Personally I still read this after having been very critical of it, because I do genuinely enjoy the story outside of the rape romanticism and such.
I think what is developing between the characters now is much healthier and organic. But the fact Seth was assaulted many times over. I feel a lot of it is fan service, and done in poor taste. There is ways to draw traumatic assault scenes properly, and then there is pornographic rape scenes drawn to be appealing to the viewer, which Ennead had done every time. That is disappointing given how absolutely amazing the story writing and art and design is for this work. Alas;
I think it’s fine to enjoy a work and also be critical of it. Yes, some will just full on shit on it, but honestly there’s plenty of people who dismiss problematic content in works they enjoy and flat out ignore it. I think the best people are the ones who can both enjoy something and still point out when it does bad things. But that’s just me.
Ennead is most certainly a masterpiece in terms of originality, character and world building, artistic approach and quality, and overall execution. There are plenty of flaws in it, and unnecessary scenes… but the overall product of it is very well made and one of my favorite works to keep up with! And so far it seems the author is focused on the story itself rather than any unnecessary assault scenes to give “spice” (heavy fucking quotations) and are instead using subtle “sexual tension” moments to give some teasing and light hearted interactions that feel a lot better.
Anyways, sorry for yapping allat.
I see the new fans' reactions with lots of comical irony, nowadays. I find the "shock at the incest" especially amusing because... really? guys? ...This isn't exactly a "new" myth? Been around for 20000000000 years?? It's "older than Matusalem"? Not saying everyone should be a mythology expert, but... like many other people here already pointed out... incest is an almost universal theme in ALL the world's mythologies? Seeing some people act so shocked over and over again makes you wonder if they've never seen anything remotely "mythological" before (aside from Disney's "Hercules", of course... which, by the way, was so curated they even made Hercules *Hera's son*, for heaven's sake! ...Anyone who knows *anything* about the original Greek myth knows that making the BIG BAD in Hercules' myth, who was trying to *kill* him 24/7, appear as his loving *mother* was a conspicuous alternation!! XD XD I mean, the woman whose main purpose in life was HATING Hercules' guts?? XD Did they really think the myth geeks in the audience would fail to notice? XD XD) And let it be said: this is REAL MYTHOLOGY, gys... This is NOT a Disney version...
I think I see a different light on the rape scene mojito depicted in this story. Imo it is not a rape romanticism or a fan service but much to show the severity of Seth’s sins.
Tbh Ennead is the first Yaoi that I read depicts how disgusting a rape is and what it did to the victim. The majority of Yaoi always use this plot device to make the uke falls love with the seme ( they be like “no no no no”the seme be like “but you are hard” ) examples like in Painter of the Night, Bj Alex, Down n Dirty etc.
I really love how Mojito draw the raw expression what a REAL rape victim would feel like and how it effects them on the long run. She doesnt use this to make Seth feel pleasured or fall in love with Osiris.
What i can see is for Seth as the god of war, being weak and supressed by others is the the ultimate humiliation. He doesnt want others to see him weak that is why he profoundly refuse to disclose the night of his usurpation. He would rather die or getting tortured than cofessing he was supressed by someone. So him experiencing what the humans felt from his mistakes is a great wake up call for him.
Though i do agree the rape is a bit constant here especially the gang bang. Its a bit too much ngl even if its a punishment.
I've read many works, both comics and novels, and I also am an artist and writer myself. I feel that these factors give me a wider range on how I judge the depictions of these scenes, as well as a CSA survivor, sexual trauma is an important subject to me. More so how it is depicted. As said, this is of course just my opinion, and I know I am not the ultimate judge of any of these things.
When it comes to how the author has drawn the assault scenes, it is more so the "positions" and length of the scenes which makes it seem romanticised in my opinion. How other comics have depicted rape is by either doing few or singular shots of it "happening" or referencing that it has happened without showing the actual act, because there isn't a need in that scenario to see what has happened. Additionally, that perhaps the victim of the assault had tried to wipe it from their mind, which is why it was not shown, but later when their trauma is resurfaced, it may show callouts of certain details- (Like the way the assailants face looked, the way they dug their fingers into their flesh, a disgusting shot of them being licked. All usually done in this gritty unflattering way in terms of how its drawn. It is the way the victim remembers it.)
There is no focus on the actual penetration, or progression of positions / the act itself. That is usually in poor taste.
Unless its one of the extremely dark psychological comics which makes each panel absolutely gut wrenching and hard to look at. Much like extremely detailed gore in certain horror comics, the assault is depicted in a similar fashion.
Ennead tends to draw rape scenes much like any BL would draw sex scenes. The expressions may show the pain and suffering of the victim, but the depiction of the rape itself seems to be done in that romanticised manner. Perhaps that is just because the artist does not have a distinction of how one would draw rape vs sex, and that is fair, but I think it would be better if they changed how they go about that.
The other reason I find it to be romanticised is due to an "AU" piece that they made after one of the seasons I believe. It was where Horus had taken Seth as his prisoner and raped him. This was not part of the story, but a fanservice oneshot the author made. That as well felt to be in very poor taste to me. There was no other reason to depict that scenario, as it had no story relevance, other than to make something to appeal to those who enjoy sexual assault scenes.
I also acknowledge that different cultures have different morals on what is "okay" and what isn't in fiction, but I do not think that should spare them from the criticism of the internet, which is international.
I enjoy this work greatly, but I do genuinely feel that these factors of it are huge flaws. As you said, the amount of rape is too much. Rape as a punishment as well is very bad, but taking into account that it's trying to depict a different time from ours, even still the amount of rape is unreasonable, and gives me more evidence to believe it is done in some way to be fan service / romanticisation.
Again, another yap fest from me...
I don't like gate keeping but with the people here now...I love ennead a lot I have been reading it for more then three years now i just wish for this gem to be found by people who will actually appreciate it..