#there will likely be more analysis Soon…

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 72 analysis // spoilers

“who shall be the one to mend this lonely soul?”: the counterpoint and similarities between the dreamer and the desolate and how to move forward even with the feeling that there is nowhere to belong.

when i opened comic days, i confess that kanechika was the last person i was expecting to see. so much so that, thanks to this confusion, i first thought that the chapter would take a completely opposite direction to what i was expecting, which was the school play. but i soon understood what sensei was trying to do and the overlap she chose for this very important moment.

it’s not new for sensei to intersperse two stories into one in order to develop one character or the other (or both) a little more. this mix of elements brings more life and support to the narrative, since the character is able to open up more when faced with something that is opposite or complementary to them. and here i believe that sensei decided to combine the two forms and gave kanechika the role of being the opposite and, at the same time, the complement to shima.

kanechika has always had a huge passion for cinema and theater. this has been evident since the first time he showed his homemade movies to his insistence that shima join the theater club. but, something that hasn't been explored in depth yet is the loneliness that comes with this passion. not everyone around you will always grow up having the same interests as you or feeling them to the same intensity. sometimes, especially for a child, it’s much easier to ignore the “different boy” than to try to understand what this cinema that he likes so much is all about.

but, even though he felt alone and couldn't really fit in with people his own age, something inside kanechika encouraged him to keep going, to try, until he found people who shared his passion or came face to face with something he had brought to life, understanding that everything he had gone through had led him there. seeing shima blossom on stage not only brought him a sense of pride for the kouhai he held in such high regard, but also the idea that he was indeed on the right path and that there were people in the world who were able to listen to what he had to say and who were able to consume his art. 

this insistence on what he loved, even if it hurted you, is the opposite of shima. the realization that your tastes, desires and dreams are valid and that you have the right to feel them would be the complement. 

shima finally took the stage dressed as the monster he had always believed himself to be. and this becomes even more vivid considering the moments in the play that sensei thought were important to highlight, such as the monster's understanding of his loneliness, the forced isolation imposed on him and the understanding that the person closest to you, such as the one who raised you, will not always be responsible for curing the persistent pain of not belonging.

while kanechika sees his passion for theater shine with his own eyes, shima stands against the world. even though it is not him himself standing on stage, it is not his words but those of the monster, shima finally stands up to face everything that he swore was much greater than he could handle.

and, in contrast to everything, we have his own victor frankenstein waiting on the other side, with teary eyes and the fear of trying, once again, to connect with the monster. a mother drowning in the open wound sees, for the first time, her son blossom and live for himself, live for his ideals and passions, face his fears and move forward. her creation that she herself could not fix, the soul so sad.

however, next to her, there is someone who has the courage to say out loud what she so desperately wants: yuki does have the right to try one more time, to be honest with her son and listen to him with all her heart, to try not to rebuild something that is broken, but to forgive what cannot be undone and start over something that they can both build together, side by side, mother and son. she sees the child she raised forcing himself to be an adult from a very young age, giving him the chance to be young for the first time, to try to take control of what hurt him so much. why not try again, in a new play this time?

for the first time in years, they look into each other's eyes, completely raw, ready to face this new unknown. for the first time, she allows herself to praise her son, something she was so afraid of doing, with a great fear of putting an enormous pressure on his shoulders once again. and he allows himself to accept the hand that his mother extends, letting himself dive into this vulnerability that the monster gave him. not only that, but he also now shows a new interest in this family that was given to him, an enormous desire to belong, to be the older brother that his little brother admires so much, to be able to be someone who has frank conversations with his stepfather. shima and yuki are, for the first time, experiencing what could be a complete family. 

and in the midst of so many new beginnings, endings, goodbyes and new days to be lived, there is that one girl, who still waits for him in the same hallway, emanating the same light that welcomes him so much. letting himself be carried away by the feeling and embracing mitsumi once and for all is another step that shima takes in his favor, another step that he allows himself to take to finally be able to walk side by side with this person that he admires so much and finds so special. falling apart in her arms, not so that she can pick him up and rebuild him, but so that he can show her every little piece of himself.

the monster found not only someone who could mend his oh so lonely soul, but someone who would give him the strength to fight alone and for himself. mitsumi isn’t the saviour nor needs to be saved: she’s the light that guides him to find his own path and our courage. it was she who showed him how beautiful it is to be true to yourself and now that he has finally embodied this monster that haunts him so much, he can give himself the chance to walk side by side with her towards a new future.

how beautiful it is to be able to read such an incredible story about taking a chance on yourself and loving without regrets. we’re once again being able to experience another beautiful chapter and for that i’m so grateful.

before we go, can we also appreciate kanechika's shirt when he was a kid? he once wore a shirt with monsters on it only to later see a monster on stage. what a comeback, huh?

thank you so much for reading and sorry for any gramatical mistakes 💛! please support sensei if you can! we will be on break next month thanks to the release of vol 12. excited to see what comes next!!!!!

[intersexbookclub]

Actually intersex people review "Wicked" by Maguire

Our read for February 2025 was “Wicked” by Gregory Maguire, originally published in 1995 and adapted into a musical of the same name, as well as a motion picture released in 2024.

This read posed some difficulty for the club. Most members of the club were able to finish it, but we had a great deal of critical commentary on it. 

The intersex representation left us wanting. Although Elphaba is fairly explicitly described as intersex, her intersexuality is treated as monstrous. Because Maguire has refused to confirm she’s intersex in interviews, and her intersexuality has been dropped in the adaptations, it feels like Maguire only gave her ambiguous genitalia for shock value and not as earnest representation.

Michelle had a lot of feels about this read: xe was “A big Maguire stan in [xer] teens, and didn’t really understand the politics [at the time].” Initially, Michelle was more favourably disposed to the book, having nostalgic reasons of fondness for the work, but critical analysis soon made xer wince in dismay at some of the creative oversights. Xe had previously read the work a couple of times, but not since her teen years;With a greater understanding of anarchism and resistance, it strongly affected xer reaction to the text. “Apparently coming back to a book series like 20 years later is pretty much ideal, because you’ve forgotten enough of it that it’s completely new.” 🙃

Elphaba’s Intersex Identity

The way Elphaba was coded intersex was pretty explicit, with mentions of her unfeminine figure and somewhat ambiguous genitalia openly in the text. 👍️ Rylee noticed many little nods to gender issues, like Elphaba’s remark that “I am a female, though not by choice.” There was some possible transmasc coding there.

Michelle found the intersex coding less offensive than expected (again, for 1995, xer expectations were rather low) and resonated with the way Elphaba protested her gender and some of the nuances of that. Xe had a great deal of affection for Elphaba as a character, having a strong fondness in general for strong, thorny female characters. Although it was imperfectly accomplished, Elphaba was depicted as a rebel and an anarchist, fiercely intelligent and questioning of society, all traits that Michelle enjoys both in real people and in fictional characters.

That being said, Maguire apparently has been evasive about whether Elphaba is meant to be intersex or not in interviews, saying that it’s “open to interpretation”, and everyone hated that. 👎️ The text is not particularly ambiguous, especially compared to other books we’ve read. We felt the ambiguity was cowardly, and subsequent adaptations had been able to conveniently erase it from the narrative – denying intersex people a prominent opportunity for representation. 👎️

Furthermore, there was a particularly nasty element with the intersex representation; Elphaba was clearly portrayed in ways indicated to be monstrous to those around her, and it appears that her intersex coding was meant to play into her depiction as “unnatural” or “marked by wickedness,” as it were. Obviously, none of us liked that. 👎️

Michelle felt like treating Elphaba’s identity as a literary device was gross, and that representation should not be “up to the reader”.

Michelle pointed that “it borrowed the trappings of monstrosity theory and queer objectivity theory without delving into what it means to be abject or monstrous.” While there was some value to the character, the depiction “also hurt.” It was something of a wakeup call for xer, and xe thought she might be gentler with future intersex books in terms of how they handle representation, in comparison to this one.

The favourable judgements

Michelle pointed out that the prose, worldbuilding, and queer writing were more inclusive than xe remembered, and was pleasantly impressed by how they held up. For Rylee, however, the book evoked “Blood and Honey”, a Winnie the Pooh satire of the unnecessarily dark and gritty variety. Rylee also had difficulty with the audiobook’s lack of differentiation between the intentional capitalizations of particular words, such as animal and Animal. “Wicked has the one-joke premise, but also has a comprehensive novel on top of it.”

That said, Rylee appreciated the antifascist themes and conservative Christianity versus individual introspection and agnostic musings. Maguire, a gay Catholic, clearly made much use of his background in the work’s uncertain and complex personal theology.

Elizabeth liked the writing for Galinda, and found her character realistic, in terms of people ze’s met. The depictions of colonialism were interesting, as were the scenes where Samira set boundaries with Elphaba. “Forgiveness for the sake of the person who was wronged and not for the person who, like, did her wrong to feel good about themselves.”

Where it didn’t work

Feral absolutely hated the writing style and felt the style impeded its own storytelling; it (Feral) found the politics heavy, yet meaningless, and the dark content felt “weirdly devoid of emotion,” and emotions that were shown felt “forced or inauthentic.” Remy agreed.👎️

Elizabeth found the violence to be simply gratuitous, and really hated the time jumps and the pacing of the story. Feral also agreed. “It felt like finally something exciting was going to happen, and then suddenly, there’s a huge time jump.” It felt that writing technique lowered the stakes drastically, an ineffective choice for a book about fascism. 🫤

Michelle conceded that xe had probably learned some bad pacing habits from this book in particular! “I think this book probably got deep into my DNA as a writer and a reader,” xe remarked, considering her own canon and the book’s influence on xer writing. However, everyone agreed that the pacing was very odd and uneven, and that the ramping of and subsequent diffusion of tension was an unpleasantly unsatisfying read. Xe also commented that “literary fiction sometimes subsists on vibes and symbolism and calls that a plot,” and remarked that it was a bad habit xe was still unlearning for xer own fiction.

Even Michelle, who was initially more defensive of the book, had to roll xer eyes hard at the “male writing” section describing some of Elphaba’s body parts.

We had mixed opinions on the depictions of the fascist takeover. Michelle found the helplessness and ordinariness of life continuing relatable given present circumstances, but Feral found the whole depiction of fascism very frustrating and ineffectual, even meaningless. “The whole book feels like it’s trying to be deep and dark and provocative without ever really having the guts to truly go for it & without putting in the work to provide meaningful commentary on the events being reported.” It described the book as “grimdark for the sake of being grimdark” in places, such as the infamous Tiger Scene, and had no truck with that.

Many of us were frustrated with the abrasively edgy take on sexuality. On one hand, the discomfort with sexuality in the text felt intentional, possibly a commentary from the perspective of the writer’s time in the closet. However, the deployment of sexual assault was repeated, often crass and sensationalist, and felt thoroughly unnecessary at times. It’s a common problem in Literary Fiction that sex or sexual violence are deployed for both shock value and ambiguous artistic purposes – making the sex “weird” is a common odd trope among these books.

Michelle said that, damningly, a lot of the sexual violence could be scrubbed from the book, and it would be a better book, at the end of the day. Rylee and Michelle both compared the TV series “The Boys” favourably to this book in terms of that series’ portrayals of violence and sexual violence, which are more sensitively and seriously handled than in Wicked.

A note on disability representation

Elizabeth also was interested in the way that Elphaba’s sister Nessarose, who also had a birth difference, lacking both arms, played into respectability politics, while Elphaba refused to do the same. However, the depiction of her disability and balance issues felt strange and unrealistic to all of us, since people born with limb differences and other disabilities are used to their bodies, and know how to move around in them. The depiction of disabled villains yet again was very exhausting.

Michelle added, “One of my friends got screamed at in social media recently for pointing out that a bunch of major Marvel heroes are disabled and it doesn't get talked about because they present as successful.”

In addition to the disability coding of villain characters, there were also desirability politics representation issues. Madam Morrible was presented as ugly and unattractive, and the tired coding of “hot people = good, ugly people = evil” was deployed yet again. Everyone was frustrated with the book for this. 🙄

The adaptations and context

Michelle had listened to the musical version of Wicked as well as having seen the most recent movie not too long before reading the book, and consequently, had some thoughts. The book was at the grimdark end of the spectrum, and the original books and movies were on the “candy cane” end of the spectrum, as xe put it; the recent movie adaptation had fallen neatly in the middle. Xe praised the film’s use of cinematic language to evoke the original Wizard of Oz. “In comparison, the book is like not just plunging into a cold, cold bath, but a cold bath with random pieces of broken glass in it.” 🫠

Rylee also mentioned an interesting piece of media that offered further possible insight – Wicked: The Real Story, a documentary that appeared to have origins as a student project. The documentary included interviews with Maguire. Apparently, the book was originally intended as “a sort of Oz-themed Lolita.” (It’s probably fortunate that we did not get that version of the book.) Instead, Maguire found himself drawn to the “loveable outsider” status of the Wicked Witch after writing her early childhood. This lends additional ambiguity to the nature of Elphaba’s depiction as a monstrous person, and suggests unfavourable things about the choice of giving her an intersex identity as well.

An interesting element of the book in general is that it is, very technically, up-market fan fiction. Michelle was critical of the way the book’s “Literary” reputation effectively gentrified fan fiction. It also gave xer insight into how Literary Fiction as a self-declared non-genre genre tends to include, in Canadian and American literature at least, both “genre fiction” that’s gentrified (science fiction, fantasy, horror, etcetera) and “middle class masturbatory stuff”.

This led directly into critiques Rylee had earlier made of the poor handling of sexual violence; the fan fiction community tends to be far more responsible and careful with its depictions of this topic than this book was. We agreed that the book felt like the literary equivalent of “Oscar bait”. We discussed how extreme horror and erotica can have  lot of artistic value by committing to the subject matter, and how Wicked fell short of this. Rylee also compared it to an adaptation sequel called Carmilla’s Revenge, by a descendant of Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Mark Williams – but the sequel adequately included trigger warnings.

Feral was frustrated that the book had come out in 1995, during the initial splatterpunk movement, and speculated on how much better the tiger scene would have been if handled by Poppy Z Brite or Clive Barker.

Final thoughts

Over all, Wicked really demonstrates problems and flaws of both literary fiction as a genre/approach and of outsiders writing depictions of disabled groups where those disabilities or other identity struggles are used as plot points or for symbolic vibes, rather than being essential to the character’s identity. We were pretty disappointed with this one, but at least it generated a fantastic discussion as a book club pick. For any perisex authors interested in writing an intersex character we would not recommend this book positively. (Instead see our reviews of Cattywampus and Across the Green Grass Fields for examples of perisex authors can do justice to intersex representation!)

[waylibee-analysis-firm]

are you guys still alive? 😢

hello anon!! if you check our personal blogs, you’ll find that we are, in fact, still alive! both bee and i have been very very busy, so unfortunately this blog has moved down on our list of priorities </3

[ask-pomni-blog]

Ok this may seem like im grasping at straws here but i need you guys to let me cook for a sec-

HUGE TADC EPISODE 2 SPOILERS

We start off the episode with Pomni’s nightmare, which is a reflection of Pomni’s fears and feelings that are going to be expanded upon throughout the episode. Her main fear isn’t abstracting here, it's the feeling of helplessness, the feeling of not mattering to anybody in the circus. This is seen clearly when Ragatha, Jax, and Caine are shown above the cellar, basically saying “good riddance” upon witnessing Pomni abstract.

And it makes complete sense that Pomni would feel this way once you look back at the circus’ reaction to Kaufmo abstracting (before the second episode). He doesn’t get acknowledged as someone who has just passed away, he doesn’t even get a moment of silence. Pomni notices this, and after she wakes up from her nightmare, she seems almost reluctant to bond with the rest of the circus members because this fear is still on her mind.

This is seen particularly when Pomni is speaking to Ragatha. Ragatha attempts to be helpful at any given chance, but most of the time Pomni is lost in her thoughts. Pomni doesn't seem very open to conversate with Ragatha because of her fears. But this isn't unwarranted, Ragatha literally calls the situation from the day before a “doozy” which brings up the fact that Ragatha constantly dismisses important issues, saying that they should just forget about the situation that happened the day before when Pomni left her for the exit. I understand that she’s trying to ease the tension between them, but I fear she might be making it even worse. Additionally, Ragatha dismissing a very important issue like that makes Pomni’s fears stronger, it may seem to Pomni that Ragatha doesn’t care…

When it’s actually the opposite! The whole episode she tries her best to motivate Pomni (“look, Pomni. We’re already friends with the princess!”, “So, Pomni, I’m sure there’s some way you could help out here.”)

and she’s also very concerned for Pomni when she’s gone (“...Pomni’s still on board!”, “Oh man, Poor Pomni. I hope she's alright.”, “I’m more worried she’s having another horrible experience.”, “Pomni! Are you okay?”)

However, all these remarks could be seen as condescending from Pomni’s perspective… And on the other hand, Ragatha feels like Pomni blames her for the situation, and that Pomni dislikes her. 

Returning to the topic of Pomni’s fears, a lot of this is also reflected in her conversation with Gummigoo:

—

G:“I don’t matter in the slightest. I’m nothing. My life, my memories… my friends… it’s all fake.” 

P:“...I think I know the feeling.”

P:“...I guess I just don't want you to feel like you’re nothing. I don’t want anyone to feel like that.”

G:“But I'm not even a real person. Would I even belong?”

P:“I’m sure you wouldn’t belong any less than me.”

—

Pomni relates to Gummigoo’s fears!! And Pomni is so compassionate and understanding too! …sadly their friendship didn’t last very long… and that brings us back to Ragatha and Pomni. Ragatha tries her best to be reassuring… unfortunately that didn’t work either. AND THIS WHOLE INTERACTION IS JUST- OH MY GOD... LET ME PUT A HUGE EMPHASIS ON THEIR BODY LANGUAGE HERE:

Also the WORDING HERE:

and this scene ooohhhhhhh,,,,,,,, this scene...!!

POMNI IS REASSURED ONCE SHE SEES THAT THE CIRCUS MEMBERS DO CARE. THEY WOULD CARE. HER FEARS DISSAPEAR AND AND- ohhhhmy god this is so sick and twisted.. this ep was.. soooooo good. holy smokes. anyways thank you for listening to my TED talk.

[angelicenjolras]

Some sort of small think piece about Enjoltaire idk

A very strong belief i have about writing Enjoltaire is that if they actually end up together, Grantaire HAS to change the way he sees the world. He can not have the same cynical mindset from the start while simultaneously being in a healthy relationship with Enjolras. Not only would it be way too ooc for Enjolras to not only fall in love, but get with Grantaire if he stayed the same, but it also basically ignores what actually happened during Enjolras and Grantaire death scene.

The first point is pretty apparent to me. Enjolras feels distant for Grantaire because Grantaire is a skeptic who doesn't believe in anything at all, he dosnt see the point in fighting for anything. Enjolras himself believes in fighting. So if Enjolras' main issue with Grantaire is that He doesn't believe in anything, and simply smiles and laughs at the problems that Enjolras is so selflessly devoted to fighting for, would it not be odd and extremely out of character for Enjolras to just basically brush all that aside and get with him regardless?

I would argue that, in a way, by writing Grantaire character the same from beginning to end, you take no notice of Grantaire character arc. Because in the very end, Grantaire actually does change his views! Or at least, that is what i put together when I went over the chapter where he dies. Particularly the part when Grantaire wakes up from his drunken slumber.

I view Victor Hugo saying that Grantaire "woke up" not only as him just saying Grantaire literally woke up from sleeping, but as he woke up from the cynical mindset he always had. He's been stuck in this drunken state that doesn't allow him to see the point in anything, and abruptly when the rebellion comes to a close, he sobers up, and he sees the point in it all.

"and the drunkard who has known nothing of what has been taking place during the last twenty-four hours, has no sooner opened his eyes than he is perfectly informed. Ideas recur to him with abrupt lucidity; the obliteration of intoxication, a sort of steam that has obscured the brain, is dissipated, and makes way for the clear and sharply outlined importunity of realities."

"Grantaire rose to his feet with a start, stretched out his arms, rubbed his eyes,stared, yawned, and understood."

Now that Grantaire sees the end of the rebellion, his friends who died for what they believe in, his eyes are open. He understands now why Enjolras and Les Amis de l'abc fought for a cause he thought was pointless. The failure of the rebellion, The sight of Enjolras about to be executed, It essentially radicalized him. And so when he gose "long live the republic, im with them!" He's not just saying that so he can be able to die beside Enjolras. It's him finally understanding what Enjolras fought for. In the very last moments of his life, he finally starts to comprehend and believe in the sincere beliefs Enjolras has always held. That is why Enjolras accepts Grantaire to die with him. Because Grantaire "drunkenness has ended" at last, and now he understands Enjolras and his resone to care about any of this.

I think the fact that Grantaire does end up believing in the very end of his life adds to how tragic Enjoltaire is. Grantaire is stuck believing in nothing. He sees no point in anything, and this causes him to latch onto Enjolras, who have beliefs. And then it's the opposite for Enjolras, who has beliefs, and therefore can not reciprocate the feelings for Grantaire. It's only until the very end of Grantaire life that he finally fully understands Enjolras' passion to fight. It's all so beautifully tragic to me.

I am not really sure how I want to end this, I thought about making this post for some time, I just had not been able to put it into words. but recently, I was writing something for my Enjoltaire hadestown au (yes, this whole thing was caused by a silly au) , and finally figured out how to word it. I would love to hear what others have to say. Feel free to add on or mention anything! I probably missed some things and got some information wrong.

[ladysatoru]

Sanji during Water 7 and Enies Lobby :

"Who the hell are you?"

GET HIM, CUNTJI

I firmly stand by the point that the strawhats would fall apart and Robin would be taken if sanji (and zoro) were not present during water 7 and Enies lobby. These are some of the things i loved the most about sanji during Water7 and Enies Lobby arcs :

(1) Protecting the captain AND the crew : When Luffy and usopp were fighting over merry, at one point sanji instantly kicks Luffy to shut him up.

His empathy, protectiveness and foresight really shines here. He knew that Luffy wouldnt be able to forgive himself if he kicked Usopp out, but at the heat of the moment he was about to do just that. So he protected Luffy and became the voice of reason in Luffy's incredibly vulnerable moment.

At the same time, sanji showed empathy towards Usopp by standing up for him. During this fight, Usopp was physically and mentally weak, and seeing that at least one of his crewmates stopped the captain actually helped usopp feel like less alienated in the crew. This way Sanji became the (violent) rock for both Luffy and usopp in that moment.

(2) Trust : Some people make fun of this panel but all the Strawhats were deeply CONFUSED with Robin's participation in iceburg's assassination (which is normal cz she hadnt been with them for long and she was an enemy before joining the crew). But sanji could tell that she was lying and he trusted his crewmate (NOT BECAUSE SHE IS A WOMAN). Sanji never doubted Robin's intentions for even a moment and he was fully prepared to go save her (not question or clarify with her like the others wanted to) from the very first moment.

(3) Bravery :

Robin was scared out of her skull during this arc even though she was putting up a tough front at first. But sanji understood her desperation and the urgency of the situation. And like a dumbass, he got on the train ON HIS OWN after leaving a message to nami. Franky and usopp being there was his dumb luck but he would've been dead with the choice he made in water 7.

(4) Chivalry : It can't be a sanji admiration post without mentioning his endless chivalry. People may call him a pervert (which he is). But he actually respects women and he stood firm on his morals even in the face of death. This is a real Prince like man he didn't counter-attack kalifa even though she broke his teeth, turned him into a block of soap and pushed him from a high floor.

(4) in a crisis situation sanji showed Usopp that he believed in his capabilities, not with sympathy but with logic. Even in the face of danger he was sharp in the mind and empathetic towards his friend. This eventually led to Usopp actually succeeding to snipe the keys to robin and franky on the bridge of hesitation and that move is what saved Robin from being dragged to the gates of justice.

We can see how Sanji's words encouraged Usopp and propelled him into action.

(5) Intelligence :

While on the train, sanji devised a plan to rescue Robin before reaching Enies Lobby.

At enies lobby when they were up against the the Government's elite assassinators, Sanji came up with the plan to collect the keys and save Robin.

The strawhats would be deadmeats if sanji didnt sneak out mid fight to close the gates of justice. The whirlpool is what let the strawhats escape. So, Sanji's foresight and intelligence is what finally saved his crew from a national level buster call.

(6) Emotional Intelligence :

Sanji quietly kept tabs on Usopp from time to time the entire period he was out of the crew. Let's all acknowledge Usopp would've probably died in that Aqua Laguna if sanji (and chopper) didn't go warn him about it. And he was very considerate in the way he didn't do it directly to not hurt usopp's pride.

Moreover in the water 7 filler arc we can see how sanji was still keeping an eye on Usopp and that he was planning to return to the crew. He didn't cut off his friend just because the crew was going through a rough phase.

(Someone joked how Usopp probably had to be put on suicide watch during water 7 and i was like THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SANJI HAD BEEN DOING THE ENTIRE TIME THANKS FOR NOTICING )

[corioheinous]

Maybe it’s just the fact that I watched Saltburn (2023) the other day and wow freakishly unhealthy expressions of desire are oh so fascinating to me all of a sudden but I find Luka Alien Stage to be a super compelling morally-dubious character. Hear me out.

The meat and potatoes of Luka’s character isn’t exactly spoon-fed to us through either the Round 5 MV nor Hyuna’s MV (which I appreciate because conjecture is fun) BUT. Given the information that we do have. We know that Luka A) feels desire toward Hyuna B) killed her brother with his bare hands and C) took some sort of sadistic pleasure in doing so. I’m thinking that the reason Luka killed Hyuna’s brother in the first place could have been out of a misplaced jealousy he felt toward him; in this frame we can clearly see that the three of them are close, but Luka appears more removed due to the innate bond between the siblings.

Having been born into a dystopian society colonized by aliens, Luka probably doesn’t have a solid understanding of how human connection works and how their bonds are forged. All he recognizes is his own desire for Hyuna’s attention, and how that desire is directly impeded by Hyuna giving most of her love and attention away to her brother. Luka, unable to grasp that this is a normal sibling attachment, becomes intensely upset by this. Which is then spurred on by the fact that Hyuna doesn’t seem to reciprocate his feelings. Conflict ensues. Brothers are murdered.

This unhinged expression on Luka’s face here is what really clued me in on him having zero concept of the realistic consequences of his actions. He eliminated what he perceived to be his “competition” (something he will soon become very good at) so naturally Hyuna should devote her once divided attention solely onto him, right? Yeah no that kind of psychotic behavior would never produce his desired outcome, so now his playground crush is not only repulsed by his actions but forever traumatized by his person.

However he did (in an extremely warped sense) achieve one of his goals. He certainly has Hyuna’s attention now, but it’s not exactly the positive attention he once longed for. By becoming a sort of celebrity on the Alien Stage, he’s constantly on her radar as someone working to dismantle it. His image exists everywhere that Hyuna operates: broadcasted on television screens and reflected in her sunglasses as she moves through life and past her childhood trauma.

Luka finally has her attention now and she can’t seem to escape it. He’s successfully haunting her.

[agenderduck]

This is one of many posts I have planned on electricity. For this post specifically, I’m touching on the lack of autonomy the puppets have, and the unhealthy coping mechanisms and regression they fall into. If you listen closely, duck and red are talking about stain edwards, specifically how they had been used as a replacement for duck, in the background while yellow is preparing to climb the staircase. Considering the bigger boys actions later on in the episode, this feels more significant than just a joke or a piece of background dialogue (it probably is, just bear with me for the sake of over analysis). It’s a detail I don’t see brought up often, but an interesting one nonetheless. Not just because it’s funny, but because it serves as insight for what’s to come. This conversation is barely audible as yellow stares up into the black abyss above him. A divide between the trio is set up here, they are not on the same page. As yellow scales the staircase, base level red and duck fiddle with electricity. Theres a lack of care for the objects, or even living things around them showcasing that have that potential to do worse like the big and bigger boys. On a smaller scale, yes, but there’s a colder quality to the scene. Electracy warns them that what they’re doing is too much, but they are ignored. This ultimately leads to the power outage, spurred on by the two’s reckless over usage of electricity

The limited use of technology, and by contrast overconsumption is intentional, as it showcases a real lack of freedom. The puppets are stuck in a cycle regardless of what they do. They desperately want to feel in control of something even if it’s trivial. When they’re not doing that, the trio find themselves waiting for things like having access to a computer once a year. It’s worth noting that Colin is an older model of computer, as is pretty much every other piece of technology in the house. Interestingly, the trio do actually own a laptop, which is a lot more modern in appearance. They are never seen doing anything with it however. The few things that do take on a more modern appearance are either unusable or serve as a distraction. So the choice of duck having a hand held device in the void feels significant. It’s almost like a reminder to the audience that in theory, knowledge is right outside of their grip but they will never have it. Everything they do is limited.

The fridge scene is a rare moment where we see the puppets speak their genuine feelings, no strings attached. Not at all one sided or hollow. Duck and Red sit beside each other in the fridge scene knowing this is not something they’re allowed to have, but you can tell they want to scoot closer. They live in an unforgiving routine where the mere act of looking at each other feels like rebellion. They’re something more tangible and warm than their bigger counterparts, even if through skin made of cheap felt and faux fur. Compare this to the cold emptiness of the big and bigger boys and how duck and red seem to grow further apart despite always being paired together. Even if they’re sitting at a similar length in both rooms, the bigger boys seem to be magnetically pulled apart rather than together. The big boys sit side by side with their limbs tangled, in defiance maybe, but they don’t question their environment anymore and the walls have gotten smaller. The bigger boys live in a pseudo- futuristic prison. They have become the technology seen being fiddled with before. They play into each other’s antics, but lack any real emotion which greatly upsets yellow once he comes across them. He watches as they poke and prod at a suspiciously stain edwards shaped hunk of meat as their only source of entertainment, thinking that this is as good as it gets. Technology prodding at flesh. A parallel between Stain Edwards and the puppets can be drawn here.

Stain Edwards, in their initial appearance clearly craves more in life, but their sole purpose is to be moldable, to be shaped into anything the hands that grasp them want them to be. The trio are the same way, though they don’t know it. They’re obviously not aware of their true situation, but each of them have their own level of awareness, albeit in different areas, but that’s a different post for a different time. Red and duck comply and mold to their environments out of fear, a fear of losing that false sense of control. So, the bigger boys become the perpetrators of violence. They let bitterness consume them until they’re unrecognizable. Their egos get the better of them, fully encompassing them and leaving nothing but mechanical empty husks behind. Red and Duck are tricked into believing they’re in control, when in reality they’ve dug themselves into an even deeper hole than before. They expect yellow to join them, as this is just the way things are, and this horrifies him. Here before him are creatures that sound vaguely like his friends but in a completely unrecognizable form. Ultimately, no matter what form they take on, yellow’s urge to search for answers will always scare them. Yellow’s batteries means change, and change means bad things will happen. No more false sense of control. Yellow literally has his awareness stolen from him time and time again through his batteries. Without them, not only can’t he properly articulate himself, but he also can’t remember what happened before.

Yellow loves his friends, he knows that they’re flawed, and he can’t help but scale back down the staircase time and time again to help them. They’re all he has. He knows that they’re smart to an extent, but is that enough? Will they be able to handle it this time? I think he knows the answer to this already, though he desperately wants it not to be true. He knows that it’s not their fault that they get like this, but also maybe it is. Because truthfully the two like to let it get worse. Yellow sees the good in Duck and red and he wants them to do better, even if his efforts are in vain. Because the puppets do not have autonomy. He shreds the book because he can’t bear a reality where his friends don’t love him, but also because that’s where his strings are pulling him to begin with. He looks to duck as he does so knowing it will make him happy, as if to say he’s not wrong anymore. All he ever wants is to please him. Truthfully, that book had nothing that could truly help them , as such a thing doesn’t exist. Still there’s that small thought in the back of his mind that it could, and ultimately he chooses his friends over knowledge every time. It was never his choice to begin with. It was inevitably going to end this way, and a small part of yellow knows that, even if he can’t express it. The puppets are prisoners here, prisoners to another prisoner. She too participates in the same routines everyday, she too has strings that hold her back, but that’s a post for another day.

[triglycercule]

mtt mediveal au where horror and dust are rulers of 2 rival kingdoms and killer is an assassin or whatever the hell both of them coincidentally hired to kill the other. this is actually just an excuse to see how badly i can misspell medviel until i get it right by sheer luck

[missobsessedwithaleheather]

This song is very Aleheather coded and I'm tired of being silent about it

[danishphoner]

personal lyric analysis series (4/?): sculptures of anything goes - arctic monkeys

references under the cut

Arctic Monkeys (2022). Sculptures Of Anything Goes [Song]. Domino Recording Co Ltd.

[1] Radio X (2022, October 20). Arctic Monkeys - The Car track by track | X-Posure | Radio X [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8qX-vBSpLe0?si=ewA1nfm46K-JxaM-

[5] Williams, D (2022, October 21). Arctic Monkeys sneak an obscure Nintendo reference into ‘The Car’. NME. https://www.nme.com/news/gaming-news/arctic-monkeys-sneak-an-obscure-nintendo-reference-into-the-car-3333593

Yeagley, E (2022, February 11). Singin’ in the Rain: Unrealistic Hollywood Views. Film Studies at Mines. https://filmmines.wordpress.com/2022/02/11/singin-in-the-rain-unrealistic-hollywood-views/#:~:text=Singin%20in%20the%20Rain%20exposed,the%20beginning%20of%20the%20film.

[anotherferalrat]

MINOR LINK CLICK BRIDON ARC SPOILERS

So likeee

Lu Guang being the secret prince of the Anime Club and a cosplayer was not on my Lu Guang Solo/Origin Arc bingo but uhhhh

Slay ig

(ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF U-)

[affectionatecorpse]

It's now about 17 minutes until 3am and insomnia is playing up so instead of, y'know, ACTUALLY trying to sleep, I'm just gonna tiredly ramble again. Hooray!

So anyway I really really wish we'd gotten to see more of Moriarty's personality OUTSIDE of giant evil plans. I understand why they couldn't really do that because- run time- but at the same time, we actually barely know anything about Moriarty as a character. There's two outlets that show us more of his non master plan related personality, and that's the museum scene, and the credits.

You can tell from general reactions that the big bridge plan was NOT a normal thing for Moriarty to do. It was completely new. He left no clues, he gave no time limit, and it really felt more like a grand finale to his game with Sherlock, rather than another day. Like he truly was planning to end their entire streak right there that night. You can even see it in his attitude towards the game in the beginning and end. In the beginning, he's clearly enjoying it, just playing around and having fun with his mass murder attempts. He literally says "you enjoy our little game as much as I do", so he obviously finds it fun. But in the end, the way he says "it's just OVER. And you lose" doesn't sound like fun. It doesn't sound like he's hesitant to put a stop to it whatsoever. He sounds almost impatient to finish it quickly.

But if he really enjoyed it, what changed his attitude so suddenly?

You know what I think the reason for his sudden decision to stop playing completely out of the blue was?

He got scared by his brush with death.

In the recording of him nearly getting crushed by the skeleton, he looked absolutely TERRIFIED. Heavy breathing, eyes darting around, and blatantly unsure how to feel until he saw his phone and got snapped out of his little trance. This wasn't just another day, another loss. He actually could've DIED. He actually got INJURED. And it clearly scared him to know he could've been killed by a GNOME of all things, just on a random day.

Going off my previous post about how desperate he is for attention, possibly due to his naturally lonely design of just being a truck decoration, I wouldn't be surprised if that made him afraid of people forgetting him. Those things usually go together. What if he actually lost? And Sherlock just moved on with his life? What if Sherlock forgot about him and got a new rival? What if no one ever thought about him ever again?

And after such an experience, he did something BIG. Something absolutely no one could forget. A grand finale to his game with Sherlock, ensuring Sherlock wouldn't kill him in the end, and doing an act of mass genocide and destruction so horrific, absolutely no one could possibly forget it. It's the perfect plan, after all.

He's also SO much more angry than normal upon losing this time. When he got found out by Sherlock and Watson in the museum, he really didn't care. He was just happy to see them, and happy that they'd get to fight. He didn't care that they freed the gnomes, he just wanted to play. But when they freed the gnomes from the bridge, he is OUTRAGED. He actually shrieks in reaction, and it's clearly not an act, because you can hear the absolute rage and impatience in his voice, that definitely was not there earlier.

I went on a tangent- but also! In the credits, you really can see what his feelings about the game were before the big plan. It shows him having fun messing with Sherlock, running him about rampant, tricking him at every corner, messing with both him and the cats, just for the fun of it. It shows his more silly and goofy side, and how much he actually did enjoy playing the game while it lasted. I love Credits Moriarty, he's such a little mischievous goober and it's so entertaining to watch asgjkdghd--

If you wanna get extra autistic (which I'm gonna do somehow), you could even see his attitude shift in the post credits scene! It starts with him having a great time, running up and making a mockery of Sherlock, and laughing. Then the magnifying glass falls on him, crushes him, and his tone goes incredibly quiet and serious as he just says "I hate you, Sherlock". Like- isn't that EXACTLY what happened in the film? It was all fun and games until he got crushed by something, then he suddenly turned serious and petty?

I'm sorry I know I'm looking WAYYYYY too much into this silly little kid's film but I'm autistic as fudge and there's literally no content, what do you want me to do here?? STARVE??? Please! Also it's now 2 minutes past 3am--

[rowyndodendron]

IPHIGENEIA'S SACRIFCE, AKA: "THAT'S NOT WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED"

Every time someone describes/reduces Agamemnon’s choice to sacrifice Iphigenia as "he killed his daughter to go to war" or "he killed his daughter for favourable winds to get to Troy faster" I lose 10 years off my life. Which means by this point I died approximately 9,000 years ago.

Because y'all...y'all do understand that was NOT the choice, right? Like. It was not "Iphigenia lives, no war" vs "Iphigenia dies, yes war!" That was NOT the choice. That was NEVER the choice. It was NEVER that simple. It was NEVER that easy. IT WAS NEVER ACTUALLY THAT CHOICE AT ALL. The choice is not Iphigenia or war. The choice is not even whether Iphigenia lives or dies. The only actual choice Agamemnon gets to make, realistically speaking, is HOW Iphigenia dies.

ARTEMIS IS A GOD!!!

First of all: Artemis is a GOD. Artemis, the god, DEMANDED Agamemnon sacrifice his daughter to appease her/because she was pissed at him. Do you REALLY think, ignoring the gathered army for a moment (I'll get there), but just thinking purely from an Agamemnon-Artemis standpoint for a moment she would have let him just say no?

Hypothetically, if Agamemnon had said, "eh, nah, don't really fancy killing my own kid, actually, I'll just go home and forget about this war business" do you HONESTLY believe that Artemis would've been like "yeah, cool bro, it's all good, I'm no longer mad about the Special Deer you killed, we're even-stevens, have a lovely trip home, tell the wife I said hello." NO!!!! This is a PUNISHMEMT. This is Artemis taking revenge for Agamemnon’s mistake/in some instances his hubris and boasting. Any circumstance here that does not end with a dead Iphigenia therefore ends with a dissatisfied Artemis. And that ain't happening*.

*I also do NOT believe/credit any 'Artemis was trying to stop the war/emphasise the cost of war/use Iphigenia to show Agamemnon how the innocents suffer in war' takes. Because no. This is the same goddess who, alongside Apollo, murdered 12 of one of Agamemnon’s ancestors children because she boasted about having better pussy game than Artemis' mum. Artemis also shows up to stick her bow in a couple of times in the Iliad for the lolz. And it's clearly stated this war is happening/continuing/not being allowed to end BECAUSE of the gods in the Iliad.

The idea Artemis actually was trying to stop things/believed the war would stop if Agamemnon ~understood the cost~ is bullshit. (Not least because Agamemnon 1) is one of the few Greek Kings present who has firsthand war experience. 2) if you don't know already just…just go google the house of atreus then come back and try telling me fucking AGAMEMNON doesnt understand the suffering of innocents lmfao

This is a standard: mortal pisses off god, god demands they pay the price. The price is Iphigenia being killed. The only real choice Agamemnon has is how that happens. And, beyond the whole “pissed off god” thing (as if that wasn't enough) there are other factors here too:

ITCHY ARMIES

It's been discussed before that Agamemnon is not really alone in making this decision. Because there are: 1,000 ships (give or take) with him, each with, let's say, around 100 soldiers. That equals: a lot of people - around 100,000 soldiers. That's: a lot of fucking people. It's also: a lot of fucking people squished in a not very large space.

Source

See that lil red blob? That's Aulis. See the skinny channel between Aulis and the above chunk of land (which is Eubeoa). Yeh that’s where A Lot of ships are squished. Aulis was an ASSEMBLY point, it was meant to be the place everyone gathered, quick headcount, then yeet. They're not supposed to stay there.

Lots of Regular Ass People, nevermind soldiers, smooshed in one place causes lots of things to happen. None of them are good. Building boredom, and building tension, and building frustration is going to lead to: an increase in fights, scuffles, discontent and discipline issues. Especially amidst a group of soldiers who are newly assembled, newly brought together to mingle with other armies (and there WILL be factions who have previous beefs and are disposed to having enmity with each other). Add into that the fact most of the commanders/kings don't really have any proper experience in war/have just wrangled up their troops that's…a bad set-up and is asking for the army to eat itself alive if left long enough.

Pressures adding onto that, one of which is: disease/sickness. Even without divine help (thanks Apollo!) of plague spreading, lots of people smooshed in small spaces, especially with fighting/injuries, that's going to cause illness and infection. That's: bad.

Also…

“BECALMED!” “I AM CALMED!!!!!”

Something I see talked about LESS but which definitely feels like A Big Problem to me from my EXTENSIVE knowledge of it (thanks Black Sails!) is the ships being what we call ‘becalmed’. This sounds pleasant! It is: not. (Obligatory disclaimer i am Not, in general, A Boat Expert (i actually get seasick looool) BUT, some quick googleage confirms that, as I guessed, this would be: Bad.)

Being becalmed essentially means: the wind goes away, your sailing ship with its lovely big sails is great, a marvel of ancient world exploration! It can't do shit if there's: no wind. It gets stuck. Drifting vaguely and sadly waiting for the winds to pls come back so it can: go somewhere.

This USUALLY happens out on open sea and is very obviously: not desirable. However it can ALSO happen even while ships are at port under ‘certain circumstances’ in this case those circumstances are: pissed off gods. No wind means no movement. No movement means: no war and no Troy. No movement ALSO means: no going home.

“But but but ROWYN! What about the ROWERS!!!The Greek ships, according to Homer (and history) generally had oars!” I hear u boat people shriek. And yes they did! Oar-driven ships can also become becalmed in situations of rowers being: sleepy, the oars being broken or damaged, or currents/winds that are too strong to row against. (Or, mayhaps...an angry god!)

At a certain point the logic of boats etc has to be tempered by, well, temper. Specifically: Artemis’. In theory if we were just dealing with normal old ‘mother nature is being a bitch and has said ‘no winds for now!’’ that's one thing. And under those circumstances the fleet could've likely just oared its way out of port and off to Troy. We also have the element of: a pissed off god to consider.

UNDER PRESSURE (not the fun Queen kind)

The lack of winds is a means of applying pressure. Because, let's be real, no at least semi-reasonable human being (which Agamemnon, largely, WAS) is going to look at a daughter he loves (which Agamemnon evidently DID) and go “alright sweetie, unfortunately papa has to murder you now” without exhausting: ALL OTHER OPTIONS.

That means Artemis had to prevent any other options from working. So that there is an UNAVOIDABLE/INSURMOUNTABLE pressure/some sort of force pushing Agamemnon irresistibly towards: child sacrifice. That means Artemis is not going to let them just casually row their way out of port. Nor is she going to let them go home to abandon the attempt/try again later. She wants Agamemnon to be appropriately punished. Appropriately punished, as Artemis has decided, is Agamemnon killing Iphigenia. That means they are, supernaturally, becalmed. That is: very bad.

There are 100,000+ soldiers PLUS (as the Iliad notes) OTHER crew like rowers and clerks in ADDITION to the soldiers. They do not have supplies prepared to sustain them on an extended stop at what was supposed to just be a meeting place. They are NOT in a place designed to hold/support that many people. The land around them is filled with their OWN people CANNOT feed/water that extra months smooshed in here. And the whole “angry god says no ship movement” means they can't raid further afield/NOT their own people.

Artemis has essentially arranged it so that even if, by some (not-happening) MIRACLE, the kings manage to keep control of their increasingly unruly armies and they avoid in-fighting/mutiny/disease: these people are all going to start dying from dehydration and starvation. And quickly. People who are: in the process of dying from starvation and dehydration are not typically known for their rational minds and good choices. This is going to increase the tension and pressures and fighting/injury. It's going to increase the death toll.

THE ACTUAL CHOICE

So now Agamemnon’s ACTUAL choice, as enforced by, again, THE LITERAL GOD is: how many of your men are you going to let die before you give in and kill your daughter. With an extra bonus concern of: is your daughter going to get a quick, relatively merciful death or is she going to be torn apart (likely along with Agamemnon, his brother, and inner circle/closest men) by a starving, angry, disease-riddled mob?

This is also, incidentally, why Odysseus gets involved/helps this process. Because much as (apparently) he gets viewed as a ruthless, “ends justify ANY means” borderline sociopathic arsehole: he is not, in actual fact, comfortable with willy-nilly child murder! (What a high bar our blorbos have to clear, y'all…/s). What Odysseus IS capable of/where he excels is logic. And logic (as demonstrated by this feral shrieking which is, believe or fucking not, rooted in logic) says, clearly: Iphigenia is effectively already dead. And was as soon as Artemis made her demand. The only question now is how messy this is going to be/how much Iphigenia is going to suffer for this. Odysseus steps in to try and MINIMISE both (not for the sheer glee of logic-sanctioned child murder, actually)

I WOULD LIKE TO UNINSTALL 'GIVING A FUCK', PLS - Agamemnon

But okay back to Agamemnon and the bonus problem if the starving, angry, disease-riddled mob. Because THOSE PEOPLE are actually also an extra pressure on Agamemnon because he, repeatedly, indisputably and canonically CARES about the lives of the men who have pledged to follow him, and feels guilt/concern which IS STRONGER THAN his stubbornness and pride and just about everything else.

Imma throw some quotations at you now so you can't say this post is JUST me shrieking bc look! Iliad words! (All Iliad references below are from the Richmond Lattimore translation).

'Still I am willing to give her (Chryseis) back, if such is the best way.

I myself desire that my people be safe, not perish. (Iliad, Book 1, Line 116)

HE LITERALLY SAYS IT. LIKE HE SAYS IT RIGHT THERE!!! He tells the army Chryseis is dearer to him than his wife (which is a whole other kettle of fish, i aint getting into that rn) - but the POINT is he loves this woman, and he refused to ransom her back for A Lot Of Money. And he's not HAPPY about it, but as soon as he's told doing so will stop his people dying by plague (thanks Apollo!) he agrees. BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT HIS PEOPLE TO DIE.

"'Still, Zeus, bring to pass at least this thing that I pray for.

Let our men at least get clear and escape, and let not the Achaians be thus beaten down at the hands of the Trojans.’

[Agamemnon] spoke thus, and as he wept the father took pity upon him and bent his head, that the people should stay alive, and not perish.

(Iliad, Book 8, Line 242)

This is LITERALLY what he prays for.

Now keep in mind that in book 2 Zeus sent ‘Evil Dream’ down to Agamemnon and basically ordered him to go attack Troy because Zeus would let him capture the city and be victorious at last. And Zeus straight-up LIED to him. And has done nothing of the sort.

Agamemnon would be well within his rights to be like ‘yo, mate, the FUCK!? Where's my goddamn glory? Where's my victory you yourself promised me like 2 days ago!? Bruh!?!?!?’ (and he does kind of ask WHY, MAN!? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!? in the earlier part of this prayer, to be entirely transparent)

But what he ACTUALLY, ACTIVELY PRAYS FOR, is not for victory, or for strength, or personal glory, (which, those who've read the Iliad knows how dang important glory is to everyone/as a central theme), or even the ability to get revenge/payback and kill a bunch of Trojans in return.

Agamemnon asks nothing for himself, or even for vengeance for the dead; he asks for the living. He begs Zeus to please let his men escape and stop them from being slaughtered. And Zeus is so moved by his genuine grief and pain at this that he actually listens, and actually does let the people stay alive, because of Agamemnon’s prayer (and note how the wording echoes Agamemnon’s assertion in book 1- what he desires is his people ‘not perish’, and what Zeus grants in response to his book 8 prayer is that ‘the people…not perish’, further reinforcing that was NOT just talk on Agamemnon’s part).

There are other (many other) instances that prove Agamemnon Cares - but i think we Get It for the purposes of this meta (and I'm going to deep-dive the other examples later anyway), but like you see it, right??? You HAVE to see how much this man GENUINELY cares. He refuses vast amounts of wealth and treasures to ransom back Chryseis - but he's NOT willing to sacrifice any of his soldier's lives and IMMEDIATELY returns her (with additional gifts/his own wealth to make sure things are smoothed over properly). He's so obviously desperate and distraught when he prays, not for glory or victory, that Zeus (who has at this point forbidden his own wife and daughter from interfering to stop the Trojans killing the Greeks) feels pity for him and is moved to help him.

And EVEN IF you wanted to argue that this is an Agamemnon 10 years later and maybe he wasn't like that when the armies first gathered at Aulis…You CANNOT tell me, if THAT is how he responds to random soldiers, many of whom he's likely never even met/doesn't know the names of, yet feels responsibility over because they're HIS people and he is their leader, that he didn't care a thousand times more for his ACTUAL FLESH-AND-BLOOD, HOME GROWN AND RAISED DAUGHTER.

DEATH vs SACRIFICE

I will stand for no more casual “yeah Agamemnon killed his kid for better winds” takes. NO MORE! I WILL HAVE NONE OF IT.

I will permit no further “Agamemnon CHOSE to sacrifice his daughter for the war to go ahead” because did he FUCK. Agamemnon did not CHOOSE to kill Iphigenia. Agamemnon's only CHOICE was how and when she died and how many soldiers went with her.

There was NO way for Agamemnon to save Iphigenia. NONE. Because if there had been ANY alternative AT ALL: he damn well would've fucking taken it. “But but but he could've-” No. He couldn't.

Because Iphigenia's DEATH was not Agamemnon’s punishment and Artemis’ revenge. If it had been Artemis would've just killed her herself, as she did to Niobe's daughters. Iphigeneia's SACRIFICE was Agamemnon’s punishment and Artemis’ revenge.

She wanted HIM to do it. She wanted HIM to kill his child (either by holding the knife, or giving the order, either way). HE had to do that. HE had to actually kill his own child and live with the grief and guilt and consequences of that for the rest of his life. THAT was what she wanted.

He killed her Special Deer and wasn't upset about it, so she wanted him to Feel It. She wanted him to kill something and be tormented by that grief and guilt for the rest of his life, as she felt he should have been over the Special Deer.

Artemis didn't want Iphigenia to die necessarily, she wanted Agamemnon to kill her. (And that's why the last minute switcharoo with the deer on the altar instead works/is sometimes allowed by Artemis- because even if Iphigenia lives, Agamemnon STILL gets to suffer in the knowledge and the guilt that he WOULD have killed her).

WHO LIVES, WHO DIES, WHO TELLS YOU-TO KILL YOUR OWN CHILD? WHAT THE FUCK, ARTEMIS!?

Agamemnon never got to choose if Iphigenia lived or died. The ONLY one who had that power of THAT choice was Artemis herself. (Which is seen, as I mentioned, when sometimes she last minute swaps Iphigenia for a deer (Artemis dropping in another Special Deer for Agamemnon to kill in Aulis like: YOU'LL CARE ABOUT KILLING THIS ONE, MOTHERFUCKER.) and takes Iphigenia as an acolyte instead.

Because (in a rather nice parallel to her father Zeus also being moved by Agamemnon’s pleas to protect his soldiers in the Iliad) Artemis acknowledges that, yeah, this is pretty fucked up actually lol. And she does not necessarily help/forgive Agamemnon - but does protect/spare Iphigenia/his soldiers. And, again as discussed: Agamemnon STILL gets to suffer/live with the consequences of Special Deer Killing Crime with The Guilt…(and also the axe to the face courtesy of Clytemnestra. But I think that was just an added bonus punishment rather than the actual goal tbh)) it's a win-win for Artemis. And a constant soul-crushing loss for Agamemnon.

QUESTION: IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE. ANSWER: GUARANTEED SUFFERING

He could NEVER have saved her. He could NEVER have prevented her death. He could ONLY minimise casualties and suffering. He was in an impossible situation and it could only ever end with the death of his child (or 100,000 random soldiers instead, IF you actually think they'd have all just sat around and died for this, Iphigenia being brought by Agamemnon/Odysseus/Santa Claus or otherwise)That is: FUCKED UP.

It was not about winds. It was not about war. It was not about life or death. It was about saving who and what he could. (Actually it was about: SUFFERING regardless. But in terms of 'what Agamemnon could ACTUALLY influence/change - that's where the minimising agony part comes in.)

ONLY Artemis could stop Iphigenia dying. Agamemnon could only lose. That's why it was a punishment! That's why the story is a tragedy!!! Because there is no way to win.

Try to row to Troy, fuck your lack of wind/impossible demand: god says no.

Try to row home, fuck your lack of wind/impossible demand: god says no.

Refuse to sacrifice Iphigenia:

-Scenario A: Your army of 100,000 men starve/dehydrate/fight/disease their way to death because they CANNOT LEAVE THIS PLACE* (god says no) or raid/resupply (god says no)

*except to go obtain your child. So she can be killed. Bc that's the only thing the god WOULD allow. (Logic, people).

-Scenario B: they decide to help you out and murder your child for you. (and probably you and all your family/closest allies as well). Which is NOT gonna be pleasant.

Sacrifice Iphigenia: congrats you killed your own kid, you are now: sad forever and you STILL have to fight a 10 year long war.

This is what we call: The Ideal Tragedy. A Lose-Lose-Lose-Lose set-up. Just the way the gods like it.

IN CONCLUSION: THE YEET GRENADE OF FACTS AND TRUTH

Okay is that enough now? Can I please stop yapping about this?? Do we concede that “Agamemnon killed Iphigenia to go to war/for better winds to get to war faster/was just soooo horny for that good sweet bloodshed action that he casually executed his firstborn kid” is NOT WHAT FUCKING HAPPENED!?!?!?

NO CHOICE. NO SAVING. NO OPTIONS BUT SUFFERING: the greek god's FAVOURITE way to punish naughty mortals.

May I now please REST!?!?!? too bad, im gonna. But now i have this rant to yeet at peoples’ heads like a damn grenade of Facts And Truth if ppl start @-ing Agamemnon for this. (And u can yeet it too, feel free. This is not just My grenade now, it is Our grenade).

Agamemnon has lots of other Actual Flaws: can we talk about them instead!? Please!! Please god roast this man in a Factual Way, so i dont feel COMPELLED to defend him. That is literally SO doable. I genuinely beg u.

[eggie0]

Switch au where Subaru ends up in Reinhard’s manor and the plot is somehow mostly the same(also not) except he cries his hearts out to Reinhard and telling him they should run away together as he had been there with him throughout each loops and somehow they still fail.

(im gonna be ignoring the fact that he was called for a mission during this time so im gonna make him get called literally before the whale attack)

Of course its given he will disagree but likeee.. wonder whats his line of thoughts are and what he would say regarding Subaru’s desperate attempt of running away together.

Maybe i’m like so out of character here but in regards to like.. emotions or understanding from other peoples perspective i think its a bit hard for him to understand that. He can feel emotions ofc but its hard for him to fully understand the reason for their actions. (i got this because I’m like currently rewatching rezero season 1 and dang after that duel with julius and subaru his words stung… but logically thinking it through, it makes sense why he thought so.)

I think instead of a from zero speech from dearest Rem, Subaru and Reinhard might even find themselves arguing. Subaru also knows how to push peoples buttons— bring out a part of themselves. Subaru’s just that guy.

and somehow I can see them get even closer after this argument. A heart to heart talk I wanna see it sooo bad

[yuridovewing]

im ngl, the more i think about it, the less i actually want to catch up on wc…. at least right this second. im still trying to fall back in love with reading. i need actual good food.