infiniteorangethethird

[infiniteorangethethird]

so. i finished epic

hi btw

the ithaca saga... aw, man. it's so good. it's just so good. i'm so emotional rn, i just cried my eyes out. oughsjsd

(did a language exam today. finished my thesis two days ago. anxiously awaiting results, uhm, so, that definitely adds to my emotional state. also, i should sleep. but anyway)

i will be honest, vengeance saga was kind of whatever to me. but, i mean, i wasn't particularly hyped about ruthlessness either when i first heard it and now it's one of my favorites and the line "after everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" "next to my wife" goes SO HARD (it's funny. bc it's not like this is the first time i've heard that line, just in different contexts which i assume. it was from this musical the whole time but yk. it just hit so hard here. yeah)

i fucking love telemachus. i just needed to say that. like, i was straight up sobbing through i can't help but wonder. man.

anyway. epic hyperfixation. yeahhhh

ok. okay. i'm gonna quickly lose my everloving shit here for a bit. okay, here i go.

athena's singer is so fricking talented, i love her so much, and also hermes, he's like the silliest guy and troy has so many shorts where he's just in the hermes character and!!! he's so funny. and love in paradise KILLS me, bro, every time. when calypso first said "open arms", i didn't even need for the song to actually start playing, i was already tearing up and then jorge goes and puts in there? dead. gone. deceased. what the fuck. and, once again, the fucking ithaca saga??? yo. the massacre. and it's like. like in the actual odyssey, i think it's not entirely justified?? i don't know, i haven't actually read the story but like. it's i guess controversial? but here? after hold them down? fucking deserved. also, is the callback you mentioned when antinous is like. "throw him down in the great below"?? bc the animatic i watched really called back to the horse and infant there and i just. i just had to stop it and stare at the wall and lie down and process for like minutes before i could continue lmaooo. it's just. it's just so good.

anyway. that wasn't even that bad. it's worse in my mind, i'm just tired. like, there is always an epic song playing in my mind. like, i'm pretty much constantly thinking about it. it's like, epic the musical what have you done to me. yeah

YAYY I am glad to hear you managed to make it to the end (mostly) unscathed! I am also glad to be ruining you with a new hyperfixation. Always grateful to be a service to my fellow people 😌

god the ithaca saga killed me when I first listened to it. I can't help but wonder is high on my favs list oh my god it kills me so badly. Something abt characters who would willingly massacre ppl bc they love their family so much always gets to me and oughhhhhh it is such a painful and neat conclusion to his arc at least imo. And ur so fucking right abt Telemachus he's such a GUY I love him and I'd die for him

oh my god that line from the vengeance saga. It's soooooo. Like. Fuck yeah Ody you deserve to be pissed and to sleep next to your wife. Admittedly the one song I really remember from that saga is get in the water and even that is bc that's the song I got into the musical for so. Ig there's that skdfdhsjkdfhfk

as for the reference, I was actually thinking of a different one sDFHFKDSF in the beginning of Dangerous, where there's a callback to Full Speed Ahead? Where he goes "'cause I had one goal in mind" and then you're expecting the chorus to come and finish the sentence for him but it doesn't come bc. Well. His men are all dead? God when I first heard it I legit had to pause and process and be like. Mmm. Okay. We're doing this now. Okay. I am so normal

But tbh every reference in this musical is peak and deadly. The ones you brought up for example. Fucking hell with this musical. I cannot blame you for not getting The One Specific Reference I Was Thinking Of LMAO

anyways yeah I'm a bit too tired rn for coherent thoughts but I really am glad you liked it! It's such a good musical imo and it's so hard to put down once you get into it I really wanted to share the experience with you. And from what I can tell you've been properly psychic damaged by it so ig mission accomplished?

also ik I'm a couple days late and idk how things are rn with you studies-wise but I am sending you all the strength to survive whatever the world throws at you 🙏 I've got like two weeks to finish my own thesis so I feel your pain and wishing you the best of luck with everything <2

[infiniteorangethethird]

ohohohoho SOMEONE'S getting to the juicy parts of the musical :3 good. Yes. Come be destroyed with me

I personally really liked the underworld saga, then again that is definitely in part bc I just really like the songs - Monster for instance is a big favorite of mine, though probably mostly bc it has excellent blorbo potential and is far too easy to project onto other blorbos ksjdfskjhf. But I do get your point, to me it feels a little bit like the underworld saga is more of a setup, in a way? Yes, it is the point in time where Odysseus decides to change his approach, but as far as I remember (<- been a hot moment since I listened to all of it in one sitting. I should do that sometime again) he doesn't really start acting on it until the thunder saga.

and man... the thunder saga. Ugh. You're so right this arc is so MMMM for him and it's executed so well and so good and MMMMM I love this musical. and you are SO fucking right about the callbacks. A good foreshadowing-callback combo will always kill me if done right and this? This is done right. Not only in the story beats, but the music as well, and it's just so GOOD. Ugh. There are so many great parallels and opposites when you listen to it 128739428374 times in a row and compare every word and little riff and you only get more and more psychic damage out of it. And thunder bringer is especially merciless in that regard. Ugh. This thing is so good man ur so right abt everything ugh

(you haven't gotten to that song yet if you're only at the thunder saga but there's this one song in one of the coming sagas that did a callback so ouchie I was like. Oh. Okay. Why don't you just murder me dead while you're at it. I think you'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.)

anyways I'm really glad ur liking it thus far, here's hope the rest of it will continue to give you psychic damage as well 🙏

hi. The gods that be have personally informed me that you have discovered the masterpiece that is Epic: The Musical. What are your thoughts on it and has the psychic damage killed you yet

(you said you were just starting to delve into it a while ago so I'm hoping you have made progress since then sdkfhskd)

hi bestie :) i am. not sure what to say skkskjks

okay, here's the thing about me and musicals: every once in a while i come across a song from a musical or just like a clip or a mention or smth that tells me that i would fucking love said musical, like heathers, like hamilton, like hadestown, or like epic rn. and then like that's it. the only musical i ever listened to all the songs from beginning to end is six and i was downright hyperfixating on that shit in quarantine, like sometimes i would just let myself have an hour and sing (perform to no one in particular, more like) all of the songs back to back

like, hamilton is a good example of i know i'd like it if i just made the time to listen to everything. instead i just find a new song every once in a while to just. leech onto but it has been years and i still couldn't just. listen to the whole thing sskfksj

with epic though, i kind of was able to have a deadline of sorts. this guy on youtube who likes to react to stuff (i found him because of bungou stray dogs) was asked to react to epic and he said he'd do it once he reached one million subscribers so i was watching the number steadily grow i was like. yeah, okay i gotta listen to this now. then i watched his live where i think he said he would react to one saga at a video? or that is what people suggested anyway, so i was ready for that, making sure to listen to at least the first saga before he reacted cause like 1. i wanted to listen to epic anyway 2. i found out about the animatics and that def helps!! 3. i enjoy his videos much more when i know what he's talking about cause i've seen what he's reacting to (which i think is fair skkdkdk) so yeah

anyway, video came out on 31th and he only reacted to two songs and i'm two sagas in, so i fear i'm going to start slacking off again ksksksn (it was a good video. i think i liked his reaction less than the literal music video in the beginning he put together for one million though which is probably fair tbh xd)

but like. i think i know the base story of the odyssey? maybe. i think. idk i definitely remember the "i'm nobody" thing

i'm also a bit obsessed with just a man. like warrior of the mind slaps, we've been known, that's my other fav so far but just a man is..... goosebumps. ahh, it's so good

all of the cast is *chefs kiss* so far, athena's incredible, everyone fits their role so well imo, and like the cyclopes??? woah.

also the animatics are soooooo good i love how fans just put this together, bless all of their hearts fr

now i might go and start the next saga idk skdkkk. i'm kinda like. sleep deprived rn. not even sure if i wanna watch the new tbhk episode yet because my mind is all sluggish but tomorrow i'm not sure i will be able to and i don't want to be that late with it. everyday we're closer and closer to the picture perfect arc and oh boy (does NOT help my excitement for the picture perfect arc that i just rewatched gravity falls season two and why is mabel's prison pretty much the same idea rhhhhh i cried)

but back to epic!!!! definitely liking it so far, i'd say i haven't gotten psychic damage yet but maybe i will, i'm leaving the option open. i'm making space for it, i'm letting my brain fully experience it all, we'll see, we'll see. i will update you on how i like it once i make progress if you want!!! like, i'm always happy to talk to someone about whatever i'm watching (a moment of silence to my sister's absolute dgaf attitude towards me hating the fifth season of hunter x hunter like girl, i'm STRUGGLING here, let me rant please and thank you)

every other sentence i'm getting off topic i swear but idk what else to say skskdkm epic the musical be very epic, thank you for coming to my ted talk

[infiniteorangethethird]

I don't think you can do show don't tell aro or ace representation not because it's impossible but because even if you do it right the fandom still won't get it

[infiniteorangethethird]

the "platonic explanation" is that I feel like shipping cheapens a perfectly good friendship and turns it into something shallow. Takes something that could have been interesting and turns it into just another dime-a-dozen romance you can find in a million other stories. Sands off anything cool or unique about the relationship and the characters so they can slot neatly into some little "A and B" dynamic. The Sunshine x Grumpy the Blue-coded x Red-coded the Cinnamon Roll x Killer. You just have to cut them down to fit in the Romance Box™.

Suddenly every interaction, every look they exchange, every word they speak, has to be seen through the lens of attraction, it HAS to be about the attraction, nothing else matters, they cannot have feelings about each other unrelated to that. If they like each other it's because they are attracted to each other, if they hate each other it's because they are attracted to each other, there can be no other reason behind their actions and feelings, nothing else about them as people matters anymore. They aren't people anymore, they aren't characters anymore, they are just "A and B".

The "platonic explanation" is that lately I've just found friendships SO much more compelling and freeing and cool, y'know? (obligatory ''I'm not bashing you if you like shipping I just Do Not Get It Personally'')

[infiniteorangethethird]

seems that the twitter discourse of the week is about a whether life is even worthwhile if you're single... i'm blown away at how so many people are dependent on romantic relationships to be happy

[infiniteorangethethird]

cool aspec safe space, hey btw just checking, are aroallos allowed to talk about their experiences openly in here or will you cry and throw up and run away

[infiniteorangethethird]

"Being aro-ace and single is more about joy than it is about sadness, at least in my case."

- Tyger Songbird, Let’s stop pressuring people to be in relationships this Valentine’s Day for LGBTQ Nation (2023)

[infiniteorangethethird]

What really annoys me is non-aromantics’ responses to “why does every story have to center around romance/have a romance subplot” or “why can’t there be stories where the characters end up as friends” because their response is always “well, that’s just how it is” or “the majority of people like romance”. I actually had someone tell me to “just deal with it” when I expressed frustration about how almost every story has to force romance into the plot (when it is often unnecessary). Yes, a lot of people do enjoy romance, but a lot of people don’t (yes, even people who aren’t aromantic get bored of forced romance tropes). I just get frustrated when people can’t (or won’t) understand that not every story needs to include romance and not everyone likes/wants to hear about romance.

[infiniteorangethethird]

We've all gotten just a bit too comfortable being jerks to strangers on the internet I think

[infiniteorangethethird]

yeah i know it looked like i was just staring at a wall for 6 hours straight but actually i lived and died 30 times in that span

[infiniteorangethethird]

Less "neurodivergence makes you more creative and virtuous," more "if it makes life difficult or even if it makes you an asshole, you don't deserve to be unpersoned for it"

[infiniteorangethethird]

I really don't want to be stirring up discourse or anything here but I can't not make a note here because this is exactly the kind of mindset the post is talking about. There exists this belief in far too many people that the default way of existing as an alloromantic (and allosexual) person is that you want a relationship and if you don't then there's something wrong with you - you're traumatized, you have a hormone imbalance, you're mentally ill etc - and it's genuinely damaging. People (sometimes even regardless of sexual or romantic orientation) would rather be in a relationship that is downright toxic and abusive than be single, because being single is Bad and Wrong and if they don't want to be in a relationship there's Something Wrong With Them.

But that's not how people work. People have preferences and personal likes and dislikes, and sometimes that includes not liking or wanting to be in a relationship. Yeah, sometimes trauma causes that, but people can also just not like it for whatever reason they have, including no reason at all, and that's perfectly fine and normal too. In fact, I'm fairly convinced more people would be willing to admit their aversion to dating and romance if they knew this was an acceptable option too - hence the post.

Like prev said in their tags, don't assume random internet strangers' traumas. If you (general you) hear someone admit they don't like romance and your gut reaction is that there's something wrong with them, then perhaps you are the person who could benefit from hearing "alloros can still stay single!!" more.

"aros can still date!!": boring. tired. overused. frequently used to make aros look more palatable and acceptable to amatonormative society.

"alloros can still stay single!!": fresh. new. exciting. hearing it could change many people's lives for the better regardless of romantic orientation

[infiniteorangethethird]

unfortunately actually being productive and having a routine and leaving my house to be a person in the world and eating real meals consistently does improve my mental health which means i have to keep doing it except i have mental illness that makes me not do it so you see my dilemma

[infiniteorangethethird]

incredible things are happening on alloromantic twitter

[infiniteorangethethird]

enough stories about how someone learns to truely be happy through love. i want a story where someone is desperately seeking out love thinking it's the only way to be happy only for them to learn by the end that happiness is what they make of it and they don't need love at all to make it.

[infiniteorangethethird]

yeah anyone can learn social skills like me you just need to accept advice no matter how condescending and read crappy self help books and study and imitate people constantly and squash linguistics into some unrecognisable joyless didactic form and keep going out and talking to people even if you're exhausted and look into my eyes let the eye lasers burn you rip off your skin and replace it with a costume and then finally you may resemble something close to human but don't relax we're watching you. well I'm autistic too that's no excuse

[infiniteorangethethird]

Seeing someone succeed at something does not mean their struggles don't exist.

My mom was never good at chess. Whenever we played, she'd often make the stupidest blunders. She'd often be afraid to leave a piece where I can capture it even if it wouldn't be beneficial for me to capture it, so she'd do something else that actually does allow me to capture many of her pieces. But every once in a while, she'd win because she'd make a move that she doesn't even realize is checkmate.

It would be complete nonsense to assume that her winning a game proves that she's actually good at chess and was faking it the whole time. Someone who's bad at something doesn't make 100% blunders. They're just as likely to make a good move as they are a blunder. But a single blunder can completely ruin everything, so being good at something requires being able to consistently avoid blunders.

But anytime I said that I struggled to socialize, my parents would always point out individual minor successes as evidence that I'm just being negative. If I don't know how to form connections with people so I take wild guesses, some of those wild guesses may be good and cause people to like me temporarily. But if I have no idea what I did that caused them to like me, so I continue taking wild guesses, I'm eventually going to do something that causes them to stop liking me. Being able to succeed socially requires making consistent good moves. Random good moves and random blunders won't work.