Yes Y’all I Know I’ve Hardly Written Any But I’m Cooking Right Now I Swear

All hail.

Donald Trump’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is destroyed by man carrying a pickaxe in a guitar case.

Currently thinking about how the death of Polites fractured the dynamic of the crew which led to quite literally the rest of the Odyssey in EPIC the musical. The entire crew relied on this man and NO, I am not exaggerating.

Polites served as the temperance of Ody; the diplomatic and optimistic council who was a liaison between the captain and his crew. Why? Well, Polites is never acknowledged to hold any power in the crew (we're talking EPIC canon here) but is clearly respected and valued by the captain. This combination is familiar; the crew is comfortable approaching Polites because he's their equal and Polites is comfortable approaching Odysseus with their problems because they're friends. That is his role.

Now I have my own issues with Eurylochus but I do think he's written well. And I also do not think he is fully in the wrong. HOT TAKE I KNOW, but hear me out: Eury was Ody's right hand. Odysseus is clever but he's also pretty humble (excluding the whole "I am the infamous Odysseus" but Bro had a right to crash out there). Odysseus does not surround himself with "yes-men", he surrounds himself with friends who are willing to challenge him. Case and point; Eurylochus and Polites.

Polites challenges his morals and instincts - Polites is always trying to ensure that Odysseus is doing what is best for himself. "You can relax my friend" is not something you tell your leader to do casually. It's what you tell your friend to do when they're working themselves too damn hard. "Greet the world with open arms" is not what you tell your commanding officer who you're trusting to get you home.

Eurylochus challenges his decisions. Always does, in every scene and NO that is not a flaw. He serves as a point of resistance so that Odysseus is forced to consider every option carefully. He makes sure Ody has considered the worst-case scenario and is fully prepared to back him up when that happens. Bro was ready to burn the Lotus island down if his friends didn't come back. Eury is the guy who's willing to strike first and make the difficult decisions, much like Ody is. He is a good second in command.

The point is: the two filled massively different roles in the crew. Eury is supposed to challenge Odysseus and question his decisions - that is his job; to make sure that his captain is making the best decisions for the crew. Polites is supposed to support Ody; he is a friend, a confident, and a source of trust and camaraderie.

What makes them such a well-oiled machine is that they all have specific roles and they are good at them. Ody makes the plans and decides what battles to fight, Eurylochus takes initiative and counterbalances Polites optimism, Polites offers ethical and moral support while counterbalancing Eury's cynicism. That is why the crew works so well.

Odysseus has someone to rely on and someone to challenge him. The crew has someone to confide in and a second in command to consider their needs. They have a captain who listens to both. Eurylochus and Polites have each other to balance out and a captain who values their opinions.

It works. It's balanced. It's a powerful type of leadership.

Then Polites dies, and so does that balance.

Eurylochus finds himself having to fill two roles. He has to question his captain and calm the crew. He has to place complete trust in Odysseus as Polites did, but he can't. His and Ody's relationship has always been based on challenging one another to ensure that they're considering every angle. He has spent his entire life being critical of Odysseus' plans because he knows that's what he's supposed to do. He doesn't have blind faith, he's a realist - optimism and trust were Polites forte.

Odysseus finds himself without that support and line of connection to Polites. He grows disconnected from the crew because of it and flounders when it comes to dealing with Eurylochus.

This is seen clearly in the song: Luck Runs Out

Eury was not in the wrong for pointing out how fucking crazy it is to casually ask the Wind God for some help. Sure let's go knock on a god's door and ask for loose change; HELLO!? There are so many ways it could've gone wrong and it has always been Eury's job to point such flaws out. It's what he's always done - probably what he's done for Ody throughout the war.

But Odysseus? He just lost his best friend and his mentor. His entire support system is crumbling, so being challenged by the one person who he needs to have his back pushes him into a dangerous space as a leader.

On the one hand, he cannot afford to have Eury question his every move, especially since Polites isn't there to challenge him for Odysseus. Especially now that he doesn't have Polites instilling trust in the crew - he can't afford Eury's challenges to eroding what trust remains in his disheartened crew.

On the other, pushing Eurylochus away and demanding staunch obedience from him is so out of character for their relationship that all trust between Captain and SOC is suddenly up in the air.

That is why Eurylochus opens the windbag. Not because he wanted "treasure", but because the captain who demanded he "be devout" is not the captain he's followed all this time. The captain who sits awake for four days, eyes following every crewmember with a glimmer of distrust is not the Odysseus Eurylochus knows.

Eury knows Odysseus with Polites. If Polites had been alive, he would've been able to quell the crew's distrust because he would have had full trust in their captain. Odysseus would've been able to trust his crew because he could trust Polites. He cannot trust Eurylochus to have that same blind faith, because Eury doesn't have it; and the crew knows it.

Everything's changed since Polites

It's not a throwaway line; it's what the crew whispers to Eurylochus. He's different. He's changed. Odysseus is not the same. Maybe it is treasure. Maybe he's lying to us. How do we know? How do you know?

And Eurylochus doesn't know. He isn't certain. Odysseus is his friend and his captain; that's a difficult power dynamic to balance.

So Eury opens the windbag, because he doesn't trust Odysseus. It's a different sort of mistrust though - not one of constructive criticism from a friend, but earnest dangerous mistrust of your superior.

Eurylochus leads the mutiny, because that was always his role as Ody's right hand; to question and stand against what he felt was wrong. To speak for the crew as another leader.

But Eurylochus never wanted to be captain. He never wanted to betray his friend. He felt he had to - Yes, he was willing to leave crewmates behind in Circe's lair because he has always been willing to make those hard calls.

Odysseus? He so rarely does what Eurylochus wants to do because they are not the same person. Eury doesn't want Ody to be him (Eury has flaws, but ambition is not one of them. He recognizes he isn't a good leader hence he immediately falls back on Ody's judgment after the holy cow bit) - he wants Ody to listen to him and consider his insights. So for Odysseus to sacrifice six of their crewmates without a word to his friend - without consulting anyone - without leaving space for his right-hand man to question him... that is when Eurylochus loses faith in Odysseus. Because that is not his captain. He doesn't know who it is. But his captain would never.

Hypocritical? Yes. But also rather insightful.

And Odysseus? He loses the last pillar of support he has in the crew, not because Eurylochus changes - not even because he changes. He loses it all because it is doomed to fall apart without Polites. It was all doomed to fall apart when they lost their counterbalance.

It is not Ody's mercy or ruthlessness that kills them. It is not Eury's distrust. Both of those existed far before it all went to shit. It was Polites dying. It was the fact that the three of them were so well suited for leadership as long as it was the three of them.

It had to be the three of them.

this is so mean but sometimes i see published writing and suddenly no longer feel insecure about my own writing ability. like well okay that got published so im guessing i dont have much to worry about

It’s actually disgusting me that people are choosing to forget about Palestine not even a full year into this ongoing genocide. Nothing is better. Nothing has slowed down. It’s just underreported. It’s just that western media outlets aren’t pretending to care. The iof is still targeting aid distribution centers, it’s still killing hundreds of Palestinians a day, it’s still preventing medical aid from entering North Gaza. So many diseases are robbing families of their loved ones. It is worse than it has ever been. Less people are talking about it now because they no longer want to be bothered to care

Teen skk this teen skk that. How about dazais deep depressive episodes where he didn’t brush his teeth or his hair or shower and after a few days of not seeing him around work chuuya would go to his container, grab him and wash him like a dog. Wet black cat. Dazai is just annoyed. Chuuya lets him sleep at his place during the bad parts of the episode “so he doesn’t skip work leaving all the paperwork for him” but really it’s because he doesn’t like thinking about dazai alone in that cold container. Even the most annoying person on earth should have more than a mattress and four metal walls, I guess. So chuuya has him stay over during those days. Is it such a hassle really to make a little more food when cooking dinner? Both of them have always had trouble sleeping so might as well spend the night together watching shitty sitcoms or talking shit about coworkers or setting up pranks for mori instead of looking at the ceiling all night. In this essay I will.

Guys I think we all need a moment to appreciate how the characters spoke in the early BSD mangas.

Kunikida’s sass is unparalleled and I need you all to realize this.

I just saw a Palestinian holding the headless body of a child in Rafah, in front of smoke and flames. This is what the ethno-nationalist ideology of Zionism has lead to. This is what western-backed, racist, genocidal imperialism looks like - a man holding a limp, headless child.

When it’s the teen members of the agency who mess up or something, it’s usually Kunikida who talks and lectures them about it. Sometimes the others will join in like Dazai or Yosano and if it’s really serious Fukuzawa will get involved, but it’s generally Kunikida.

But when the senior members of the Agency mess up or something it’s always Fukuzawa who talks to them. The only one who gets a bonus Kunikida lecture with it is Dazai. And it’s always so surreal for the teens to watch them hang their heads theatrically and head to Fukuzawa’s office.

Kunikida’a lectures pretty much always start with "what the hell were you thinking! Oh that’s right, you weren’t!" While Fukuzawa ages like 30 years, sighs heavily into his tea and is just like "I’m not mad, just disappointed."

And yet both end them by offering support and making sure everyone’s okay. Because at the end of the day whatever mistakes were made can’t be changed, what we can do is go forward with what we’ve learned to change what comes next. And all these talks come from a place of concern, of care.

Kunikida put down his tea cup. "How do I know if my words will reach them?" Fukuzawa looked from his protege to the door, gesturing him to open it. Kunikida did so, and was surprised to see Atsushi on the other side. "Oh, erm sorry Kunikida I didn’t realise you guys were busy I can come later." Kunikida shook his head, they were just wrapping up anyway. "What’s wrong Atsushi?" Atsushi went quiet before explaining his issue. "I was going to do it alone but earlier you said to call one of you for help. And Miss Yosano is busy and Ranpo and Dazai are out."

Kunikida nodded "I’m glad you came to me. Go back to your desk, I’ll be there in a minute." Atsushi smiled, relieved and went. "You’ll know" said Fukuzawa, getting Kunikida’s attention. "You’ll know your words have reached them when they come back and ask for your more." He said with a proud smile.

Imagine being Chuuya, and the last time you saw your partner/bestie/ex/rival, he was this scrawny lanky beanpole, all length and no width with gangly arms and legs.

And then the first time you see him after 4 entire years and the dude is hitting 6ft, is broad enough to nearly hide 2 of you if he just stood in front of you.

Truly a sight rivalling million dollar masterpiece.