Discover Top Posts Tagged with #askalaphos

September 22, 2023 -

Hesperides Finest Fake Flowers

Her punishment wasn't quite a punishment.

Well, it was, obviously it was, the florist is shedding feathers at an alarming rate, their bones are twisting and cracking, their joints don't line up the way they should.

They've become a wretched, lazy owl. The vilest bird, the messenger of grief, a bad omen to all mankind. If only they hadn't opened their stupid mouth.

But it means they're gonna fly away from here. Out of this place. Up, up, somewhere they can finally see the sunlight.

They'll be free.

Don't tell her.

#the burnt city spoilers #the burnt city #punchdrunk #askalaphos #tbc countdown #demeter #fania #the optimism in fania's askalaphos was always so beautiful to me #out of everybody who played him she gave him a happy ending #he flew he really flew and he didn't die (most of the time)#and the first time I had the 1:1 it was such a happy version unlike any other version of it I've heard about #thrilled at this discovery meaning she's finally GONNA FLY #and then i heard it changed and the ovid was added in and that sounded very interesting too #but a very different mood #and then. the last one. it was the best of both worlds.#this fucking show :')#what a gift :')

September 22, 2023 - Troy alleys - loop 1

Every other time, Apollo sees her up there, his blessed creation, his beautiful monstrosity, and they reach out for each other but they do not touch.

Every other time, he collapses, just inches away, stretching towards her but unable to connect.

Every other time, he is on the ground, she is in the sky, and he cannot get to her.

But not this time.

He comes from the opposite direction, he leaps above our heads, crawling through the canopy of the Trojan streets. His lips move, mouthing the song echoing from the square.

How I wish you'd come back to me...

Askalaphos looks over, mid-transformation. Her limbs are twisting, her feathers are growing in. The god has blessed her already, but here he is for one last blessing.

The whole alley glows, pulsing white and cyan light filling the space. He embraces her, their lips meet.

Touched by divinity.

#askalaphos #apollo #fania #seirian #the burnt city #punchdrunk #tbc oc #tbc countdown #writeup

The woman in the dark red jumpsuit moves warily, as she approaches the greenhouse. Things have been happening, strange things.

A pomegranate, made real. Did I...do that? A man's sight restored. A plant, small fragile green shoots, hidden behind a golden idol. A puzzle. Flashes of light and life in the dark.

Askalaphos is waiting, perhaps they will have the answer. Inside the greenhouse now, they unlock their hidden treasure: a miracle. A gift. A plant, like the woman's. But this one is bigger. It's had a year to grow.

The woman looks around her, at the racks of dry soil and seed, and at these two living things, and something strange starts to happen. A jolt of power runs through her, coursing through her fingers, making the lights flash and the glass walls shake.

She convulses in the surge, bending all the way back, her eyes flashing in ecstacy. Askalaphos kneels, head bowed. She's home.

In the city, there is a light at the heart of the labyrinth. She just doesn't know it yet.

#punchdrunk #momentaday #the burnt city #persephone #askalaphos

September 17, 2023 - Hesperides shop

The queen clings to a tiny moment of hope in a sea of despair.

"...My boy. My boy still lives. Troy will rise again!"

From the other room, Askalaphos wheezes out a laugh.

Hope doesn't last long around here.

#Askalaphos #the burnt city #punchdrunk #tbc oc #tbc countdown #i could not tell if the timing was intentional but I do not care actually #the way it coincided was too good #long live meta askalaphos #fania

September 6, 2023

The florist comes in through the back door and collapses on the chair. They slam back a couple of pills from out of their pocket, stashed there just in case. They close their eyes.

When they open them again, they've gone glassy. They stare out into nothing and slide down the chair, spine turned to jelly. They sink to the floor.

Grounded. Now they can see more than they did before. Askalaphos looks around slowly, surrounded by figures in white beaks, and laughs. This is it, they've finally lost it, the pills and potions and trauma have taken their toll. And the ghosts keep on staring.

The florist crouches down, head bowed, but extends their arm and points one slender finger to the other side of the shop, where a queen is having the worst moment of her life which is about to turn into the second-worst.

Askalaphos parts their lips, takes in a breath, and screams with her, silently, in perfect unison.

The crowd of shades is far too thick to see the queen, but every line on her face and every trace of pain is reflected back here.

#the burnt city #punchdrunk #Askalaphos #Hecuba #fania #tbc countdown #tbc oc

She wants it so badly. The desire lies dormant as he sits and reads, but as she arranges the shrine and begins to pray you can see it begin to rise to the surface. The longing.

And then, the light changes, flushing blue-green as the radio plays.

"Strangers' arms reach out to me..."

And the god is here, behind her. Apollo caresses Askalaphos so gently. The florist stretches out her arms, tilts her head back, eyes closed, in ecstasy.

The moment passes, the god disappears but for a moment, the high remains. Askalaphos stretches up and up and up, and for a moment you could swear her feet have left the ground.

For a fleeting second a look of discomfort crosses her face, as she touches a hand to her shoulder. The moment passes with a shrug, and she prepares for her next customer. She'll discover the price she has just paid later.

In the city, you should be careful what you wish for.

#momentaday #punchdrunk #the burnt city #askalaphos #apollo #Spotify

Askalaphos

You've been wanting this. You've been dreaming of this for so long. You even prayed for it.

And now it's happening - whether you like it or not, it's coming.

It hurts.

And you don't know what it will be like when it's done. You don't know when it will be done, or if it will be done, or if you will be stuck as a monstrosity forever, not one thing and not the other.

Your bones grind, your spine deforms - this is what you wanted, isn't it?

The process of becoming is so difficult. It had better be worth it.

#the burnt city #punchdrunk #Askalaphos #trans #tbc oc #tbc countdown

June 30, 2023 - Troy back alleys, near the end of the loop

Askalaphos, I think, is wearing a Totenpass.

I'm screaming inside when I see the red string around her neck. The necklaces the dead wear with instructions for the underworld. To help them remember after they have passed through the Lethe.

When Polydorus is given his, it marks him for death. But in this world, perhaps all members of the religion wear it, because death could strike at any time?

And she kisses it as she begins her transformation. She has accepted that she may die on her quest for flight?

...I get a closer look. It's not a Totenpass, no gold leaf or tablet. It's a little figure sculpted from clay, a familiar shape with pressed-in eyes and pointy ears. A tiny, crude owl, like the ones in Laocoön's studio.

Up on the ledge, silhouetted against the sign, she curls herself up, and then a taloned hand begins to reach. At who, at what? At me. I'm right underneath, craning my neck up, fixed on her because who can look away when it's Fania fuckin Grigoriou doing what she does best, just a woman fully turning into an owl on a Friday night. Her eyes are crazed, desperate, and so round, somehow more round than they should be, not quite human.

After a few moments her gaze shifts minutely, and I'm not the target anymore. Still she reaches down, and it's Apollo come to inspect his blessing. He sees her and he reaches up in return - and then, when their fingers are mere inches apart, he crumples to the ground.

She stretches further helplessly, but it's no use. His power is out. He's given all he can give, the rest is up to her.

But she is gonna fly. Even if only for a moment.

#the burnt city #punchdrunk #writeup #Askalaphos #fania #seirian #tbc countdown