#its killing my interest and I'm mad about it bc its been AGES since I found a book I was interested in reading

[prolibytherium]

I never touched it but I feel like i only ever hear positive things said about song of achilles.. in (rough strokes at least) what makes it dogshit to you?

Okay it's been a while since I actually read it so some of this might not be spot on accurate. Sorry if at any point I say 'the book never does xyz' and it actually does once or twice but I think my underlying criticisms are accurate

-Patroclus is made into like this soft gentle tender quivering little yaoi boy. In the source text, he's shown as compassionate and moved by the suffering of his own men (and apparently having some medical skill, tending to the wounded in the camp), but very much invested n combat and very, very good at it (pages worth of descriptions of the guys he's killing left and right). In this, the arguably more complex character from this 8th century BC text is flattened into Being A Healer, he doesn't want to go to war he just wants to help people, he only goes because Achilles has to but he doesn't want to fight he's a HEALER he's a gentle lover NOT A FIGHTER who just wants to help he just wants to help everyone around him he HEALS while Achilles is a doomed warrior who is so good at fighting and KILLING its a DICHOTOMY GUYS!!!LIKE THE BEAUTIFUL SUN AND MOON DOOMED LOVERS SO SAD patocluse HEALER . (I Think he's specifically characterized as being BAD at fighting but might be misremembering)

-I don't remember much about Achilles' characterization I think it just makes him less of a jackass while not adding anything of interest and levels out into being mad boring.

-Not getting into the literal millenias old debate whether the mythological characters Achilles and Patroclus were being characterized as some type of lover by the original oral sources of the Iliad or its Homeric writers. We will never know. We don't even know what (if any) culturally accepted conventions of male homosexuality existed in bronze age Greece (we know much more about their descendants). But there are some interesting elements of their characterization in this direction, with how unconventional their relationship is WITHIN the text itself- Patroclus is described as cooking for Achilles and his guests (very specifically a woman/wife's job), Achilles chides Patroclus like a father, but there's also scene where Achilles' mourning of him directly echoes a passage of Hector's wife mourning her husband, Patroclus is explicitly stated to Achilles' elder, and is overall treated as his equal or near-equal, closest confidant and most beloved friend (to the point that pederastic classical Greeks would debate over who was erastes (older authority figure lover) and who was eromenos (adolescent 'beloved')- many took it as a given that this text depicted their present-day cultural norms of homosexual behavior but it existed so Outside of these norms that it had to be debated who was who). Their relationship is non-standard both within the text and to the descendants of the civilization that wrote them.

Basically what I'm saying is this book had opportunities to like, explore the unconventionality of the relationship (being presented here as explicitly lovers), explore the dynamics of why Patroclus wants to do 'women's work' (besides being a tenderhearted softboy), the weird dynamics where they take on paternal roles to each other but also roles of wives, how they feel about being this way, and just kind of Doesn't. Which I guess isn't an intrinsic fault (because it omits much of what I just talked about to begin with). it's just like.... Lame. This book takes jsut abandons everything interesting about the source text in favor of flattening it into bland Doomed Yaoi.

-The conflict that sets off the core story of the Iliad is Achilles and Agamemnon fighting over Briseis, an enslaved Trojan woman taken by Achilles as a war-trophy, Achilles spends most of the story moping because he was dishonored by his 'trophy' being taken. Achilles and Patroclus and everyone else are raping their captives, all the women in the story are either captured Trojans (or in the case of the free women within the walls of Troy, soon to be enslaved, and are slave owners themselves). Slavery as an institution and extreme patriarchal conventions are innate to the text and reflective of the context in which it was developed. You cannot avoid it.

But obviously you can't have your soft yaoi boys doing this, so the author has them capturing women to Protect Them from the other men. Their slaves are UNDER THEIR PROTECTION and VERY SAFE (and they might even Like And Befriend Them but I might be misremembering that. Briseis does though). Our heroes have apparently absorbed none of the ideals of the culture they exist in and the author seems to think "they're gay and aren't sexually attracted to their captives" would translate to them being outright benevolent (also as if wartime sexual violence is just about attraction and not part of a wider spectrum of violent acts to dehumanize and brutalize an accepted 'enemy')

In the source text, Briseis mourns Patroclus as being the kindest to her of her captors, who tried to get her a slightly better outcome by getting her married to Achilles (which probably would be the Least Bad of all possible outcomes for a woman in that situation, becoming a legal wife instead of a slave), and wonders what will happen to her now that he's gone. This is a really really sad, horrible, and compelling dynamic which could be fleshed out in very interesting ways but is instead is tossed entirely aside in favor of them being Besties. Like brother and sister.

All of the above pisses me off so much. If you don't want to engage in the icky parts of ancient/bronze age Greece then don't write a retelling of a story taking place in bronze age Greece. I'm not gonna get mad at children's adaptations of Greek myths or silly fun stories loosely based on them for omitting the rape and slavery but it is SO fundamental to the Iliad. If you're not willing to handle it, either fully omit it or better yet set your Iliad inspired yaoi in an invented swords-and-sandals setting where you can have all your heartbreaking tragic doomed lovers plot beats and not have to clumsily write around the women they're brutalizing.

-The author didn't seem to know what to do with Thetis and she made her just like, Achilles bitch mother who spends most of the story trying to separate our Yaoi Boys (iirc her disguising Achilles as a girl and hiding him on Scyros is made to be more about getting him away from Patroclus than trying to save her son from his prophesied doom in the Trojan War) until she sees how much they loooove each other and I think helps Patroclus' spirit get to the afterlife or something in the end?

-This is more of a personal taste gripe but it has that writing style I loathe where the prose feels less like a story and more like an attempt to string together Deep Beautiful Hard Hitting Poetic Lines that will look great as excerpts on booktok (might predate booktok but same vibe). It's all very Pretty and Haunting and Deep but feels devoid of real substance.

I really like The Iliad and The Odyssey in of themselves. They're fascinating historical texts that give a window into how 8th century BC Greeks told their stories, saw their world, interpreted their ancestors, etc. And genuinely I think these texts have 'good' characters, there's a lot of complexity and humanity to it.

WRT the Iliad- all of the main Achaeans are pretty fascinating, the one singular part where Briseis Gets To Talk and laments her situation is great, Achilles fantasizing that all of the Trojans AND the Achaeans die so he and Patroclus alone can have the glory of conquering Troy (wild), Achilles asking to embrace Patroclus' shade and reaching out for him but it's immaterial (and the shade being sucked back underground with a 'squeak' (the squeak kinda gets me it's disturbing and sad)), Hecuba talking about wanting to tear out Achilles' liver and eat it in a (taboo, exceptioally pointed) expression of rage and grief for his mutilation of her son's corpse, just one tiny line where the enslaved women performing ritual wailing for their dead captors are described as using it as an outlet to 'grieve for their own troubles' is heartrending, etc. A lot of grappling with anger and grief and the inevitability of death, a lot of groundwork laid for characters that could be very interesting when expanded upon in the framework of a conventional novel.

And Song Of Achilles really doesn't do much with all that. I know a lot of my gripes here are kind of just "It's different from the Iliad", I would have thought of it as mostly mediocre and forgettable rather than infuriating if it wasn't a retelling (and I DEFINITELY have strong biases here). But I think the ways in which it is different are less just a product of a retelling (of course there's going to be omissions and differences) and more a complete and utter disinterest in vast majority of its own subject matter, to the book's detriment. I think a retelling has a point when it EXPANDS on the source, or provides a NEW ANGLE to the source. This book doesn't Really do either, it just shaves off the complexity of its source material, renders the characters into a really boring archetype of a gay relationship, and gives very little else. Its content boils down to a middling tragic romance that has been inserted into the hollowed out defleshed skeleton of the Iliad.

Bottom line: I definitely would not be as mad about it if I wasn't familiar with the source material but I think it's fair to expect a retelling to Engage with/expand on its source, and I also think it's weak purely on its own merits. This book was set up to disappoint Me specifically.

[hermitw]

Ok I have learned about Momotaro! Previously I thought it was just a game styled similarly to monopoly - but it's folklore, too. And that explains a lot about the dog, pheasant, etc - the last comedy performance during kenjaku vs takaba. It feels so obvious in hindsight smh

What I've learned is based on this 9-minute storytelling and this 41-minute version of momotaro.

So an old woman is washing her clothes when she sees this giant peach in the water. She can't reach it, but remembers a song from her youth, something about the near water being sweet and the distant water is bitter, and her song lures the peach to her feet.

She (Akiko) is brings it home, and when her husband (yoshi) arrives they're excited to eat it (they are poor), but when they get the knife the peach opens on its own. This lil angel-ass naked boy comes out like, don't be afraid, you've been praying for a child and I'm from heaven uwu.

They're so excited to have a child that they seem to forget about the peach, but when the juice splashed on akiko's face it tasted good so idk maybe they got to eat too.

Anyway they treat this kid well and name him Momotaro - son of the peach. When he turns 15 he asks for their blessing to take a long hero's journey to an island in the northeastern sea, where Oni (like demons from the underworld who come up to claim souls, they're all unique, they capture and eat people, sounds a lot like curses in jjk) are. His parents let him go bc he's momotaro, he's probably safe from demons since he's from heaven, right? Though at first they're like, bro how dare you leave your aging parents. But he's like, it's cool I was born to do this plus I'm gonna bring home some mad loot do not worry.

So they give him rice cakes and he peaces out. Rests under a willow tree when this dog like, Rahhhh Rahhhh, give me all the rice cake or a kill you! Until he's like... Oh shit my bad. You're momotaro. Let me to with you.

A monkey and a pheasant also ask to join momotaro, and he agrees, but the dog has jealousy issues and they have to separate him from the bird for quite some time.

They get on a boat, the animals are scared bc the sea is stormy but Momotaro's like, how are you going to defeat the oni if you're afraid of the ocean? They're like, nooo don't abandon us and finally get along with each other.

The demon island seems like a mirage, but they make it eventually, looking for a way in to the castle. That's the pheasants job, to give them a blueprint. Bird says, hey demons break off ur horns in submission and they're like, nahhhhhh lolol.

They find some damsels weeping and trying to wash their clothes, but the blood won't come out. Momotaro's like, what's up I'm here to save you can I have directions pls. And they show him into a small door. (it's also noted that one of these girls spent the night being whipped in a dungeon after refusing to join the demon lord in bed).

The floor is covered in slippery blood and these oni are eating human remains.

Momotaro gave the monkey a sword. (Maki?)

Some of the oni turn to ash, some stay alive after being cut in half.

The oni are defeated, and their leader breaks off his own horns and begs for his life. Momotaro's like, pls, u sinner. But he spares the demon lord his life bc that's clout, keeping a chained up oni (which feels reminiscent of a binding vow). So they steal some demon boats and return the prisoners back to their homes.

Momotaro's parents are grateful that they never have to work again, and even more to have their son back. It's never clear that heaven gave momotaro any special powers, except for being deified by animals who want to join him. It's more about his Naruto type personality.

What's interesting is that neither story (that I've heard at least, I'm sure there are more versions) mentions momotaro being conceived or the peach being eaten, like they joked about.

I think Yuuji might be momotaro - that explains kenjaku's joke. Not to mention he had an easy life, and an old parent (grandpa Itadori was like a father), and at 15 is suddenly like. I gotta be a hero. That's my role. I'm gonna go fight curses. And the first friend he makes is a dog.... Megumi's dogs were out that night.

However - there is also Tengen. The only character I recall identifying as "a granny". There's the speculation of Kenjaku and Tengen having a past relationship, or possibly even being Sukuna's parents or otherwise relatives / ancestors. Not to mention they both have CT which allow them immortality - so they could have definitely been an old man and an old women bumping uglies. So then, what was the peach?

I guess the peach was kenjaku's brain in Kaori's body. Even the "don't be afraid" bit fits here. And in the long version, the old couple had a moment of fear and suspicion, thinking that it was a cursed peach, that the boy was not real, that a witch had cursed them.

Kenjaku's joke of momotaro began with saying that his parents weren't around - we know what kind of parent he was, absent at best. Dad (Jin) wasn't around, and Ma (kenjaku) was busy.

What I don't understand is the bit where Kenjaku is deciding between returning the dog to its owner or protecting the monkey and dog at the demon island. The dog is named John, and not a Japanese breed (which only makes me think of the soldiers brought in for the culling game). The animals do have names in the momotaro story, but none are mentioned in jjk.

And - - there seems to be a difference between the folktale and the game.

Gojo implies that nothing is more exhausting than grinding through the video game of momotaro.

Kenjaku and Takaba are referencing the old story.

So what's the difference?

Momotaro is a tale to inspire kids to have this selfless, heroic, brave role model who encourages friendships and integrity.

Kenjaku, in his joke telling, revealed himself to have little integrity. Takaba was like, saving lives is obviously the priority! And kenjaku mused about a cancelation fee. Said the bird could handle it because of poo.

The game - I want to do more research before saying this with certainty, but it SEEMS very capitalist with its layout and its goals. Of all the games that we see Kenjaku play - life, mahjong, soccer, Momotaro hasn't been one of them (though idk what vid games he was playing).

Anyway, I think the turning of this tale of morality into the game could be a metaphor of jujutsu society. Sure, they're based on ethics... To a point. It's more important to follow the rules of the game, if you want to keep your life, than to actually do the right thing, or decide what that is for yourself.

And grinding to endgame by Jujutsu Society's demands... Was the most exhausting thing out there. Gojo got 3 hours of sleep in his schedule, he was always traveling, I dunno I gotta research the game and edit this later <3

Ok so to win the game, you have to be the richest player. You roll the dice to move the train, can choose to invest in a zoo, or a baseball team, etc. When someone reaches a goal, the player farthest from it gets haunted by the god of poverty and bad luck (who can steal your money or take your train where you don't want it to go) - which can transfer onto someone else.

Gojo as the richest, who invested in a baseball team... It seems like a theme.

Oh, and other characters in the game have those big eyes like... Like we've seen in ch. 270.

So. If Yuuji is Momotaro and Megumi is the animals? In ep 1, Megumi's like, give me the cursed object or your friends will die. And then he threatened Yuuji's life until Gojo spared it - Gojo being the honored one, could be heaven's blessing here.

Megumi's shikigami are obviously the dog(s), Nue has similar tasks to the pheasant, and the monkey idk. Could represent Maki or Yuuji's own reliance on cursed tools.

And in ch. 268, Megumi decides that to live for Yuuji is enough - which is how the animals felt, just wanting to be useful to the peach boy.

Edit as of ch. 271 (the final chapter)

I'm interpreting the big eyes to mean that the sorcerers are still a bit like momotetsu characters, playing into jujutsu headquarters' game - but it's fleeting, it's going away.

I THINK ch. 270 gave us more hints about Momotaro?

Momotaro is mentioned when Gojo speaks to Suguru in the hidden inventory arc. It also appears during Takaba's fight with Kenjaku.

Different translations of the same page - at first, I thought this was saying that Geto is a bit different from Kenjaku - that Takaba used his CT to revive Geto in attempt to have a comedy partner (rip Kenjaku's brain, but it's better to leave him in the afterlife).

In the later translation, it seems they're discussing the difference between jokes. I'm not fluent in Japanese but I wouldn't be surprised if this could be read with multiple meanings.

Why is momotaro only mentioned with Geto - or Kenjaku, in his body? I know that Kenjaku was more interested in playing video games than knowing what CT had occurred in awakened players in the culling games.

There's the satosugu ship, and there's the chemistry between Kenjaku and Takaba.

There's the joke about Momotaro's conception - eating a magic peach and bumping uglies.

Idk the significance yet...

At this point maybe I should watch gameplay of momotaro? Or beg the internet to add anything they know.

I just cannot believe this is a coincidence bc gege wrote this, you know? So what does it meeaannnnnnn.....

[bansheeoftheforest]

Uh, is there still an angst break? Ignore this ask until your ready if so 👉😎👉

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What was the au where Jekylls pushed down the stairs and experiences a skull crackening again? Oh well but I've been thinking of a branch of that where Jekyll doesn't know hes dead like all day. I also cant remember if that was already discussed or not

The lodgers patch him up, he complains of a headache, and goes on his merry way! He's confused why all the lodgers are so nervous and being nice to him all of the sudden, why creature is looking at him with a stange mix of empathy and pity. He was told he fell down the stairs, fell unconscious, and obtained a bit of an injury. He cant fathom why Frankenstein is "The only doctor who can treat him" why he has to constantly go to her for checkups. Why Maijabi is suddenly following him practically everywhere.

Hyde squeezes back control for a moment and tries the potion but it doesn't work. Maybe a bit of pain but certainly no transformation. Jekyll assumes his injury or whatever medication they're giving him to treat it somehow negated the effects

Jekyll complains about "suddenly blacking out" the lodgers know its because his soul is slippery. They tell him it must just be a side effect of the injury and not to worry

How long can they keep it secret from him? When does he find out? Does he? Does it get to be years only for him to realize that he hasn't aged? That he still needs checkups from Frankenstein? Does he learn sooner? Does a lodger crack and say it? Does he rot? Does he notice how so very cold he is. How animals act around him? It's all very interesting,,

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I actually did think a bit of Jekyll's kidnappers for the amnesia kidnapping au! When drawing that lil sketch of Henry and O'Leary meeting Robert I had considered making it so O'Leary was suspicious of Lanyon like "Oh theres no news anywhere of someone matching Thomas' description who's missing. But some random people walk up claiming to know him? Begging to take him back with them?" And he'd think they were the kidnappers. But ultimately I decided against it as I felt Lanyon and Rachel were pretty clearly, genuinely concerned for "Thomas" :p

-

I tried playing assassins creed once, the first(?) one. But the controls were confusing and everything was sorta thrown all at me at once, and I got bored of it quickly

But! I went to the store the other day and just so happened to notice Syndicate was being sold for 15 dollars 👀 So I bought it because funky Victorian assassins and your influence! It's a bit less confusing then the first ac game I tried but why is going down or dropping so hard bdksnks. I'm having quite a bit of fun! If you dont count my rage and annoyance-, the B button refuses to cooperate with me unless I'm looting corpses >:(

The b button being the bane of my existence aside, I AM having fun! I like the funky outfits and I want to play as the girl twin (evie?) forever because her clothes are good and shes better at attacking than jacob(?) For some reason. Probably the stun her weapon has? Oh well! I have not unlocked any new outfits yet, nonetheless I wish there were more.

Also! I was thimking, and my current quests are taking place at 1868? Did I get that right? And Jekyll is like 35 in 1885. So in game he'd be 18! An au like I believe you mentioned sounds very interesting 👀 but I must play more to know what's going on and daydream about it

That would be the resurrection au <3

But god, I really like that branch! Especially combined with the hc that he can't feel pain bc the HJ7 and the transformations made him immune. Frankenstein patched him up and made fleshweaver to heal the crack in his skull but it still has to be bandaged, he surely broke a few bones, yet all he has to do is to be careful because it doesn't even hurt. He doesn't even realize how severe the injuries are because it doesn't hurt, it very well might just have been that he accidentally slipped at the bottom of the staircase and accidentally hit his head on the railing during his fall, rather than getting physically pushed and flying down the stairs, shattering his skull upon impact with the marble floor. Y'know what would be extra fun? If he only starts getting a bit suspicious about how severe the injury was once he realizes his lungs stop breathing for minutes at a time when he gets distracted, or his heartbeat stops dead in his chest. I know that that's not how biology or even creature works but lets say the HJ7 is funky, Zombie Jekyll my beloved. Perhaps he would only fully grasp what had happened once he blacked out too much and 'passed out', but his soul slipped out enough to leave his body unconscious on the floor while his soul/ghost was just... Watching. And it's not until Maijabi (who, as you said, follows him everywhere) immediately calls for more Lodgers saying that Henry's soul is getting unstable and Frankenstein's lousy job is starting to shine through that he fully understands that it was not a mere hit to the head. Or maybe it is when days, weeks, maybe months has passed and the headache never goes away, he only feels how his body starts feeling so much more... Fragile and delicate, that the guilt has eaten Helsby up alive and he corners him and spills everything, knowing he is going directly against what the group agreed to but not being able to keep it a secret much longer-- or maybe Creature would tell him immediately, once Henry is, for once, alone perhaps days after the initial accident. He cannot see Henry struggle to understand what is going on when he already knows what's happening to Henry, his mind, and his body. He doesn't listen to the plan that Frankenstein and the Lodgers has set up and immediately tells Henry the first moment they are alone. That would certainly be horrifying, I can only imagine how the Lodgers would find Henry after that, once he actually knows and manages to process everything. He would be so mad, not only to have been killed in the first place, but also because he was robbed of an afterlife because the Lodgers were selfish and could not accept the consequences of their actions. He would be mad, he would be so pissed and I have no doubt he might actually be mad at Maijabi too for even agreeing to help Frankenstein and the rest of the Lodgers. That anger would not stay long, though. That anger would soon turn into misery and sadness and paranoia so even as Henry has tried to push Maijabi away, Henry still ends up on his doorstep begging him to help him make sure he is not rotting, because no matter what anyone says, he is sure he can see rotten spots and patches on his skin and he is just so scared and jdhfjsdfdsfsfs... <3

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Ooooooohhh, I was actually daydreaming about this just this morning! Granted, I woke up at 5 and began to daydream to fall asleep quicker but I still like the thought of O'Leary being suspicious of Robert/Rachel/Jasper/the Lodgers bc he is protective of 'Thomas' and doesn't want anything bad to happen to him and especially with the idea that Henry still has hallucinations and they both think he was abandoned by his family, left to rot at a mental asylum. O'Leary might very well think that it might be Henry's friends and family that dumped him that Henry had 'escaped' the hospital and that's why they knew he was missing since the Asylum itself obviously wouldn't have posted the news... I really liked Jeks idea, okay? Like a lot, I absolutely love it <3

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Oh, the oldest AC game I played was Unity bc it was free after the Notre Dame fire, and I can confirm, I played 15 min and could not get through it even if i would have wanted to, it absolutely sucks so i have no doubt the older games are just as frustrating <3

BUT!!!! I'M SO GLAD MY CORRUPTION IS SPREADING AND YOU BOUGHT AND PLAYED IT AND ARE ENJOYING IT SO FAR!!! Trust me, Syndicate truly is an absolutely amazing game and is definitely one of my top 3 games of all time. I sometimes play it w my friend watching me play and trust me, I know that rage of trying to do smt but the character does smt else... or you try to do smt but the game doesn't react and you miss your chance... Oh well, still a wonderful game <3

My friend loves to play as Evie as well but I'm definitely playing Jacob every chance I get and I honestly get a lil pissy when I have to play as Evie bc I always prefer to play male characters, plus, I just like Jacob better bc he is a sweetheart. He is also canonically bisexual as hell!!! Have you met Abberline yet? The police officer? Him and Jacob together is one of my fave ships for the game. I also bought the ultimate/golden/whatever name it was edition so I had a bunch of extra outfits, I love the sherlock holmes outfit for Jacob but my friend keeps bullying me for it </3

Honestly? The time difference is the bane of my entire idea for the au bc if it's during their time Henry hasn't even graduated yet, and definitely not well-known enough for them to actively meet for whatever reason, and if you use the timeline for the jack the ripper dlc (in 1888) a lot of... Less than pleasant things happen so it wouldn't really make a lot of sense for a crossover to happen at that point but maybe it's just bc im a pussy and refuse to play the dlc. Rn, while imagining the au, I just imagine the 1868 timeline to be the same as the TGS timeline. I like to imagine the Frye Twins hearing about Henry and the Society and promptly breaking into his office to ask him to make poison and stuff for them. I also have a feeling that Jacob would flirt wildly with Henry and that Henry would be less-than-amused. It would also be a very fun thing with the fact that there would be two Henrys, with TGS Henry Jekyll and AC Syndicate Henry Green, soo... XD

[la-ro-ki]

I'm baby and its been years since I watched MCD and mostly have memories to PDH and I just have to ask... Who is Zenix??? I swear i'm a dedicated fan i just don't remember him well enough!!

this got a lil longer than i thought it would but i just like talking abt Zenix =~=

this is also all based on my knowledge of Mystreet and MCD w no further research. my memory’s pretty shoddy of MCD and i never,, actually,, watched anything in S3, past the first 30 seconds of episode 1 so feel free to add on anything

Zenix is a smaller background character in Mystreet although he does make more frequent appearances in PDH compared to other series. He’s one of the three members of the original Shadow Knights, Gene’s gang and friend group, alongside Gene and Sasha. His character is mostly just broken down into the angry guy character type and he’s the most openly aggressive of the Shadow Knights in all their appearances. He’s small enough in Mystreet that he’s never expanded upon, similar to Sasha, but he does appear in one mini game “Gene’s Game.” In this mini game we learn: Zenix has a desire for a bright pink pair of shoes that are likely only sold at Macey’s as it’s the only place he mentions seeing them. He also likes sweeter, Starbucks drinks and doesn’t seem ashamed of his interests.

In MCD, Zenix has a more plot important role in the story. He’s originally a guard in training (?) at Phoenix Drop when we first meet him. He seems to have a lot of respect for Garroth and the two appear to have a close relationship. We later learn that Garroth found Zenix at a young age and raised him. Garroth sees Zenix as a son to him but, to my knowledge, we don’t see Zenix truly acknowledge their relationship. Some time passes and i believe Zenix goes missing and he’s thought to have gone rogue (??). However for quite a few episodes the Zenix Situation is more in the background until he makes an appearance in disguise. Aphmau is confronted by a stranger who tries to attack Aphmau (???) and is revealed to be Zenix who had changed his appearance temporarily but shows Aphmau his true appearance. This scene shows that Zenix has turned traitor against Phoenix Drop even though no reasons for this are shown at the time. He’s also revealed to be a Shadow Knight here. (ok i lied i looked at the wiki for everything after this bc of just how spotty my knowledge is) When Aphmau returns to Phoenix Drop the town has been ravaged by Zenix in a search for Levin. Later we hear bits and pieces about him and are able to figure out that Zenix had ended up betraying the Shadow Knights by slaughtering the army he was assigned to and deserted. Then the time skip happens and all that stuff goes down. Sasha comes to Phoenix Drop to tell Aphmau that Zenix had gone into a mad rage and opened up a portal to the Nether and started killing/absorbing the Shadow Knight armies. He doesn’t rlly show up again till S3 where he helps Laurance in his Shadow Knight rebellion.