2013/11/15 [Matilda #36] Heshi is forever undefeated

[Grey Wolf]

Maybe we're over thinking this. At no point in the comic thus far has Heshi displayed much in the way of positive emotions. Maybe he was clinically depressed, and his father's death was the last straw.

And, yes, we can all criticize his suicide, but I don't think that would really be fair. When you're that low, you can't think very clearly. You just feel. Sometimes, you snap.

TL;DR: Most suicides (possibly to include Heshi) aren't selfish, or hateful, or cowardly. They are ill. The reasoning behind this act may be as simple as anyone else dying from an illness that was not/could not be properly treated.

[Jigsaw Forte]

Maybe we're over thinking this. At no point in the comic thus far has Heshi displayed much in the way of positive emotions. Maybe he was clinically depressed, and his father's death was the last straw.

And, yes, we can all criticize his suicide, but I don't think that would really be fair. When you're that low, you can't think very clearly. You just feel. Sometimes, you snap.

TL;DR: Most suicides (possibly to include Heshi) aren't selfish, or hateful, or cowardly. They are ill. The reasoning behind this act may be as simple as anyone else dying from an illness that was not/could not be properly treated.

That doesn't change the implication that Matilda sees this particular suicide as a cruel act, done with no preparations or consideration for her and her sister.

If there's actual consequences for this suicide in BV culture, similar to old Indian (as in India) traditions of a wife throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre (i.e. "Oh? Your alpha killed himself? Better go join him!"), then this IS a cruel act -- because the implication again is that if Heshi was defeated/killed in battle, Matilda and Hishnai would belong to the victor, whereas in an obvious suicide (as opposed to a thrown match), they're all dead. Either way Heshi dies, but only fighting secures the safety of his sisters.

[Drako]

Few things here...  I don't remember Matilda ever mentioning in the main comic that her brother died, so it could be that she rips someone else's arm off.  As for Heshi... I think he didn't like violence.  He grew up in a protected family because of his father, so he never had to fight.  And we see from earlier in the comic that he never did fight.  I believe he thought that he'd rather do violence to himself rather than others, but I don't know how it protects his sisters.  Something is obviously off from Matilda's narrative.



On the other hand, this could be long enough ago that the memories got lost in time and she made something up because she forgot why she left/was banished.

[Silvis]

All true; my point was that it didn't really make sense in character for Heshi to go out like what seems to be depicted.  That's the source of the mystery: his motivation.  It doesn't make much sense, considering what he seemed to be.

Then, people quite often aren't what they seem, which may be the real lesson Matilda learned here.  As the TVTropers would say, she just got a gigantic Broken Pedistal dropped right on her head.

I don't know, I agree the motivation lacked in how he acted-but his position in their society? Plenty of reason he felt trapped and wanted to escape. Pride for the males here might be a bigger deal in this culture. It may have been too much pressure to suddenly be this amazing Alpha that never fought a challenge in his life.

As for Matilda's narrative...I thought it over during work, there is possibly two ways it could be true: Her sister gets an awful husband and that's the brother who she never trusted and banished her (Tapewolf beat me to it!). Or: Her sister, being a third child that should have been male, decides to act like an Alpha male and becomes Matilda's "brother." Pretty silly, I know.

OK, I must complain on why BOTH scenarios don't work. WARNING:MAY APPEAR TO BE A COMPLANITORY ESSAY. Also, this could possibly seem late due to the fact that I am always wrapped up in stuff (like Minecraft or discovering you can use your feet to play Fruit Ninja), so sorry.

First option: It doesn't work because Hishnai is not married yet and therefore, when their father died, her husband could not have been "free" because he is not her husband yet.

Second option: Hishnai is too meek and it is obvious that, now their father is dead, she feels a bit lost without Matilda, and therefore, along with being the younger (I suspect their system of hierarchy is based on oldest to youngest), she would never be considered by ANYONE to be the alpha. Also, as I stated above, her father died BEFORE her brother, and if Hishnai is planing to become "brother," then she still would not be "free" because she was not brother before. Also, Kissriss referred to the untrusted brother as "he" and I'm pretty sure that Hishnai would keep her status as "she."

Therefore,BOTH are flawed. I agree with you. It is pretty silly.

[ishidan]

One male is a very easy target by a male ruled society driven by "the strong shall concur the weak shall be trampled upon".

Had difficulty parsing this sentence until I figured out the error.  So FYI,
"Conquer" = take by force
"Concur" = come to agreement

[ArchTeryx]

Maybe we're over thinking this. At no point in the comic thus far has Heshi displayed much in the way of positive emotions. Maybe he was clinically depressed, and his father's death was the last straw.

And, yes, we can all criticize his suicide, but I don't think that would really be fair. When you're that low, you can't think very clearly. You just feel. Sometimes, you snap.

TL;DR: Most suicides (possibly to include Heshi) aren't selfish, or hateful, or cowardly. They are ill. The reasoning behind this act may be as simple as anyone else dying from an illness that was not/could not be properly treated.

That's certainly possible.  I've been to the edge of that abyss myself; I know something about the motives of depressed/suicidal folks.  In which case, everything narrowed down to a single point for poor Heshi: his anchor on sanity was gone, and he wasn't thinking about anything else.

In which case, I truly pity Matilda and her sister.  It's going to be nothing but pain from here on out, but it may explain one crucial point: why she assumed the role of alpha male.

[tikitori]

Silvis, just one thing about the Brother-in-Law theory: He most certainly wouldn't have been free until her father died. Let's say there's a horrible male that's been waiting to snatch up Hishnai as soon as her father dies. He wasn't free to challenge her brother until he died-their father wasn't only protecting Heshi, he was protecting his daughters as well. And we already know from even Kashi that Heshi wasn't considered a challenge.

But I actually really hope Matilda is actually lying. It would bring a lot of character to this happy down-to-earth shopkeeper that Dan likes.

[Felix]

...WELL THEN!

THAT'S depressing as shit!

Between this and Min Max depression in Goblins...

WHELP!

YES! why are these artists bombarding us with feels?

[Amber Williams]

YES! why are these artists bombarding us with feels?

End of the year, many of us are behind on our sad quota so we gotta get those last few feels out before filing our tear tax forms. 

[Yarott]

YES! why are these artists bombarding us with feels?

End of the year, many of us are behind on our sad quota so we gotta get those last few feels out before filing our tear tax forms. 

Those accountants are monsters! Honestly, there aren't enough emoes to express sadness about what happened. I even lost an uncle due to a similar situation. Just...

[maus_merryjest]

Heshi....

Wow..... just..... wow.....




I'll be in this corner over here, with my hot cocoa and my teddy bear 

[HoneyBadger]

Given his expression on this page, I'm not really that surprised.
It was that expression that led me to believe that he'd probably try to run away from all of this, but I didn't think he'd do something as drastic as suicide.

Also, I wish someone would have gotten him a tourniquet, but on the other hand that might not have helped since it looks like he probably stabbed himself in his torso.

Do you that Heshi could gone to some...I don't know...somebody that he trusted very well and confide in them about how he was really feeling?  Well...scratch that.  Since the society was more focused on strong males and defending their territory, plus no one liking Heshi, I don't think he could have in the first place. So never-mind.

[HoneyBadger]

Another question has been pestering me off and on lately, but has anyone wondered where Matilda's and her siblings' mother is or if she is still even alive?  
I've noticed that on Matilda's profile on the DMFA Wikia - Here: http://dmfa.wikia.com/wiki/Matilda_Kissriss  
-in the Miscellaneous Information, that it mentions that she has a Mother.  Does anyone get where I'm going with this?  

[HaDDea]

Another question has been pestering me off and on lately, but has anyone wondered where Matilda's and her siblings' mother is or if she is still even alive?  
I've noticed that on Matilda's profile on the DMFA Wikia - Here: http://dmfa.wikia.com/wiki/Matilda_Kissriss  
-in the Miscellaneous Information, that it mentions that she has a Mother.  Does anyone get where I'm going with this?  

well, I have no idea who wrote that up or how long ago it was written, but until we see them, I imagine that Kissriss' family may need a bit of an update. I don't know how fleshed out Matilda's background was in Amber's mind at the time that page was composed. the fact that there are three sisters and only one brother is really in contravention of what we've been recently been told (though the fact that Matilda was on the phone with someone in an earlier comic may indicate that her sister is also in exile or that she has additional family in exile somehow).

[HoneyBadger]

[/quote]

well, I have no idea who wrote that up or how long ago it was written, but until we see them, I imagine that Kissriss' family may need a bit of an update. I don't know how fleshed out Matilda's background was in Amber's mind at the time that page was composed. the fact that there are three sisters and only one brother is really in contravention of what we've been recently been told (though the fact that Matilda was on the phone with someone in an earlier comic may indicate that her sister is also in exile or that she has additional family in exile somehow).
[/quote]



Wow...all of this is just killing my head right now, but I do agree with you about Matilda's history of her family being updates BIIG TIME.

[Amber Williams]

The entire cast page section has been in a dire need of an overhaul.  Don't take anything said in them for anything of value in the meantime.

[HoneyBadger]

Will do, Amber.