#three down four to go!

[mokadevs]

yellow💛

[gingermintpepper]

Okay, let's finally talk about EPIC's Apollo

I feel very compelled to say, first of all, that I do not dislike Epic. In fact, I am very fond of Epic and have been following its production and status very eagerly! I attend all the launch streams, I watch all of Herrans' update videos; I am, at the end of the day, a fan and I want it to be known that my words are spoken out of love and passion as much as they are spoken from a place of critique.

So really, what my problem with Epic's Apollo?

In the briefest possible terms; the choice to have Apollo be defined by his musical aspect in God Games is thematically strange. And not in the 'oh well in the Odyssey, Apollo was important to Odysseus and his family so it's weird that that wasn't kept in Epic' strange, strange in the sense that Odysseus' character arc since My Goodbye has been getting more and more obviously Apollonian and so it is positively bizarre that when we get to meet Apollo, the god seems entirely disinterested in him and his affairs. So much so that he is not even defined by any station that would indicate that he has been watching over and protecting Odysseus and his family.

What do I mean by 'Odysseus has been following an Apollonian arc'? I'm so glad you asked!

Remember Them is the last song in which Odysseus explicitly uses his sword until Mutiny where he must use it to defend himself against Eurylochus' blade. He uses it to help enact the plan to conquer Polyphemus and, due to Polites dying in that battle, Polites who wished for Odysseus to put the blade down entirely and embrace a post-war life, Odysseus also retires his sword. This is an action that symbolically separates him from Athena - and the image of Odysseus as a traditional warrior set for him in Horse and Infant - as much as My Goodbye physically separates him from the goddess and her war-ways - from this point onwards, Odysseus will no longer be leaning on Athena's wisdom or methods to solve his problems. Likewise, he will no longer be able to rely on her protection.

Odysseus thusly solves most of his upcoming problems through diplomacy and avoidance. He approaches Aeolus - a strange and ambiguous god (both in gender and in motivation) and appeals to them for help. Circe too, he approaches not with wishes to conquer or for revenge, but for the safe returning of his men and an alternate way forward. In all of these scenarios, there is some Apollonian element which is subtly interweaved alongside the influence of other gods; it is with a bow and arrows that Polyphemus' sheep is slain (and thus it is this Apollonian element which is at the root of Odysseus' spat with Poseidon), it is a vision of Penelope that warns Odysseus that his men are about to open Aeolus' wind-bag, Circe's peace offering to Odysseus is to refer him to a prophet of Apollo who has since died.

In this way, Apollo is walking alongside Odysseus for all of his journey after Athena departs - even in the Underworld, he is guiding him. It is Tiresias' proclamation that is the last straw for Odysseus, it is by the power of a mouthpiece of Apollo that Odysseus decides to embrace his ruthlessness. It is with the bow and arrow that Odysseus subdues the siren who sought to trick him, likewise, Odysseus does not attempt to undermine or escape the fate of paying Scylla's passage price - he knows of the doom about to befall the six men and quite unlike the rest of the journey until this point, he does not fight against it. This all comes to a head on Thrinacia where it is a blade which sacrifices the sun god's cow and brings destruction upon the crew once more.

My point with all of this is that when I heard the teasers for God Games years ago, it made perfect sense to me that Apollo would be Round One - he is not Odysseus' adversary and has no reason to oppose Athena's wish to free him. From other teasers about what will happen in the climax of Epic, Apollo will still be walking alongside Odysseus - it is Apollo's bow that Penelope will give the suitors to string. Likewise, it is Apollo's bow that will prove Odysseus' legitimacy and identity. That bow will be the power by which Odysseus hunts his adversaries and cleans out his palace - it is Apollo who is the avatar of Odysseus' ruthlessness, not Athena.

So tell me, truly, what was the point of having Apollo raise a non-argument in God Games? Why have him appear unconcerned, aloof and slightly oblivious? Why have him appear in his capacity as the Lord of Music at all?? And if the intention was never to make Apollo an active player in Odysseus' life like he was in the Odyssey, why keep Odysseus as a primary archer?

The answer of course is that Apollo is inextricable from the fabric of the Odyssey - his influence and favour exudes from Odysseus just as much as Athena's. In Athena's ten year sulk, it would have been Apollo who kept Telemachus and Penelope safe. It would have been Apollo protecting Odysseus from Poseidon's gaze as he travelled the seas (according to the Odyssey anyway)

Forgive me for not being excited about something that I thought was being purposefully set up. I was extremely ecstatic about all of the little Apollonian details that litter the sagas because I know where this story ends up (loosely) but all God Games did was reveal that maybe those Apollonian details were not intentional at all, but merely the ghost of the Apollo who persistently haunts those he favours, even if he cannot explicitly come to their aide in an adaptation.

[error-404-fuck-not-found]

you know if tswift said "oh i've got this new album but i just don't feel comfortable dropping it while there's a genocide in the middle east" we'd have a ceasefire fucking yesterday

[noonbeam-stims]

multiverses by nuclear bubble wrap stimboard with glowing orange and black space stims requested by ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RAAHHHH

SOURCES

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[xxplastic-cubexx]

what is your favorite thing about charles and your favorite thing about erik? separately, as in what you like most about their characters :]

a devious question this one is, my friend!!! it's hard enough for me to explain my thoughts cohesively, but having to pick ONE thing i particularly love is difficult. with characters like charles and erik, theres been so much done with their characters over the decades and so they have so many components to them that make them so interesting and fun to observe. BUT I TRY FOR YOU TODAY. under the cut i kinda ramble and the size of this text box makin me anxious

i think if i were to be simple and broad, what i enjoy most about charles is his determination to help others, even if he isn't really thanked and/or if people don't even like him. ofc, this isn't to say he hasn't done wrong- to be honest, the fact he does wrong/questionable things at times is another aspect of him i really enjoy, maybe because- broadly speaking- he's meant to be altruistic (intent vs outcome and all that). i don't know if that's super exciting to most people, but it is for me

as for erik, my reason for liking him is easier to explain tbh. To Be Simple And Broad, his progression from villain to antihero over the decades has been fun to observe (as much as i have so far anyhow) and analyze. i think to be a bit more specific, him using his rage and pain as justifications for his villainous actions is definitely what compels me the most: hurt people hurt and the sort, an idea i've always found interesting (something something vicious cycles and the like). yet now, he recognizes this wasn't really. A Just Thing To Do and is beginning to change that, which i enjoy

[starry-bi-sky]

i made a rough timeline for the clone^2 au, just for my own convenience sake when dating things. some things might be out of order from the episode date, and thats also for my convenience.

September 3rd: Danny, age 14, has the accident in the lab that turns him liminal

September 10th: Danny is discharged from the hospital and given two weeks leave from school

September 24th: his sick leave ends, and Danny returns to school

October 14th: Danny sneaks into his parents' basement and releases the ghosts they have trapped in cages. Official birth of the vigilante, Phantom

November 27th: Danny fights Pariah Dark, and wins

December 24th: the Ghost Writer torments Danny

February 12th: Danny's 15th birthday

March 3rd: its been six months since Danny's accident

March 7th: Danny fights his evil future self

May 8th: Danny meets Ellie [age 15] and they become twins

December 14th: Danny finds out from his parents that he's a clone

February 12th: Danny's 16th birthday

Early-Mid April: Danny meets Damian [age 6] :)

Mid-Late April: Damian runs off for the first time, damages Danny's hands the first time

May: Damian runs off two more times in the span of three weeks, he damages Danny's hands both times.

Early June: Damian runs off one more time, damages Danny's hands again, resulting in permanent nerve damage.

Mid-Late June: Damian finally gives up on the League coming to get him and joins the Fenton Family.

July: Damian finally coaxes Danny into letting him come along with him on patrol: Wraith is born.

[druidonity2]

I looked at my fanart of War Crimes with Anduin holding himself dying with Chromie, and I decided I wanted to draw more Anduin trauma with dragons...(wip)

[fluffyapplecat]

MATT BE LIKE HAPPY EIGHT YEAR ANNIVERSARY GUYS, I KILLED VAX AGAIN

[probablygayattorneys]

Shu Takumi addressing the writer’s room about his ideas for Edgeworth’s dad’s design

[clowneryandshenanegans]

Honestly what we should do is just make an animated series where we take every idea people have for remaking the Minecraft movie and have little bits of Steve and Alex getting into some shenanigans throughout the way

[incorrectsibunaquotes]

KT and Nina randomly being college roommates is canon, I don’t care that the odds are super slim. I think it’s fate.

[maxdurden]

in the world of spyre, how much do we know about high court? like it's a predominantly (if not completely) human nation. it seems like worship of sol/helio is important. is it like,,, a theocratic ethnostate oorrrr???

and it would be completely high fantasy bs, right? i mean, solace is the only nation with arcano-tech, right?

[greasydumbfuck]

the holy trinity of frank castle character traits. to me

[kyouka-supremacy]

(´･ᴗ･ ` )

[better-call-mau1]

So I know that Ezra’s flirtation with the Dark Side is generally considered to be his lowest point in the series, and AUs where he’s an inquisitor are almost always tragic and depressing…but for a while I’ve been playing around with an AU that’s basically a cracky dark comedy — one where Deputy Director Wren of the Advanced Weapons Research Division carries on a sometimes-secret-but-other-times-not-so-much romance with the new Grand Inquisitor. 🤪 For some reason I’ve had a ton of fun writing dark!Sabezra from their own Imperial POV, so I wanted to share this meet-cute (or meet-evil?) snippet:

“You know, this would have been a lot easier if you were already dead!”

“Do you expect me to apologize for that?!”

“Yes, yes I do! This entire errand is completely beneath me!”

As a Mandalorian — even if her people reviled her — Sabine had no particular affinity for Force-wielding maniacs. The galaxy was a lot better off without thousands of do-gooder Jedi frolicking from system to system, starting wars and spreading chaos on their endless crusade to convince themselves of their own piety. She knew significantly less about the Sith and their acolytes, but after a total of twenty minutes in the company of the Grand Inquisitor, she couldn’t say that her opinion had improved much.

“Too bad for you, Governor Tarkin wants me back in one piece,” she spat. Brushing hair out of her face, she peeked from behind the stack of supply crates to fire a few more shots at Saw Gerrera’s terrorist minions, still pouring out of the base by the dozen. “Half of these traitors are wearing stolen Imperial armor. If High Command stopped dumping credits into Stardust and gave me what I needed to mass-produce the Duchess, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

The inquisitor’s red blade hummed past her ear as he swatted a blaster bolt back across the airfield, striking a Tognath directly between the eyes. Standing over her, shielding them both from the Rebel volley with one arm folded behind his back, he did cut an impressive figure — tall and broad-shouldered with his dark hair tied into a knot and beard trimmed meticulously, he wielded a cold resolve that Sabine was very glad to have on her side at the moment…not that she’d admit as much, of course.

“In case you didn’t notice,” he hissed, “I’m wearing Imperial armor too!”

“Believe me, I noticed!”

As miserable as her capture had been, her rescue wasn’t going very well either. Gerrera’s men had blown up the inquisitor’s TIE before they could escape, and the old Republic airbase — now a Rebel airbase, she supposed — was nestled in the heart of a canyon, providing an irritatingly effective natural defense against enemy fighters and bombers. Their reinforcements were already long overdue, but at this point, nothing less than a platoon of death troopers could drive off the swarming rebels.

With a flick of his wrist, the Grand Inquisitor sent a thermal detonator sailing back the way it’d come. “I’ll be having words with Admiral Konstantine when we return,” he snarled, which Sabine understood as a rough translation for, “I’ll be throttling Admiral Konstantine when we return.”

But ‘when’ seemed to be a bit optimistic. She knew that even with the Rebels’ archaic weaponry and pitiful training, it would only be a matter of time until the two of them were overwhelmed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an Ishi Tib and Twi’lek setting up a heavy blaster cannon on a tripod — and as amusing as it might’ve been to watch the broody, quippy dikut beside her get smoked like a womp rat, she needed him alive if she had any chance of surviving herself. (Also, as an artist, she couldn’t bear to see a face like that pulverized by a bunch of insurgent rubes.)

Raising her blaster, she fired three shots: the first struck the Ishi Tib in the flank, sending him stumbling into his comrade; the second caught the Twi’lek in the gut, right as he began to unload on their position; and the third took out the leg of the tripod, which collapsed onto its side, spraying those nearby with a short burst of friendly fire.

“You’re welcome!” she barked. With a sharp elbow to his thigh (a very well-muscled thigh, as it turned out), she earned herself an indignant huff, probably the closest the inquisitor ever came to expressing gratitude.

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Things I think about all the time regarding Peter B is how a lot of his movement feels almost like laziness but it's actually just an absurd amount of skill and experience. he's been doing this longer than anyone else there, so he knows how that villain speech is going to play out, doesn't look when he fires a web because he knows exactly where it's going to land, and he's absolutely able to predict where Miles is going to go and catch up to him when no one else can. because peter b has been at this longer than everyone else there and it's literally second nature to him. give me more middle aged experienced superheros please.