#Discourse and Dialogue

[tmarshconnors]

Debate and Caring for Our Future

Politics has always been a profound interest of mine. It’s not just a subject; it’s a lens through which I view the world and understand the dynamics that shape our lives. As an ENTP (personality trait), I thrive on engaging with diverse perspectives, and I believe that robust debate is essential to navigating the complexities of our political landscape.

I care deeply about where we are heading as a society. The decisions made by our leaders and the policies enacted affect us all, from the ground level to the highest echelons of power. It’s not just about ideology; it’s about the real impact on people’s lives. I often find myself reflecting on questions like: Are we moving towards a more equitable society? Are the voices of the marginalised being heard? What are the implications of our current political decisions on future generations? These questions drive my passion for politics.

One of the things I enjoy most is the exchange of ideas. Whether it’s a casual conversation with friends or a more formal debate, I relish the opportunity to discuss and dissect political theories and policies. As an ENTP, I’m wired to challenge assumptions and explore new angles. I often play the devil's advocate, not just to win an argument but to encourage critical thinking and deeper understanding. I believe that the best way to grow is through exposure to differing viewpoints, and I find that engaging in debate sharpens my own beliefs while expanding my knowledge.

Of course, the political landscape today can be incredibly polarised, making meaningful dialogue more challenging than ever. However, I see this as an opportunity. It’s crucial to bridge divides and foster discussions that focus on solutions rather than differences. While emotions run high, I strive to remain grounded in facts and to encourage others to do the same. 

Ultimately, my passion for politics is about more than just intellectual engagement; it’s about caring for our collective future. I want to contribute to a society that values informed discourse and encourages participation from all. Politics shapes our reality, and it’s essential that we engage with it actively and thoughtfully. By debating, discussing, and sharing our ideas, we can collectively forge a path toward a better tomorrow.

In this ever-changing political landscape, let’s embrace our differences and work together to create a future that reflects our shared values and aspirations. After all, politics isn’t just a game of power—it’s about the lives we lead and the world we leave behind.

[caughtafishie]

saw art yesterday that pmo so bad. im not trying to put anyone on blast or anything but i need to rant about this bc it truly rubbed me the wrong way.

i'll just start by saying that i dont mean any malice toward this artist nor do i want ppl jumping down their throat but i do think we need to have a conversation about why ed is being interpreted like this. (also sorry if someone has made a similar post, i saw this art for the first time yesterday)

...like where do i begin. the racial implications? the izzy victimization? sorry but why are we portraying a brown man as this crazed, red eyed beast whose totally inevitable violence has to be taken on by some white martyr who "takes it for the team"? i kind of can't even begin to understand where this line of thinking comes from when we literally never see ed in a state like this in the show.

its like literally kind of a huge plot point that ed isn't murderous, and is only violent to those extremes when he is pushed. and izzy is usually the one pushing him, so yeah he faced the brunt of the violence ed inflicted. but we honestly really only see ed physically harm izzy, not the rest of the crew, during blackbeard 2.0 era.

like lets think about it. ed harms the rest of the crew in very indirect ways i.e. making them fight each other or sailing them into a storm. he doesn't ever pull a knife or gun nor does he throw a punch. the most he really does is push lucius off the ship, which is bad of course, but not something i'd call a super violent attempt on someone's life. even though he did think he killed him, it's still passive, letting the sea take care of it. the only other people we really see ed beat or kill are colonizers and his abusive father.

and then there's izzy. i wrote a post before about izzy and ed's dynamic during this era, and oh boy am i not done. people have a hard time understanding that their cycle of abuse and retaliation is perpetuated by izzy, not ed. ed isn't this feral wild animal going around harming everyone he sees. he's not an inherently violent person. i feel like the show does so much to make that clear. izzy, however, thrives on violence, specifically blackbeard's violence. which is why he pushes ed, he's a sadist and a masochist. he is putting ed through suffering to gain his own suffering, and that's what he wants. and he wants to keep ed right there with him, even though he acknowledges that ed has moved on.

as for the racial implications, i think maybe we steer clear of drawing poc as big scary monsters who you are inherently unsafe around? so much so that a white man feels the need to take on his rampant violence so no one else has to? sorry but we did not watch the same show if that's how you view ed.

like i said, ed is not a violent person. ed is an emotional person. he doesnt get any more angry than he does sad or happy, he just feels his emotions intensely. and if a mentally ill brown man having emotions screams "danger" to you, especially when he is otherwise shown to pose no physical threat to those around him, im gonna need you to think about why. why would he be any more dangerous than izzy, who has put the crew in more precarious situations than ed did? who has killed more people? the only person on the ship ed ever tried to actively kill during this era is himself, everything else was collateral. but no yeah, lets demonize him and make his abuser the white savior here..

[jessmalia]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON 2x03 "The Burning Mill"

[sha-brytols]

i do try to facilitate discussion when i can like i HATE the weird hostile environment tumblr tends to facilitate when literally any good intentioned response just gets needlessly blasted and i never want to make anyone feel bad for good faith discussion but when you have literally nothing productive to say in response to a meta analysis on authorial bias besides "yeah you're right but when I do this already-explained insanely annoying and borderline media illiterate behavior it's actually different and there's a good reason for it" like ok well you can take that up with literally every single other person in this entire community i promise you will survive shutting up and allowing an environment of critical thought to develop without your input for 5 seconds

[ariadne-mouse]

In all this C3 discourse about what the main themes are I have seen viewpoints all over the board. I have also noticed some posts/tags/replies are particularly fired up saying that those who disagree with them are ignoring or putting down the perspectives of people of color. I have also watched some of these same users dunk on posts that are written by people of color, some of whom are sharing their family's irl experience under imperialism/colonialism, or why they either don't think that theme fits in C3 in the ways proposed by fandom or that it would have poor implications if it did, or even just saying that it's way more complicated than how the theme is being presented in these arguments - and then lump them into the complaint of "people ignoring perspectives of POC". Like, yes, it is absolutely a fandom issue that perspectives of people of color get ignored, shut down, or undervalued. But these perspectives are not a monolith and to pretend that they are - or that they must clearly be aligned with a specific view - is reductive and presumptuous, and indeed contributes to that very fandom issue. So in the fervor to decry those ignoring perspectives of POC, perhaps pause to consider - regardless of your own identity but especially if you are white - whether you might be doing that yourself in the exact same breath.

[ingravinoveritas]

“Are you filming me?” says it all doesn’t it 🤦🏼‍♀️ (re gt insta story)

It does, Anon, you're right.

That was also something I noticed in the Insta story this morning. That the very first words out of his mouth after she said "Good morning, happy BAFTA day" were that. No regular greeting, no comment about the BAFTAs. Nothing that you would even expect in a normal conversation--which in and of itself seems telling, and confirms something that Olive had said previously ("I can tell you're recording because you sound nicer"). That she shifted her tone suddenly, in a way that isn't how she normally speaks, and that cue was what prompted David to ask.

"Are you filming me?" feels like a reflexive response. Something you get used to saying out of habit. Which seems ironic, because if you know you can trust someone, that shouldn't be a question that needs to be asked. It was also only after he confirmed that she was not filming that he tentatively responded with "Good morning," after which you can hear the jingle of his belt and the rustle of his pants being pulled on. Also once again, the question was asked of how he was feeling about hosting, and again he said that he felt fine, and again, she didn't seem to like that answer, because it wasn't "good content."

So yes, it seems to say a lot that on a day when he was going to be at work in front of multiple cameras for hours and hours at a time, he couldn't avoid also being in front of one at home...

[louferrignojrofficial]

why do you care what some guy says if you don’t even like him likeeeee

[bbnibini]

I find it so painfully heartbreaking that Solomon just...laughs off all the derision, the name-calling, and possibly even did "evil" things on purpose because it's expected of him at this point. (He had not always been like this as Thirteen pointed out before). There was a time when he was "innocent". When his soul sparkled. When it resembled the kind of soul everyone in these god forsaken (pun intended with spite) three realms seemed to associate with the ever loved MC. He's just...worryingly carefree. And because he's like that, he feels even more of a tragic character to me.

Sometimes it even seems that he himself would seemingly make up excuses on why he's hated. Oh, it's because I'm a sorcerer this. I might have won a war against Devildom single-handedly this. I have forgotten. But maybe, I did something bad, that. Hon, you were doing that to SURVIVE. You don't have to be a faultless person to deserve compassion. You don't have to be MC to deserve to be loved.

[lyriumsings]

The assumptions people are making on Veilguard bc ALL decisions won’t carry over are insane to me “OH so morrigan won’t mention her ONLY SON!! or her roMANCE??”. We have no idea what context or capacity she’s going to be in the game? In skyhold, she stayed at skyhold for a while, so it made sense to chat her up and ask about her life. Also Kieran was THERE bc he was TEN. Kieran is now in his twenties and most likely living his own life. If we’re saving the world and fighting darkspawn WHY would her grown ass son come up? Esp when she doesn’t even know Rook?? Like i would understand if we had veilguard in our hands and people were complaining bc Morrigan actually had dialogue invalidating their canon but for fuck’s sake the game isn’t even out yet. They’re saying it doesn’t matter as in it’s not gonna come up bc Rook is busy doing other shit, rather than quizzing characters who aren’t companions on their lives. “What about Varric”. Varric seems to have a pre-established relationship with Rook which means you can headcanon that they already had the talk about Varric’s life story considering he called them his “second in command”. Like cancel your preorders, preorder, do whatever you want no one on the internet is the boss of you. But oh my fucking god complaining about something you don’t even fully know about is already getting so old. Best case scenario, you’re right and i guess your bitching is validated yay for you ig. Worst case, you’re wrong and like wasted so much time and energy bitching for nothing. Like I completely understand being upset the choices don’t carry over, it IS disappointing! But we don’t even KNOW what it’s going to affect if anything at all. It’s just so funny how everyone was like “it’s not about the Inquisitor” and now that the focus is confirmed to be pretty much entirely on Rook and the inquistor’s choices barely seem to matter in game and half of everybody has lost the plot bc of it and we don’t even actually know how this will affect the game like ????

[buggitino]

more headcanons about sebastian solace from the hit game pressure roblox

back on my bullshit and i promise i only talk about The Situation a little bit

☆ his third arm is more sensitive than the other two (i'm thinking that either the USHD doctors fucked something up during the operation OR it grew in wrong, nerve endings closer to the epidermis and whatnot, something like that)

☆ just hates being touched in general, he’d rather initiate that contact (need an update where he gently —> not very gently shakes expendables off (depending on whether and how much they’ve annoyed/flashbanged him) when they climb him) ☆☆ part of this is due to trauma, he cant trust anyone to touch him without hurting him ☆☆ the other part is that he’s got that fucking dawg in him (i’ll get to this in a second)

☆ unlike what his new voice lines are starting to suggest about his character (i’m not gonna talk about zerum again because i think everyone knows what's happening at this point and ive already thrown in my two cents) he does NOT hate the expendables. literally his first line upon meeting him in his shop has him calling himself your friend (as strained of a connection as it may be, he could very easily not offer items, not share documentation/info, and just take the expendables data and hoard anything he picks up to make it harder for them to get to the crystal) (like yes, it's a mutually beneficial relationship but if sebastian didn't care about or sympathize with the expendables to some extent, it wouldn't be). i really do think he just has a short fuse (i'm not going to bring up trauma again, however-) and says things he doesn't mean (e.g. “they deserved it. and frankly so do the rest of you.” (im coping with the mischaracterization of these new lines leave me alone)) as a means of protecting himself and pushing the expendables further away (both physically and emotionally)

☆ he’ll act like a brat once they’re done, but he lets younger expendables sleep in his shop (he cares about them but would never in a million years let them know that) ☆☆ if a younger one comes in with a bunch of adult expendables, he’ll treat them all the same but will secretly slip the younger one some extra batteries, gauze, something unnoticeable (he feels especially responsible for the younger male expendables cause they remind him of his little brother)

☆ sometimes he thinks he can hear his family's voices on the radio, just under all the static, calling out for him like a search party would. he used to cry over this but he almost got caught once by an expendable coming into the shop so he does his best to tune it out. it’s hard. guilt pulls at his stomach every time he hears a clip of his family, begging for him to come home, to respond, something, anything, and he ignores it.

☆ autism (cause i said so) - i'm including this one for the sole reason that he does the dinosaur thing with his third arm and generally keeps his hands clasped together in the secret dinosaur position (he just like me fr) ☆☆ hates bright lights (the only light he uses/allows in his shop is the one he emits) (its a very soft/warm hue as opposed to the bright fluorescents throughout the rest of the facility) (not to bring up the flash beacon, obviously nobody likes getting flashbanged and he's got angler eyes but sTILL)

☆ he used to hate eating fish (pre-op) and now he’s pissed cause it’s all he has available and the DNA changes made it so fish is the yummiest tastiest thing in the world (i like imagining him actively fighting the urge to eat whatever fish he’s cooked in one bite cause he refuses to acknowledge that he's changed on a level that isn't physical/appearance-based)

☆ calls grown adults “kiddo” (even the ones that are older than him) ☆☆ he gets a certain kind of joy from seeing the 40/50/60 year old expendables try to figure out just how old he is after they get called “kiddo”. it’s extra fun for him when they’ve clearly already heard the rumors and/or gotten a glimpse of his file

☆ the ring is just an accessory, a bracelet on the floor or in a locker he found and liked. assumed nobody was gonna claim it and kept it (shoutout to @/lotus.eaterr on tik tok for this one!!!!)

[thelvadams]

the dragon age situation is bizarre because i see a bunch of outlets giving it 9s and 10s and people are saying 'oh no i can't believe it's bad :///' like am i missing something here

[emblemxeno]

It will always be funny to be that people can sit there and call Three Houses a serious game with a complex narrative when the game has a murder cult made of mole people who are actually behind every single bad thing that has happened in fodlan ever.

It's funny that despite how people complain about "big scary dragon and its followers/monsters being behind everything" as a problem of FE's storytelling, meanwhile 3H has the worst instance of it and is given grace.

In fact, I'd argue that The Slithers being behind almost everything wrong in Fodlan is worse than Echoes' nobility vs common subplot being undercut, or Fates' Valla restrictions, or the Blood Pact.

Reason why Fodlan was initially annihilated? They started a conflict with Sothis without caring about the damage it'll do to anyone or anything. Reason why Crests were created and initially valued? Killing the Nabateans for their blood and bones. Reason why the Tragedy of Duscur happened? The Slithers. Reason why Edelgard's family was tortured? The Slithers. Reason why odd happenings that instigate conflicts take place in the modern era? The Slithers.

3H makes up for that nonsense because of individual character writing (most of the time), well built prose, and presentation. A secret bad guy organization in the shadows is less of a detriment if people can distract themselves with characters they choose to invest in, and they'll invest in them if the game encourages investment by presenting its script well; even if ultimately, the writing foundation is as shaky as a tree in a storm.

[khattikeri]

honestly as an adult i hate that even stories for adults are turning into therapy speak mouthpieces with moral lessons and explicit verbal making up at the end of every conflict. like congrats you reinvented the 1950s american family sitcom but somehow even more annoying

[the-far-bright-center]

It's baffling to me that a certain subset of the SW fandom is willing to accept some of TCW’s most ridiculous story arcs and blatantly OOC characterisations as literal canon, but then pretend that they 'can't believe' that Padme could possibly fall for Anakin in the actual Prequels films.

Really? You can believe that space-godzilla goes on a rampage and destroys a sector of Coruscant, that several of the main characters are kept as slaves by an evil cat-queen, that Obi-Wan fakes his own death (complete with a pretend funeral) and callously traumatises everyone who cares about him in the process, and that Maul somehow survives TPM and is at one point a ROBOTIC SPIDER ...

... but you can't believe that two child prodigies who formed a bond while mutually aiding one another can meet again years later under intensely emotional circumstances during the outbreak of a galactic war and legitimately fall in love with each other and get married?

Really???

[fadewalking]

@ anon i am not going to post that ask because you name drop literally every single person even tangentially involved in this and none of those people agreed to be directly mentioned on my blog. I have no interest in facilitating any of my followers to harass anyone involved here, so I think it's best we stop pointing the spotlight at specific people who never willingly stepped forward on my blog.

But i will respond here, and this is the last anonymous message about this im going to respond to because we all really need to move on. So if you want to continue talking about this, you can, again, say it with your whole fucking chest in dms, and not cower behind anon.

"bro, the original post about the vallaslin had you blocked for at least 2 months. he doesn't even know you personally. he did have the decency to block you when you made him uncomfortable months ago too." im not sure how this is relevant to anything being discussed tbh. Of course he doesn't know me personally. that's like... 99% of tumblr mutuals? that's how social media and the internet works. you and i are talking right now and we don't know each other personally. and yeah he had me softblocked since a while ago, im not sure what that has to do with anything. Some friends sent me the og post bc it made them uncomfortable, so I offered my opinion to them in private. Then several more indigenous folk made public comments about it, and i offered an extremely vague, broad opinion that we shouldn't try to force people into agreeing with us. that's all I did lmfao.

"what you're doing to him... and other indigenous folx in the darpc is wrong and i hope you can realize it." Omitted all those names you mentioned. Again, originally all i said was don't try to force people into agreeing with you. A stance which, not for nothing, several other indigenous people endorsed. There is no world in which saying that is doing anyone wrong. That would have been the total end of my statement on the matter btw, had gcldfang not decided it was a good idea to send me anons.

"i saw you support a post from user [name omitted] (now conveniently deleted) that said everyone could do whatever wanted with dalish characters and it would not be racist. to me? that post and your reaction comes off as weaponizing your own identities against other indigenous people to excuse your white friends and make them feel better for participating in racism." So there are two different sentiments at play here. We could say "muns who feel that vallaslin is bad and slave markings are perpetuating racism." and/or we could say "Elves in the game who feel that vallalsin is bad and slave markings are perpetuating racism." both of these statements are kinda problematic but this one is more problematic than the other. It seems like you're saying the latter thing right now, idk whether you would agree with both statements or not, but it seems like right now you're only saying the latter.

But it strikes me as really ironic that you can't see the hypocrisy in saying things like "you can't tell me how to feel about my own culture" and in the same breath saying "your elf cant feel this way about their own culture, or it's racist." there are very clearly at least two canonical perspectives of the Evanuris. One as benevolent creators, and one as tyrannical slavers. It is canon that the Evanuris enslaved people. did some of them willingly serve? Of course. But it's canon, still, that there were slaves, and that perspective is offered by more people than just Solas. It just isn't racist for Elves to feel whatever type of way they feel about learning about that aspect of their culture. It's their culture. You can't tell them how to feel about their own culture.

This has pretty much been my and everyone else's point. Saying "if you think this way, that's racist." is not a good thing to say when it blatantly dismisses both in-game character's valid feeling about their own culture, and other irl cultural perspectives from real people. It's been mentioned by multiple people that facial tattoos have been used for a variety of purposes in other real cultures that were also used to inspire the portrayal of Elves in the game. I'm going to quote someone who sent me a message about this, who has already said it: "no one disagreed that the devs using the vallaslin the way they did was a poor choice. while it's true there have been cultures in history that did use facial tattoos for slaves, it's still an insensitive decision! and NO ONE disagreed with that! but from what I saw, you and roughly 4-5 other indigenous people, as well as several other writers, some white, some white and Otherwise marginalized, and some poc of other sorts were saying: 'hey. we get what you're trying to say here, but saying that your culture's perspective is the only correct/non-racist one is not good and not okay. it silences people of other cultures who see their cultures in these characters. yes the devs were racist and careless but that doesn't mean that erasing the other cultures that contributed is ok, and doesn't mean that you get to tell people of those cultures that their interpretations are inherently Less than yours'. Because that is how that original post read."

What that person pointed out is the "railroading" that i've been talking about. It's one thing to say something like "I and my characters all feel that the evanuris were actually gods and that Vallaslin is a good thing because im upset with the bastardization/villanization of how my culture was used to inspire these things in the elves." and it's a different thing to say "And if you and your characters don't agree with my perspective then you're racist/perpetuating racism, too." because that one cultural perspective isn't the only one that exists. Other cultures have their own perspectives and experiences with facial markings, and those matter, too. And yet even still, we have only ever acknowledged and agreed that the choice for Vallaslin to be used as a symbol for enslavement in the game is racially problematic.

"It feels like you punching down on other indigenous people for protesting their mistreatment. that is why people are blocking you. you are vagueposting about a vaguepost." my criticism of other indigenous people, as an indigenous person, is not punching down. That's not what it means to punch down. Nor did I ever say that they can't or shouldn't protest their mistreatment.

"i understand you like solas. i enjoy the egg too but equating the vallaslin with slave markings is racist. speaking from experience: the stigma against indigenous facial tattooing is a product of systemic racism and colonialism. what the characters say in dragon age is sadly impacted by the writers being racist: this is a fact. also people are allowed to be uncomfortable with your fave being a vessel for developer bias." I think it's a mistake to involve Solas in this conversation, honestly. but alright. Given Solas' experiences, and his own personal perspective, he is justified to feel the way he does about his own culture. That isn't racist. Especially considering that, in canon, the Evanuris did enslave people. But that's the fiction. In real life, again, as it's been pointed out, facial tattooing has been used for a variety of different purposes across multiple different cultures. Some were positive, some weren't. I agree that in western society, as a whole, there is stigma against indigenous facial tattooing that is a product of systemic racism and colonialism.

The characters in dragon age exist within the context of the fiction of their world, which has been influenced by a multicultural mix of real world identities. There is no one correct interpretation of their facial tattoos. Neither in the game or irl, because of the fact that multiple cultures were used as inspo for the Elves. You can't insinuate that the perspective of other real world cultures is racist, which is what it seems like you're doing. The world isn't black and white. Indigenous people are not a monolith. People are allowed to be uncomfortable with vallaslin based both on what it represents within in the fictional context of the game and how facial markings have been used within their own real world cultures. Every character in the game, not just Solas, is a vessel for developer bias. That's how bias works, it's inescapable. I've never said that people aren't allowed to dislike him. But it's curious to me how it's only ever Solas who gets hounded for his perspective and not anyone else who is equally as guilty of developer bias or blatant bigotry.

"coming from a tattooed inuit: don't you dare tell me how to feel about my culture being portrayed in a bad light." I'm not. Nowhere did I ever try to say you or anyone else can't how you feel. In fact, i've only ever said the exact opposite of this. We are all allowed to feel how we feel.

"don't tell me not to be pissed off at the way bioware handled things regarding vallaslin. the discrimination the dalish receive is exactly what i deal with everyday." I'm not. I have only ever agreed that it was wrong of bioware to handle Vallaslin the way they did.

And i've said that blatantly more times than I care to count atp. You and everyone else are right to feel whatever you feel about it, and Vallaslin should never have been used as a symbol of oppression in the game. But you just can't tell other people how to feel about it. It really is simply just that.

[pomegranatecookiez]

sometimes i think about the thread i read explaining that in the original korean text, the gag with brute's "real" name is more akin to them having an embarrassingly Lame name (charles) and they go by choco werehound brute (or whatever the korean version of it is) to sound cooler. but for whatever reason when the gag got translated into english they fumbled it horribly to the point that it seems like everyone in the cast is being transphobic. this is a certified English Cookie Run moment