#Critical Insights

[khulke]

Watch an interesting discussion on Khul Ke - “Is India’s Democracy in Peril?” happened between panelist Manish Tewari, a prominent politician and lawyer, and moderator Smita Gupta, an experienced journalist. Listen to Manish’s views on freedom of speech, press freedom, human rights, and the state of civil society. Know about Critical Insights of 2024 Indian Elections.

Stay tuned with Khul Ke for such interesting roundtables..

Watch more such interesting Roundtables on official site of Khul Ke.

[vebokki]

shen yuan's weekly "binghe YOU HAVE watch this anime i can't let you walk around being so uncultured"

[essektheylyss]

I do keep coming back to the thought that there is no reason to have stopped to see Astrid before going to Aeor if the point wasn't to try to recruit her for chaperone duties. It doesn't exactly seem like she's with the Vanguard or she wouldn't be hiding in a smut shop in Zadash.

Please, Astrid, come to Aeor with us. You can take potshots at your ex's new boyfriend the whole time. And he can't even say shit about it, because he's the one who invited you.

[adult-human-gc-female]

Found this post today, and together with my experience of narcissistic abuse it kinda clicked.

People say what this person wants to hear.

✨ But this is not enough. ✨

People should sit like this person wants. People should think like this person wants.

They always want to control everything. Just like my abuser did. This is why I was always been so bothered by the pronouns. Because it is nothing less but control over the way I speak and think.

[redjademilktea]

Last night's episode of 4 Sided Dive was absolutely wonderful in terms of the amount of insight and perspective we got. Not only the Crown Keepers interlude, but also for campaign 3's themes as a whole.

Specifically what fascinated me though, was the incredible analogy Aimee drew between the Ruidian culture and colonial influence on indigenous/colonized spaces in real life (around the 1h32m mark for reference). It was amazing question to ask and I'll love Aimee endlessly for it because it touches on am interesting parallel between the discourse surrounding the Exandiran gods and what they thematically can represent to us as an audience.

Before I dive into my thoughts, I want to preface this by saying this is my specific perspective as a queer woman of color and daughter of a refugee. While my year-5-in-a-PhD-program brain may just be over analyzing this too much, what Aimee brought up just deeply resonated with me in a way that I don't really see talked about in discussions around the themes of campaign 3. Additionally, the ideas I'll be talking about borrow heavily from Christine Taitano DeLisle's Placental Politics: CHamoru Women, White Womanhood, and Indigeneity under U.S. Colonialism in Guam (2023). Its an incredible piece on indigenous knowledge production and political action that importantly looks to decenter colonial perspectives and history (and more importantly recenter indigenous histories, knowledge, and perspectives in a way that allows us to dislodge the idea that colonialism is something that is immutable and inevitable.)

To quickly summarize Aimee's point/follow up question, she pointed out that the way Ruidians have engaged with, repurposed, and were resentful towards Exandrian cultures mirrors some of the real life experiences of colonized/marginalized communities in relation to colonialism. It was such a powerful comparison to make because in a lot of ways, the struggle of the Ruidian people over the course of the campaign along with the looming question about the gods and whether or not to save them is (intentional or not) deeply resonant with the idea of colonialism and the ways it is deeply ingrained in the even mundane aspects of our life.

In a lot of ways, the Exandrian pantheon can be seen as a colonial force. One that came in and displaced a preexisting order of things and entrenched itself in the new way of being it established. Ashton and Laudna have repeatedly pointed this out throughout the campaign. There was life and existence before the gods. The gods are merely a different mode of being, not the only and inevitable mode of being. Life, society, and being can and did exist without them.

And its important to recognize that aspect of the gods, because it helps us understand their motivations that much better. Aabria in her description of what Opal saw in the Spider Queen as she tried to take Opal as her champion was poignant. Opal did not see an omniscient, unknowable entity. She saw a woman. A woman who was frustrated, angry, and most importantly frightened. They keep Predathos chained away not to protect life on Exandria nor because they feel a moral obligation to do so. They are doing so because they are afraid. Their mortality is at stake. And, as Aabria keenly pointed out, their pride is as well. Every action, every move is out of self preservation. An attempt to save themselves because Predathos demonstrate that not even the gods are a permanent thing.

You'll find (as Anne Stoler writes about frequently) that colonial systems are much the same. They are vehemently intent on self preservation. Any action they undertake and any narrative they create about themselves is solely done to preserve the way things are currently. And that includes narratives that the way things are currently is somehow inevitable. That things were always coming to this moment. Often, this is done at the expense of framing other modes of being as somehow antithetical to the way things are now. That it needs to be this way. And that this way is right and forever.

To me, its important to recognize these parallels. While Ruidians may engage with, adapt, and innovate off of Exandrian ideas, culture, and art, it is only because - as Aimee aptly phrased it - Exandrian culture as a direct result of the gods actions has "sucked all the air out" everything. What is there to engage with, if not the looming orb in the sky that has shaped every aspect of their existence?

It really brings the campaign-wide question of "should we save the gods?" into new light, at least in my opinion. Because its suddenly not about "saving the gods in a morally righteous act to preserve all life." It becomes a layered and complicated network of issues that makes the answer to that question incredibly difficult to answer. Is preserving the status quo because its how things operate now worth it at the expense of the suffering of others? What would saving the gods and the Ruidians look like? Is it even possible to save both? What changes to how things operate would be a result of that? How would those changes be handled?

I bring this up because there is a tendency in some discourse that I've seen to frame questioning the validity of saving the gods as inherently the "wrong" choice to make. When instead, when you see the cast struggling over the question, its because the answer is not straight forward. The gods are not necessary for life. They never were. They just are necessary for life the way things are now. And the question of what disrupting that means is such a fascinating one to engage with.

[stay-funky-ponyboy]

ok if essek's comment to dorian was about orym pining, that is so insane. either he saw orym's obviousness and felt bad or he related very much to orym's situation. i just think that is neat.

[radioactive-earthshine]

NGL I have STRONG opinions about digital releases omitting the letters to the editor section of older comics. I feel like the letters are a part of comic history and should be aggressively preserved.

[augentrust]

i am begging orym's 33 passive perception to pick up every fun detail about essek. i want to know when that man is making faces. i want to know when he quietly responds to a sending. i want to know if there is cat hair on his clothes or amber jewelry anywhere on his person

[dumpster-fire-sapphic-failgirl]

I do think it’s funny that shortly after all of the Hells were finally convinced that Imogen and Laudna weren’t officially together was when they kissed

I’ve seen a lot of posts talking about how Chet or Ashton(?!?) would be confused about that being a meaningful change in their relationship

But that ignores the fact that Chet is insightful as fuck when he wants to be. He’s seen the pining. He’s seen the confusion and angst. He’s got the most experience with the widest range of relationships of the group. He fuckin knows.

Orym knows gay angst and repressed feelings and tagged imogen and their lack of a romantic relationship since she shouted in his head back at the Taste of Tal’dorei.

FCG and Fearne especially have been pushing together their faces like barbie dolls and shouting “Now kiss!” since something like ep18.

And Ashton. Ashton’s the only one that’s really seen Laudna’s side of this. They’ve been the one that has seen her angst. Her confusion. Her self loathing and her not thinking she was good enough for Imogen in the long term. They told her to take what she wanted on the way to the store in the sandstorm. They were the voice of support and reason and hope the entire time the teams were split. They told her specifically to spend time with Imogen bc they knew she needed it.

Ashton might toss out something glib like “it’s not a big deal when wives kiss you two” but under their breath it’s gonna be something like “fuckin finally”

[aadmelioraa]

When your oldest brother dies on a religious crusade just as you feared he would and your father refuses to deal with his grief just as he refused to deal with it when your mother died (you were a baby btw) and then again when your other brother left home (because your dad was impossible to live with) and in spite of feeling entirely abandoned by your dad you use your newfound higher status to put yourself out on a limb in order to downgrade his punishment and that of your close friend despite grieving their involvement with the queen who led your brother to his death but instead of your father acknowledging your pain and your attempts to do what you believe will bring justice he lashes out at you by comparing your current position to the horrific way your mother died…just Eärien things

[autumnmobile12]

I've seen more than a few posts by now asking why Horikoshi doesn't just kill Dabi off by now, and frankly I agree with that question. Let's be honest, killing him would be a mercy at this point and in spite of everything he's done, I don't thinking another prolonged coma with sporadic moments of consciousness is a punishment that fits the crime. He killed 30+ people, caused mass destruction, and tried to overturn an entire society.

Giving some crossover insight, Light Yagami probably killed millions with the Death Note, and I don't think even he would deserve the fate Dabi got. His poetic justice was he was an arrogant psychopath who died a pathetic death in a warehouse. The vampires of Castlevania Netflix have killed and tortured millions of people over the centuries they've been alive and out of all of them, I think only Erzsébet Báthory might deserve that fate, and that's only because she's ascended to goddess status and may be unkillable at this point and eternal imprisonment might be the only option.

So why doesn't Horikoshi kill Dabi off already?

Well....Horikoshi does have a problem with killing off characters unless its for shock value. There's no reason Nighteye, Magne, or Midnight had to die other than shock value. Most other characters that are killed off are barely in the series long enough to consider them a noteworthy death.

You could argue that Magne's death was to show that Overhaul was a new villain that meant business, but given the fact Overhaul doesn't kill or maim any other character the same way unless it's one of his nameless henchmen, his power doesn't prove to be that much of a threat to the main cast.

When Midnight reacted to Majestic's death, I legitimately asked, "Who?"

Endeavor confronts Dabi about killing Snatch and even Dabi asks, "Who?" (Also, why? Did Endeavor even know Snatch? Why bring that up?)

Why did Star have to die? To showcase how strong an opponent AFO/Shigaraki was? Uh, we already knew that...? To show why no other nations were getting involved in the fighting in Japan? A simple doomsday message from multiple nations that says, 'You're on your own,' would have sufficed. AFO could have been blackmailing world leaders into staying out of it. There could have been an international conspiracy of corrupt leaders who were in on it. They could have been having the same issue with mass prison breaks and couldn't help out. There was no need to invent a whole new character for any of that, so her death was a waste.

Arguably, Twice is the only character I can think of at the moment whose death was plot relevant. Realistically, how else was that fight going to go down? He and Hawks spend the entire battle in a weird standoff?

So either Dabi's current state is the result of creator cruelty or:

In the last couple chapters we have left, we're going to find out Eri's Quirk is not as damaged as everyone thought it was and she comes in clutch to save everyone. It's a cop-out ending, but I tentatively think this one might actually happen yet, mostly because it would neatly fix Bakugou's destroyed hand and some of the other characters who were maimed in Final War to the point their Quirks are barely usable.

Dr. Garaki cuts a deal where he biologically engineers a solution that saves everyone in exchange for a reduced sentence. Also a legit possibility. Would not be shocked if President Hawks visits the guy in prison and says, "Listen, a lot of people got really messed up in that last fight, so we've got a proposition for you." Saving both heroes and ensuring the villains actually live out a life sentence.

That unknown figure wandering around the wasteland does prove to be Shigaraki and he's got some unknown Quirk from AFO that could potentially save his comrades and we're headed for a Harry Potter Musical 'It's Not Over Yet' twist ending.

If the rumors about My Hero getting a sequel series are true, Horikoshi may be keeping Dabi around in case he has a use for him there. I don't know how that would even be possible, but I do admit the possibility of this conversation does make me laugh a little:

Pro Shouto: The plan couldn't have gone more wrong. Deku was in the wrong place. Bakugou was being Bakugou. Yaoyorozu had a relapse in nervousness and just created those weird dolls of hers instead of the materials we actually needed. The whole thing made the civilians laugh though. Not mean laughter, they were entertained and that's important, but if we were still in school, Aizawa would have expelled us all for sure.

Dabi: ...as much I just love our bi-weekly challenge of how long we can keep a conversation going before that heart monitor goes off and they put me back to sleep, do I have to listen to you bitch about work?

Pro Shouto: You said you wanted to hear about the outside world.

Dabi: Yeah, the fucking weather and shit.

Pro Shouto: You want a full forecast or--

Dabi: Don't make me come down there.

...

Realistically, none of those four scenarios are gonna happen, but the sequel rumors are preventing me from discounting them outright.

I would say there's no point in having that last minute 'everyone is saved' because that's it, that's the end, but then I remember Zuko's last line in Avatar is, "Where is my mother?" and opened up that whole subplot for the graphic novels.

So I don't know anymore.

[somfte]

Here is a link to the above post, just to cite the source. I don't really think OP is interested in what I have to say, but I felt compelled to write down my thoughts, regardless.

Sorry, stranger on the internet, but you seem to have mistaken a TV show for a Sunday school parable. Protagonists do not have to be morally pure. You do not have to agree with a protagonist's actions. Additionally, a TV show character being part of the main ensemble cast does not necessarily make them a protagonist.

You should, in fact, consider deciding for yourself whether a character is behaving in a way you agree with. There is a huge difference between media that glorifies a character's harmful actions, and media that simply depicts those actions and invites the audience to critically engage with them.

Sometimes, people do incredibly shitty things while thinking what they are doing is fine and normal, without even really thinking about what they're doing and why. It's important for us to see this in media, because it reminds us that we, ourselves, can be capable of participating in morally bankrupt systems (capitalism? anyone?).

Beyond that, a slaveowner being presented as a human who a viewer can understand and sympathize with is, in fact, critical to a nuanced story. This may come as a surprise to you but everyone who has ever participated in a morally bankrupt system has been a human who had friends and loved ones and complicated internal lives. If we dehumanize these people in media, we are again at risk of not recognizing when we or our loved ones are doing deeply harmful things. In fact, more TV shows should be like that.

Ignoring painful realities of history like slavery, or making slaveowners into fully evil cartoonish villains may be satisfying, but it is not more helpful or morally pure than presenting nuance.

[essektheylyss]

For the record, Liam's 7 point difference in insight bonus is the difference between Orym (+3 wisdom mod, no insight proficiency) and Caleb (+4 wisdom mod, insight proficiency, which adds +6 at level 20). Also, on that note, it is absolutely fucking buckwild that Caleb "Necromantic Gem" Widogast has an 18 wisdom score.

[occidentaltourist]

bbc: Some sweet #Silvacre content for your FYP ❤️

[captainsparklefingers]

Braius's whole thing does feel really interesting given how we know what Asmodeus thinks about mortals.

He doesn't like them. He thinks of them as a bad first draft, mayflies, toys. He wants them dead.

What does he think about his mortal followers? Does he give a shit about them at all? Does he even actively communicate with people who claim devotion to him or is he just like... leaving all those prayers and deeds done in his name on read?

I am going to be SO interested in seeing these 'holes' in Braius's history filled in. Because I don't think he's been to the Hells, I don't think Asmodeus is communicating with him or wants him as a herald. I could easily be wrong, and I'm ready for and cool with that, but...

I don't know. I've just got a feeling that for as much as Braius is trying to reach out and find a connection, Asmodeus just... doesn't give a shit.

[chthonic-cassandra]

In each appearance [of Cassandra in Greek texts], her visions are produced from a different point in her mythic biography, making a kaleidoscope of her prophetic narratives that grows increasingly complex over time. One largely (but not completely) serendipitous feature of the extant canon means that as Greek literary history moves forwards, from Aeschylus through Euripides to Lycophron, Cassandra's life story plays backwards. Aeschylus describes her on the point of death, Euripides at the moment of the fall of Troy, and Lycophron before the Trojan War has even begun. Each of these three major poets plays on an oddity resulting from Cassandra's genius and interaction with her age and experience: a younger Cassandra is more prophetically gifted than an older Cassandra, since she sees before her more of the future, just as a 'younger' literary work has more past versions of a mythic narrative to which it may respond.

Emily Pillinger, Cassandra and the Poetics of Prophecy in Greek and Latin Literature