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pet da ears

hes 2% dog

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How do u manage to have so many creative- but heartbreaking - ideas bro WDYM HE GETS A GLIIMPSES OF THE UNDERWORLDD WDYMMMM?????? Anyways never stop

cw: for blood and telemachus's busted face in pic 4

Some more lil layout doodles for the Little Wolf animatic! I like the idea that Telemachus gets so badly beaten by antinous that like ody he gets glimpses into hades, where meemaw, polites and eurylochus are like gurl what

also antinous having absolutely zero chill

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I think some people in the Epic Fandom misunderstood what Odysseus did in the Thunder Saga, and it's honestly bothering me.

Some fans seems to excuse Odysseus's action in the Thunder Saga. More specifically Scylla's lair and the sacrifice of 6 men that inevitably would have lead to the mutiny.

Epic's version differes from the Odyssey poem. Odysseus and his crew, in the poem, knew what will happen when they sail near Scylla's lair, 6 of them will be taken, and that doesn't exclude Odysseus. With heavy heart they sail next to it.

Epic's Odysseus on the other hand? He didn't base it on chances, but rather used the fact that his crew didn't know what Scylla was to his advantage. He changed the stakes where he had 100% chance of survival by marking 6 of the crew with a torch in hand for Scylla.

And this where some of the fandom excuses his action, "he didn't have a choice" or "It was either that or Posiden", and rather put all the blame of the saga onto Eurylochus. This doesn't only take away from how smart and cunning Odysseus was, but his desperation to get home, his will to sacrifice anyone to reach it. Odysseus had choices, he chose the one that secured his safety.

The Musical acknowledges that aspect of Odysseus. Scylla's lines "We must do what it takes to survive" and "We are the same you and I". His break down in Calypso's Island, haunted by his past. His line "As I traded friends like objects I could use" in Would You Fall in Love With Me.

Which leads to the unfair look on the mutiny. In the Odyssey, it was due to prolonged hunger on the island and the sad truth of how long they have been fighting. In Epic, it was a moment of realization for the crew, 6 of their men were sacrificed, on purpose, and their captain knew it will happen. It was a mixture of fear, anger and betrayal, if he did that to secure his safety, what guarantee he won't sacrifice one of them next time?

But that was my Ted talk

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I’ve seen a lOT of debate of who is in the worst wrong here in EPIC the musical: Eurylochus or Ody. And I think I’ve realized where a lot of the conflict lies.

This is why Just a Man is the perfect tone, theme and character defining song bc it literally says I’m Just A Man, fighting for his life. Deep down I would trade the world to see my son and wife. The infant is somehow both a metaphor for his greatest desire, and a perfect example of what he’s willing to do to get that.

Ody is not against abandoning his morals. Athena took him under her wing for his guts, bravery and strategic mind. The reason we root for him is in the song: “He’s Just a Man”.

But enough blood on your hands, and your guilty conscience will start to wear you down. He goes back and forth on ruthlessness or mercy because he keeps wanting so badly for Mercy to prevail, for Polites’ words to be how he can survive. But he just can’t. This isn’t the world where they can live that way.

I will weep these words every time my heart aches for this man, “HES JUST A MANNNN”

And you know what. So is Eurylochus.

Eurylochus is only painted the bad guy because we don’t see his motive. Ody was dealt a lot of bad hands, and I do believe Eury should have held some understanding at that, especially after encountering Poseidon the first time. But do I blame this man for seeing his brother’s downward spiral and thinking “I can’t trust him anymore to make sure we all get home alive?” ABSOLUTELY NOT. Mutiny was unnecessary though, he was acting irrationally and they were all starving. That’s why Eury’s character is so tragic to me, and not necessarily the opposition to Ody.

And I should say this, please keep in mind that A Lot of fandoms like to exaggerate things to make a joke because coping mechanisms. I think its really entertaining and hilarious how the fandom portrays Eury as just Done With Ody’s Shit. And the feeling is mutual. They’ve been on this journey for YEARS. It’s valid.

Please don’t take our joking that Eurylochus is the Worst literally. You have to understand, Eury being irrational is very hilarious to make fun of.

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very specific situation that happens to me and my partners a lot

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This !! I always thought abt eurylochus dialogue and how alot of it is him voicing the concerns of the crew, most of his decisions are somewhat connected to caring abt the crew and i loveee hin for that

Gods help me, I'm back on my bullshit

So I was doing some thinking dangerous I know about Epic and Jay's character/instrument pairings again, and that led to me thinking about how Eurylocus' instrument is The Crew, which led to me thinking about Mutiny and how, since he serves as the voice of the crew, any opinion Jay has him voice is very likely something everyone in the crew agrees on.

And that made me realize something about Keep Your Friends Close:

The bag was always gonna be opened that night.

The fact that Eurylocus opened it likely means that he was the last holdout; that every other man on that ship wanted it open. If Eurylocus didn't open it, someone else would. It was inevitable, the only way that bag would have stayed closed was if Ody had trusted Eurylocus enough to sleep in shifts with him, so he wouldn't have to have been awake for 9 days straight and would thus have had enough of his faculties to keep Eury trusting him, and even then it would have been a long shot, because, again, Eury is the voice of the crew.

At the absolute minimum, their ship had like 40 guys on it after Polyphemus, so Eurylocus would have had to fight off 39 desperate men, with weapons, to keep that thing closed and, though our guy might be The Goat, he's only one man.

It was always gonna go this way after Ody doxxed himself; once that domino fell, all anyone could do was watch.

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So the au i came up with where Odysseus and Polites don't get back from the lotus island in time and Eurylochus has to go find them. It has possessed me. Have my writing :D

"Captain!" Eurylochus and Odysseus both look up at Polites' shout from his perch up in the ship's mast.

Odysseus grins at Eurylochus as Polites scrambles down and runs over to them, already pointing and shouting, "Look! There in the distance, I see an island, and there's a light that faintly glows!"

Polites' excitement had caught the attention of quite a few of the other men up on the deck, and they've started stopping what they're supposed to be doing to see what the commotion is all about.

"Maybe there's people lighting a fire." Polites suggests, still smiling wide, "Maybe they'll share some food, who knows?"

There is indeed an island on the horizon, and in the darkness of the evening they can see a faint glowing light. Still, it seems... odd.

"Something feels off here." Odysseus announces, quieting the growing excitement of the crew at the prospect of food and proper shelter, "I see fire but there's no smoke."

Correct, as always, there is no smoke. Eurylochus opens his mouth to speak, but Polites gets there first, "Maybe it's a cave! Or the light of lanterns."

"And what settlement is not visible other than a small light?" Odysseus questions, "The light would at least flicker, would it not?"

Polites frowns, the excitement in his dark eyes shifting slightly to something else.

"I say we strike first." Eurylochus finally gets a gap in the conversation, several of the men shout their agreement with him, "We don't have time to waste, our food supplies have almost run dry, so let's raid the place and-"

"No." Odysseus cuts him off, "Brother, i know we have been at war for much too long, and we all still think with that mindset, but despite my suspicions, i do not know what else it could be other than people, and people have to abide by the laws of Xenia."

"What if it is not people though, captain?" One of the men- Eurylochus thinks it was Elpenor- pipes up. Everyone has gotten a whole lot more comfortable with talking to people of a higher rank than them because of the comradery that the war had built.

Odysseus grimaces, "Well then we have been at war for much too long and we are all hardened warriors, yes?"

A round of agreement goes up from the men. Eager shouts and loud excitement.

"So captain, what's the plan?" Eurylochus asks. He still believes that this is a bad idea, but he trusts Odysseus, and he trusts Polites, and despite many people's dislike of it, Polites' opinions and hopefulness have served him well during the war.

Speaking of Polites, he is still standing at the bow, leaning on the side of the ship and staring out over the dark waves at the island. Eurylochus can see the faint light that they've been discussing reflected in his friend's glasses.

"Polites gear up," is all Odysseus says, snapping Polites out of his thoughts and making him jump slightly, "You and I'll go ahead."

"You and I'll go ahead." Polites nods, repeating the order and turning and walking off to collect what they'd need. Eurylochus watches him go- Polites flashes a smile over his shoulder when he realises he's watching, eyes glinting in amusement at Eurylochus' worried expression.

Eurylochus smiles slightly when Polites does that 'we'll be okay' look of his before turning back to what he's doing.

"We should try to find a way nobody ends up dead." Odysseus mutters, turning back to Eurylochus and the island ahead of them, "The gods know too many people have died these past few years. Too many innocents."

Eurylochus just glares at him and crosses his arms, "With all due respect, captain, we don't know what's ahead. Even if it isn't people- even if it is and they're friendly, we don't know what's on that island-"

"Thank you for the concern, but brother, I can assure you, our journey is almost done!" He doesn't say it dismissively though, as if he genuinely appreciates Eurylochus' endless concern. And then Odysseus pokes him, hard, in the side, "I understand that we're tired, I understand that we're fazed, but don't forget how much we've already faced! I took six hundred men to war and not one of them died there, and i don't intend to let any of them die now, not now that the war is over."

"I know, captain." Eurylochus nods, "But this isn't war. There could be a monster on that island, or something divine. I only suggest that you take more men than Polites."

"Polites." Odysseus offers, "Polites is a good fighter- we'll be fine, Eurylochus. Besides, have you forgotten the boar? We killed that when we were just children, and that was divine!"

"And me and Ctimene had to drag you and Polites back to the palace infirmary. Yes." Eurylochus laughs slightly, "I remember."

"But i looked awesome while i was killing it! Even Athena agrees!" Odysseus elbows him then, and Eurylochus lets out a very undignified noise.

"I doubt the great Lady Athena thinks you're awesome, Ody-"

And for a moment they're just kids again, arguing over the littlest things and laughing at each other, never knowing the horrors of leadership or war. Gods, Eurylochus cannot wait to return to Ithaca, it's been like a little part of their family has been missing without Ctimene and Penelope.

But then Odysseus' smile falls, eyes drifting back to the island, and the little moment is broken, "Eury, just give us 'til sunrise, and if we don't return, then, well, then six hundred men can make this whole place burn!" He gestures at the island, "Though that really is the worst case scenario, and i really do not believe it will come to that."

Eurylochus rolls his eyes at his captain's confidence. He stares back out at the island. He would willingly burn it to the ground if it took his family from him.

"Now full speed ahead!" Odysseus calls to the men.

Eurylochus would burn it a hundred times over if he lost Polites and Odysseus to it.

~~•~~

"You can relax, my friend." Polites swats another branch out of his way as he follows Odysseus through the forest. Actually it's more of a jungle- all huge trees and exotic flowers and plants everywhere. Though there is a trail leading away from the beach, which they are following- Polites doesn't think they'd be able to push their way through the jungle if the trail wasn't there.

"Huh?" Odysseus doesn't even glance back. Polites rolls his eyes, he is fed up of looking at the back of his brother's helmet.

"I can tell you're nervous." Polites says, ducking under a branch that Odysseus had been able to just walk under with no problem, "So do yourself a service, and try to relax, my friend."

They've been at war for ten years. Polites doesn't want to fight anymore, though all Odysseus is gonna do is attract a fight, with his armour and holding his sword like that.

"I'm fine, Polites." Odysseus just carries on up the path- they can hear the bubbling of water ahead. They lost sight of the light a long while ago.

"I know i have bad eyesight, Odysseus, but I'm not blind." Polites mutters, "Besides, think of all that we have been through, we'll survive what we get into!"

They've been at war for ten years, they know how to fight. Their bodies are still running off of that constant fear that the war placed in them, ready to fight at any moment.

And they all have so much blood on their hands- Polites has so much blood on his hands, he doesn't want to kill anymore, he's trying to be a better person, and for the sake of the gods, Odysseus is not making it easy.

"I know that we're both tired of the war and bloodshed- tell me, is this how we're supposed to live?" Polites asks after a long moment. He doesn't want to live like this anymore. He wants to go home and sit by his sister's side as he watches Penelope weave and race through the olive groves with Perimedes and pull harmless pranks on visiting nobles with Ctimene again.

When Odysseus doesn't answer he continues speaking, "Look at how you grip your sword, that's enough said. Why should we take when we could give?" Polites pushes a low hanging branch out of his way. He's trying, he really is, but it's much too warm and he ran out of water a while back and he's tired and fed up of this jungle and hurting from the war, and Odysseus isn't making anything easier. But it's not his place to complain, it never has been and never will be, "You could show a person that you trust them when you stop and lower your guard."

Odysseus just keeps walking. Every now and then he glances back at Polites. Polites can't read the emotions on his face with how dark it's suddenly gotten.

"Here we have a chance for some adjustment-" he waves his hands around, gestures back at where they've come from, back at the boats, "-give it a try, it's not that hard."

Polites smiles when Odysseus finally turns around and looks at him properly. He knows that everyone will need some time to adjust after the war, he knows that some of the men will hate him for how he deals with the war and everything it caused. He knows it will take time, and Polites is willing to be patient, but by the gods, Odysseus doesn't need to look at him like that.

Like how some of the men- the ones who call him things like naive- look at him. Like it's an utter miracle that Polites survived the war because surely someone so kind should be dead. The ones who wonder how he could ever fight just because he doesn't want to kill after a decade of killing.

But then Polites sees a faint flickering of light ahead of them and he grins, forgetting Odysseus and running ahead, "Look!" He shouts, staring at the clearing he has walked into.

There's a brook running down the middle, the water being what they had heard before, and the trees form a natural roof- casting darkness over the jungle that allows the flowers and fruits to let out an unearthly glow.

Enough clearings like this dotted across the island would have been enough to form the light he saw from the ship, and frankly, it is the most beautiful thing Polites has ever seen.

He smiles at Odysseus when the other man finally catches up to him and pauses at his side, pale eyes wide and shining orange in the odd light.

"I'm telling you, this life is amazing when you greet it with open arms." Polites laughs slightly, throwing his arms wide and gesturing at the absolutely stunning clearing, "Whatever we face, we'll be fine if we're leading from the heart, and no matter the place, we can light up the world, if only we greet the world with open arms."

Odysseus laughs slightly at him, "I don't know how you do it." He says quietly, "But yes, this is very pretty."

"Pretty?" Polites asks, walking into the clearing, "That, Odysseus, is an understatement."

Neither of them see the creatures lurking in the shadows that linger between the trees. The creatures that watch them from outside the eerie light of the flowers and fruits.

Odysseus lets his guard down little by little as Polites chatters away excitedly, and they sit in the grass after they've refilled their waterskins from the stream. Or rather, Odysseus sits in the grass- Polites had just flopped down on his back, still staring with wonder at the flowers and the strange fruits around them.

Odysseus takes his helmet off and sets his sword in the long grass, besides Polites' spear. His brother's endless talking eventually drowns out Odysseus' uncertainty of this place- the walk back to the ships isn't too long, a moment to stop and relax wouldn't harm anyone.

"Welcome."

Yeah :]

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:)

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Just some silly doodles of Circe and her nymphs and the cute piggy crew plus the lowest of low quality Odysseus and Eurylochus! I'm really digging the idea of Circe being a mad scientist because i always found her reasoning in the og story for turning men into pigs kinda funny like she is doing it for the love of the game, so i thought it might be neat if she's a lil bit dr frankenstein and reanimator; morbid doodling with human body parts.

Also lil scylla concept doodles (warning: might be a lil spooky)

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Just saw an EPIC reaction who understood Eury on mutiny perfectly omg am i dreaming

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man i hated that part of epic when eurylochus hit the second tower :/

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the insane experience of missing a fictional character . like you can always go back and reread the book , replay the game , rewatch the show or movie , you can always go back & see them , but you can never experience them & their story for the first time again . its absurd to miss them because they'll always be there , but you'll miss when there were still new things for them to say .

for a small time they were real & growing and changing and you hung onto every new word, but now all they can do is repeat the same story forever&ever & they're not real anymore because you know everything they're going to do. & you miss them. its fucked man...

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eurylochus defeated face in wolfy's wyfilwma wip AUUUGHHH

also using polites as an impact frame for the thunder is foul what the hell ☹☹☹☹

( all screenshots taken from wolfyaltwitch's twitter wip https://x.com/wolfyaltwitch/status/1936499079632371913 )

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It’s donnnnneeeee!!!

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Leaving a drawing of young Odysseus and Eurylochus here ✨😚

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Warrior of the Mind

Ended up making another one.

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Also the argument the epic fandom makes about eurylochus sacrificing 500+ men is flawed, because EVEN if he didnt open the bag poseidon would have attacked as seen in charybdis and get in the water, where odysseus even without opening the windbag gets final bossed by poseidon ( in one of the lyrics poseidon literally mentions that he will drown ithaca if odysseus doesnt get in the water, meaning that opening the windbag didnt matter and poseidon was going to get them either way )

HELLO EVERYNYAN HOW ARE YOU FINE THANK YOU

long post ahead

context i watched this delightful video by lela studios https://www.youtube.com/shorts/th7_28E8k98

and before even being able to finish the video i had typed up an essay long comment "ABSOLUTELY EURYLOCHIS GETS TOO MUCH HATE!!! i have been meaning to write a thing elsewhere about eury's character, but in essence, he is a deeply flawed man who so desperately wants to trust and listen to his captain, he wants to get home too (iirc in the odyssey or. somewhere else that epic is based off of he has a wife! he has a wife that he wants to return to just as badly as odysseus!) and like. in luck runs out odysseus asks "hey, dont question me, i promise we can get home" and eurylochus is like "aight" IMMEDIATELY after his betrayal of odysseus (opening the wind bag), in puppeteer HE TRIES TO TELL HIM. HE TRIES TO SAY "hey odysseus i did. a horrible thing and i cannot keep it secret" and he trusts odysseus when he says "whatever you need to say can wait some more" when theyre at scylla's he tells odysseus because the guilt has been eating him alive (the fandom is like "Lol bro gets mad about 6 crew members dying when he caused the death of the majority)(FANDOM. HE FELT GUILTY AS HELL!!! HE WATCHED ODYSSEUS SACRIFICE 6 MEN AND seemingly NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT IT!!) (also also, from the musicals standpoint, eurylochus is the voice of the crew, he and polites are the ONLY ones who get characterization when others were planned to get that as well)(eurylochus is vocalizing thoughts and fears and wants from ALL of the crew, the want is not exclusively his own) (thats why in mutiny while he starts the fight, the rest of the crew vocalize how distrustful they are too, they ALL saw how odysseus felt no guilt or remorse about what he did which would put anyone at unease!!!)

coughs anyway yes i think eurylochus is overhated by the fandom, and i feel the reason for this is people wanting to scapegoat him into something or someone worse than he is, when every character is flawed, confusing, and desperate to get home after 10 years of war. i would love to see your interpretation of polyphemus, you could get some really delightfully freaky designs if you go a little outside the norms of typical cyclops designs" that. is the tl;dr version. and that is very long.

buckle up folks because i am about to yap about why i think eurylochus is overhated by the fandom, and while shit he doesnt do isnt the correct choices, they make sense and we should also remember that no one is safe in this musical from having complexities so fucking help me god i went through this with the hamilton fandom and this time i can actually yap JINGFDIJON

we have like a couple of songs that really push forth eury's story Luck runs out, Puppeteer, Scylla, Mutiny and to a degree Thunder Bringer in luck runs out, weve just been past a war, crew nearly starving, and quite a few people dying to polyphemus, plus odysseus fucking doxxing himself (this is a surprise tool that will help us later even if that part is more guessing) the entire song is eury probably vocalizing the entire crews "hey???? hello??? what the fuck???"

because eurylochus is the only one out of the crew we can distinctly point out (polites being the other one but. stares) but then toward the end when its just the two of them after the "thank you for the concern but brother i can assure you our journey is almost done", odysseus, like i mentioned in comment, is like "hey, trust me, dont question what i tell you to do" and eurylochus puts his trust into odysseus

then we hit with "keep your friends close" and "ruthlessness" video mentions it, odysseus DOES NOT FUCKING TRUST THE CREW which is entirely the winions fault (but also of the crew for trusting some random sky creatures)(which like. again. stares at the horrors theyve experienced up till then alone)(you want some fucking whimsy and treasure in your life)

eurylochus ends up being the one to open the wind bag, curiosity got the best of him, and then hes IMMEDIATELY hit with the worst consequences of the fucking CENTURY he fucked around and found out and BOY DID HE FIND OUT like he is quiet for the entirety of ruthlessness, but like those "captain" callouts from those drowning were hitting him too because shit man! he caused all that!

then in puppeteer, we immediately open on eurylochus trying, HE IS IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE HAS CAUSED SOME SHIT TO HAPPEN TRYING TO TELL ODYSSEUS "HEY MAN. I FUCKED UP BIG TIME. I FEEL LIKE SHIT ABOUT IT" and odysseus is like "lol man it can so wait. it can so wait. it can so wait" and eurylochus, feeling the guilt and still placing his trust in odysseus (this is where surprise tool and the guessing comes in)(given poseidon mentions TO ody "hey lol. you fucking doxxing yourself is ultimately what caused me to show the fuck up. fuck ya life, bing bong")(i would not be surprised if eurylochus' trust is shaken from that first) and then like. after the circe encounter, when hes like "lets cut our losses you and i and lets run" "of course id like to leave now, of course id like to run, but i can hardly sleep now, knowing everything weve done" and that whole lyric section i always read "i can hear her still, and her voice deceives. what if she cant be killed?" as trying to formulate a plan WITH odysseus not trying to make him go against the idea of saving the crew like "ok so. shes super powerful. what the fuck" and odys like "well lets fucking pray" and then the circe saga happens, and like yay! happy days!!!!!! a bit of trust comes back in

ACTUALLY SURPRISE CAMEO FROM DIFFERENT BEAST (and underworld saga) given i dont think any of the crew were privy to what tiresias told ody, and his breakdown after about "becoming the monster", to the crew, the cruelty comes out of NOWHERE like "ok sure, killing our enemies, yeah." " " "captain what do you mean cut their tails off and then throw them back into the water and let them drown"

because that IS crueler than just killing them, cutting their tails off and then throwing them into the water, its the order with which the thing is done that gets the crew to switch up from "WE are a different beast now" to "HE is a different beast now", because the hesitation comes back, the hesitation and the "hey. hey hold on" and the trust breaks again

and then in scylla, eurylochus finally tells the thing about the wind bag, (my partner has so fucking amazingly pointed out, scyllas singing fits both odysseus' and eurylochus' sides)("leaving them feeling betrayed" is what happens to both of them during that song)(eurylochus finally tells of his betrayal, and odysseus betrays eury's trust in him near completely)(theres a reason i say near completely)

and ok

so the fandom is like "lollll eurylochus???? eurylochus you caused the death of like closer to 500 men probably what right do u have to be mad about 6 deaths"

ITS BECAUSE ODYSSEUS FEELS NO REMORSE FOR IT the two have both caused death, indirectly at that point, but its the fact that odysseus CHOOSES to DIRECTLY cause death to the 6 men, and again, eurylochus is the voice of the crew, and to the rest of the crew, their captain sacrificing 6 of them and not at all feeling bad about it????? holy FUCK

so then the rest of mutiny plays out, (i will once again point to "eurylochus is the crews voice" with the lyric "how are we supposed to trust you now" because that shit mirrors exactly the stuff eurylochus is handling with the lyrics, its so hard to get lost in the sauce of it all but NO this is NOT AN IDEA HELD ONLY BY EURYLOCHUS-)

coughs anyway NGFDIJHN that "near broken trust" comes back into play because there is that little bit of trust still there eurylochus realizes he fucked up (which)(btw)(he was starving)(if you were starving and had the means to feed yourself not even GOD could stop you with any punishment from trying to feed yourself) and when odysseus goes into full captain mode, despite the fact he was betrayed, he makes a futile attempt at making sure his crew makes it out safely and we can only assume eurylochus is following orders then we reach thunder bringer eurylochus has realized he has doomed the crew and when he says "captain?" "i have to see her" "but we'll die" "i know,,," eurylochus has this. resignation and acceptance in his voice all rage has left all anger all sense of betrayal because he cant change that anymore like he fully accepts his fate and knows its because he fucked up

so like. teehee. sniles so sneetly JINGFDOIJN

eurylochus is a flawed character, but so is everyone else in the musical, and nuance should ALWAYS be considered when looking at them instead of "lol funni man bad funni man at the fault of everything in the musical (aside from ody doxxing himself that is a choice of foolishness the size of zeus' ego to not get caught by hera whenever he cheats)

i needed to yap otherwise the goblin inside my brain would have started eating it inside and out