The Riding Writer

You're an early twenties lesbian who breaks a cute butch dyke out of prison - she's got broad shoulders, huge biceps, big wet puppydog eyes, a fat ass and a good heart. You spend two days tromping around the Undercity with her breathing in each other's fuckin pheromones and shit while she challenges your notions about the way the world works. You watch her go to town on a bowl of slop and then she flirts with you hardcore outside of a brothel after asking if you were into girls. You ALREADY KNOW what her moans sound like because that time she got gut-stabbed and you had to give her The Serum. She saved your life and carried you across a bridge when you got hurt and then you took her home and she laid on your bed with you and told you about the deep well of pain inside her and held your hand.

Epic is an interesting case because it’s both adapting incredibly famous events in Greek mythology and telling its own tragedy, the impact of which is felt such that even the bittersweet happy ending makes everyone cry.

Epic the Musical is NOT called “The Odyssey: The Musical.” Because it’s not The Odyssey: The Musical. It does adapt the tale of the Odyssey, but the overarching plot arc and moral tale come from the mind of Jorge Rivera-Herrans, and the events and characters of the Odyssey are adapted in a way that is faithful enough to feel representative of the tale but ultimately are adjusted to serve that larger story goal, which Jorge never pretended was something he took from the original Odyssey.

Epic works because it’s adapting the Odyssey without claiming to tell the story of the Odyssey. It tells the story of Epic through the legendary tales of the Odyssey, which is a subtle difference, but one that was executed very well.

Nolan’s Odyssey movie, on the other hand, feels from the way it is set up as though it should be portraying the story of the Odyssey, and then it doesn’t.

Here’s the thing, though: I actually do like the tale told through Nolan’s Odyssey. I think the way it’s filmed, the way it’s set up, and the way the motifs pull together is very well done. The centrality of the invented Zeus’ law and the way Athena’s character was handled (which is completely antithetical to the original story, but impactful in its own way) were executed well. But at the same time, it just comes with this feeling of claiming to be something it isn’t. If the film wasn’t the Odyssey, I’d enjoy it better, because it is a good story, it just deeply is not the story it claims to be. In fact, I’d say Epic the Musical actually tiptoes closer to the Odyssey story than a movie called the Odyssey.

What's the first "big news story" you remember from when you were a kid?

It's something I love to ask mixed-aged groups sometimes because I think it's really interesting to see the responses. I've gotten answers from the Olympics of [whatever year] to Watergate to more recent stuff from my niblings.

Tell me this isn’t about the girl. Definitely, mostly not about the girl.

"I am skin, but underneath lives fire and stars and wild!" -Melody Lee

It’s much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of

Poor Belial, making the right choice is truly that hard.

Revelation is a queer urban fantasy for fans of Supernatural or Shadowhunters.

Merry learned two things early in life. 

One, other people couldn't see the monsters the way she did. 

And two, the monsters didn't like being seen.

Like when Gandalf spent literal PAGES trying to figure out why the vibes were off in Moria and Legolas chimes in with just "it's a balrog :) that shit's evil :) we're so fucked :)" like what do you MEAN you knew already and just didn't tell him??

Or at the beginning of Two Towers when Aragorn thinks there's something nearby so he puts his ear to the ground to listen, and then like 10 minutes later is like "hmmm i hear horses" and Legolas is just like "mm yep. there are 105 blond bitches with spears" like you just let your friend put his face in the dirt and you can SEE them??

gandalf is scratching his head in moria, and legolas is thinking "oh man, the wizard noticed something off *besides* the obvious balrog that we all are aware of??"