ramblings.

Roo. They/them. Profile Photo by @astro-nautikal. Buy me a coffee!

[historianroo]

Hello Post!

Hey, welcome in.

I’m HistorianRoo, my friends call me Roo, named after the little kangaroo in Winnie the Pooh. I am a disabled person currently thriving in college as a Music History Student (my main focus is tchaikovsky, PLEASE ask me about it I would love to talk about him at all times).

I have multiple fandoms I have written for all of which can be found on my ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HistorianRoo/pseuds/HistorianRoo . Fics that can be found on here: a one shot series about Hermitcraft’s Double Life called “Now, Not Yet”, some oneshots for various marvel fandoms, and good omens!

MY MAIN PROJECT:

My main project is an original fiction book about Atlantis. This is the tumblr link. Which has an in-progress conlang, as well as queer characters! And its historical fantasy.

Please feel free to send asks and let me know what you think!!

Love you all!

[normystical]

wedding dresses are white specifically so that if the bride goes axe-crazy you can rest assured you will see the blood stains all over her and it'll be sick as fuck

[a-timely-problem]

Hugh Jackman has never been as sexy as he is while reading to sheep and carrying one with PTSD out of a carnival

[cuddlycharizard]

Watched sheep detectives yesterday

[cuddlycharizard]

Watched sheep detectives yesterday

[cuddlycharizard]

Watched sheep detectives yesterday

[creampuffqueen]

QUICK NAME A BIRD RIGHT NOW ANY BIRD

[the-quasar-hero]

Assign an aspect of nature to prev

Waves at the beach

Rushing breeze through leaves

A crack of thunder

Flow of a river

The shine of a gem

Dancing embers of a flame

Torrential rain

Slow falling snow

An emerald sea of grass

Austere cliffside

A maze of roots

The endless oceans

Voting ended onJul 11

[zeevawyte]

It is important to me that Ryland Grace is a cis man.

This is not to say I hate the idea of trans/nonbinary Grace, not at all. Everybody deserves representation and if you see yourself in that good for you.

But that's also why cis Grace is so important to me.

Because Ryland Grace is a man who is a teacher. A man who loves teaching so much that when he finally became the leading expert in his field - helping to make world-changing discoveries and meeting the most powerful people on the planet - he constantly thought about how much he'd rather be back in his classroom. Back with his kids.

Ryland Grace is a man who works under a woman, and only complains about it because she pulls him out of his lab and drags him all over the world with her to meetings. He's a man who works with women - who argues with and respects and befriends women - just as easily (or not) as the men around him.

Ryland Grace is a man who chose to wear a flowery dress under a cardigan because it was there and it was comfortable. A man who likes silly punny t-shirts and bright colors and soft clothes.

Ryland Grace is a man who let out a scream so squeaky and high-pitched when the gravity shut off that it would be insulting to little girls if I used that comparison.

Ryland Grace is a man whose first instinct in any scenario is curiosity and whose second is compassion and empathy.

Ryland Grace is a man who cries when he's hurt. A man who cries when he's happy. Who cries when he's grieving, when he's overwhelmed, when he's afraid. He throws a trash can when he's frustrated. He thunks his forehead on a doorway when he's embarrassed. He laughs and waves his arms and spins around when he's excited. He's a man who feels things fully and isn't ashamed to show it.

Ryland Grace is a man who gets sick on the elevator and pulled off an EVA in gravity while the ship was literally ripping itself apart around him. He's a man who trips over nothing and managed to haul a limp 400 pound rock alien across the ship and up a ladder.

Ryland Grace is a man who was a coward. A man who ran instead of choosing to make the sacrifice. He's a man who didn't go quietly with dignity when he saw that the walls were closing in. He's a man who begged and pleaded and made threats he didn't mean because he was scared and didn't want to die.

Ryland Grace is a man who found someone to be brave for. Not through a relationship or parental/familial bond - but for his best friend.

And he still cried about it. He chose to be brave, to make the choice he'd fought so hard the first time. And he still grieved what he was giving up. He chose to turn around, and accepted that he would die because of it. And he was still scared and wanted to live.

But he loved his friend more.

Ryland Grace is a cis man, and that is important to me.

Because Ryland Grace is curious and compassionate and chooses clothes for comfort over everything else. He's an incredibly intelligent scientist who found his true calling, not as a researcher but as a teacher. He's friendly to everyone until you give him a reason not to be, and doesn't discriminate with either respect or distain.

He was betrayed by the people he was closest to. He understands why. He breaks down when he remembers what they did to him, and adds a little inside joke for them in his goodbye message to make them feel better.

He didn't want to leave Earth. He loves living on Erid. He would've let a lot of people suffer and die because he was scared of dying himself. He chose to give up his chance to live if it meant saving his best friend. He's smart and a little bit stupid. He's unashamedly nerdy. He's resourceful and clumsy and clever and emotional.

He's a coward. He's brave.

Ryland Grace is all of those things.

And he is a man.

And I don't think we get enough men like that in media.

[bumbleboa]

recently I got back into atla

[reillyikes]

you can talk about the horrible sexualization of female heroes (specially teen ones) on comics and someone will be like "but batman gets drawn shirtless "

[roaches-inthecereal]

[uwuinhell]

[quotelr]

“We remember the past, live in the present, and write the future.”

— Shaun David Hutchinson, We Are the Ants

[atomikats]

curiouser and curiouser

[netherworldpost]

;)

[literary-sparks]

“Why don’t you use ai” idk man beyond the obvious environmental and “this machine causes psychosis and encourages people to kill themselves” thing I think asking the equivalent of a solid D student who is also a pathological liar if they can answer my question/do the work for me seems pretty fucking stupid

[historianroo]

Epic the Musical: The Movie, A thread

All of my thoughts of everything they should do for the film, divided up by album (and realistically, even more specifically by song, because I have so many thoughts).

My Credentials: I have been following Epic the Musical since the beginning. I remember when the first album came out–"Just a Man" was on repeat while I was prepping my senior recital and the ONLY reason I did not preform it is because I couldn't find sheet music for piano only.

From my knowledge, it's going to be an animated film.

First and Foremost: Character Designs (Or at least, the bit that I can come up with now).

ALL characters should look like their voice actors at least a bit.

Athena needs to be like, 6ft 7 at least. The idea of her towering over people is wonderful, plus the added look of her shrinking/cowering a bit when Odysseus yells at her would be a grand image.

When characters are announced like they are on the tracks (Usually its the ensemble saying their name), there should definitely be a name on the screen that appears.

VERY SPECIFICALLY: Odysseus should keep his hair shoulder-length, and half-up-half down. It plays into the idea that he is put together, and when he is in moments of doubt/overwhelmed/acting without thinking–his hair falls out of this, and there is more angst that plays into it.

The various gods and goddesses should appear human-sized and larger than life, depending on which instances they are appearing as.

The issue of the Cyclops: How big to make him + the look of him. Difficult issue, of course, but I think that he should be at least a few stories tall. It should be impossible for him to be fully in frame at all times.

I will definetly be adding to all of this as I go on, but these are just the immediate thoughts.

Tune in next time for Epic: The Troy Saga "The Horse and the Infant."

[historianroo]

Epic: The Troy Saga, "The Horse and the Infant"

As far as musical introductions go: this one is solid compared to them. I do think the film needs to start off with an overture, in this overture it sets the scene: Troy at night, lightening in the distance, no rain just yet, the horse standing tall outside the gates.

Credentials I forgot to add to the previous post: I have worked in theater for six years now. I am a historian, a vocalist, and a musicologist (I have three degrees: two bachelors and one masters). I have been a costume designer for years.

Scene Beats That Need To Happen:

Odysseus needs to have both his bow and his sword. He is a king who is an archer and I SWEAR if I see another depiction of him without the bow I'll throw a fit (mostly kidding.)

The costumes need to be historically accurate clothing–or as near to it as possible.

The entirety of the first half of this song needs to take place within the horse. The characters need to be in relatively low lighting, not dark completely, but enough that it's almost haunting how they are shown.

When Odysseus gives specific tasks to specific soldiers, he needs to reach out and put his hand on their shoulders–it'll show the fact that he is connected to these men, and that they are not just pawns in his war.

At "Find that inner strength now/use that well of pride/fight through every pain now ask yourself inside/what do you life for? what do you try for?/What do you wish for? What do you fight for?" Odysseus needs to be marching between his soldiers–a bit like the "a red day, a sword day" speech from The Lord of the Rings. It'll solidify this speech as a rallying cry between his men.

THIS FIRST APPEARANCE OF ZEUS: listen closely, he HAS to appear as just a voice from the clouds. He cannot appear as a specific figure because that will ruin the effect of the moment. Something important for every god and goddess is to associate them with a color, and then have that color appear when they are there. In the case of this, Odysseus needs to look up at the lightening and thunder and it needs to be glowing with this unworldly energy that let's Odysseus know the god is there watching him. (I suggest that for Zeus the color is bronze.)

The conversation ("A vision of what is to come, cannot be undone" to "i don't think your ready") needs to be told as Zeus leads Odysseus through the halls of the palace to the baby. It cannot be told stationary, it needs to be told in flashes and darkness and be jarring.

AND THEN! "It's just an infant/it's just a boy/what kind of iminent threat does he pose/that I cannot avoid," Odysseus is at the cradle, and these words are spoken focusing in on the baby itself–which is asleep. It is an innocent moment, made worse by the fact that Odysseus' melody line is so similar to that of a lullaby.

When Zeus says "Penelope" there needs to be a dead-wife montage moment, where Penelope appears faintly in the clouds from behind–don't show her face, but show enough of her that Odysseus is affected.

The trio (Odysseus singing the "I could raise him as my own" and Zeus+the Gods singing "He will burn your house down") segment should be done in the rain on a balcony with the crib visible in the background, but not the focus.

When Odysseus sings "Please don't make me do this/don't make me do this." There needs to be visible tears in his eyes.

He needs to reach out to the baby for the first time–hands shaking–as Zeus sings "The blood on your hands is something you won't loose/all you can choose is whose."

This song needs to end on the baby–Odysseus is not holding him, but he is obviously effected.

[historianroo]

Epic: The Troy Saga, "Just A Man"

Ballads wise–this is fantastic. It's got the right amount of emotional weight plus it acts like a fantastic historical background song. Odysseus is telling the listener about how important his family is to him, especially his son who he hasn't gotten to hold beyond that one time.

It's fantastic.

Scene Beats That Need To Happen:

Remember when I said in the first post that Odysseus moves from having his hair half-up and all the way down. His hair needs to be down when this song is happening–he isn't the brilliant Odysseus as he sings things song, he is just a man. So his hair needs to reflect this.

It needs to be mostly Odysseus in screen. We need to see the emotion in his eyes as he sings–with a dark storm happening behind him. In this storm, we see elements of what he sings about as a sort of mirage situation.

When he starts asking all of his hypotheticals it needs to build in terms of action, he needs to stalk away, his sword in hand–as if he were going to fight Zeus.

He turns back to the baby right before the final line and we see it for the first time, in the lightning flash the baby looks like Telemachus, but when it fades it looks like Hector's baby again. (Which means that there needs to be a big enough difference between the two actors look to actually make it make sense/work.)

The "Forgive Me" section–babes this is going to be upsetting, but he needs to pick up the baby and hold the baby close and so softly. One final moment of comfort before doing what needs to be done.

We do NOT however need to see him actually doing it on screen, I feel like that's like, way to upsetting. So it's really implied.

And then the final line needs to be sung as he is walking away from the wall, his sword in hand but pointed at the ground–he is defeated, this will haunt him and we need to see that.

[historianroo]

Epic: The Troy Saga, "Full Speed Ahead"

I LOVE a good full company moment!!! It's a fantastic way of establishing who is who, and this is as good as the best of them (Think "Look Down" from Les Mis, "Nothing Without You" from Theory of Relativity, "Sweeny Todd" from Sweeny Todd.)

This is a GREAT place to establish repeated movements–because of the fact that "Full Speed Ahead" is reused whether vocally or as a motif.

In terms of massive beats, this one is a little lacking because so much of it happens on a boat! But it's still an important moment to establish a lot!

First, Character Designs:

Again, reiterating, everyone needs to look like their voice actor at least a little bit.

Every time Athena shows up–or a reference to Athena–there needs to be a color associated with her, specifically, I'm suggesting olive green. Make it work as a sort of shimmering moment. Following the wings of an owl, the footsteps, etc.

All of them need to be either out of armor, or partially in armor. At this point, they have left Troy, they've won the war and all they see is sailing ahead of them. It isn't smart to wear armor on the ocean, because of the salt water.

Guys, I know the armor looks bad–I know it's a lot to look at, but it's gotta be historically accurate PLEASE. PLEASE. It doesn't even need to show up that often!!! After the first few songs, they can be in the more casual clothing.

Scene Beats That Need To Happen:

This is a GREAT place to establish how many ships Odyssues had (12, if you didn't know), as well as the arrangement that they choose to remain in. I recommend some level of a double diamond pattern–or like birds when emigrating. This would establish a lead ship (Odysseus') as well as a final ship.

Again, when a named crew is stated, you gotta have their name on the screen as it is said, it's a great little way of showing who is who + how spelling works.

Eurylochus NEEDS to be put together when he first appears, maybe a little tired around the edges, but his hair is pulled back, his clothing is neat, etc. This will be a beautiful moment where we get to watch him unravel as the musical progresses.

"Watch where the birds fly!" You gotta have birds, it would be stupid not to have birds, but I have seen movies where they mention following something specific and then that something specific isn't there. I think the birds they follow–it should be one bird and it should be Athene noctua specifically. The "little owl" that is associated with Athena. It shows that Athena is there helping, even if she hasn't been specifically shown on screen.

Same thing when Polities is introduced!!! He needs to be so sweet looking and kind. A little bit of a "who let you go off to war" idea when you look at him.

[historianroo]

Epic: The Troy Saga, "Open Arms"

This song is so upsetting specifically for the fact that it echoes and haunts the narrative so much.

Character design comments:

As always, the characters should definetly be inspired by their voice actors.

Eternal optimist Polities must be so sweet looking. He should carry a sword, but in an impractical way–to show that he doesn't really plan on using it.

Odysseus' sword needs to be on his waist at all times, and this is the first time he doesn't carry his bow.

I don't know much about the lore of the lotus eaters, but i feel like it should be a moment where when they first appear they seem to, unfold, from their surroundings!

Scene Beats That Need To Happen:

Polities needs to do a little dance, please please please.

There needs to be points where Polities is pointing out the good, and Odysseus is seeing the bad underneath it. Like, let's say, Polities points out a waterfall, but all Odysseus sees is the sharp rocks at the bottom of it.

Odysseus scared of the lotus eaters and reaching for his sword before pulling his sword despite the lotus eaters looking unthreatening. The specific moment of reaching for his bow and it not being there is very important because it shows his reliance on the weapon.

Overall–whatever happens in this scene, specifically the way that Polities moves and sings, needs to be remembered so it can haunt the narrative later.