{"id":4610,"date":"2018-07-09T05:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T12:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4610"},"modified":"2018-07-08T08:00:09","modified_gmt":"2018-07-08T15:00:09","slug":"mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/07\/mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Monstrous Regiment’: Part 19"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the nineteenth part of Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, Polly comes clean, and an escape plan is hatched. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of abuse<\/b><\/p>\n

HOLY SHIT, A LOT JUST HAPPENED.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Confession<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing to me how many smaller plot points combine with larger ones to give us such an\u00e2\u20ac\u201dplease forgive me\u00e2\u20ac\u201dexplosive sequence. (I HAD TO, I WON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T APOLOGIZE FOR IT.) At the start of this scene, Polly finally decides that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no time left to beat around the bush with Blouse, and she spells out the truth to him. Multiple times. In multiple ways. AND BOY, DOES IT TAKE A LOT FOR HIM TO JUST ACCEPT IT. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all out in the open now! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no longer a secret that everyone is actually a woman. (I still think Maladict might be, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S POSSIBLE.) And while this was a vital moment in the arc of Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, I was interested in it for another reason: Exactly how<\/i> would Blouse react to it? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got some… interesting? Views on women? That feels like a terrible understatement???<\/p>\n

But wow, this was so much better than what I anticipated. Once he finally understands it, he tells the group that they have nothing to be sorry for. Instead, he invokes a long history of there being women soldiers and warriors all over the world. Unfortunately, their conversation is interrupted and they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to finish it, but it was such a good start. He accepted them, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he? He had no desire to retaliate or get them in trouble, and he respects<\/i> them. BUT I WANT TO HEAR MORE OF THIS TALK, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n

Vimes<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always fun to get to see Vimes through other<\/i> characters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 eyes. It feels kinda validating that Polly sees Vimes as disinterested in normal politics, that he exists separate\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/i> from the main group. Here, he gives Polly a very quick gesture after<\/i> spending most of Rust\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confrontation silently laughing at the whole affair. I admit that I, too, am highly suspicious of Rust\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s offer, and I agree with Polly. These people are afraid<\/i> of the Ins-and-Outs. Look how much they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been able to survive through! Look what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve accomplished as just a small group of largely untrained soldiers! What else<\/i> are they capable of?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My guess is that Vimes was, more or less, giving them the signal to just fuck shit up, and oh my god, THEY DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I mean… if Vimes really meant, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I hope your donkey explodes,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d then perhaps he was<\/i> telling them to blow up the place.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lofty<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, now I am BROKEN. This book hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly ignored the horrors of the Girls\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Working School before, and the events at that place turned Tonker and Lofty into the women they are today. Tonker is angry and cynical; Lofty is monosyllabic, probably has some form of PTSD, and became obsessed with fire after the horrific treatment she went through. Tonker details all of this here to Polly and the others, hinting at the awful treatment she got from the husband and wife at the flour mill that exploded. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing the husband is the one who got her pregnant?) She had her child<\/i> stolen from her, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all!<\/p>\n

So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no wonder that all these buildings have been burned as the Ins-and-Outs traveled to the Keep. This is Lofty\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thing, her means of dealing with the world. She reacts to the violence that the world has enacted upon her with a different manifestation of violence. There is a part of me that deeply understands this, too. What if I could burn away the memories of the people who hurt me? What if I could destroy that which destroyed me? Tonker, therefore, provides a means to pull Lofty away from her tendencies, much like she does here. I do feel like the text hints at the notion that Lofty and Tonker are much more than just friends, though y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all know me. I prefer direct confirmation over hints and subtext. But their relationship as it is on the page is powerful<\/i>, and I enjoy it.*\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So this is what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re left to deal with: Lofty has provided a means for them all to start<\/i> to escape, but there are some complications. One of the soldiers lost an arm, so Igorina is duty-bound to take care of them. And while this has gotten them out of their cell, where the hell do they go next? What are they supposed to do now that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re free? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to ignore this impending invasion, either. I AM VERY INTERESTED IN WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Lord, this book is GREAT.<\/p>\n

*Adding a note here: Since this was already posted to Patreon, I didn’t want to edit it and make it seem like something had changed from the original draft of this. I am leaving it as is, despite that it’s been pointed out to me frequently that holding this representation to a different standard is harmful and erasing, only for accountability sake. But yeah: this is a bad take, and their relationship IS canonical and important, so my need to say what does and does not work for me as a queer man contributes to some harmful shit against queer women.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/youtu.be\/Ab4bsesVK1o<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"