iñaki godoy studied luffyology at the esteemed monkey d'university. he graduated top of his class. latin honors. he's on his way to get a phd. oops wait he's already got it. my god. the talent on this young man. he's got that natural troublemaker face. the class clown at the back of the class kind of energy. a kid who's hiding something in his hand. u take one glance at this guy and u know he's not up to no good. but would u follow him anyway? are u kidding me. look at him. of course u would.
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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.
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WHY ARE THERE SO FEW SHŌGUN (Not just romance but any kind) FANFICS!?
Like, the series is incredible, I'm grateful that my stepfather introduced this wonderful series to me, and in my opinion, the main couple is great (and sad, very tragic), but it's scary how I had to struggle to find a Mariko x John fanfic relay (does anyone have a name for this ship? I thought of something related to the sea, but I'm not sure), and with the current four episodes, it is now possible for the fanfic writers's troubled minds to create a fanfic of at least two thousand words, seriously, they deserve it! I can think of possibilities, like, what if it was an alternate universe?
What if Mariko ended up in England for God knows what? I really don't know why I thought this, just that it would be a very sudden role reversal.
What if Toranaga had appointed her to be John's consort? I mean, the moment Buntaro died, a widow was born, in this case, Mariko!
What if she was married to someone other than Buntaro? I wish she wasn't married but knowing ancient Japan as it was...
What if Fuji's husband and baby hadn't died? I mean, damn that scene made me cry, it was a little baby, I wish I could change that.
What if Mariko's father hadn't died? I know we know almost nothing about him at the moment, but moments of reflection.
What if (again, alternate universe) there was magic involved in the story? I mean, it's ancient Japan, this is the perfect time to let your knowledge of Japanese legends run wild!
If John had done something and been able to recognize Mariko in the dim light of their night in their room?
What if Mariko ended up sleeping there and he woke up and confirmed it was her?
What if it took place in the modern world? I don't know about you, but I love fanfics that portray a modern setting, it's really cool, for me, Toranaga would almost end up being a politician!
What if (this one touches on the system of power, hierarchy and structural status of women in ancient Japanese society) Mariko had a higher position and was someone even more trustworthy than Toranaga?
What if John and Mariko had met before (through misfortune or any other factor of fate) and had some relationship? Like in a theater!
I literally developed an entire story from scratch just to make these two have a daughter (her name is Umi — I haven't decided if I'll keep that one yet — she has blue eyes, wavy hair and is completely Japanese, a Mariko's mini copy) and develop a whole material with this chaos! I know that the story is focused on politics, and not on romance, I know, but you can never dream too much and I like it when you know how to keep the fragile line of politics-romance well. I just hope there are more fanfics about them, I need fanfics about them!!
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Day 7 of dark cream ship week: Porcelain
final day :D
The porcelain doll lost its mask.
It tumbled down the earth and broke in many pieces, each sharp, each fragile.
Without it, its head's inside was exposed.
Bunch of moving cogs, darkened by grease.
Everybody could see its ugliness and maybe, that was only fair.
Its beauty gone, everybody started to leave him, starting with the ones who sang its charms before.
Its insides were out in the open and people did not enjoy the sight.
It gave up on the remains of its delicate face and leaned into what people finally saw it as.
An abnormality, a truly nightmarish being.
It stopped playing nice and started sneering at others' vulnerabilities.
It cackled and laughed.
It didn't feel as good as it thought it would.
But the world continued and the porcelain doll was forgotten.
It let go.
Why fighting?
It wouldn't give him back its face.
Did it even want it back?
Going back to the times people admired it?
It wasn't fully certain.
So when the only one who never stopped looking at him came bearing an unexpected gift, it didn't know the right answer.
Shattered Dream belongs to @/galacii-gallery
Cross!Sans belongs to @/jakei95
Dark cream ship week by @zu-is-here
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