#wilfred owen

[madnessofmen]

me and the mutuals

[bajablastflavoredsaxreed]

[jimmythecookiemonster]

SAS: Rogue Heroes (2025)

Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen

[alovelywaytospendanevening]

The convoluted relationship between Siegfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owen, and Robert Graves

Sassoon (left), Owen (middle) and Graves (right)

"An interesting creature, overstrung and self-conscious, a defier of convention." (Sassoon about Graves, 1915)

"A very nice chap but his verses, except occasionally, don’t please me very much." (Graves about Sassoon, 1915)

"He wants to travel with me after the war; anywhere — Russia for preference. And whenever I am with him, I want to do wild things, and get right away from the conventional silliness of my old life." (Sassoon about Graves, 1916)

"I had a long talk with Robert Graves, whimsical and queer and human as ever." (Sassoon about Graves, 1916)

"Robert might have been a great poet; he could never become a dull one. In him I thought I had found a lifelong friend to work with." (Sassoon about Graves, 1916)

"There was something of a bitter charm in him, a sort of sallow, victimised, faithful Jester in the storm — quite impossible to describe — queer twisted smile — ungainly lankiness — rather goggling eyes. [...] His rare gaiety was like a young animal hopping in a daisied field." (Sassoon about Graves, 1916)

"He is a very loveable creature." (Sassoon about Owen, 1917)

"A big, rather plain fellow, the last man on earth apparently capable of the extraordinary, delicate fancies in his books." (Owen about Graves, 1917)

"A most extraordinary good man [who] says what means very courageously." (Graves about Sassoon, 1917)

"On Sat. I met Robert Graves... No doubt he thought me a slacker sort of sub. S.S. when they were together showed him my longish war-piece 'Disabled' (you haven't seen it) & it seems Graves was mightily impressed, an considers me a kind of Find!! No thanks, Captain Graves! I'll find myself in due time." (Owen about Graves, 1917)

"The real thing, when we've educate him a trifle more. R.N., S.S. and myself are doing it." (Graves about Owen, 1917)

"SS said of [RG]: he is a man one likes better after he has been with one. So it turns out in my case." (Sassoon and Owen about Graves, 1917)

"And you have fixed my life — however short. You did not light me — I was always a mad comet, but you have fixed me. I spun around you a satellite for a month, but shall swing out soon, a dark star in the orbit where you will blaze." (Owen to Sassoon, 1917)

"We loved each other as no men love for long." (Owen about Sassoon, 1917)

"I don't think RG feels things as deeply as some... with all his egotism." (Sasson about Graves, 1917)

"And I want no limelight, and celebrity is the last infirmity I desire. Fame is the recognition of one's peers. I have already more than their recognition: I have the silent and immortal friendship of Graves and Sassoon and others. Behold are they not already as many Keatses?" (Owen about Sassoon and Graves, 1918)

"Though you do write bloody good poems I’m sorry you’re such an ass." (Graves to Sassoon, 1919)

"I can only affirm that he was a man of absolute integrity of mind." (Sassoon about Owen, 1920)

"There was some vague sexual element lurking in the background of our war-harnessed relationship. There was always some restless passionate nerve-racked quality in my friendship with R.G., although he has been one of my most stimulating companions. He made me self-conscious." (Sassoon about Graves, 1922)

"I felt very affectionate toward him (only second time I’d seen him this year)." (Sassoon about Graves, 1922)

"He is as stimulating as ever, and I take up my talk with him as though we hadn't been apart for months. [...] There is nothing mean or malicious about R.G." (Sassoon about Graves, 1922)

"Have only just realised how impossible it is to connect it with Robert Graves (who will be one of its literary glories, when he is dead)." (Sassoon about Graves, 1925)

"I still get absolutely dithery thinking about the War so I can’t judge Owen fairly: but I say he’s all right and risk it." (Graves about Owen, 1926)

"Siegfried, we’re all fools and blockheads. And you and I have forgiven each other a lot in the last eleven years or so." (Graves to Sassoon, 1927)

"Dear Siegfried is still my dear Siegfried." (Graves about Sassoon, 1929)

"If I had met you a couple of months ago I should probably have tried to knock you down." (Sassoon to Graves, 1930)

"You're a fad-ridden crank." (Sassoon to Graves, 1930)

"I do know that while I was your friend you were never really open with me, or with any other of your then friends and tried to avoid their knowing each other." (Graves to Sassoon, 1933)

"I was being sentimental, imagining back to the time when I knew and liked you — loved you was more like it." (Graves to Sassoon, 1933)

"Owen was a weakling, really; I liked him but there was that passive homosexual streak in him which is even more disgusting than that active one in Auden." (Graves about Owen, 1943)

"He was able to be of high significance for me both as poet and friend." (Sassoon about Owen, 1945)

"I have, more and more, believed that he would have been incalculably valuable to me. His death made a gap in my life which has been there ever since." (Sassoon about Owen, 1948)

"All the years and misunderstandings had melted away." (Sassoon about Graves, 1954)

"Besides his homosexual soul-scar, he has an Enoch Arden complex — or so he once told me — and a lot of self-protective dishonesty." (Graves about Sassoon, 1954)

[ithappensoffstage]

Spring Offensive, Wilfred Owen

[cara-ti-amo]

Creelby is the key to Byler Endgame... just not in the way you're thinking (what I'm calling #BobGate)

Part 🩸⚔️ 🐉 : The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust Siegfried (1/2)

Warning 🚨: Long post incoming

Okay, so I was gonna hold onto this post till a bit later, but I've been dying to just write it and get it out there already, so here goes.

Originally, I'd planned to slowly introduce the concept of Siegfried (and its nickname Ziggy), as well as its multiple connections in the ST-verse and pop culture by first talking about ST's use of the rose and briar motif (which I did briefly talk about in Part 16 of Bobgate in relation to TFS, Dark of the Moon, and "Barbara Allen") and the many Sleeping Beauty references --

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one to make the connection. In fact, you can find many Byler Sleeping beauty edits and AUs on Tumblr.

However, the way the Twitter post above shows it, Mike seem like our Sleeping Beauty -- which make sense.

After all, we have Mike Wheeler laid out on the spinning wheel couch Aurora-style.

Plus, he's the one everyone suspects is stuck in a Vecna vision (which he probably is).

The Sleeping Beauty most of us are acquainted with is Disney's 1959 classic, based on Charles Perrault's ("The Sleeping Beauty of the Wood") and the Brothers Grimm ("Little Briar Rose") versions of the Sleeping Beauty myth.

Both versions involve a Prince fighting his way through a wall of thorns to save his princess.

Hmm... we do know of another Sleeping Beauty who was trapped behind a wall of "thorns"...

And saved by a badass princess [who is a Briar Rose in her own right].

But did you know that the Brothers Grimm almost *excluded* the story from their collection?

Initially they worried their version was too similar to Perrault's version, and therefore too French 💅

However, they were ultimately convinced when they considered the Germanic roots of the tale -- the Teutonic myths starring doomed lovers Sigurd and Brynhildr, found in the Poetic and Prose Eddas, the Völsunga saga, and the Nibelungenlied.

These myths would eventually inspire Richard Wagner (the creator of Tristan und Isolde, see Part 17) to compose his most famous work --

Der Ring des Nibelungen, also known as the Ring Cycle, a collection of four operas:

Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) [I was lucky enough to see Gustavo Dudamel conduct this with the LA Phil recently]

Siegfried

Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods).

Before you say it, yes, the Nibelungenlied was also the inspo for LOTR.

Yes, it's another four damn operas. Wagner told the story of Tristan and Isolde through music, and did the same for Siegfried and Brünnhilde.

While I might do a more fleshed out post highlighting the parallels between the Ring Cycle and ST, here's a summary about Siegfried and Brünnhilde in particular:

Brünnhilde is the one-eyed god Odin's daughter and a valkyrie (a maiden who guides the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla). By saving the life of the pregnant Sieglinde, she interferes with the gods' plans and disobeys her father. Because of this, Brünnhilde is condemned to an unending sleep within a ring of fire, til a warrior brave enough can awaken her.

Siegfried, like Tristan, is himself the son of doomed lovers, the twins Siegmund and Sieglinde (the woman Brünnhilde saved), and wielder of his father's sword Nothung (similar to Excalibur and Winter's Dark Bite).

Siegfried uses Nothung to slay the dragon Fafnir and claim the magical helmet Tarnhelm and the all-powerful Ring of the saga

See the LOTR and ST parallels now?

However, Siegfried remains uncorrupted by the ring because he has no fears to exploit. See, Wagner was inspired by another Grimm fairytale -- "The Boy Who Went Forth To Learn Fear" -- and said his Siegfried and this boy were one and the same.

Because he has bathed in and tasted the dragon Fafnir's blood, Siegfried is now able to read thoughts, understand animals, and is basically invulnerable, save for a spot on his back (it's giving Achilles). So, when he hears a birdsong that tells the tale of a valkyrie inside a ring of fire, Siegfried says, "bet", and decides to go to her.

Siegfried crosses the fire (bc he's fearless) and initially thinks this armored figure is a man 👀 And it's only when he removes the armor and sees the woman underneath that not only does he instantly fall in love for the first time -- but it causes him to fear for the first time too. Siegfried awakens her with a kiss, and Brünhilde, falling for him too, renounces her powers and the world of the gods.

Sound familiar?

Don't get too excited though, Milevens. [But let it be said this post is not meant to be El slander!!! She is innocent!!!]

When Siegfried and Brünnhilde part for the first time, he gives her the Ring as a sign of fidelity. However, some BS is brewing in a nearby castle, where the King Gunther conspires to marry Brünnhilde and marry his sister Gutrune off to Siegfried. The third sibling, Hagen (who secretly wants the Ring), devises a plan to get Siegfried to drink a potion that will cause him to forget Brünnhilde so he'll marry Gutrune instead.

Sound familiar?

Unfortunately, Siegfried falls victim to the potion, agrees to Gunther's plan and, using the Tarnhelm to disguise himself as Gunther (like a Mimic 👀), kidnaps his own wife, and takes back the Ring.

Brünnhilde only realizes she's been deceived by Siegfried when they're both about to be married to other people. The betrayal is devastating and fills Brünnhilde with rage and a desire for vengeance. She exposes Gunther and Siegfried's plot and falsely claims Siegfried slept with her while disguised as Gunther, leading Gunther to seek Siegfried's demise with Hagen and Brünnhilde's help.

During a hunt, Hagen "proves" Siegfried's betrayal by giving him a potion that restores his memories, giving Hagen permission to stab him in the back (like Melot in Tristan und Isolde and a certain Betrayer 👀). As Siegfried lays dying, he is filled with pain and regret as he is flooded with the memories of his beloved Brünnhilde.

Meanwhile, Brünnhilde eventually learns the truth and is herself filled with regret and despair for causing her love's demise -- she "declares that Siegfried's betrayal and death were necessary for her to become all-knowing and completely free". Wise, one might say?

Brünnhilde sets up a funeral pyre for Siegfried, takes the Ring back from him, and returns it to the Rhinemaidens, the spirits of the river whose gold created the Ring. Declaring the gods absolved of their original sin of having the Ring created, she joins Siegfried in the fire, killing herself.

The flames grow ever higher, burning everything --Brünhhilde's actions essentially bring about the apocalypse -- Ragnarök. [!!!]

Luckily, the Rhinemaidens use the river to put out the flames on Earth, saving the mortal world, but the flames reach the realm of the gods, destroying them as prophesied by the Norns (Norse version of the Fates, who guard Yggdrasil, their version of the World/Elder tree).

It's a bleak ending for Siegfried and Brünnhilde, but undeniably romantic and epic.

But wait -- there are more Siegfrieds on the table!

Valkyries are associated with ravens, boars, wolves, and also -- swans.

Lake Royalty? The perfect segue to our next (un)lucky couple -- Siegfried and Odette of Swan Lake.

#LOVERSLAKEGATELIVES

Tchaikovsky's ballet, inspired by the Swan Maiden myths (again, very similar to the valkyrie and selkie myths discussed in Part 16 of Bobgate), centers around a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer (either a wicked stepmother or the sorcerer Rothbart, who both take the form of an owl).

Mother Goose and Papa???

While there have been multiple endings created over the years for the ballet (point for #bandersnatchgate), that ending hinges on a mistake made by the prince character, Siegfried, whose vow of love has the power to break Odette's curse -- or make it permanent.

See, there comes a point in the ballet where the Black Swan, Odile (disguised as Odette), tricks Siegfried and gets him to swear a vow of love for her, effectively betraying his true love, Odette.

Anyone remember this iconic moment from 1994's Swan Princess?

In the original version, Siegfried's mistake dooms Odette to be a swan forever. Upon realizing what happened, he immediately begs her forgiveness and gets it, but Odette chooses to die rather than remain a swan, and Siegfried chooses to follow her in death rather than live without her.

They drown in the lake together and are reunited in death, ascending to Heaven together.

I have *almost* no doubt now that we'll see a moment like this in Side B (that's what I'm calling it from now on, that's it!) -- Mike declaring his love for Will, only to realize too late that he's swearing to the wrong person, potentially due to an illusion made by Kali, our MF and Black Swan in the present day.

However, that's not the only ending in Swan Lake:

In the 1877 libretto, Siegfried begs for forgiveness, but Odette won't give it, so he dooms them both: "Willing or unwilling, you will always remain with me!" A storm in the lake drowns them.

The 1966 version ends with Rothbart taking Odette away and keeping her in captivity while Siegfried is left to die in the lake.

The 1986 version ends with a battle between Siegfried and Rothbart that ends in Siegfried's death, while Rothbart claims Odette in victory.

The 1988 Dutch National Ballet version ends with Siegfried killing himself out of hopelessness, leaving his friend Alexander to take his body.

The 2006 Houston Ballet version has Siegfried shooting Rothbart with his crossbow and killing Odette instead. Siegfried takes her body to the lake and drowns himself.

Another 2006 version from the Milwaukee Ballet has Rothbart stabbing Odette before Siegfried's eyes. The lovers drown themselves, with the power of their love defeating Rothbart and Odile.

A 2012 version from the Russian State Ballet of Siberia has Siegfried dragging Rothbart into the lake, drowning them both and leaving Odette as a swan. (don't know who that was saving...)

The 2023 Australian ballet version has Odette pledging obedience to Rothbart in order to spare Siegfried's life, leaving a grief-filled Siegfried to jump off a cliff.

I know, A LOT of sad endings that feature swan dives here.

From Something Very Bad is Going to Happen

However --

The 1950 Soviet staging opted for an ending where they live happily ever after, beginning a tradition where the version danced by the Mariinsky Ballet ends with Siegfried fighting Rothbart, tearing off his wing, and killing him, allowing Odette to return to her true form and the lovers to reunite. And this is the version the Mariinsky Ballet performs to this day (and the version we're most familiar with).

Let's hope for a happy (and gay) ending for our Lake Lovers, eh?

And speaking of gay --

I learned about Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen through one of my new favorite Byler fics, Hollow Boy by Indybaggins [it is soooo good!!!]

Sassoon and Owen, who met while stationed at Craiglockhart during WWI, were English war poets writing about the horrors they were living through in the trenches. Sassoon became Owen's idol and mentor, inspiring the latter to blend the gritty realism of his experiences with his more romantic inclinations, influenced by Shelley and Byron.

"Anthem for Doomed Youth" by Wilfred Owen

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?       — Only the monstrous anger of the guns.       Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;        Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,— The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;       And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all?       Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes.       The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

Meanwhile, Sassoon's tone was one of bitterness and his style much more satirical and cutting, to highlight the hypocrisy war brought out in people:

"Atrocities" by Siegfried Sassoon

You told me, in your drunken-boasting mood, How once you butchered prisoners. That was good! I'm sure you felt no pity while they stood Patient and cowed and scared, as prisoners should. How did you do them in? Come, don't be shy: You know I love to hear how Germans die, Downstairs in dug-outs. "Camerad!" they cry; Then squeal like stoats when bombs begin to fly. And you? I know your record. You went sick When orders looked unwholesome: then, with trick And lie, you wangled home. And here you are, Still talking big and boozing in a bar.

However, despite their differences in artistic sensibility, they felt a great affinity and continued to write each other letters (#lettergate) once the war sent them in different directions.

And although there is no evidence the two ever had a physical relationship, it's evident in Owen's letters that Owen had romantic, homoerotic feelings for Sassoon:

Mahim, Monkmoor Road, Shrewsbury 5 November 1917 My dear Sassoon, [...] Know that since mid-September, when you still regarded me as a tiresome little knocker on your door, I held you as Keats + Christ + Elijah + my Colonel + my father-confessor + Amenophis IV* in profile.            What's that mathematically?            In effect it is this: that I love you, dispassionately, so much, so very much, dear Fellow, that the blasting little smile you wear on reading this can't hurt me in the least. [...]  And you have fixed my Life – however short. You did not light me: I was always a mad comet; but you have fixed me. I spun round you a satellite for a month, but I shall swing out soon, a dark star in the orbit where you will blaze.

*Not the Akhnaten connection...

Sadly, Owen's words were also prescient. He was killed in action the following year, which Sassoon would not discover till many months later, creating a "chasm in [his] private existence":

"W's death was an unhealed wound, & the ache of it has been with me ever since. I wanted him back – not his poems."

Siegfried (who was also queer, going on to have multiple relationships with men) said he regretted his "slowness in discovering that [Owen] was to be of high significance for me, both as a poet and friend...and there was much comfort in his companionship."

Sound familiar?

However, after Owen's death, Sassoon made it a point to publish and champion Owen's poetry, therefore immortalizing his love.

MORE ROMANCE, MORE DEVASTATION, but here's another iconic (gay) couple featuring a Siegfried --

SIEGFRIED AND ROY, MASTERS OF THE IMPOSSIBLE

The partners in entertainment and in love, whose flamboyant Las Vegas act inspired awe among the masses.

What did Will say about Vegas in S4?

Right...

Siegfried and Roy had a long, glittering, illustrious career and life together, with Siegfried Fischbacher performing magic tricks while Roy Horn tamed white lions and...

TIGERS.

Unfortunately, on October 3rd, 2003, *Horn was brutally attacked while performing with the tiger Mantacore*, who bit into his neck and dragged him offstage. The attack left Horn with permanent physical impairments, but on his way to the hospital, he stated that Mantacore was "a great cat" and not to blame for the accident.

In fact, Horn claimed that the tiger was actually trying to help him through the stroke he had at the time of the attack.

What does that say about our tiger, Vecna???

Despite the extensive injuries and rehabilitation that followed (with Siegfried remaining faithfully at Roy's side), the pair would continue to perform together (and with Mantacore, who passed away in 2014) until 2010, when they officially retired.

However, in 2020, Roy sadly became one of the millions who died of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Siegfried died of pancreatic cancer less than a year later. The $1.4 million in proceeds from an auction of their personal items went to their charity for endangered species, the SARMOTI Foundation.

Their ending is bittersweet, but even though the road wasn't entirely smooth (homophobia, accidents, illnesses), it seems they had a happy, exciting, and successful life together, where they could eventually be open about their love for each other.

Perhaps a life Will Byers would dream of?

Finally we have our last Siegfried -- or should I say --

Ziggy. As in Stardust, the messianic alien rockstar who came to save our planet through music.

He's androgynous. He's bisexual. He's music icon David Bowie's alter ego, who rocks a *hot-orange* mohawk (okay, more mullet, but you get it).

Where have we heard a certain someone wanting a hairstyle like that?

Hmm...

What does Ziggy Stardust's story say about Mike's alternate ending in Side B?

Don't turn that dial, Part 2 of the Ziggy/Siegfried saga is already up.

Disclaimer: I'm going to break my evidence for this theory into different posts under #BobGate (also #PuzzleGate), but if possible, let's keep this contained to Tumblr because I think there are folks who might care about being spoiled for what I think is going to be an amazing twist (if #conformitygate/ #lovewinsgate is in fact real) **I haven't come across a theory like this, but in case someone else also had the thought -- lmk!

[obsessiveracheldraws]

The old lie: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (it is sweet and proper to die for one's country)

[mydearestdarlingsidney]

‘here’s my poetry’

‘nice! you could improve in these places though-’

‘alright damn just say i suck at writing omg i’m going to throw this entire thing out’