chloe doesn’t seem to think that peachy is going to stash achilles away or something, that he’ll just be back like immediately after the trade, like he’ll just walk home. you’re making a Bargain, chloe.
also, achilles can just let himself out of the leash. that would be symbolic too, letting himself out of mars’ leash. then disappearing even harder bc no one would know where he went.
listen i know we all hate to see achilles’ heart break, but let’s not forget that he got into this position by repeatedly trampling mars’ boundaries until she gave in… sure, it worked out more or less, but he’s the one who initiated the “do whatever you want to get what you want out of someone without putting it into words and asking for permission” game…
YEAH. He’s been getting away with it because he’s cute and naive, but Achilles is basically a sex pest who wore down his target. Absolutely no step of his relationship progression with Mars has been made with her full consent, and his motivations have never been pure even if he doesn’t seem to fully grasp the connotations.
Also, “She only does this for the money?” Achilles, honey, angelbaby, THIS WAS YOUR IDEA. She told you you’d have to pay her, and you busted your ass to make it happen. No one ever gave you reason to think different, you just wanted to.
Ok i think it’s a bit far to use the term sex pest for Achilles, because he isn’t really one, did he harass Mars some, yea, but is he a sex pest? No.
This isn’t giving him a pass because yea, the harassment was a bad thing he did, but you seem to be missing the entire context about Achillies, Mars and this world/mindscape(?).
Achilles has NO concept of boundaries, when Achilles was bothering Mars, no one sat down with him and specifically said “this is bad, don’t do this”, which we all know he needs to be told literally.
Mars also invited this in by telling him to be rude back to her on one of their first meetings, Achillies enjoyed getting shoved, his interactions with Mars has told him he can be annoying and “rude”, so he does so.
Lets also address the fact that Mars(and chloe) were incredibly rude to Achillies, does Mars get a pass on shoving him to the ground? Ignoring him completely and being rude to him?
This isn’t the real world and this comic is a metaphor.
In my theory, we’re in someones mindscape and these aren’t individual characters like you guys keep addressing them as when this topic comes up, they are all facets of the same person split apart in their mind to work through things.
If these characters are someone’s mindscape, I see Achillies as the development of selfharm, he started off feeling worthless and unimportant and wanted to move on, but then Mars shoves him and he feels better. He wants to be hurt now and getting hurt feels good for him, it feels right, it makes him happy.
Mars is that piece that doesn’t want to hurt, she’s super strong, she can move people about, when she grapples with Chloe she never hurts her, but Achillies is that target she learns she can take her aggression out on, at the part that feels good about it.
I’m sorry, but this is cope. This relationship can’t really stabilize if both Achilles and Mars get over their respective issues to actually talk about their feelings.
I wasn’t really commenting on the stability of their relationship so I’m a bit confused by what you mean, I think you misunderstood what I was saying.
I was commenting on the fact that reducing Achillies to the term ”sex pest” is wrong in itself, when he’s got a lot more complexity that some people seem to be missing that needs to be explored when addressing him.
There’s a lot more to see here than just his actions at the start.
I mean, sure, but there being more to his character does not mean that the label does not apply! It just describes a behavior that Achilles engaged in. If someone said that Achilles is just a sex pest and completely flattened him to just be that, then sure, but no one did that.
I do disagree with the use here, but I think that’s more because while we all call this stuff BDSM and it clearly references sexuality and desire, I’m not especially convinced it literally is? It’s shaped like it, certainly, but very few real BDSM submissives (or, I would imagine, people who engage in self-harm) would shudder and giggle after accidentally cutting their hand while cooking. But the term does get something at the priority of pleasure at the expense of morality and social boundaries of the id that Achilles embodies, so I think its use is defendable.
I think Achilles is autistic or something – he struggles with metaphors and understanding how his actions make other people feel. This doesn’t excuse his behavior, I think he’s still learning – he didn’t even know he was a masochist until a few days ago and also I’m not certain he knows what sex is.
He definitely has the same background knowledge of sex and whatnot that everyone else has; the punchline of Chloe mock-apologizing for “giving Clair crabs” is Achilles awkwardly offering to give them privacy. Achilles’ knowledge of certain things is ambiguous, yeah, but we have direct confirmation that he actively ignores and suppresses uncomfortable information. “I don’t want to think.” Is he actually ignorant of what’s up with Mars both now and then, or did he just ignore it until circumstances made it impossible? Either interpretation seems perfectly valid to me.
the way he kept pushing on Mars made me so uncomfortable in the beginning, it reminded me a lot of that trope of “girl obviously uncomfortable by crush that won’t leave her alone no matter how much she rejects him, buuut if he just keeps at it, she’ll suddenly realize she has feelings back :)”
holy shiiiit thank god someone pointed this out. i thought i was going crazy because i noticed this the second “masochist” became his defining character trait. i understand that it eventually worked out, but i’ve noticed that achilles tends to get a pass in the comments irt his repeated disregarding of other people’s boundaries (it almost borders on harassment early on).
maybe i’ve just missed people talking about this though? either way, i’d love to see it get acknowledged more because i think it’s a really interesting character flaw
god same, I’m so glad this is being talked about finally
like, ik no one here has been really given the ability to educate themselves on this sort of thing since they have no prior memories, so its not surprising they mess it up! but in actual safe real bdsm contexts consent is absolutely everything and one of the things not talked about enough is that includes *anyone* you involve in the scene
like yeah people don’t have to be as judgemental about it as they’re being, but these two (and achilles especially) have been throwing their dynamic and kinks in people’s faces and practicing their scenes in public without anyone else’s consent *constantly*. so honestly everyone has a right to at least be upset by it at this point lol
I think you’re missing the part where this isn’t the real world and this isn’t real BDSM play.
There’s no context or education they need here.
Are they making others uncomfortable sometimes? Yea, that’s something that can be worked on, they can be told about.
But they’re not shoving it into people’s faces.
It’s a space that inhabits like 8 people and in fact they are actively doing it away from Chloe trying to be out of sight.
This one time they’ve ended up in front of people because they’re upset and indulging.
You gotta remember this is a story and these characters aren’t real, and they’re also made from the same person, it’s all metaphor.
in a shocking turn of events i am capable of critiquing characters while still being aware they belong within a story.
you gotta remember likable characters can still have flaws, its what makes a story interesting. also that people can interpret a story differently than you without being wrong bc its a metaphor 🙂
what feral said, you can love and relate to a character and still acknowledge they can be a dick. this comic is also about coming to terms with hard conversations and working on yourself, so that’s going to probably be a part of achilles arc as well as people learning to role with how he is.
tbf, I think Peachy thinks he already belongs to her. He was “Mars’ cat,” and then she gave the leash to Peachy, and Peachy kept appearing to him until he started hanging out with Mars post-punch. That makes the trade make more sense. It’s not “I’m ransoming your plate to get some dude,” it’s “I’ll give you what’s yours if you give me what’s mine.”
I’ve wanted to do so much violence to him because he likes it, but this is the first time I’ve wanted to give him just a goddamn hug. This is fucked. On so many levels.
Achilles you haven’t been the weirdest person on this island since the bat moved in and you haven’t been 2nd weirdest since the dog learned the world is flat. Everyone in this town is in a race to be the weirdest they just don’t know it and also you got a real strong start
he desperately doesn’t want to think about anything, but unfortunately Achilles is a very good listener :achilles-wonder: he’s a smart boy! he just has a hard time understanding and being understood. (right along with everyone else!)
Idk I don’t really blame Mars for this tbh when you contextualize Achilles not taking no for an answer and constantly acting like his only interest in her is to get beat up. Boi is not innocent even if seeing him so down is a bummer :sailors-valentine:
KNEW IT:peachy-aaa:
adorable pfp btw :batty-long:
I get the feeling Achilles is learning new things about himself, and he’s feeling conflicted about his own motivations :achilles-onedge:
Good. He needs to cash in on his consequences eventually, even if he still deserves the world and everything nice and wonderful.
yeahhhhh sardonic achilles is back
NoOOOoo poor babyyyy his little heeaaart :c
Everybody is a wierdo to someone else.
Luckily I think he’s realizing he doesn’t have to defer to EVERYONE’S judgement, Chloe particularly knows jack and he knows it
chloe doesn’t seem to think that peachy is going to stash achilles away or something, that he’ll just be back like immediately after the trade, like he’ll just walk home. you’re making a Bargain, chloe.
also, achilles can just let himself out of the leash. that would be symbolic too, letting himself out of mars’ leash. then disappearing even harder bc no one would know where he went.
:pepper-shoot: feckin knew she wouldn’t be a responsible pet owner
also also his hair is literally growing in real time
man…
now im kinda hoping peachy sends him on a quest and he disappears for a few days so mars and chloe feel bad for their actions.
listen i know we all hate to see achilles’ heart break, but let’s not forget that he got into this position by repeatedly trampling mars’ boundaries until she gave in… sure, it worked out more or less, but he’s the one who initiated the “do whatever you want to get what you want out of someone without putting it into words and asking for permission” game…
YEAH. He’s been getting away with it because he’s cute and naive, but Achilles is basically a sex pest who wore down his target. Absolutely no step of his relationship progression with Mars has been made with her full consent, and his motivations have never been pure even if he doesn’t seem to fully grasp the connotations.
Also, “She only does this for the money?” Achilles, honey, angelbaby, THIS WAS YOUR IDEA. She told you you’d have to pay her, and you busted your ass to make it happen. No one ever gave you reason to think different, you just wanted to.
Ok i think it’s a bit far to use the term sex pest for Achilles, because he isn’t really one, did he harass Mars some, yea, but is he a sex pest? No.
This isn’t giving him a pass because yea, the harassment was a bad thing he did, but you seem to be missing the entire context about Achillies, Mars and this world/mindscape(?).
Achilles has NO concept of boundaries, when Achilles was bothering Mars, no one sat down with him and specifically said “this is bad, don’t do this”, which we all know he needs to be told literally.
Mars also invited this in by telling him to be rude back to her on one of their first meetings, Achillies enjoyed getting shoved, his interactions with Mars has told him he can be annoying and “rude”, so he does so.
Lets also address the fact that Mars(and chloe) were incredibly rude to Achillies, does Mars get a pass on shoving him to the ground? Ignoring him completely and being rude to him?
This isn’t the real world and this comic is a metaphor.
In my theory, we’re in someones mindscape and these aren’t individual characters like you guys keep addressing them as when this topic comes up, they are all facets of the same person split apart in their mind to work through things.
If these characters are someone’s mindscape, I see Achillies as the development of selfharm, he started off feeling worthless and unimportant and wanted to move on, but then Mars shoves him and he feels better. He wants to be hurt now and getting hurt feels good for him, it feels right, it makes him happy.
Mars is that piece that doesn’t want to hurt, she’s super strong, she can move people about, when she grapples with Chloe she never hurts her, but Achillies is that target she learns she can take her aggression out on, at the part that feels good about it.
Nah, I’m not missing any context. My opinions stand.
I’m sorry, but this is cope. This relationship can’t really stabilize if both Achilles and Mars get over their respective issues to actually talk about their feelings.
I’m not sure what you mean by cope sorry?
I wasn’t really commenting on the stability of their relationship so I’m a bit confused by what you mean, I think you misunderstood what I was saying.
I was commenting on the fact that reducing Achillies to the term ”sex pest” is wrong in itself, when he’s got a lot more complexity that some people seem to be missing that needs to be explored when addressing him.
There’s a lot more to see here than just his actions at the start.
I mean, sure, but there being more to his character does not mean that the label does not apply! It just describes a behavior that Achilles engaged in. If someone said that Achilles is just a sex pest and completely flattened him to just be that, then sure, but no one did that.
I do disagree with the use here, but I think that’s more because while we all call this stuff BDSM and it clearly references sexuality and desire, I’m not especially convinced it literally is? It’s shaped like it, certainly, but very few real BDSM submissives (or, I would imagine, people who engage in self-harm) would shudder and giggle after accidentally cutting their hand while cooking. But the term does get something at the priority of pleasure at the expense of morality and social boundaries of the id that Achilles embodies, so I think its use is defendable.
I think Achilles is autistic or something – he struggles with metaphors and understanding how his actions make other people feel. This doesn’t excuse his behavior, I think he’s still learning – he didn’t even know he was a masochist until a few days ago and also I’m not certain he knows what sex is.
He definitely has the same background knowledge of sex and whatnot that everyone else has; the punchline of Chloe mock-apologizing for “giving Clair crabs” is Achilles awkwardly offering to give them privacy. Achilles’ knowledge of certain things is ambiguous, yeah, but we have direct confirmation that he actively ignores and suppresses uncomfortable information. “I don’t want to think.” Is he actually ignorant of what’s up with Mars both now and then, or did he just ignore it until circumstances made it impossible? Either interpretation seems perfectly valid to me.
the way he kept pushing on Mars made me so uncomfortable in the beginning, it reminded me a lot of that trope of “girl obviously uncomfortable by crush that won’t leave her alone no matter how much she rejects him, buuut if he just keeps at it, she’ll suddenly realize she has feelings back :)”
holy shiiiit thank god someone pointed this out. i thought i was going crazy because i noticed this the second “masochist” became his defining character trait. i understand that it eventually worked out, but i’ve noticed that achilles tends to get a pass in the comments irt his repeated disregarding of other people’s boundaries (it almost borders on harassment early on).
maybe i’ve just missed people talking about this though? either way, i’d love to see it get acknowledged more because i think it’s a really interesting character flaw
god same, I’m so glad this is being talked about finally
like, ik no one here has been really given the ability to educate themselves on this sort of thing since they have no prior memories, so its not surprising they mess it up! but in actual safe real bdsm contexts consent is absolutely everything and one of the things not talked about enough is that includes *anyone* you involve in the scene
like yeah people don’t have to be as judgemental about it as they’re being, but these two (and achilles especially) have been throwing their dynamic and kinks in people’s faces and practicing their scenes in public without anyone else’s consent *constantly*. so honestly everyone has a right to at least be upset by it at this point lol
I think you’re missing the part where this isn’t the real world and this isn’t real BDSM play.
There’s no context or education they need here.
Are they making others uncomfortable sometimes? Yea, that’s something that can be worked on, they can be told about.
But they’re not shoving it into people’s faces.
It’s a space that inhabits like 8 people and in fact they are actively doing it away from Chloe trying to be out of sight.
This one time they’ve ended up in front of people because they’re upset and indulging.
You gotta remember this is a story and these characters aren’t real, and they’re also made from the same person, it’s all metaphor.
in a shocking turn of events i am capable of critiquing characters while still being aware they belong within a story.
you gotta remember likable characters can still have flaws, its what makes a story interesting. also that people can interpret a story differently than you without being wrong bc its a metaphor 🙂
what feral said, you can love and relate to a character and still acknowledge they can be a dick. this comic is also about coming to terms with hard conversations and working on yourself, so that’s going to probably be a part of achilles arc as well as people learning to role with how he is.
Very good reminder! I wonder if this will break the spell Mars has over him. Personally, I’d love to see him go back to using his brain again.
YOU CAN’T JUST GIVE SOMEONE ELSE’S PET TO THE LOCAL CREATURE
THAT’S BAD ETIQUETTE
tbf, I think Peachy thinks he already belongs to her. He was “Mars’ cat,” and then she gave the leash to Peachy, and Peachy kept appearing to him until he started hanging out with Mars post-punch. That makes the trade make more sense. It’s not “I’m ransoming your plate to get some dude,” it’s “I’ll give you what’s yours if you give me what’s mine.”
I’ve wanted to do so much violence to him because he likes it, but this is the first time I’ve wanted to give him just a goddamn hug. This is fucked. On so many levels.
god the striking diamonds as he realizes. achilles. youre SO close. :pepper-onedge:
mars really messed this one up
Achilles you haven’t been the weirdest person on this island since the bat moved in and you haven’t been 2nd weirdest since the dog learned the world is flat. Everyone in this town is in a race to be the weirdest they just don’t know it and also you got a real strong start
“the dog learned the world is flat” is an accurate sentence in context, yes, but also the funniest one I’ve seen today
he desperately doesn’t want to think about anything, but unfortunately Achilles is a very good listener :achilles-wonder: he’s a smart boy! he just has a hard time understanding and being understood. (right along with everyone else!)
He wanted to be used and abused and wouldn’t shut up about it, now he got what he wanted. Sleep in it, cat! :chloe-onice:
“I think I prefer ‘sub’ to ‘slave’. Also, I’m not sure I want either of those from you, Chloe.”
–Achilles, it seems
what is peachy gonna do to him
Idk I don’t really blame Mars for this tbh when you contextualize Achilles not taking no for an answer and constantly acting like his only interest in her is to get beat up. Boi is not innocent even if seeing him so down is a bummer :sailors-valentine: