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I wonder if even after Odysseus returns, Telemachus still wakes up in a cold sweat some nights and goes to pace in front of his mother’s door. There’s light and loud talking and laughing and Telemachus grips his sword tightly, tense as he knows he can’t let anyone near.

The door opens and Telemachus jolts, turning to see a man standing in the doorway behind him. He lunges forward, but the man grabs his wrist and shoulder, disarming him and bringing him to the ground. He closes his eyes, bracing himself and feeling a burn in his throat. He failed. He can’t protect her. He-

Suddenly there are gentle hands on his face. A soothing voice replacing the cacophony that the prince realizes had never existed. He looks into his father’s eyes with shame, blinking back tears as the king gently takes him into his arms. Odysseus promises his son that he’s safe, brings him back to rest beside him and Penelope, and lets him have just a few hours of peace before it happens again.

Just thoughts.

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Penelope could easily be painted as the damsel yearning for her lover, the woman without much agency waiting for her husband to come home (which of course we all know she isn't, she is a literal and metaphorical queen), and in a lesser story*) she might have been cast into that stereotype. I think that is why I love her almost yelling "You're mine" at Odysseus in WYFILWMA.

It is so possessive and decisive, ruling out any "buts". It perfectly underlines her steadfastness, her loyalty, her agency. She claims Odysseus as hers without question once she knows it is really him, that he is finally back home. She is seemingly offended that Odysseus even suggests that she might not accept him after how much he has changed. (She will make her own mind up about that, thank you very much, and said mind has been made up for 20 years btw)

It is not only that Odysseus has come home and now she chooses him. No, she has been choosing him over and over and over for the past 20 years with every action she took. It is not him coming back that now puts her in the position to choose him - it only reveals that choice, that there never was another choice other than Odysseus. Which leads me to my honorable mention:

Ody: "[...] You’ve been waiting for love."

Pen: "I've been waiting for you."

Penelope definitely had a surplus of suitors (108) and even if their motives might have been questionable, she could have easily found a new husband if that was what she wanted, maybe even one that genuinely loved her. But Penelope's love is Odysseus. Love for her is synonymous with him. No one else is even worth considering, she would rather be alone or even die before she gives any other man the time of day.

tldr; I love love LOVE the wording in WYFILWMA, how it shows how Penelope is just not taking this shit from her husband. She knows what she wants and that is Odysseus, even if it is not the original model but the slightly banged up version, the heavily traumatized, now with grey hairs probably, war criminal, ruthless god torturer version of her husband.

Because he is still her husband, goddamn it.

This might very well not make much sense bc I am insane over them currently

*) "lesser story" is not referring to the odyssey or saying epic is better than the odyssey, I mean to compare them both to any completely different work (or franchise if you will) that does not give characters agency where they should have it

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Penelope could easily be painted as the damsel yearning for her lover, the woman without much agency waiting for her husband to come home (which of course we all know she isn't, she is a literal and metaphorical queen), and in a lesser story*) she might have been cast into that stereotype. I think that is why I love her almost yelling "You're mine" at Odysseus in WYFILWMA.

It is so possessive and decisive, ruling out any "buts". It perfectly underlines her steadfastness, her loyalty, her agency. She claims Odysseus as hers without question once she knows it is really him, that he is finally back home. She is seemingly offended that Odysseus even suggests that she might not accept him after how much he has changed. (She will make her own mind up about that, thank you very much, and said mind has been made up for 20 years btw)

It is not only that Odysseus has come home and now she chooses him. No, she has been choosing him over and over and over for the past 20 years with every action she took. It is not him coming back that now puts her in the position to choose him - it only reveals that choice, that there never was another choice other than Odysseus. Which leads me to my honorable mention:

Ody: "[...] You’ve been waiting for love."

Pen: "I've been waiting for you."

Penelope definitely had a surplus of suitors (108) and even if their motives might have been questionable, she could have easily found a new husband if that was what she wanted, maybe even one that genuinely loved her. But Penelope's love is Odysseus. Love for her is synonymous with him. No one else is even worth considering, she would rather be alone or even die before she gives any other man the time of day.

tldr; I love love LOVE the wording in WYFILWMA, how it shows how Penelope is just not taking this shit from her husband. She knows what she wants and that is Odysseus, even if it is not the original model but the slightly banged up version, the heavily traumatized, now with grey hairs probably, war criminal, ruthless god torturer version of her husband.

Because he is still her husband, goddamn it.

This might very well not make much sense bc I am insane over them currently

*) "lesser story" is not referring to the odyssey or saying epic is better than the odyssey, I mean to compare them both to any completely different work (or franchise if you will) that does not give characters agency where they should have it

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The King has returned

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EDDIE, in SEASON 5: Ok so, apparently the "bad vibes" I've been feeling are actually severe psychological distress.

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Help me create a horror character to draw!

I'll add the other polls soon 👀

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The way Gideon and Harrow were bullied into hating each other by adults their whole lives. Then they spent a few weeks alone together in a haunted castle and ended up sobbing in each other's arms.

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Summary: As if being kidnapped by the Circus or being threatened by the Distortion wasn't bad enough, now Jon had to deal with a new consciousness waking up in his head. Or perhaps it's not his head at all.

Jonny DID NOT agree to Raphaella's little experiment. So he's most certainly not happy about waking up and realizing he's sharing his body with some nerd.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Martin Blackwood/Jonny d'Ville, The Mechanisms Ensemble/The Mechanisms Ensemble, Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner

Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Body Horror, i guess?, Body Sharing, i honestly don't know how to tag this, Two Minds One Body, talk of non-consentual mind/body modification, Dialogue Heavy, It/Its Pronouns for The Toy Soldier (The Mechanisms), It/Its Pronouns For Michael | The Distortion (The Magnus Archives), Talk about sex but no actual sex, Existential Crisis, Asexual Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Omnisexual Jonny d'Ville, Mostly because I heard IRL Jonny say he was Omnisexual and that's been my head canon ever since, Panic Attacks, An old man gets stabbed, It was fun to write, shower scene but it's not supposed to be sexy, Just a sad wet cat of a man trying to get the blood off, Pining, Mutual Pining, Temporary Character Death

The tags are a jumbled mess because I'm awkward and have no idea what I'm doing. Enjoy.

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today at D&D our party was fighting an extremely powerful necromancer on a destructive quest for vengeance and when she was wounded and bloody SHE GREW A RAPIER OUT OF HER HAND BONES and NO ONE THERE HAS READ ANY OF THE LOCKED TOMB

our dm just unknowingly made us our very own Cytherea and no one except me could appreciate it 😢😭

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If if The Locked Tomb got any sort of movie or show adaptation I fully believe that anime would be the perfect medium.

I don't think any other medium would be able to do the emotions and insane fight scenes and basically everything else.

As for the over all art style, visuals, and even storytelling I'd go w something older like Akira but definitely w heavy Neon Genesis Evangelion (heavy on visual storytelling) and Jujutsu Kaisen inspiration (especially w the fight scenes).

*remembers what website I'm on* *enthusiastically points at Dungeon Meshi* LIKE THIS SHIT BUT MORE

(I want to say Revolutionary Girl Utena as well but I haven't yet watched it so I can't say for sure)

I've seen someone say The Last of Us as a good reference for an adaptation. Gameplay and story telling wise I can see it but definitely not visually. I'd go w something Warframe to soulsborne on that front. Get the nasty creepy vibes.

I still think anime would fit better over all.

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Related to my previous post: it's amazing how the setting of Muir's novels contrasts with the depth of character writing focused on queer WOC. Bc it doesn't matter how woke and diverse John Gaius' Fully Automated Luxury Gay Space Catholicism is from the audience's first glance at the dramatis personæ, the Nine Houses are still a fascist theocracy cracking liveable planets like walnuts & making sure not a single denizen of the colonies has a moment of peace, and it was built by a man who grew up in the 21st century and whose female (citation needed) partner he killed, ate & put in the fridge. Women are still assigned value by their physical appearance (like the twins), their treatment still hinges on their gender expression (compare treatments of Gideon's body vs Harrow's), they still aren't taken seriously at work (like Mercy), interclass marriage (necrocav couple Abigail & Magnus) is scorned, reproductive rights and healthcare in general are abysmal (Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth for different reasons). "Does the narrative respect women" and "Do the characters in the story respect women" are two completely different questions with sometimes completely different answers

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Have I mentioned how gut wrenching the slow progression from "Jonathan Sims-- Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London" to "Jonathan Sims-- The Archivist" is?

These are Jon's introductions of himself. He had already had people simply calling him "The Archivist" way back in season one, but he never introduced himself that way. He declared his title of Archivist as what he saw it to be-- a job title and nothing more.

And then we reached season three and there was a gap where we had "Jonathan Sims, former Archivist" and the words were still spoken as one would a job title but with a certain sense of grief that was incongruous with the professional veneer.

And finally, the reveal of what the Archives were and what being The Archivist truly meant happened, and Jon stopped pretending-- even to himself-- that it was just a job. No, he was Jonathan Sims-- The Archivist-- and it was spoken with the gravitas and responsibility of a king's title. It was now part of who he was.

And then, season five, and it's no longer "Jonathan Sims--". It is merely "The Archivist". Because Jon believes his humanity to have died along with the world he was tricked into dooming. His person-hood is secondary-- and can perhaps be considered more of a job title now in a similar way to how Jon referred to being The Archivist in season one. In season five, Jon believes his entire being to have been consumed by the Watcher. The Archives and his job as the Archivist can no longer be seen as a job, or even as a part of who he is, because it is ALL he is. There is no part remaining of Jonathan Sims, because he is The Archivist first and foremost. He doesn't believe his own humanity great enough to be mentioned.

He is, of course, wrong. But it wouldn't be a tragedy if he didn't realize that until it was too late.

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what if 200 children were killed so you could be born and you carried this guilt with you and you thought you were the most rotten most awful thing in the universe and then your parents killed themselves bc of you so that’s 202 deaths and you were the saddest most desperate loneliest girl in the entire universe and you thought you would never be loved and then a girl loves you so much she KILLS HERSELF for you. so that’s 203 deaths. she loves you so much she wants to be one with you she wants to mingle your souls and so she kills herself even though she knows you’ll hate her for it. and THEN you have to perform a lobotomy on yourself so you’ll forget her so you can’t consume her soul completely so there’s still a part of her that’s alive and untouched by you. because you would rather keep her in a shackle inside your mind than lose her completely to yourself. and also there’s ghosts in your brain. well this all happened to my buddy harrow

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YOU ARE IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE!!!!!! YOU BRING JOY INTO THEIR LIVES!!!!!!!!!! YOU MAKE THEM HAPPY JUST BY EXISTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PEOPLE THINK ABOUT YOU POSITIVELY EVEN WHEN YOURE NOT WITH THEM!!!!!!!!! PEOPLE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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harrow begging the lord undying for gideon’s life back after two decades of hating her is truly the epitome of lesbianism

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Ya know I have my own headcanons for what characters look like but I do appreciate diversity of opinion, especially when being blessed with other people's art, for free. I love Gideons that are fat and strong, I love Gideons that are nutrient deprived and dorito-shaped. I love Gideons with acne and terrible gay mullets, Gideons with well-pressed suits and not a hair out of place. Tall Gideons, short Gideons, young or shy Gideons, experienced and confident Gideons, jock Gideons, barista Gideons. Warm and happy Gideons, cold and grey Kirionas with tongues coming out of her chest. Gideons that match the exact color palette of the cover art and Gideons that stray from it in as many ways possible as you can imagine. She's our best girl and she's a different girl in everyone's mind.

What a lovely thing: to get peeks at all the different ways people can interpret and relate to one source material :)

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Congratulations to the locked tomb series for being the only books to ever produce a ravenous urge within me to finish the series so i can reread it all and absorb everything all over again with ten times the knowledge i had prior.