#Role of literacy

[fairy-bard]

i’ve been loving watching critical role recently if for no other reason than because i get to watch a decent portion of viewers actively falling for cult tactics lmao

a forbes article describes cult tactics as when cult leaders “censor dissenting viewpoints, promote a distorted narrative and use relentless repetition and peer pressure”

ludinus needing to monologue at everyone he meets. cherry picking what information to let people know (ie the orb). showing popular world leaders (gods?) at their absolute worst as a means to win over the vulnerable. creating dissent between cult prospects and the people who they’re close to outside the cult. doesn’t take no for an answer. repeating his points over and over, in whatever context he thinks will be most persuasive. targeting people who’ve lost everything. convincing people that they’re special

matt is a genius.

[raenalt]

"there were no consequences in c3" SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

THERE WERE SO MANY CONSEQUENCES OPEN YOUR EYES

in reality, what they mean is "it had a happy hopeful ending and my edgy little heart didn't want that" and that's okay but DONT SAY THERE WERE NO CONSEQUENCES BECAUSE THERE FUCKIN WERE

[shorthaltsjester]

me when the campaign with characters i’ve praised for being essentially pawns/npcs in the greater world is ending by underserving the main characters by [checks notes] highlighting the role those characters have played as quasi-npcs who are nonetheless still the narrators of their destinies within the limits of a world beyond their control

[vault--of--amber]

the phrase “has done nothing wrong ever” and it’s various siblings have done irreparable damage to fanon interpretation of morally alright characters . what do you mean she throws up over seeing blood. i saw her kill a man

[alliekitaguchi]

the astronomical reaching i’ve seen from some critters across all platforms is insane, and i would like to gently post this so some of those folks can rethink their “orym forced laudna to feed delilah” stances

[essektheylyss]

They should hold an official Calamity marathon rewatch. Just for funsies. I think we would all benefit as a fandom.

[annemarieyeretzian]

orym stating “and I’m telling you, if ludinus had sent people to your home and taken your brother and your father and countless others, how philosophical would you be about it, dorian? he’s done that on a very large scale, far beyond me and my home. think what you want about the gods. we have plenty of sins on our heads to deal with. just like them.”

clearly an unpopular opinion but orym has Every Right,

[deramin2]

I think anyone complaining about Bell's Hells morality as we near the end of Critical Role Campaign 3 and whether they truly get to claim they're representatives of the Exandrian people should go watch How To Blow Up A Pipeline (2022) about direct action environmental rights activists. And the documentary Hit & Stay (2013) about the anti-Vietnam War Catholic Far Left activists while you're at it. Or The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (1972) which is based on a play written by one of the priests profiled in Hit & Stay about their trial (grandstanding in the trial was one of the intents of being arrested).

It turns out that when you're not in a binary morality unquestioned heroism YA novel that what is justified in fighting systems of oppression and what the right thing to do is actually becomes hard to determine and largely driven by internal feelings and rage at injustice.

Who determines who gets to have a big say? Who determines what actions are justified when no one will listen to the harm being done? Who determines what is overall the more harmful action? Especially when you can't know the future except that there is no option where tremendous harm is not done. Who determines which step along any road is "right" or even "wise?" Especially when they are taken one by one by specific people who are swept up by the events of their own lives and not predetermined by an all-seeing all-knowing Author writing backwards from the ending?

Playing a game isn't the same as acting in the real world at great personal cost, but real life is a kind of improv. Long form improv doesn't start with how the ending should get tied up. It's about how every single split second decision adds up to a cumulative finale. Things not turning out how you'd have played them out if you already knew everything and were living someone else's life is what reality is like.

The normal state of affairs is people making decisions you don't agree with. "They shouldn't have done that" is boring and useless analysis that shuts down further thought and dismisses what anyone else has to say. "Why did they do that" is what media literacy is about. Campaign 3 was never heroic fantasy (arguably C1 & C2 weren't either). It's a character study in people doing what they feel they must in the moment it's happening without any assurances at all that it's the right thing. It's about not having confidence and surety but having to act anyway. That's the entire point.

How To Blow Up A Pipeline (2022) is a great expression of that same dynamic. They have enough confidence to keep telling each other this is the most necessary action they can take because they don't know what the future looks like, but one where they did nothing isn't one they can stand to live through. Is blowing up this pipeline in the way they are planning to the best possible course of action morally and strategically? Literally nobody knows that. They can't possibly know that. It only matters that these people got to that point, and now it's all happening flaws and all. For love, for revenge, for discord in the face of a society that acts like this is normal. A bunch of righteous fuckups just trying to survive in a harsh world made harsher by the status quo.

If nearly 437 hours of game play was too much to sit through to get that point across, maybe 104 minutes will work better.

[mando-abs]

Guys, I’ve read the Wild Robot

And let me tell you, if I hadn’t recently taken a Children’s Literature class in college, I would’ve said this was the best middle-grade book I’ve read since elementary/middle school. I almost read this book in one night (I was sleepy 😴) like I couldn’t put it down.

The heart behind this book is astounding and it never shies away from showing complex and difficult concepts. You will fall in love with Roz and her gosling son along with all of the other animal on the island.

If you’ve got younger ones, I highly recommend reading this to them or having a little book club moment with them. However, be prepared for whatever hard questions may come your way (i.e. circle of life and climate issues). You know your child and how much they can handle/understand. If you’re like me and much older, it’s a quick read and a great way to finish off a long day. It’s a part of a trilogy and you bet I’m patiently waiting for my hold on a copy at the library.

If the movie is anything like the book (which, given a rewatch of the trailer, it’s looking like so), we are in for a special treat.

[jazzapples3]

Imogen: the watching comprehension of this Ruby vanguard is piss poor

Ludinus: how dare you say we piss on the poor?

[acebender]

"God loves you but not enough to save you" everyone repeating that but idk guys, I'd save my brother over a bunch of strangers

[daincrediblegg]

I really wish people would stop being obtuse with their readings about things. Is it really demonizing The Thing or is it deliberately using a social perception and common tropes to frame the character in a certain light so it can deliberately subvert those things at the precise moment when it is necessary to prove that point that people are Not Like That?

[secretly-a-catamount]

I would like to sincerely say to all the people on Goodreads or anywhere else who complain about how the narrative in A World Without Princes treats “feminism” and “feminists” as bad and evil, don’t really understand the point of the book.

Because ever single book in the School for Good and Evil series tries to teach a lesson about not falling into one extreme or the other. Because either can hurt you, if you fall to far into them.

For example, in SEG it was Good and Evil. TLEA — Young and Old. QFG, COT, OTK — Truth and Lie.

So, keeping that in mind, what exactly is this kind of lesson that is trying to be taught in AWWP?

Toxic Masculinity and Toxic Feminism.

In fact, I would go as far as to say that Aric Lesso and Evelyn Sader, respectively, are the two characters that embodied these ideas the most.

After all, they’re antagonists, antagonists that oppose both our heroes — directly, in the story — and each other — fundamentally, in ideology.

[catofoldstones]

“They’re making the dance about Alicent and Rhaenyra when it’s supposed to be between Aegon and Rhaenyra!!!!!” buddy, the source material is called the Princess and the Queen, and you won’t like who the princess or the queen is, but one point at a time

[rovermcfly]

I don't really know what to say about this video except to implore people to listen very carefully to every single word he's saying

[bleachblomde]

sometimes i remember it’s not technically confirmed that imogen is gay or in love with laudna….. haunting