According to the ones that keep showing up to my group, "80% of the Imperium worlds are great" and everything the Imperium does is "perfectly rational" so long as you "don't look at it with a modern lens".

Gotta admit, they're hard to argue with.

Mostly because they ignore anything I say.

Obviously, this is a far more nuanced discussion than what the platform will afford us, and reading one particular article does not make me an expert. But it would have been pretty fun, I think.

Seriously, though, love Benoit Blanc. Did an entire D&D campaign mimicking that accent.

But couldn't we have had a female Blanc? A genius female detective solving these mysteries?

Or was it determined that having a female detective would have been a step too far? That our main protagonists were asking the audience enough, and that any more would have broken the immersion? 8/

Even if Marta and Hellen do fantastic jobs in their own research and crime solving, the films focus on Blanc. He is who they advertise.

Now, no hate on Blanc; I love him. And he does a marvelous job supporting the women, using his sway and knowledge to help them achieve their goals. 7/

I understand that the films are intentionally following the genre conventions of these detective stories. But both films arguably revolve around the female protagonists Marta and Hellen. This is a departure from genre conventions, to be sure. But Blanc is still the great detective. 6/

This brings me to the Knives Out movies.

I ADORE these films. I'm giggling even now as I watch The Glass Onion. But we run into the same problem.

Beniot Blanc is, once again, a renowned male detective. He's a bit odd, but most of the great detectives are. And why? 5/

But these characters are not afforded the same respect as their male counterparts. They don't have mysteries brought to them, but instead stumble across them. Jessica Fletcher is not engaged in a game of cat and mouse the same way Holmes and Moriarty are. 4/

These male detectives are treated with respect and admiration.

Meanwhile, we struggle with the idea of great female detectives. Sure, we've got examples like Murder She Wrote, Nancy Drew, or Miss Marple (written by Christie, same as Poirot!), but they tend to be downplayed. 3/

In regards to detective stories, specifically, this means we can buy into the idea of a great itinerant male detective, such as Holmes or Poirot. These detectives are geniuses, though they come with some flaws. Both are arrogant and approach their mysteries like games. 2/

Old guard academicians who clutch their copy of "The Elements of Style" close to their chest.

People are trying to affect change, but it's a very slow, frustrating process.

cccc.ncte.org/cccc/demand-...

I keep ending up in classes with teachers that adore AI. They always have an AI discussion in class. Any concerns are brushed off immediately. "AI actively requires theft to function and is incredibly bad for the environment." "Okay, but these botched cat pictures are so funny!"

I'm still recovering from the Genestealer releases earlier this year. Maybe next year I can walk into a store again.

Obviously, I was those things all along; still no brain washing. It wasn't until I started attending school that I got to learn more about other experiences and perspectives and compare them to my own. The self-discovery has been awesome.

Though I'm ready for the life changing revelations to stop.

I'm fascinated by this idea that I am required to pay attention to them.

"Y'know, I think you're full of shit and I don't want to deal with that, so I'mma leave you alone."

"Help! Help! I'm bein' repressed!"

Go touch grass, weirdos.

The day this doesn't work on my partner is the day she was replaced by a pod person.

Are we talking Cult with a capital "C"? Or just generalized cults? Cuz we get weird about some of the strangest things.

But the Spiritualist movement in the 19th century would have had me. I so want to believe.