Not Sorry For Loving You | EPIC The Musical Animatic (The Vengeance Saga)

Super excited for this one and happy to finally be done.

Song: Not Sorry For Loving You
Music by @JayHerrans
From: Epic The Musical

#epicthemusical

[SkyJustDontCare]

I love how you portrayed Calypso’s line about “So when you washed ashore, I thought for sure that you were my dream come true.” Most animatics that’s I’ve seen have Calypso smiling, but in this one she’s crying. Crying that she finally has company, no longer alone, free from the neverending loneliness and miserableness even if it is temporary. It not only emphasizes the line more, but also shows how desperate she was to have someone, anyone other than the sky and sun to keep her company, to end her loneliness.

[bella_daze]

This is the best “I’m Not Sorry For Loving You” animatic. It makes the situation feel much more human and tragic. The island was as much of Calypso’s prison as it was Odysseus’s prison.

[DarkManifest]

I really love Odysseus's visible conflict with himself here, especially after the clip that shows her assaulting him (that frame of him crying was heartwrenching). He has every reason to hate her, but what's awful in every way is that he understands her. They're both people done wrong by the gods, both people who have done monstrous things for the sake of love. She hates that she loves him. He hates that he cares. Just devastating all around, and beautifully portrayed.

[ruyman]

I really like how you portrait them both. Calypso looks sad as she sings and remembers times with Odysseus and not only the times she was alone. But what I really like is Odysseus face, unlike other animatics where they put him with puppy eyes and sad about Calypso, in this he looks depressed, angry, and tired as he should feel as he was being tormented by his ghosts all this years.

[tinagoli]

i like that this version seems to have odysseus consider calypso’s feelings, even hugging her; i fully get why he wouldn’t care (as is depicted in other animatics as well as the canon depiction) but considering his voice talking to calypso, i’m not convinced he’s completely apathetic. of course, it was for the better for him to leave.

[DaxonDarling]

I love that you make it very clear Calypso is both a victim and an abuser. We can be sympathetic for her, due to her past, but we can also be angry for what she did. Her past is not an excuse, but a reason. It doesn’t give her the right, it just makes her side more understandable.

I really love that you went as far as showing Ody cry in the bed, a lot of animators won’t go that far. Congrats, you’ve made me cry lol

[Hyacinth-rj]

So much emotions. Ody, after everything he been though, trying to let Calypso down softly is so beautifuly animatedand and shows he still is not ruthless enough. I love every part of this, most of all flashbacks. We can see moments from past 7 years where they look almost like friends and moments when Calypso was just evil(forcing herself on Ody). Ody hesitating to reach to her summs up their relationship perfectly. If she'd wanted to be just friends, Ody would have been everything she ever imagine about friends. He would be heartbroken to leave her alone. Alas she didn't want that.

[EclipsisCorvus]

So lowkey, I love that the 1:34 scene can be taken a few ways from how Britt portrayed it, because it could be that she tried being intimate with him while he was breaking down, forcing herself onto him, or she lay with him to comfort him (but nothing happened) it's left really nebulous. From the rest of the animatic, it's very clear at least that Calypso and Odysseus had a relatively healthyish relationship and one that he did care for her, but as he said not the way she wanted him to so I am leaning towards the usual consensus that Epic!Calypso didn't SA Ody. It also seems like from other bits here and there in other songs, that Epic may have gone the route of it's not directly Calypso preventing anyone from coming and going but may be the island itself. Otherwise, wouldn't she gladly want people coming or herself leaving? All in all, it's very much a "if things had been different" relationship. If Penelope wasn't there, Odysseus would probably have been more than willing to stay and love her the way she wanted him to, but it was unrequited. This is probably my favorite depiction of Not Sorry for Loving You, where it really shows she truly is apologizing for how she treated him and kept trying to force a relationship that wasn't there, but as the title says she isn't sorry for falling in love with him.

[emissary]

I love this animatic so much, how it shows how much pain Calypso went through but also how much she caused Odysseus. I love the moments where we see what happened on the island, how Odysseus was hurt by her but also had good moments with her, how complex the whole situation is. Yes, Calypso was hurt by the Gods and has lived in isolation for so long, of course she'd latch onto whoever came to her island. But that doesn't make it right, and Odysseus knows this. I like how he tries to comfort her, despite everything, and how she tries to push him away at the end. BUT ALSO THE FACT SHE GOES IN FOR A KISS AT THE END?! A last, desperate plea to not be alone again, Oughh!!!
The colors, poses and expressions are so good and I love it.

[ThiefofRPGistheWanderingSoul]

You did very well at showing how Odysseus would even think of saying "I Love You" in this animatic. Which honestly has bothered me since listening to the song. However, while you show how great of a friend Odysseus can be, I'm glad you show the pain that Calypso forced onto him as well though, and you didn't shy away from that. I also just love the mystical way Odysseus fades away at the end after rejecting her. Also big props at how it feels like your animatics have felt a lot smoother in this one. Gave it a bit more life.

As for your question of how long you should take for your future animatics. While personally, I think you should take as long as you need and are comfortable for to make the best animatic that you can. I do have to bring up yhe unfortunate point that timing is everything, and even if you have a quality animation it unfortunately doesn't matter if people don't see it because the fandom would have collectively chosen the "canon" animatic by then. That is why I think you should try and find the happy medium and hope the fandom attracts to you. I know, I'll try to share it with some fellow Winions.

[TaoStars]

The fact that he doesn't truly hate her and understands the loneliness drove her to love him is tragic

[somethingthatexists]

i love this dynamic of odysseus and calypso! she would not outright force him to do anything, stopping when he's genuinely distressed at her advances, but her tears and loneliness coerce him into playing along with stuff that doesn't strictly cross the line like stargazing and hairbraiding.

he appeases and avoids her to make his life easier but also because despite everything, he feels bad for her. he's constantly torn between antagonizing and empathizing with her, which is super cool how that ties into his ruthlessness character arc. To take mercy upon himself would be to shun and fight and rebel against her, but his guilt comes back when she treats him genuinely.

They are locked in a zero-sum game on calypso's island because their goals and wants are direct opposites, and while canon calypso simply took by force and enjoyed a brief respite from loneliness while odysseus suffered, in this version they're precariously balanced in a compromise where everything hurts and everything's complicated and you just portrayed it so

Your expressions are always stunning and so nuanced but in this animatic especially, they speak volumes! everytime odysseus wants to reach out to comfort calypso but thinks better like why should i help my captor, my tormentor, or like i shouldn't lead her on, his look after calypso says if i came on too strong like yeah you think?, everytime he gives in like she hasn't done anything and i can give her platonic company easily enough, and the constant shroud of misery and longing clamped around him, it's all so legible and it's like i discover new details each rewatch!

[Ratman-pc]

Odysseus friendzoneing Calypso in the most bitter sweet way makes me sob every time :(

[jacobrengen]

I love Odysseus clear conflict in this. The facial features are of calypso going from sadness to rage to regret is fantastic. The color palette, suddenly shifting, and the way that Odysseus flinches at her touch. That she is both an apology and trauma dumping on Odysseus and he’s feeling conflicted on how should react. She slowly coming to terms with her obsession and I was unhealthy, but she still cleans to the hope that he will choose her over Penelope. The expressions are fantastic and you always do a great job. Thank you. You did a great job in showing Odysseus loneliness and isolation will also showing calypso isolation and loneliness and how desperate she was for human contact by any means necessary, but realizing that if you love something you should let it go if it desires to be let go

[Impimperator]

This is the most realistic one yet. Calypso is much as a victim as Odysseus. I love how you portrayed the fact that everything was not all bad. There were some good parts and Odysseus did at some point grow to love her in a way. Such a heartbreaking, heartwarming, and tragic story/animation. Wonderfully well done.

[SkyrahBai]

I think this hurt more than the official animatic. 7 years is such a long time, I find it hard to believe that Odysseus didn't at least TRY to live there and make do with what he could. He tried to love her. Maybe not eros, but there was philia. I've been in Calypso's shoes so seeing her act like that hit really hard, especially seeing how Ody pulled her in even though he was leaving reminded me so much of how my ex hugged me one last time before he broke up with me.

[alyssafigliano]

This is the first animatic I've seen since the song came out that actually made me cry. As awful as her actions were Calypso had no idea what she was putting Odysseus through. And despite that they did form a bond of sorts, even though the romantic love was one-sided. This is the first portrayal I've seen where Odysseus seems genuine in his care and affection for Calypso - but he knows that anything shy of his complete devotion to her is not enough for her, and so he leaves without saying goodbye. He could never be what she wanted him to be, even when she tried to be everything he could possibly want. Because she's not Penelope. Because all Odysseus will ever want is Penelope. While Calypso in the original story is much more of a villain, EPIC makes her such a tragic yet deeply flawed character, and I can't help but pity her a bit.

[HeartsforJake-xh]

I hate Calypso but dam I feel so bad hearing this. Like I get how she feels. She wants someone to be with her. Although that does not make her actions right. She is a victim but no matter how much of a victim you are you shouldn’t make someone else a victim.

[swhite]

You did SUCH a good job at conveying the complexity and nuances of their situation!! This is a lot truer to The Odyssey than portraying Calypso as an irredeemable monster but it doesn't sugarcoat anything either. Odysseus' micro expressions are also fantastic, we really get a feel of seven entire years of loneliness, abuse, distance, intimacy and ultimately shared life between them.

[jaeljozhuedelacruz]

I know what she did was wrong for the 7 years, but being alone on an island for YEARS would make anyone get clingy to the first person they would meet- does justify it? NOPE but does it cause mixed feelings? Yup