theoldgvard

[theoldgvard]

Six Hundred Strike is a masterclass of musical storytelling and i cannot get over people not liking it or saying it’s too confusing to follow

first of all, it’s not the first moment in EPIC where you need to listen to small clues in the music or else seek out the animatics to envision what’s going on! think the fight in Done For for example. also, when i first listened to The Horse and the Infant i was so confused, i think there is a lot packed into these songs so the more you listen to it the more you’ll be able to pick up on the narrative hints within the lyrics and music

i adore Six Hundred Strike. the beginning mashup of Aeolus’s motif to signify the wind bag opening transitioning into the ‘six hundred men’ from Full Speed Ahead, a line that Odysseus invokes at the start of Dangerous without the echo. The crew are his instrument now as they were Eurylochus’s, he is empowered by them and their loss. The musical representation of Odysseus fighting for every single person he’s lost is so narratively satisfying. Then you have the Different Beast motif signalling Odysseus is going to be cruel, the sound effects of him grabbing the trident and wielding it, Odysseus throwing all of Poseidon’s ‘wisdom’ back at him while Poseidon screams ‘Monster’ to show that the transition is complete, man has become monster, and it is the only way he can make it home. Odysseus tried, for the final time, to forgive, to get Poseidon to forgive, and it didn’t work, so he gave in.

I think it’s definitely not as clear cut plot-wise as some of the other songs, but it’s all there if you listen for it! the Aeolus motif when he’s using the storm, the trident noises etc. I also feel like it’s okay if you don’t imagine Odysseus fighting in the exact way Jay imagines it, as long as the basic narrative of ‘Odysseus uses the storm to fight Poseidon and then tortures him to surrender’ is there you can envision the fight however you want and it still fits perfectly with the story!

[theoldgvard]

Cherik mini comic about Charles’ telepathy vaguely based off a fic I read while back where they had a similar conversation. I can’t find it now but if anyone can let me know 😢

Not a sad one! Kind of! Maybe I’ll make a sad one in the future. I need to go finish my homework now LOL but thank you everyone for the patience!

[theoldgvard]

heartstopper portraying two vastly different perspectives of a mental health struggle is so important to me. i’ve been charlie but i’ve also been nick. sometimes i’m both at once. sometimes i give everything to support my loved ones and other times i need them to support me. supporting people can be hard. sometimes supporting people is what makes me need support myself. mental health struggles are hard for everyone involved, especially as a young person. i love that they portrayed nick’s struggle in a way that didn’t undermine or blame charlie. it is just hard. love is hard. it’s just also infinitely worth it.

[theoldgvard]

Athena in the Wisdom Saga be like

[theoldgvard]

Sirens and a Cyclopes

I know life and fate are scary, but I want to be legendary.

[theoldgvard]

yall aren’t ready for when i write a retelling of the odyssey from the pov of telemachus exploring non-conformity specifically as it relates to gender/sexuality and neurodivergence

[theoldgvard]

Wisdom Saga athena trying to be the mentor to telemachus that odysseus deserved... giving him positive affirmation instead of brushing him off ("you're a good kid" vs. "we'll see where it ends")... immediately claiming him as a friend instead of insisting that their relationship is strictly business... much to think (and sob) about.........

[theoldgvard]

Odysseus sketches

[theoldgvard]

felt like a good time to bring this back

[theoldgvard]

thinking about that x men scene where raven was like CHARLES LOOK AT ME!!! ACCEPT ME!!! as if she wasn’t standing buckass naked in front of her brother. like girl put on some clothes

[theoldgvard]

Scylla aimed for the torches.

Song 38: “Keep your head down, he’s aiming for the torches!”

Scylla: “We are the same, you and I.”

[theoldgvard]

sometimes when i’m alone i think love has left me but i just looked at the pile of strawberries i cut up for myself and i loved them so deeply and now i remember that love is always with me because it is me

[theoldgvard]

God but the final breach of decorum right before everything goes to hell.

He’s Ody. Not Captain. Not the king. His is a friend and brother. Even after betrayal after betrayal on both sides. Even with the blood of hundreds on both of their hands. Both of them are pleading for the other to understand.

And in the end it doesn’t matter.

[theoldgvard]

im so incredibly obsessed with jorge’s portrayal of odysseus in epic

i genuinely cannot listen to thunder saga all the way through because the aura of dread and horror is so strong, and it’s entirely because of how these specific versions of odysseus and eurylochus are written

to see an odysseus who is so desperate to minimise the harm he causes all throughout act 1 turning to senseless violence out of sheer lack of other options is genuinely awful, especially when considering it comes entirely from a place of love, from a longing to see his family again. his entire driving force is love, and it is love which makes a monster out of him.

pairing that development with the fact that it was eurylochus who opened the bag. every defeat from ocean saga onwards is the breaking down of odysseus’ commitment to polites’ ‘open arms’ approach, and it all starts with eurylochus dooming them to posiedon’s wrath by releasing the storm. then it is he who suggests leaving their crew at circe’s palace, he who constantly second guesses odysseus’ judgement until odysseus himself can’t even trust it. it is eurylocus, tired and hopeless, who dooms odysseus to his fatal decision.

to see odysseus choose to let them die feels tragically full circle; he finally lets go the crew, the brother, who have tainted his desire to be human and cause no suffering. but the damage is done already, he is a different beast now. he shoulders all of the guilt, whether it belongs to him or not.

but even without eurylochus’ betrayal, i think there was no world in which odysseus didn’t make the same choice. because it was always, it will always be penelope. his everything. all his power.

he has traded the world just to see his son and wife.

[theoldgvard]

THE OLD GUARD (2020)

[theoldgvard]

Odysseus said he was gonna become the monster to "everyone but us" but neglected to inform his crew that "us" had three members and the other two are in Ithica.

[theoldgvard]

I really love the baklava scene in the old guard, in fact the whole opening scene because it establishes their characters and their relationships so much! Like Andy and Booker don’t hug when they meet, but she’s got Don Quixote for him and he checks in with her about her year out. Booker says he’s in Marrakesh for family at the hotel. Andy hugs Nicky so tenderly and slow it shows the depth of their love for each other, just as Joe giving her a great old bear hug and swinging her around and joking with her shows their relationship too. Booker spikes his own tea, showing he’s hurting, even amongst family and none of them comment on it, showing how they’ve let it slide. Nicky has baklava for Andy, but it’s also for Booker it’s their game together. Even before we know that Joe and Nicky are together, we know that Joe puts up Nicky’s half of the bet money. They’re all so comfortable with each other, and joyful too!

Like in some films we’re shown a team *cough* marvel *cough* and they’re supposed to be close so that later it can be messed with and played around with for kicks and drama but often it’s not believable because there’s no genuine love there, just manufactured and wooden. Here in the first scene we’re left with, firstly a great first impression of each of their characters, but more importantly we’re in no doubt that these 4 aren’t just work colleagues, no Andy, Joe, Nicky, and Booker love each other so much, they’re family, and that’s what makes the emotional pay off so much more heartbreaking later.