Suzannah Rowntree

Well, I mean - I've written very few fanfics in my life, and I've never written a modern AU, so I don't feel that that's a thing I would do, even hypothetically. I think someone else would do a far better job of it, and as far as I'm concerned they should feel entirely free to do so!

That said...this question did prompt me to imagine how the Bete Epoque characters would behave on social media:

Liz Sharp has a Facebook where she posts every three months. You never know whether she's going to be posting a picture of her cherry tomato crop, or her mug shot with the caption "lol here we go AGAIN"

Anton Lupei has a political podcast on YouTube and posts regularly on Bluesky.

May has a secret locked Instagram she uses to look at photos of her friends' children and shop for excitingly frilly things to wear after hours.

George has a social media manager who posts regular boring pictures of him cutting ribbons and shooting birds. He also has a secret Goodreads account where he faithfully logs all the books he reads - Atomic Habits; How to Win Friends and Influence People; Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus; Grouse: A History; Spare - and leaves one word reviews of each.

Short has no social media; he's worried about privacy. On one (1) occasion he tried to use AI for "efficiency". It took him 30 seconds to become disgusted with the application.

Mimi loves TikTok.

Alphonse has had a Tumblr since he was 13 and still keeps it up, although he spends more time posting about chemistry these days than he does about his love for FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST.

Nijam only has LinkedIn, which she loathes, and Discord where she crowdsources instructions for bombs and flamethrowers.

Molly is a mod on r/aita.

This doesn't stop Vasily calling her in a panic every time something goes wrong

Vasily: ALPHONSE IS MISSING, WE CAN'T FIND HIM

Nijam, up to her elbows in radium: and I'm supposed to be able to help HOW

First off that's also kind of disrespectful to Lupita and second, judging a piece of media before it releases based on vibes is something only joyless authoritarians do once they've lost sight of artistry in favour of scoring political points.

But sure! Fine! Let's talk about what a ""woke"" ODYSSEY would look like. Let's talk about how deeply ingrained patriarchy is in Homer such that every father is a little more divine than his son because he's a little more closely descended from Zeus. Let's talk about how Odysseus sleeps with every goddess who propositions him before getting home and slaughtering the serving-maids who probably didn't get much choice about sleeping with the suitors. Let's talk about how Odysseus returns to Ithaka with a tale about being kidnapped and enslaved, wins his home and kingdom, and then does absolutely nothing to free his slaves who are all kidnapped and enslaved royalty themselves.

You could take Homer's epic and deconstruct it to focus mainly on this aspect of the story - I have, in fact. It's all there in the original! That's what great art does: it contains ambiguities and dissonances.

But the thing is that this isn't the heart of the ODYSSEY. This story has lived on for millennia precisely because it's the story of man overcoming all the odds to return to the home that he loves. That's what makes this thing universal. And that universality is obviously what Nolan means to tap into with this retelling.

*Eugénie's very first appearance*

Albert: this is my fiancee, she isn't to my taste, I prefer someone more feminine.

Narration: Eugénie is indeed very masculine! Observe her muscles!

Eugénie: *speaks four lines and every single one of them expresses interest in another woman*

and that's why Mercedes belongs alone, or with someone who doesn't blame her, in however small a part, for betraying him. she deserves better than a lifetime of his resentment.