible, to give him the slap he’d deserved for ages.

Your mind screamed yes to all of those thoughts, but your body froze, paralyzed with fear of what might happen if you so much as moved an inch while he had his arm around you.

Your legs felt like they were bolted to the ground, refusing to respond to the demands your brain was frantically making. Even though no one else could clearly see it in that moment, it was humiliating.

"No, I’m busy—"

"Someone like you is never busy."

"SHIT, NO!" you yelled with all your strength. Before he could react, you jerked your shoulders forcefully, a sharp motion that broke his grip. You freed yourself and stepped back, your body trembling with pure adrenaline.

You exhaled all the air you hadn’t realized you’d been holding in, gasping desperately for the oxygen you’d been depriving yourself of. The suffocating feeling still lingered, especially after your outburst and the scene you’d unintentionally created in front of the other students.

The noisy schoolyard, which had been alive with chatter and laughter just moments ago, fell deathly silent at your shout. Those closest to you and Clay stood frozen, watching in stunned silence to see how the situation would unfold. Further back, murmurs started among the students, curious and uncertain about what had caused the commotion.

You looked at Clay, trembling, noticing how his muscles tensed and his eyes stayed locked on you, unyielding. Neither of you said anything, locked in a tense standoff, like a predator trying not to scare off its prey.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, the only sound being your heavy, shaky breaths if someone were to listen closely enough.

Then, you clearly saw his right hand—the same one that had been draped over your shoulders—rise aggressively toward you, giving you no time to react or process what was about to happen.

The blow landed hard and fast, a lightning strike of pain erupting like a volcano in your cheek and spreading through your entire head. Your vision blurred for a moment, a dull ringing filling your ears as the world around you tilted unsteadily.

You lost your balance, stumbling to the side. Your hands instinctively reached for the ground, but the force of the impact left your arms trembling under your weight. Your skin burned where his hand had struck, a searing sensation that seemed to etch the violence into your body.

"Stop acting like a wild animal toward me! You’re that guitarist’s lapdog, so act like it—"

His words were abruptly cut off when something struck him out of nowhere, silencing him mid-sentence.

You didn’t take the moment to lift your head and see what had happened; your mind was still struggling to process the words he’d just yelled at you.

“Who the hell threw a damn empanada at me?!” he roared, utterly agitated, his fury palpable from miles away.

“Who taught you to hit a woman like that?!”

A new voice broke into the scene, one you recognized instantly.

You wanted to lift your head, even just a little, but the wave of dizziness and trembling that overtook you made it almost impossible to move.

“Shh... Come on, get up slowly and carefully. Let me help you. That bruise looks nasty,” another voice said softly, this one closer to you.

They helped you up, letting you lean on them for support as you steadied yourself, focusing on placing one foot in front of the other. Squinting, you tried to make out who it was, though you already knew.

“Painter… Seb’s—” you murmured weakly, trying to get him to stop the sudden impulsiveness of the other man.

“I know. That idiot’s trying to act tough,” Painter cut you off, rolling his eyes at the unfolding situation.

“You want to put on a show for the whole school? Fine, Solace! Let’s see how you handle this!”

Clay’s voice sent a shiver down your spine as you watched the scene play out in front of you.

Clay was advancing, his steps slow but deliberate. Sebastian instinctively stepped back, trying to keep some distance, his eyes locked on Clay’s movements, searching for any clue of his intentions.

But the gap between them was closing rapidly, the circle of onlookers around them seeming to shrink with every passing moment. Each step back was a concession, and each step forward from Clay was a reminder of who was in control.

“DON’T BE A COWARD!”

That shout rang out like the toll of a bell, marking the inevitable start of what was about to happen.

Clay lunged forward, his fist raised, ready to land a solid blow. As he closed the last few inches between them, he swung with brutal force, grabbing Sebastian roughly and shoving him back. The shove was so forceful it left Sebastian struggling to regain his balance.

Sebastian didn’t waste a second to catch his breath. He recovered immediately, ignoring his body’s cries for rest; there was no time for that now.

“Uppercut him. NOW” Painter shouted, almost as agitated as Sebastian himself at the sight of his friend fighting.

Without hesitation, Sebastian followed Painter’s instruction.

His fist shot upward with calculated precision, aiming for his attacker.

The sound of the impact was the only thing that could be heard in the courtyard—a crack that left more than a few eyes wide at the sheer violence of the scene. Clay’s jaw snapped upward with the force of the punch, sending him stumbling back, reeling from the sudden blow.

Clay forced his gaze back toward Sebastian, his face twisted into a deranged grin full of rage.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the furious voice of a new arrival shattered the overwhelming silence of the courtyard.

“Solace and Torres! I want both of you in my office NOW!” bellowed the principal, his uncontrolled fury directed at the two named offenders.

. . . . . . . . . .

“That was stupid.”

Silence.

“Impulsive. Way too impulsive.”

Silence.

“Something you’d never do. Especially getting involved in something like this.”

Silence.

“Did I mention how much of an idiot you were?” You tightened the bandage around his palm.

“Ow!” he hissed, wincing at the sting from your touch.

You shot him a glare, still struggling to understand why his foolish mind had decided to intervene and start a fight—especially one that escalated so violently.

He avoided your eyes, turning his head to the side, causing strands of his dark hair to fall across his forehead like a curtain, partially obscuring his vision.

You let out an audible sigh, one that sounded more like an exasperated groan than anything else.

Your hand was still holding Sebastian’s as you finished wrapping the bandage. Even though his palm had small, raw scrapes, his touch was warm and comforting. A part of you didn’t want to pull away.

“I just… I felt awful seeing him hit you, and I couldn’t do anything. You didn’t deserve that—especially not from a guy like him!” he muttered, pressing his other palm against his cheek in frustration.

He looked endearing like this, grumbling while trying to explain why he’d felt the need to protect you from someone like that.

“Don’t worry about it anymore, okay? I’m fine, and so are you,” you reassured him, offering a soft smile.

A faint hum, something like an “mmh,” escaped his lips.

You laughed a little more at his antics, catching a brief glimpse of crimson red coloring his cheeks. How cute.

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I honestly don't really like how Odysseus defeated Poseidon. Maybe with explanations from Jay, time, and the last saga releasing I'll come around to it, but yeah. I feel like it would have been so much more logical to see Odysseus try to be as ruthless as possible, while being cunning, but ultimately failing because it's POSEIDON, and then Zeus comes in and is like "that's enough, let the Greek go" or something. Because he's not only the king, but it would redeem him from that mess in God Games.

Fans who dislike criticism, please stay away from this post because I will not hesitate to speak my mind.

I'm glad to see others still have faith in Epic, but I'm sorry to say that I don't hope as much anymore. I did try after God Games but it only let me down. And I don't think any amount of explaining and marinating time can make it any better.

Epic the Vengeance Saga not only nerf down Poseidon in the most ridiculous way possible when he was an undoubtedly powerful god-king who was revered as the Biggest Villain throughout the musical, it also broke its own establishment that the gods always have a power leverage over the humans. Odysseus was tip-toeing around all of them, even with the seemingly friendly ones like Aeolus and Hermes, because he's literally one wrong move away from getting killed by them.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Odysseus needed a power boost from the moly just to corner Circe, he had no chance with Poseidon when he had nothing but a sword and a wind bag. No amount of pure rage and wife loving can help him charge at the King of the Sea (in his own domain even!) and leave unscathed, he'll be lucky Poseidon just drown him faster the second time. That cheap Gary Stu fight traded good storytelling for some dramatic effect and ruined it for me.

Any other route for the Odysseus VS Poseidon showdown would be significantly better. Like you said, Odysseus can try to fight or just defend himself against Poseidon for as long as he could, then Zeus and the other Olympians can intervene to save him. And yeah, Zeus deserve a redemption and an apology for ruining his image and establishment in the musical (his attack is also super OOC)

If there's an Epic adaptation on a different media, I seriously hope they'll rewrite Six Hundred Strike completely. Anything but that godawful mess.

[roxasbooth]

There was more demand for the EPIC: The Musical AU where Poseidon starts to grow fond of Telemachus

You ask and you shall receive 👀

Also I'm naming this AU "Graced by The Sea" and will tag it as such-

So! Here's more of it!

——————————

•Poseidon is walking around Ithaca's shores in disguise, as a young Telemachus happens to stumble upon him:

The silence got a bit long as the young boy and the sea god stared at each other, Telemachus with curiosity and Poseidon with annoyance.

Telemachus finally broke the silence: "Hello mister, are you also waiting for your family to return from the sea?"

Poseidon: "Errr..."

Telemachus: "It's fine if you don't want to tell me...but I know who you're waiting for would come back eventually, just as my dad will!"

Poseidon, for some reason, couldn't contain his newfound curiosity towards this child: "Who is your father, boy?"

The kid answered: "The king of Ithaca, of course!"

Poseidon stared at the child silently. Emotions were raging inside of his head like a whirlpool. This was...the son of Odysseus? The man who'd blinded his child?

Revenge was an option, and it was the one most prominent. Why shouldn't he get his very much deserved revenge right there and at this moment? He could just—

"Are you waiting for your son, mister?" The kid tugged at his robe.

Poseidon's heartbeat picked up. This was the perfect opportunity, the perfect time, and yet...

"...Perhaps." He simply answered.

"Well," the child gave him a smile, "I'm sure he'd be back before you know it!"

Poseidon nodded slightly, if that even was a nod.

"I need to return now, my mom would be worried. Goodbye, mister!" The young boy waved at him and then ran off.

Poseidon just stood there, staring at the young boy who was running back home.

The sea was then restless, and it remained as such for the rest of that day.

[dasketcherz]

Thoughts on Hugo & Varian as Odysseus + Penelope from Epic The Musical? (Not directly, but like, their songs at least. Especially "Would you fall in love with me again?") I APOLOGIZE FOR LONG INFODUMP </3 Like, which ones do you think would fit who? Imo, I believe both fit either side really well. Varian as Ody is basically him doing all the bad things he did in Corona and asking Hugo if he'll forgive him and love him, because at the time, he thought he had no choice but to do those things. Hugo never cared about what Varian did that deeply because he had his own qualms too, he was fine with waiting for him because he wasn't a monster, he was just a boy who was hurt. He was, and is, just Varian. They're both beautiful yet broken and Hugo's gonna help pick up those pieces. The "bow" that people would use for suitors is actually just a giant machine that one of them broke and if they're gonna get married to someone other than each other, then at least they can find a mechanically competent partner LOL (This goes both ways, no matter who is Ody or Penelope, thought I think it'd be fun if Hugo was Penelope, the bow would be switched out for a gun he made that nobody knew how it worked) Yet, imagine Varian as Penelope in a way. He's already gone through all of that pain before, he's just been waiting for love to find him. Waiting for Hugo. Hugo in "Would you fall in love with me again?" asking Varian if he'd still love him even if he made mistakes, did horrible things, things that he thought nobody would accept him doing even though he had no choice. Like growing up on the streets or doing dirty work for Donella. There was an inherent pyramid and where he stood was not high enough. I think Varian in Penelope's position would be exhausted (lovingly) waiting for Hugo for so long only for him to go "Would u still love me if I maybe did these bad things and there's POSSIBLYYY blood on my hands?? :c" to THE ALCHEMIST WHO RAMPAGED ACROSS CORONA FOR HIS DAD'S SAFETY!! Like... he knows what it's like to do that Hugo. Probs worse. You'll be okay.. <3 It would also be a fun parallel for Varian & Cass tbh. If he was Penelope he'd be waiting in a similar fashion to Cass. They're tired of waiting for something they want, they want it now, but it's just not possible unless something magICAL happens. Either way, they'll do what they need to do to keep it in their favor. For love or not. And finally, mildly unrelated topic, if we're taking the whole storyline out of context for Epic & just picking a song that fits them- Ofc "Would you fall in love with me again?" would be the Varigo song, but I ALSO PROPOSEEEE Varian & Cassandra's song to be "We'll Be Fine" with Cass as Athena talking about Raps & Varian as Telemachus. THAT IS ALL TY FOR READING!!

OH MY GOSH PLEASE DONT APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG POST, THIS IS STELLAR OMG IT'S SUCH A PEAK DEEP DIVE AAAA THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SCRUMPTIOUS FOOD AND SHARING IT WITH ME!!

Both alternate takes on the odysseus/penelope: varigo roles is so good!! And the talking points on why the roles can really work both ways is spot on!!

I think what's so fascinating about varigo's dynamic when it came to their misdeeds is how Hugo had stopped thinking too much about the crimes he committed because he grew up in an environment where everyone does it (to survive) hence it comes off like it's just a normal activity (that prbbly is not anywhere else) among ingvarrians (who are less fortunate) meanwhile Varian thinks about his a lot, like a constant shadow of his past that never left him and will constantly follow him no matter what path he takes in life.

So when Hugo begun to care for Varian... when Varian's opinions and how he sees him begun to matter to him—that's when he suddenly starts to genuinely reflect on his own past actions—because he wants to be good for Varian, wants to be someone worthy of his love, wants to be someone Varian deserves, wants to do better for Varian. But to Varian, he is good enough as he is, as just Hugo.

And when Varian confesses about his past, he still expects a shift to their relationship because he's afraid, afraid that he wont be accepted fully for both the good and the bad sides of himself. But Hugo doesn't let that change the way he thinks of him—because its all in the past, and he understands, like truly he gets it. And he is set on making sure Varian knows that, that he'll still love him all the same. Cuz like you said, he never saw him as a monster, he's just Varian—the silly, clumsy-prone, passionate, brilliant and kind person he came to know.

And they'll embrace each other wholeheartedly for who they are and it's just aghhh, god gay ppl man !! i cant stand them!! /VPOS

ALSO ouuughh the challenge being "figure out how this complicated mechanism that I created works" is just genius!! Like PLEEEASE they fucking would !! Its smart, its sneaky, its such a subtle way to say "fuck you im waiting for the love of my life to come back and thats not yall" and its so them-coded behavior, eating it up so hard

(and the We'll Be Fine as a Cass/Varian song is pretty fitting as well yeh! I can totally see that, I see the vision!)

[haloslips]

last night two cherished friends and i went to the brewery for one round, met some cute dogs, went back to their place for homemade beef stew. i made it until 10:30 before i had to tap out and go home, which i'm pleased with. fell asleep before midnight, woke up at 12:08am, wished myself a happy new year and went back to sleep. got up to my alarm this morning and had brunch with jess, which i am treasuring especially because i won't see her for a few months now. walked around the city i live in and thought: you are living a life.

i never thought about what it meant to be alive. i was suicidal from a young enough age that it never made sense to envision the future. it took me a long time to figure out what living could look like once i realized i was going to do it; to figure out what i like and what i want. but i'm starting to learn.

last year i: watched the kraken shut out vegas with my dad and one of my best friends; witnessed genocide; took thirteen million cat photos (and even a few selfies); saw many inspiring vanity plates; moved into a new apartment; only got one tattoo; had covid again; cried about trevor zegras (a lot); restarted therapy; got a new job; listened to the man who killed my mom plead innocent; went to three different neopets meetups; rode a horse for the first time in years; danced with my friends, giddy and drunk, at one of their weddings; published two fanfictions; broke both my wrists at the same time; saw the northern lights twice; let my friends take care of me; won a game of scrabble; saw my favorite band live; learned many new things; failed at learning some things

the best advice i ever got was that life doesn't get easier, but you get better at doing it. when i first heard it i could only think about everything i had to endure, but i realized that you don't just get better at bad things. you get better at the things you practice.

i've always liked the practice of affirmations, and upon reflection these past few weeks i decided it was time for some new ones. so, for as long as i need them, here's what i came up with:

you are allowed to take up space

you are capable

you will be okay

you are safe

you have time

this year i will: have as much fun as possible by my own standards; be vulnerable even when it isn't rewarded; use my hands to create something beautiful; cry about trevor zegras; listen to so much new music; see as many of the people i love as possible; experience the epic highs and lows of seattle sports fandom; get so fucking goofy with it; miss my mom; let my friends take care of me; act intentionally; cook something new; get nervous when philipp grubauer posts insta stories from gasworks park; celebrate new milestones; take a bunch of pictures; apply for grad school; watch new movies and read new books; appreciate as much as possible; watch as the world keeps ending; rejoice as the world goes on

[cupcake-hearts]

So I'm watching 'Class of the Titans' and I have some opinions, mainly about the gods.

Keep in mind I've only watched up to episode 18 of the first season.

Hermes - goofball. Love him. Like most on this list I wasn't sure about his design, but I have to get over the fact this isn't 'Blood of Zeus' (they can't all be sexy.) also him being Odie's mentor is so cute. Especially if you listen to 'epic' the musical.

Hera- honestly, I like how she's in charge. I still don't know where Zeus went but I really don't miss him. Very mature, very mothering, very different from ancient Greece Hera. I think she is supposed to be Jay's mentor, but nobody said it specifically.

Athena - 'badass in the arena', and best den mother. Not sure about her running around barefoot but they definitely leaned more into her warrior fighting side than the wisdom side.

Artemis - HAS KIDS!? what part of virgin goddess did they not understand? Atlanta being her descendant just throws me off. I love her but they should have made an Amazon her ancestor (more thoughts on that for another post). At this point I haven't seen enough of her to say yeah or neigh. Definitely don't hate her and she seems fun.

Herakles- like Artemis, not much to go on. He seems cool. I do head cannon that Harry's grandma is also a descendant from Herakles. How else do you explain this 80 something year old bad ass riding a giant eagle in battle?

Ares- considering his representation in modern media it could have been a lot worse. In the show he's still this gruff and sometimes rude warrior type, but never even close to evil or bad. I think he's supposed to be Archie's mentor. Weird choice considering the gods I listed above all have some close connection to the kids' ancestors. Closest connection would be the Trojan War, during which Achilles kills one of Ares's daughters.😬

Persephone - wasn't thrilled with her first appearance but I actually like her, demon tantrums and all. From what I remember, Theresa doesn't know much about Greek mythology, but she knows that Persephone spends time in both the underworld and living world, meaning that they must have talked about their personal lives to each other. I find that adorable.

Aphrodite - my queen! Just shallow enough to be vain but not uncaring or unkind. Much like the others, I'm sad we don't get to see more of her. Her relationship with Neil seems to be the closest and I have a feeling they knew each other long before Kronos broke out of Tartarus.

[stargazersnz]

Other ways of persuasion

So uhhh this is based around Epic the musical… Poseidon x Odysseus…

This was what I was peer pressured into. It was kinda collaborative thing between me and @dr-ground-zero. The insanity I went through while I wrote this was INSANE. I’m not like super proud of it but it’s the first like sneeze fic writing I’ve done in like over 5 years or something LMAO.

CONTENT WARNING - sneeze, mentions of spray (maybe mess), illness, one mention of injury.

Word Count - 2263

The waves lapped against the shores of Ithaca, home was finally in sight after a long 20 years of torment and sailing he was finally going to touch down on solid ground, fall into the arms of his wife, what more could he want? The closer he got however the swell began to grow, it was getting bumpier and his little raft was getting tossed left and right, something was beginning to rise. The water lumped up until the surface tension finally broke and Odysseus could feel his heart sink at the sight… Poseidon. The waves grew as his island was pushed further away from view, disappearing behind the dark clouds beginning to rise, this wasn’t supposed to happen, he had played the game and followed all the instructions to get home, this wasn’t supposed to happen! As Poseidon rose from the depths of the ocean Odysseus could feel every inch of life draining from him,

“There you are, coward,” the gravel in his voice sounded like it had been scraped across the rocks surrounding Ithaca, it wasn’t his usual gravel though, there was something different, something off. As the waves grew in size, capsizing the little raft that had been barely keeping Odysseus afloat was now at the mercy of Poseidon’s tides, the only thing Odysseus could do was scramble up onto the rocks for safety as the Sea God’s shadow loomed over him before it shrunk down to just nearly taller than the human himself but the ever intimidating presence still felt overwhelming. Poseidon leered at him, pushing closer to him and forcing the waves to rise, smashing Odysseus against the rocks with a pained groan, barely stumbling back to his feet and looking at the God. The ever-stoic figure of Poseidon appeared rugged, rough-looking, off. There was a red rim around his nostrils, deep bags from his eyes, and the occasional flare of his nostrils as he approached Odysseus, a crackle from his breathing as he did. Slowly Odysseus began to piece things together but he was still in disbelief, the God’s could get sick? This was definitely something…

As Poseidon drew closer to the Greek there was an unease in his breath, a small quiver almost as his chest rose and fell with unease, the waves around them starting to swell and crash with uncontrol, splashing up onto the edge of the rock, catching Odysseus with light sea spray.

“You reehh really thought you cehh… heeeh- could hide?” The Sea God asked, his breath catching as he did, the hitches causing a light cough into his clenched fist, his nose wriggling and flaring as he pushed Odysseus up against the rocks face, unable to move any further back. For some reason he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of God's nose, watching how it twitched and scrunched up as he was clearly biting back the urge to sneeze, his face betraying him with his eyes becoming half-lidded, his chest rising and falling with more aggression.

“Hehhh… heh’ERRRSHHU!!” Poseidon’s head snapped off to the side, his teeth clenching down, barely just scraping the side of Odysseus’ face with the spray, the ocean’s wave crashing up against the rocks mixing with the spray from the sneeze. The Greek was frozen in place, unable to react at the sight before him, a God seemingly having fallen to the mercy of a feeble human ailment leaving him more on the level of the one he was fighting against.

Poseidon sniffled thickly as he regained composure, his nose still not seeming completely done yet however he ignored it, his head turning back to face Odysseus who was now seemingly rather quiet and almost nervous. This made the Sea God smirk as he watched Odysseus.

“Are you starting to realize the depth of your situation?” Poseidon loved the nervous look on the other’s face as he leaned in a little closer. Odysseus could practically feel the warmth of the God’s breath on his neck and face. He began to shake softly as he felt his face flush, starting to match the shade of his nose, which was still seeming to be twitching and sniffling as he awaited the response.

“What’s the matter? Heeehh How the hiihhh high and meehhh mighty King of Ithaca has fallen,” He growled softly as his breath began to hitch again. “Wheehhh wheres thahhh that.. Haaahhh… hah’ERRSSHHUU! Ah’IRRSSHHUUUH! Where’s thad quick wit now?” He asked, regaining his composure after barely moving his head away from Odysseus, the spray glistening down onto his chest and chin while the waves crashed, and waves started to wash over their feet with each sneeze. It was slowly becoming obvious that the all mighty God of the Sea was definitely falling down a level, he looked pathetic. The God was sniffling, vulnerable and looking like one strong wave would knock him over and back into the depths. This look on Poseidon made Odysseus have conflicted feelings, it would be so incredibly easy to escape now and make it back to his home.. However this situation was ever so intriguing, he’d been away for 20 years, and Ithaca could wait a little bit longer…

“Poseidon… please, it’s been ten long years, you surely still can’t be stuck on this, just let me make it home. You look like you’re a bit worse for wear yourself…” Odysseus finally managed to sputter out some words in response as he stood staring at Poseidon. He was hoping to get through this easily without having to fight his way out, although it didn’t look like it would be a very difficult fight with the condition his opponent was in. The God’s nose constantly twitched and scrunched as he snorted back his drippy nose, the swell beginning to rise up as his breath faltered again, scrunching his eyes shut before another wrenching sneeze ran through him with a shudder as it misted across Odysseus’ cheek again. Waves splashed over the two of them, soaking them to the skin, the Greek shivering lightly which could be disguised as a cold shiver from the freezing ocean which fell over the two.

While Poseidon was recovering from this one, still in desperation to sneeze the constant buzz flooding all through his sinuses as he sniffled back wetly, his spray and mess mixing with the seawater. Odysseus swiftly twisted around and brought God down onto the rocks, leaving him there vulnerable to anything the man wanted to do. The power dynamic completely flipped onto its back like Poseidon was at that moment. The God of the Sea lay on the rocks, waves washing over him and scrunching his nose up as he looked at Odysseus with a slight bleary look on his face, stuck in a limbo of needing to sneeze but it was not coming out, the sneeze seemingly stuck just on the tip of his nose, snorting again with a scrunch of his nose again. He really did look pathetic.

Odysseus wasn’t about to let this attempted attack slide however, as he picked up the golden trident lying on the rocks, pointing the three prongs towards the pathetic man as he lay on the rocks. The king of Ithica watched as the God realised the position he was in but still fighting, and losing, his own battle against the sneeze that was brewing up again, the storm raged on in the seas.

“You’ve lost” Odysseus said smirking, standing above the God and pointing the trident down towards him but he didn’t seem to react, much rather his eyes began fluttering shut, jaw going slack as two more sneezes wrecked through his whole body, shaking it as the sneezes ran through him. The oceans rose up as he did. Odysseus could feel his cheeks heating up from this, he needed to get himself under control, this was not the time! However… he was just a man.

Odysseus dragged the trident across Poseidon's cheek, this prompting a whimper of pain from the God before tossing it to the side and pressing their lips together in a moment of madness. Poseidon jumped in surprise as he felt the Greek lock lips with him, this was definitely not what he had thought was going to happen but strangely a warm feeling began to rise up inside of him as the two lay on the rocks kissing. This was until the waves started to swell again, a reminder of what was ailing the God.

“Heehhh O-Odysseus… ihhhh hiihhh… geehh goneeehhh.. Heh-! Heh’ERSSSHHHUH! Hah’IRRSSHHHUUHH! Heehhh… ahhhh.. AH’IRSSHIUEWW!” Poseidon hitched out a desperate attempt at a warning to the other man before the sneezes ran through his body. A shiver ran down his spine as Odysseus got drenched by the spray of them, hitting him square in the face as he needed to break away from the sudden kiss, this seemed to leave Odysseus blushing brighter but he was not phased at all even with the waves roaring around them. Rather he pushed their lips back together with a soft pant as he did so, dragging himself up further onto Poseidon’s lap.

“Oh how the mighty have fallen, poor Poseidon left defenceless over a mere case of the sniffles, unable to control his own waves~” Odysseus sat above Poseidon as his index finger dragged down the bridge of the God’s nose, causing it to scrunch up with a sharp hitch which was soon followed by-

“Heh’ERRSSHHUU! Get your heehhh hands of mbe you pathetic ehhhhxcuse of a Greek” Poseidon snarled at the man who was so neatly sat in his lap as the buzzing only swelled up more, leaving him hitching and gasping desperately, Odysseus letting his finger slide under the Gods quivering nose, forcing the tickle to stay in its place, his eyes starting to water as a few tears fell. The Greek simply tutted as he rubbed his finger back and forth along the God's nose, “Now now Poseidon, I doubt you want to be saying such things in your current… predicament” He replied, a smirk crossing his face.

It was true, Poseidon, God of the Sea, was now at the mercy of a mere human who he had been waiting for at his own island for 10 years only for him to come home at the worst possible time when said God was at his weakest. Odysseus let his finger slowly move away from Poseidon’s nose as a sharp inhale escaped him just before his nose was pinched shut, a whine escaping the God along with a shaky exhale.

“Why are you doidg this?” He managed to pant out as he looked blearily up at Odysseus.

“Isn’t ruthlessness mercy upon ourselves?” Odysseus smirked and leaned in close to Poseidon again, his eyes filled with lust as he pressed their lips together again, letting go of his nose and instead letting a hand run through his hair as Poseidon was too caught off guard by the different senses to react, his nose taking the forefront of this reaction however.

“Heeehh.. Ehhhh.. HEH-! ERSSSHHUU! Heh’IRSSSHUUHH!” The sneezes flew out of him without a moment to react, the spray hitting Odysseus square in the face but this didn’t bother him only making his face flush up before pressing their bodies together, one hand on Poseidon's chest to keep him pushed down on the rocks, the waves splashing up against them, the sea God still feeling the itch in his nose. Odysseus could see this and made sure to keep his hand close to his nose, not able to help himself but to rub at it and push his nose back to expose his nostrils a little bit more. They were flaring wildly and he let out a soft moan as he felt the sneezes be pushed to the forefront of his nose.

“Heh’ERRSSHHUUU! Ih’RIISSHHHHUUHHH! Geeehh heeehhh geh’IRSSSHHHUU!” The sneezes wrenched through his body, his large frame rattling with each one, the spray hitting Odysseus being both from the ocean and the sneezes from the Sea God with the help of the human messing with his nose as they only kept on coming, “heh’IRSSHHHUU! H-hHeh- hRSSSHHHuuhhww! hHGSSHHhww!”

Poseidon was starting to sound more exhausted as the sneezes flooded out of him, the storm still looming overhead but was slowly beginning to calm down, the exhaustion of everything starting to catch up with him and Odysseus knew this was going his way.

It didn’t take long before the shores were calm again, the waves nothing more than a few ripples and small waves that would lap up against the shores. Odysseus smiled in satisfaction as he looked over to where Poseidon was lying against the rocks, panting softly and looking exhausted. His nose was dripping slightly and looked even redder than at the beginning of their encounter, Odysseus caressed his cheek gently with his hand and hummed.

“There, we seemed to have calmed down a little bit huh?” Odysseus asked with a small smirk, tilting the other’s chin upwards so they were looking at each other.

“I knew we would see eye to eye on this” he hummed and pulled away, his boat just within reach so he was able to climb aboard. With a look of pity towards the God splayed across the rocks Odysseus ripped a bit off his sail, draping it on the edge of the rocks. “Good luck, do try not to flood absolutely everywhere~”

Poseidon stared at him as he sailed away towards his homeland, snorting as he slowly slunk back into the dark waters, taking the piece of sail with him and disappearing without another sign.

[candidsoup]

Soup watches Shuang Tu (Soul Sisters)

This mini-drama (micro-drama???) of 15-min episodes is absolutely ridiculous, but somehow it's holding my attention. Maybe it's the surprisingly blatant gay. Check the box for woman inexplicably disguises herself as a man via clothes and literally nothing else and no one notices. (Not even a fake mustache!)

The first few episodes have included: getting saved but then immediately roped into a contractual marriage, hiding my gender, narrowly avoiding consummating my marriage and almost stabbing my love interest, being WEIRDLY SEXY ABOUT IT, longing gazes, poorly timed slapstick humor and SOUND EFFECTS, so many sound effects, ?????, everyone is poor hahaha I guess, ?????, GAY STUFF, how is this allowed (bc it's a low-budget mini-drama?)??

There was definitely a pun on the name of Bai Yun Xi. I'm guessing that her name sounds like "shameless," they did not explain that. In fact that the subtitles are kinda garbage half the time and might have been were machine translated. There was a line about "a hamster with a belt??" that I believe was referring to a baby boy being born and I can only think, does that mean what I think it does? Also, when I tried watching on the iQIYI app on my TV, the subs appeared with a transparent background, OVER the burned in Chinese subs, so it was exceptionally hard to read them....

I don't really understand the political plot or what Gu Jin Yu is looking for, OR what the heck is going on economically that Bai Yun Xi + co have to rob or start a new business to make money bc they're broke (what was generating income for them before?) but I'm just watching for the WAIT THIS IS GAY moments. Also, end of episode 3? ABRUPTTT is its middle name, what was that. But I don't care. I'm having fun. I can't wait for Gu Jin Yu to do the big "gender reveal" and for Bai Yun Xi to still be into her afterwards.... Wondering how that is going to work! But I think it will!

Anyway here's a couple more specific observations as I was going along:

Episode 4: Okay, EPIC dolly zoom just for a guy eating a really tasty food item

GIIIIRRRLLLLL

I've seen 4 episodes and I still don't understand the plot, but some group is trying to frame some other group and then there's just mundane things like trying to start a successful food stand. And then, cue the cute romantic music. I don't know, but it works for me since the episodes are so short. It's going to be pretty easy to binge this. 18 episodes are out now on iQIYI, and there will be 24 in total.

After I finish this and Fangs of Fortune, I really want to cancel my iQIYI sub because I'm paying for it AND Viki, so I really hope no other show premieres to iQIYI exclusively and fucks with my plans. Please. Help me.

[blushblushbear]

BEAR'S EPIC BLOGGING

so I already feel bad for the anon who asked my opinionated musical theater ass to look into Epic.

Gonna attempt to keep my thoughts succinct and all on the same thread/under read more--

but with that said if you wanna avoid this all together, which is very fair, I'm gonna be tagging this as bear's epic blogging

with that all said DOWN INTO THE CUT WE GO

So right off the bat I will say the musical IMMEDIATELY looses points cause the majority of the songs are 3-4 minutes long

I'm very much of the mind set that all big feelings and plot points SHOULD have a song, but the issue with a lot of modern musicals is that they think all songs need to be 'song' length (so about 3 to 4 minutes long)

they're wrong and I think my favorite example of how to do 'give a feeling a song but don't let it over stay it's welcome' is I guess this is Goodbye from Into The Woods (side note if you saw disney's movie of this musical, I'm so sorry, that was insulting, go watch that PBS recording with Bernadette Peters, she's amazing)-- it's about fairy tale characters, this is Jack of Jack and the Bean stock fame and this is the moment he's saying goodbye to his beloved cow in exchange for magic beans. This is a big moment for Jack and is the driving force for his actions for the first half of his story so it's important, and since it's an important beat in a musical, we sing! -- for about 30 odd seconds and then we continue with the plot cause we have A LOT of story to get through.

And on the note of A Lot of story to get through---

SO-- I'm a broke bitch, so how I experience musicals is I read through the plot summary on wiki, and as songs come up, I listen to the song.

This approach is especially apt here since there is no stage production and low key THANK GOD cause this opening number is actually pretty bad as opening numbers go.

But put a pin in that cause we'll come back to it, NOW--!

I actually gave the wiki a dry read before putting music into anything cause--- well, admittedly it's partly curious but also low key uh--- so I'm not as Hot on The Odyssey as everyone else seems to be? It's a story about a captain who gets mad lost, and losses most of his men, and cheats on his wife, and yeah I GUESS it's an epic tale of his journey home or whatever but like----

I feel like it puts a damper on things when you take some details into account--- like how it's mostly just HIS journey, fuck all the dudes he brought with him I guess. This ain't about them meme. Also 'Her white arms round him pressed as though forever' does loose some cache for me when I know cha boy like---- full on cheated on his wife on the way there. He never gave up coming home! Buuut he did take a break to get laid and loose a lot of his men on the way.

I know it's like-- cunning and he out smarts the odds and blah blah blah but like-- he's still an asshole ya know??

So I was curious how they were gonna spin this, so I read the wiki. I still have not finished the wiki cause HOLY SHIT this thing is long. I know it's supposed to be An Epic but like--- I feel like things could've been stream lined SOME. ESPECIALLY when the songs are 4 minutes a piece BRUH.

I'm going to try and have an open mind here but the odds are already against this thing from word go.

BUT OKAY, the opening number.

I know it's not a stage production but like---------

If you're gonna call something A Musical, on some level you have to treat it like one.

A lot of musicals lately seem to want to REMOVE the theater aspect of musical theater (god forbid we have some incidental music or like------ A THEME or anything)

At the start of this I'm already missing the sort of Establishing Song that's in a lot of my favorite musicals.

Or I guess I should say like--- the establishing melody or stanza or something. Not all of them are full numbers but they help set the stage (sometimes literally, fucking the way the Beetlejuice musical has all it's pieces like light up or roll in and just like the scene fades in MWAH glorious I DROOL)

But yeah, Prologue: Invisible from Beetlejuice, Overture from The Producers (which I only just realized has a bit of Prisoners of Love in the full version WHICH IS THE SECOND TO LAST SONG they really said MEDLEY! with their whole chest lol), Little Shop of Horrors from Seussical the Musi--- JUST KIDDING IT'S FROM LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, No One Mourns the Wicked from Wicked, The Ballad of Sweeney Todd from Sweeney Todd (2012 London cast my beloved), Seasons of Love from RENT, Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton (which say what you want about Miranda but DAMN this musical is so efficient and well crafted ARGUE WITH THE FUCKING WALL) HELL, EVEN HOLD ME, BATBOY FROM BAT BOY THE MUSICAL

Ever single one of these starts with a song or a bit of music that sort of Vibe Checks the audience into the world we're gonna be living in for the next 2 to 3 hours and if they don't also act as a whole on establishing number (aka a Welcome To This World song or Here's The Start of The Plot song) then it's the very next number in the show and usually follows IMMEDIATELY after

(Opening Night from the Producers, Rent from RENT, The Whole Being Dead Thing from Beetlejuice, Aaron Burr, Sir from Hamilton, No Place like London from Sweeney Todd, AND Downtown/Skid Row from The Little Shop of Horrors MY BELOVED, HAZBIN HOTEL FUCKING WISHES SHE COULD BE YOU SO BAD, MY BEAUTIFUL FLAWLESS, DARLING!!! {okay but seriously Happy Day in Hell wanted to be Skid Row so fucking bad but she tripped over the starting line and broke her neck, deadass. Though to be fair Hazbin sweetie, you never stood a chance, Skid Row does SUCH an AMAZING job introducing it's world, establishing it's characters and their wants and feelings, No One can beat it. THAT FUCKING PART WHERE THE BUMS ARE CLIMBING THE DAMN FENCE LIKE FUCKING ZOMBIES you live in my head rent free! You and the lady who starts the song-- DAMN! Sing it child INDEED.})

But yeah, back to Epic.

I'm not going to hold the fact that it doesn't sound like Full Musical Theater deal against it since it's basically a handful of people headed mostly by One Guy (there is no pit, there is no orchestra, it's not a whole ensemble of singers), but I WILL hold the fact that it basically doesn't have an establishing number at all at it's start against it.

No Vibe check, no settling in, just BAM! In medias res! Hey dude, I know you're in a war right now, but you gotta kill this baby dude, trust.

It really did just smack me in the face with it's plot. (full palm)

AND THE FACT THAT THIS IS GREEK MYTH LIKE-------

HELLO??????? GREEK CHORUS??????? WHERE ARE YOU GREEK CHORUS??????? GODS AND OR MUSES???? OUTSIDE OBSERVER TO TELL THE STORY THAT COULD'VE GIVEN US A PROPER ESTABLISHING NUMBER???????? THAT CONCEPT IS /LITERALLY/ FROM GREEK MYTH?!?! ESPECIALLY SINCE THE GODS ARE APPARENTLY ALREADY HUDDLED AROUND WATCHING ANYWAY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

like.......................................

Like I said at the top of things I literally feel so bad for that anon. They probably did not know I am Mad Opinionated About Musical Theater but I am. And they did not know the land mine they stepped on by low key suggesting me to give it a listen.

Unfortunately I am Anton Ego here. I don't LIKE musical theater-- I LOVE IT.

THIS ALL BEING SAID---

I will say I think a saving grace for me during this is that Jorge Rivera-Herrans has a pretty solid singing voice.

It's very modern musical pretty boy which I'm not the hugest fan of by I can def see why people want to draw a face to match it and/or apply it to their blorbos and ocs.

This ride is already starting out bumpy for me, but my butt's probably just sensitive, so take my bitching with a grain of salt.

Also know that just cause I'm complaining doesn't mean I hate it. I complain about Blush Blush all the time in the discord and I basically spend most of my free time doing shit on here so--

Alright, I'm gonna get through a few more songs before I tune back into yap some more

I'd say stay posted, but like--- maybe don't I'm always a complainer when it comes to modern musical theater <XD;

[aikokoko33]

𝑻𝑾𝑶 𝑻𝑯𝑹𝑶𝑵𝑬𝑺, 𝑶𝑵𝑬 𝑯𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑻

୨୧┇Pairing: Telemachus X male!Reader

Teheh finally a male reader X epic the musical am I right? :3

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉ℯ𝓇 ℴ𝓃ℯ

Telemachus walked silently around the halls of the palace , careful to not draw unwanted attention from the suitors who were busy eating and drinking.

"Telemachus." The soft voice of his mother broke the silence of the hall

"Yes , mother?" He answered, turning to look at her

"..I would like for you to accompany me to a ..meeting to put it that way." She started , her eyes softening at the boy's obvious tension

"A meeting?" He asked , a small pause before asking again

"What kind of meeting?" He asked , a bit skeptical

"..a meeting with a kingdom I do not really like and I would appreciate if you'd keep me company.." she said , her voice nervous

Telemachus , sensing his mother's nervousness eventually nodded , agreeing to her request...after all it was better than listening to the suitors torment him everyday.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Vairya's footsteps echoed trough the halls of the Ithaca palace , his head turning around to look at the palace's details."..Remind me why are we here again?" He mumbled , annoyed

Antheia, his mother turned her head , her eyes glistening with mischief."Because , now that Odysseus is basically declared dead we can take advantage of that and use Penelope to our benefit." She said , a small smirk forming her lips.

"..we don't know if the guy is actually dead , mother" Vairya mumbled , straightening his tunic.

His father , Asklepio glared at him "The King has been gone for 20 years , how could you possibly think he's still alive?"

"I mean , think about it" Vairya started "we don't know for sure if the king is actually dead..what if he's still on his way? Maybe he's fighting with monsters or something.. don't you think it's kind of suspicious that the great Odysseus hadn't came home in 20 years? You never know , Father"

His father narrowed his eyes , placing a hand on his shoulder "Vairya , you are the future king of Kratheos. Act like it. We can't have you doubting everything! Now come one , straighten up and act like a future king."

Vairya straightened up as his father told him , his eyes remaining emotionless despite the feeling he felt in his stomach.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

"My my , Penelope this place sure has...changed since your husband had lastly been home.." Antheia said , her voices smooth yet venomous.

Penelope remained calm , despite the urge to throw the insult back. "Yes..it indeed has changed since the suitors are here..but let's focus on the main reason you're here , not my palace."

Asklepio cleared his throat "yes , I apologise for my wife's behaviour...she tends to make unnecessary comments.."

While Asklepio was talking with Penelope , explaining why they're here Vairya's eyes shifted to the Prince of Ithaca , his gaze lingering more than it should.

"..uhmm.. I'm Telemachus, prince of Ithaca.." Telemachus mumbled , extending a hand for a handshake with a nervous smile.

"..I know who you are , your highness" Vairya said , keeping his hands behind his back.

"..please , no need for formalities..just call me Telemachus" he said , still attempting to be friendly.

"..by your name? I thought every future king should know that we don't use the names of the royal people when we first meet...or did your daddy never teach you?" Vairya said , a small smirk forming his lips

Telemachus's eyes darkened , a snarl forming his face "watch your tongue. You're in MY palace. You won't disrespect my father like that." He growled , getting in his face

"My my , so violent..you wouldn't wanna start a fight in front of your mother , would you?" He grinned , enjoying Telemachus's distress.

"..you little—" he growled but Penelope interrupted.

"Telemachus." She said in a firm tone.

Telemachus froze , his gaze flickering to his mother.

"...sorry mother.." he mumbled , looking down in shame.

Gods this will be a long meeting...

I apologise in advance if this is not so well made it's my first time actually writing something like this 😔

[islandtarochips]

Decease Brother Returning Home AU?

(I need a better title for this AU 😓)

Okay...ever since the Epic: The Musical, The ITHACA SAGA has released. It had given me SO much sad and angsty thoughts for my COD OCs. In a different AU.

Hear me out. If you remember in Tiala's bio and even Kanoa's bio about losing their Older brother who went on a mission and had suddenly passed from that. Which it broke the two very much. Mostly to Tiala. As you can see, this older brother is named Hōne and he is like the closest brother that Tiala had ever been with.

These two had always have their fun time together when she was little before he went into the Marines. He usually come and visit from time to time just to see his little sister. But when Tiala JUST turned 16. Waiting excitingly for her brother's return. She had received a very sad news about Hōne's passing from the mission. It had broke her SO much that she doesn't want to celebrate her birthday any more.

So in THAT case. I have put a LOTS of thoughts for this kind of AU. An AU that Hōne has been alive the whole time and had return home after 20 years (yes. I'm following the year reference of what this song had said.). And I want to show you of THIS part of the song that got me eyeballing when I think about it.

From the Ithaca Saga, the song called "I Can't Help But Wonder", this part have given me such...saddened (not in a BAD way) thoughts of how Hōne saw his little sister again.

(Damn this part ALWAYS gets me 😭) This Video from YouTube

So, in this part instead of saying "SON" just imagined hi saying "SISTER". So when Hōne had finally returned back home. And the first person that he wanted to see is his sister. And once seeing her standing there. He would be very much surprised to see her so grown up. From a 12 year old (that was when Hōne went on that mission) to a grown adult woman. Imagining the tears coming out of his eyes to see her and how much pain he has for missing out to see that little girl to be a great female soldier.

But it's not convincing for Tiala to believe that he's ACTUALLY is that brother who she thought was dead LONG time ago. But after Hōne had convinced to her that he really is him. Imagined that Hōne said (like in that song), "My sister I am HOME!" Instead of "My son I'm finally HOME!" Just to be clear!

And these two had got into each other's embrace. Tiala crying in tears with joy as she finally had her brother back once more. Hōne also met his other siblings and his parents again.

Such a lovely family reunion! 🥲

And oh! ANOTHER thought for Hōne in this AU! After meeting his family again, he had felt that there is ONE person that he would like to get to know again. Which is Alana. The General was there to meet with the Toa family until she ended up seeing someone who she thought was gone. Her lost soldier. Had found his way back home again.

Which THIS part of this same song:

THIS part had gotten my heart so soft of thinking about Alana talking with Hōne. To be honest, she was in shocked and a bit nervous. For how many years that she's been carrying that guilt ever since she lost him. The same kind of guilt she has with her old comrades. Not being able to get out to assist him.

Hōne can see that pain from his old friend. And he try reassuring her that his disappearance is not her fault. The two had talked it out and hugged each other as the old soldier of hers had lifted her heavy guilt up. And now they're both in good terms before Alana let Hōne go see his family.

MY GOOOOOOOOSH! THIS AU IS GONNA KILL ME WHEN I'M ABOUT TO WRITE IT! 😭😭😭

So yeah, that's what I'm gonna work on later on. And I thank you guys for reading this far. I swear, I can't get enough of angst for my poor OCs! So I'll be posting this sooner or later! Love ya, peles!

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[insert-clever-username-1133]

*burns down building cutely* guys im literally just a girl!!!

welcome to my blog

hi guys!!! im loralai but you can call me lora. this post is a running collection of all my chaos

you guys like lists? good bc that's all ive got for you

~

stuff i do

art

i draw in ibis paint on my phone with a disc stylus and use capcut to edit animatics (which yes, i can still do, despite being in the us). most of my stuff is tagged with either #art or #doodles, rarely both. doodles is my old tag for sketches and... well, doodles. i put everything under the art tag now

writing

i have one published fic right now with another multi chapter on the way and some one shots im going to get to eventually! i don't have an update schedule. im little1133 on ao3

music

if you have perfect pitch talk to me please i need someone who understands the feeling when you get a song stuck in your head and you can't remember what key it's in but all the keys you picture it in sound wrong so now it's in your head but it sounds WRONG

fandoms

epic the musical

this is my main fandom right now! epic has had a huge effect on my life, gotten me back into drawing and writing :) im always down to yap about the babies or read your fic or whatever

i love odypen so so much. also i heard someone use the ship name penelody and that's the prettiest ship name ive ever heard i think. platonic eurypoli is also one of my favs. im a eurylochus defender for life

if you follow me you are big time signing up for epic spam

kotlc

this is my longest-term fandom i think. i love this little fandom so much!! Katie (@ myfairkatiecat , very cool user) got me into it last summer (i know, not very long term for my longest term fandom. im young okay). im a keefe defender (sorry stria) and i love fintan pyren a normal amount. fav ships are sokeefe, dexiana, and fintante! i am a sucker for platonic sophitz. they go well together what can i say

iywalirayhtdwa > wiityispb

percy jackson / riordanverse

i love love love this series so much. leo is my baby. percabeth should be called smartwater for ever and ever. i don't participate in this fandom because i learned my lesson from kotlc about joining the fandom before you're done reading and ive already gotten spoiled enough just from random youtube comments. am i really going to abstain from this fandom until ive read all however many series there are? probably not

greek mythology in general

dnd

yeah... right above this is percy jackson and epic the musical. you knew this was coming. im rapidly turning into the greek mythology kid. it's bad.

hadestown

i listened to the soundtrack with animatics a bit ago and im planning on watching a recording of the actual show. this musical has already. made me. FEEL THINGS. A LOT. doubt comes in absolutely broke me which im sure isn't a surprise to anyone who's seen hadestown. just like in epic Hermes is a whole vibe and a half. living it up on top, chant, and why we build the wall have alternated being played on loop in my brain. this musical is literally so.

im currently playing in a dnd campaign (#ivanna) as an elven wizard named Ivanna and in the late planning stages of dming a campaign (#crossfire campaign) for me and my friends. im unwell about both of these things

mouthwashing

i... don't have much to say about this fandom. im not very active in it. love the fanart. love daisuke and anya ofc. we be taking responsibility with this one

elnea kingdom

i don't really post about this game on here because the fandom is mainly on Reddit. this is here purely for propaganda. look up this game and play it. you know you want toooo ohh you wanna play it soooo baaaad

posts i want you to see

too lazy to do this list rn. im gonna link the seaglass vacker eyes post, the Ody is the short one in odypen, and some of my top posts later

tags ig

#art - self explanatory.

#bookmark - things I'm saving to refer back to later.

#liveblog - ive been doing this less lately but it's always a tradition for me to do at least a few liveblogs whenever im consuming a new media. i love this tag because it contains my magnum opus: my huge reblog chains with every little thought i had while reading kotlc. all of them have like 40 self reblogs to just add to them. there's a chain for each book, and i did it for the first like 5 or 6 books. i highly recommend looking at those they're very funny.

userboxes + other

i don't have a dni. if i don't like you ill block you

im not donating to your gofundme

my interests are subject to change on a whim with zero warning

[chaoschaos1]

Initial breakdown over, now it’s time to start bouncing off the fucking walls.

(incredibly incoherent and long rant incoming lmao)

FIRST OF ALL. THE UNDERWORLD. JAY WHAT, IN THE NICEST WAY POSSIBLE, THE FUCK??

I WAS EXPECTING POLITES. AND IT STILL HAD ME ON THE VERGE OF A BREAKDOWN. YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME JAY YOU CAN’T HIT ME WITH THE OPEN ARMS CHORUS WITH SO MUCH ECHO TO IT THAT IT SOUNDS EMPTY. POLITES IS THE LAST MF THAT SHOULD SOUND EMPTY STOP IT.

THEN YOU HIT ME WITH ANTICLEA? THE WAITING MOTIF WITH PENELOPE?? THE LITTLE “mum?” FROM ODY STOPPP. “I'M RIGHT HERE, MUM, CAN'T YOU SEE”??!?!? Jay. Sir you already broke my heart you didn't need to blend it as well wtf??

“I took too long” POLITES GET OVER HERE YOUR BESTIE NEEDS A HUG. LIKE BADLY.

AND THEN THE LAST CHORUS??? THE YELLING??? THE EMOTION???? JAY IS YOUR VOICE OKAY?? MY DUDE. MY PAL. MY GOOD FRIEND. WHAT.

AND THEN NO LONGER YOU?? BRO. BRO YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO MEEE. MASON ABSOLUTELY FUCKING KILLED IT. THOSE HIGH NOTES?? BRO IM LITERALLY A GIRL WITH A FAIRLY HIGH RANGE AND I CAN'T HIT THOSE WITHOUT GOING SQUEAKY??? LIKE DUDE BRAV-THE-FUCK-O

THEN THE “WHO”. JAY I WOULD LIKE TO REPEAT IS YOUR VOICE OKAY??? I'VE HAD THIS SHIT ON LOOP FOR HOURS NOW AND IT ALWAYS CATCHES ME OFF GUARD BECAUSE OF HOW ENRAGED IT SOUNDS??

AND MONSTER. HOOOO BOY MONSTER. YEOWCHIES. YIKES FOREVER. MMM NOTHANKYOU. OKAY FIRST OFF THAT FIRST NOTE REMINDED ME SO MUCH OF HORSE AND THE INFANT AND FRANKLY I’M NOT OKAY.

CAN WE JUST TALK ABT HOW. JUST. EMPTY IT SOUNDS?? BROO. BROOOO. THIS IS A FEDERAL OFFENCE. THIS LEVEL OF EMOTIONAL BLUDGEONING SHOULD BE ILLEGAL.

“I’ll become the monster” [intermission starts] THAT DESERVES JAIL TIME. ILLEGAL. YOU DON’T GET TO DO THAT TO ME. I’D BE SOBBING IN THE THEATRE SO HARD MFS ACROSS THE STREET WOULD HEAR ME

Ok listen I've cried because of Epic before. Several times. But never have I had a full on mental breakdown and had to start beating the everloving shit out of my pillow to cope with it. Jay, level with me here, how much crack did you put into this saga? JAY, WHAT THE FUCK???

Listening to this musical isn’t enough. I need it injected directly into my bloodstream.