This line encapsulates scp Tommy’s role as a thaumial so perfectly. He’s so altar lamb coded it hurts. Rose animatic is coming along nicely, and I’ll do analysis for this panel when I’m not about to pass out
Haha I totally didn’t forgor that I have (checks journal and winces) four entire panels of the Rose animatic finished but not colored. And have for months. Anyway, symbolism essay below the cut:
(What is safe ain’t the same as what is good)
This line exemplifies the fallacy of the Foundation, where in their effort to keep the world safe, heinous acts are committed. The scene depicts Rosalind being destroyed so the Foundation can gauge how dangerous Tubbo is and thus guard against them. Though coerced, Tubbo chooses their safety over their perception of what is the good moral decision.
Rosalind also proves the inverse; what is good may not be safe. Though abundantly flawed in her perception, she initially joined the Foundation believing she would be serving humanity, and in the end only endangered herself. Her leg is severed, showing how she could have fully escaped on her own had she not tried to rescue Tommy and Tubbo. Again her efforts to be good doom her. Rosalind is depicted pleading with Tubbo, trying to reach out for help that they refuse to offer, severing her arm. Tubbo refuses to look at what they are doing to her, just like how Rosalind initially refused to believe her initial impression of the Foundation as a benevolent institution was flawed.
Interestingly, in the choice between Tubbos’ head being cut off and Rosalind being murdered, neither outcome leads to death. The Foundation is sure that decapitation will not kill Tubbo, and despite their guilt Tubbo knows Collecting Rosalind into the Hive means she is still alive. There is only the illusion of death on both sides, which the Foundation endeavors to maintain so that the workers and anomalies both believe the other is a lethal threat. It is essential that each fears the other so that the oppressive system is maintained.
(so lay compress to the aching)
For all the last stanza discussed love as sacrifice, this panel emphasizes that love is also solace. It depicts Tommy and Tubbo comforting each other in the direct aftermath of Rosalind’s Collection, though with Tommy still hesitating to fully embrace Tubbo. Frequently it is compassion for each other’s pain that teaches Tommy and Tubbo compassion for themselves. Only for their love for each other do they survive the Foundation.
Sprawled across the floor in Red and honey lay drawings of the things they yearn for. For Tubbo, it’s the flowers of the home they were torn from. For Tommy, it is the stars he can barely remember and the Collector he feels abandoned by. It’s also notably the first hint of Philza’s true form, though it wasn’t yet revealed that Philza was a dragon. These representations of the things they long for, be it freedom or support, are what fuel their determination to persist. And, of course, each other. It is love that keeps them going, for better or worse.
Let’s get into this! Heavy spoilers for future events that aren’t published yet. This panel focuses on ways the characters have sacrificed themselves for their loved ones or otherwise hurt on their behalf.
Philza is given the word Love as it is the means by which he binds himself into the form of a person. Due to being a concept, his form reflects his mental state, and such anguish shows up as injuries. He carries a heart wound, which typically appears after the death of a Collected.
Wilbur is given the word Will/Wil as a pun, but also because he deals heavily with themes of willpower and its intersection with authority. The scarlet scars from the void are misleading, as the actual sacrifice depicted here is when Wilbur sells years of his life to the void in exchange for the power to protect his family, gaining white hair.
Tubbos’ rib like features are wounds clawed into them by Tommy during an attempt to save him. Despite the fact Tommy’s Red destroyed their body, Tubbo still held onto him.
Tommy’s section deals less with him sacrificing and moreso with him being sacrificed. Tommy is being choked by a Foundation guard in order to summon The Blood God. It is the love that The Blade has for him that leads him to being tortured.
The Blade has the word Slaughtered for the obvious reason of being the vessel for the god of Slaughter and Supremacy. The Blade fought very hard for his agency so that he could separate himself from the sea of voices. However, part of the cost of protecting his friends means allowing himself to succumb to the voices so that The Blood God can kill their enemies. The Blade sacrifices his bodily autonomy for their safety.
Analysis under cut! Tw religion and suicidal thoughts
This stanza depicts the Foundation’s false removal of Tommy from Philza’s Collected.
The first line speaks of the symbolic marriage of the church to Jesus. This aligns with Tommy’s dynamic with Philza as one reciprocally devoted to a god. However, it is a relationship that is seemingly severed. In reading the bland document, Tommy’s self deprecating thoughts appear in red between the lines. Tommy believes he isn’t providing a ‘dowry’ i.e. he doesn’t believe he is able to make up for the burden he is on Philza. The line (the pyrite is showing through) is two fold. It represents both Tommy thinking Philza has finally seen through him as well as the false nature of the Foundation’s forged contract.
Tommy imagines Philza disguising hurting him through acts of affection, as shown with Philza embracing him even as he claws Tommy open. This reflects how later Tommy finds Philza’s physical affection painful even after realizing he wasn’t really unCollected. He associates the affection as a precursor to pain that’ll only make it hurt more when Philza truly abandons him.
Lastly, (It won’t buy you that empty tomb) is paired with an image of Tommy in his Grey period as a result of being abandoned. If the empty tomb -i.e., resurrection, a deliverance from tragedy- cannot be earned, instead you’re left with a filled tomb, alluding to Tommy becoming suicidal.
Omg a color that isn’t red??? Is that even POSSIBLE!? Ok stay calm. Analysis under cut :)
Full line being (love will get you slaughtered/like a ram at the altar) and Rosalind was chosen to be sacrificed to Tubbo for showing kindness to anomalies (among other reasons). I intentionally used both alter and altar to allude both to the sacrifice as well as how joining the hive mind made Rosalind functionally akin to a DID alter.
Around the cards lay the hand Tubbo cut off in order to buy Rosalind’s life. Naturally it’s tagged with the date (April fools day lmao) and data to make it more dehumanizing. Dr. Blake’s supplies are strewn about, including fun items like a bone saw, gigli wire, various surgery instruments. All are covered in honey, which alludes to the further sacrifice of Tubbo and Rosalind starving for refusing to participate in the Foundation’s machinations. Both the pain in mimicking blood, but also because Tubbo is hemorrhaging their food supply.
I tried to mimic tarot cards for the ram and the altar. As the sacrifice, Rosalind is associated with the ram (which already is Tubbo coding) and is given vine like horns. This is part of the flower/tree symbolism between Tubbo and their hive members which for once I’m not going to elaborate on. Rosalind is rose associated, making the vines thorny, further tying into themes of sacrifice in allusion to Jesus’ crown of thorns. What would you look at that Jesus is also sheep coded. What succinct symbolism. Sheep are often personified as innocent, though specifically a ram implies some type of power to it through its horns, which Rosalind proves in the chapter Rose, showing her thorns before ultimately being killed regardless.
Tubbo meanwhile is the altar. Not the person committing the sacrifice, instead the means or ritual through which it occurs. Significant, but ultimately without control, much in the same way Tubbo is used as a tool in Rosalind’s death. In the card Tubbo is represented in a monstrous manner, emphasizing how the Foundation uses experiments/sacrifices to cement their narrative of the anomalies being solely dangerous monsters and thus justify abuse. This ties into the larger theme of how names/narratives influence perception.
