#MartyMe

[izelthewashbear]

Working on a one-shot for you guys!

All I'll say is that it's Martyn and Scar centric and you guys will (hopefully) love it :DD

And once it's done, you can find it (and my future works) here!

[catiuapavel]

Ozma gets to have a piece of dialogue in the last face-off against Barbas and Martym and it’s her last opportunity to state her motivations to the order she deserted. I’ve always liked how much dialogue she gets with the Dark Knights on Lawful route CH4 to build her motivations and how they evolve after her desertion. 

[eyelessfog]

namemc spoilers are you kidding me. thats like almost exactly the fucking design i did for siren song ren. WHAT.

[elven-kisses]

silly crab martyn bc.. I love crab. .. and martym...woas..

[trafficblrpositivityproject]

Hey Melloz! (mellozheist) I'm always so glad when, on the rare times I can catch a Martym stream, I get to say hi to you! You're an incredibly nice person and the art you make is so pretty. All of it is wonderful, but the lil chibi guys in particular hold an extra special place in my heart

I wish you lots of motivation and inspiration, I hope your day is always lovely, I hope everything always goes your way! Lots of love!!

@mellozheist !!!

[kelbunny]

Got the Princess Ending in Tactics Ogre Reborn!

My usual nonsense is below

Get trapped idiot. Guy wasn't even a mage either so he was just stuck on that ledge until I killed him lol

I <3 bringing Ozma to Dark Knight fights. Call them out girlypop. She didn't speak though during the Barbas and Martym fight though rip 😔

However-

Inside every Law!Vyce is a little bit of Chaos!Vyce wanting to kill. And he shall be allowed to kill. Aka I finally switched Vyce over to Buccaneer bc Speedstar.

Sass 'em Queen

Anyways...

The princess ending cutscene... where we talk to all our allies... man

Vyce get his own reminisce scene...

Siblings........

Canopus being Canopus and Zenobian Knight....

Ravness! I like how her and Catiua become friends

And Azelstan pulling on my heartstrings one more time auuuuughhhh

Basically Father and Daughter and the lovers....

I really like Xapan. I didn't see much of his better side during Chaos, but he's a pretty funny guy.

And I forgot Donnalto exists bc my main healers are Olyvia and a generic Birdman haha

What y'all up to 👀

Anyways, I'll probably do CODA 1, and then go and do Neutral, as well as grab Cressida before doing the rest.

I did finally make Denam and Catiua Dark and Light though haha!

[kyndaris]

The Art of Decision-Making

Tactics Ogre is a game that first released in 1995. It saw a re-release on the PlayStation Portable (PSP) with a revamped title: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together before emerging once more to grace our consoles as Tactics Ogre Reborn. And as a fan of the Final Fantasy Tactics game, who also thoroughly enjoyed her time with Triangle Strategy, trying out the original inspiration behind these two games was a no-brainer. After all, strategy/ tactical role-playing games have always been able to present the conflicts of war in a both complex and engaging manner, especially when they allow for personal choices to influence the trajectory of where the story may go.

Of course, given this is a role-playing game from Japan, a supernatural element must be inserted. Along with a late-game reveal of the true antagonist. In Tactics Ogre, I was pulled a little from my enjoyment of the story when the initial focus was resolved and the final boss ended up being with a literal demon incarnation of the previous king. 

True, they had sprinkled in some of King Dorgulua’s backstory with Catiua’s reveal but the war between the Gods and the Ogres (whilst present in the opening credits) was mentioned little throughout the game, what with its focus on the repercussions on war. So, the entire exposition with Dark Knights Barbas and Martym felt a little hamfisted in its attempt to introduce the big bad at the end of the game.

In a way, it also dismissed a lot of the earlier turmoil that took up the bulk of the game was insignificant as a God emerged from the depths to rule over the world.  Especially as, even though you can have Catiua in your party, her relationship with King Dorgulua is never touched upon during that final battle.

Beyond these little titbits, as well as a few well-worn tropes of disguised royalty, I did still thoroughly enjoy the initial set-up of the game with Denam, Catiua and Vyce rebelling against Galgastan oppression on the Walisters. The internal fighting among the rebellion, the moral dilemma of whether or not to kill your own to drag unwilling participants into war and the underhanded tactics to install a ruler over the land of Valeria was a sight to behold.

In fact, it would have been the preference of this humble blogger if things had remained there with King Dorgulua’s name fading into the annals of history. Or if there had been renewed focus on the nations of Lodis or New Xenobia and what their stakes were when it came to meddling with Valerian affairs.

Given that the game came out back in 1995, though, it’s understandable for why the developers decided to go down the route they chose. Despite the questionable choice of ending boss battle, the game still holds up even today. I would have liked some additional context with the other Ogre Battles and the history of the world I found myself in (this entry being the seventh episode) but I was still able to follow along in terms of the general motivations of the core characters as well as the villains.

This was especially astounding when it came to the choices that Denam had to choose in key beats of the plot. The variations of choice, even dialogue options, had ramification for the ending. Not to mention the Chaos Frame mechanic that was hidden behind it all and could have led to other distasteful outcomes for our main protagonist.

The gameplay for Tactics Ogre is very similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. It includes hiring or recruiting generic fighters to the cause and using them in battle. Of course, there are also unique characters with their own special sprites. But in terms of the actual flow of battle, the unique characters added little. Although, some had special classes that added a little flavour to battles. It should be noted that for every major battle, only Denam, had to feature in them all. The other playable characters could be interchanged with little repercussions. Or dismissed if the need arose.

Just like Final Fantasy Tactics, the game featured an overworld map and when a battle was entered, it would zoom onto a particular map with a grid overlay. Characters can move, use skills and perform one action. The action could range from using spells, items or actually attacking another character. The key to Tactics Ogre’s battle system is not unlike the weapon triangle of Fire Emblem. However, it is switched to six elements. Those being fire, water, lightning, earth, air and ice. 

There is also an unspoken counter system with mages being better placed to counter buffed frontline attackers, mages being vulnerable to ranged attacks from archers, and units with higher defence taking minimal damage from ranged weaponry. Something I only gradually picked up on later as I favoured charging in and trying to destroy everything as quickly as possible.

Mana, like Triangle Strategy, is a limited but rechargeable pool that is empty at the start of battle. This differs from Final Fantasy Tactics, which allowed mages to immediately start raining hellfire onto their foes from the very beginning. It allowed for more tactical positioning as I awaited for enough mana to unleash what spells I had equipped my magic users. Mana was also important for non-magic users too as they were key to using finishing moves that could deal out a ton of damage.

As such, there was a good strong focus on buffing up the magic reserves for all characters. The only downside to this, of course, was how few and far between such mana replenishing items were as they did not appear to be sold at shops and had to be found as drops from enemies or occasionally scrounged up from certain tiles on battle maps.

One important thing I noted when playing Tactics Ogre Reborn was the fact that items, spells and skills were limited. One could not deck out their favourite warriors with 99x of all items. Rather, they could equip four of each. This meant that item usage, spells and skills had to be considered for each encounter. While this led to a few annoying battles where I struggled against certain units (of note, beasts), it did add another layer of strategic thinking to an otherwise excellent game known for the tactics needed.

Especially as there was a level cap for my characters! 

I was utterly devastated to learn that I could not simply overlevel all my characters to decimate the opposition. Rather, my characters were all limited by the ‘Union Level.’ This allowed battles to be even-playing fields and I couldn’t take advantage of better stats to stack the battlefield. A shame, I know, but I made up for it by exploiting crafting and ensuring that my army was well-armed and well-equipped for each battle I went into. If I hadn’t used the exploit and had played it as it was intended, I would have, no doubt, struggled a little more with the game with fewer resources at my disposal and having to better pick and choose the units I took into each battle.

Of course, such things could be counteracted by picking up buff cards that could allow me to deal more damage than my unit might have usually been able to deal out against a particular enemy. It was especially useful against the final boss.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Tactics Ogre Reborn. While I would have preferred being able to overlevel my units so I didn’t have to fear losing against difficult bosses, it allowed me to think differently on how I engaged with tactical role-playing games. There was even some joy in it when it came to repurposing my units and swapping out abilities and spells when required to deal with a particular annoying foe that favoured certain status effects such as petrification or fear. 

Most of all, what I loved most of Tactics Ogre Reborn was the world-building and the hidden layers within. Perhaps one of these days, I could find a way to play the other Ogre Battle games but for now, I am still quite satisfied with the complex world that was crafted to explore what it means to rebel against oppression and to dream of a fairer and better world.

[scienceofreasoning]

Logic Fallacy Detection in the Biden-Trump Presidential Debate

Photograph of former President Trump and President Biden from the debate. Source: Internet.

In this article, we are exploring whether, during the debate, President Biden made an argument with a logic fallacy.

President Biden said, “Look it up. Go online. 159-58, don’t hold me to the exact number, presidential historians. They’ve had meetings, and they voted who was the worst president in American history, From best to worst. They said he [Donald Trump] was the worst in all of American history. That’s a fact.”[1]

Let's go online and fact-check the source that President Biden cited. According to the "Presidential Greatness Project Rankings 2024," Trump was the last name on the chart.[2}

Please see the first part of a video on the logic fallacy of Appeal to Authority.[3] This is the mom says fallacy.

Logic Analysis P1: Presidential Greatness Project Rankings 2024, Trump was the last name on the chart. P2: The Presidential Greatness Project, which is made up of presidential historians, is an authority on the relevant subject. (we will concede, yes)  P3: Everything an authority says is true. C: Therefore, Trump was the last name on the chart.

In the “Presidential Historians Survey 2021,” Donald J. Trump was ranked 41 of 44 Presidents by presidential historians. President James Buchanan was the last name on the list.[4]

The Answer to the Article Question The statement, "They said (mom says) he [Donald Trump] was the worst in all of American history. That’s a fact." Premise 3 of the argument is fallacious. Other presidential historians (an authority) ranked President James Buchanan last on the list.

A better debate statement to look it up, go online. Those 159-58 presidential historians ranked him last for being the worst. America, that is the results of the Project. Citing the results of the Project is not fallacious. The Project did rank Trump last.

Thank you for reading this article. Follow Phil Richard on X (formerly Twitter), click here.

Endnotes

"WATCH: Biden says that Trump is the worst president in American history" [sic] PBS NewsHour. Time index 0:21 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysa-MGQJ9UA

"Presidential Greatness Project" https://presidentialgreatnessproject.com/

"Appeal to Authority (Fallacy of the Week)" Martymer 81 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5eIFd8052E&t=125s

"Presidential Rankings Survey - Historians Rank the Top 10 Presidents | C-SPAN Survey on Presidents" https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?page=overall

Copyright (c) 2024 Phil Richard. All rights reserved.

[countzeroor]

Let's Play Tactics Ogre PSP: Part 398 - Chamber of the Seal I

It’s time to finally fight Barbas & Martym. Continue reading Untitled

[15ktherapy]

k so I’m watching the new life series right and every single time a new episode comes out I’ve watched scott’s episode first bc he’s the pov I chose when I first watched 3rd lofe and it’s like tradition for me. this season hes pairing up with martym apparently and. god I just. I don’t like martun. I really don’t like him. I kinda sort of hate him actually. like NORMALLY when I see people like him/his personality whatever I’m like sure whatever not my type to enjoy but do whatever you want in the bg funky guy because I assume it’s like a persona or something but he’s like an actual give you the side eye and make snide remarks when ur RIGHT THERE asshole when he could just. Not. so I’m torn. tradition or haterisms? I’ll probably decide next episode. I usually watch like 5 povs anyway it’s not like I’ll miss anything.

[crydadoll]

Thanks to @whyfalloutwhenyoucanpanic and @arc-en-disco for tagging me <3! Have a try @twofrenchrobots , @kaiserspacedragons-hoard , @mskittypancakes18 , @throwawayshameless , @korvax404, @starlight-tg1993, @3dsoplya, @itsyaboibananaboi, @itsmeskibl, @regforeman, @zewolfr3, @dafter4life, @alexibeeart, @lonelyheartsfanclub, @lotusfl0w3r-16, @britkunoichi92 Here is mine:

tagged by the loveliest @cocteautwinsgirl to shuffle 5 songs on my spotify and let you guys choose your favourite🌞

tagging @kaunisbaby @pansy1993 @thetimecrystal @vjecitiapril @kraeuterhexchen @majortomwaits @desideria

[marthashlyn]

[catiuapavel]

Oz is SO talkative in general but, in Boed Fortress Balxephon and Ozma aren’t around to tell to stop so he just keeps going and going. it’s incredible.

[adalheidis]

Dark Knights at the beach, what will they do next

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Martymer 81 responds to a creation.com article titled “Atheism” (YouTube playlist, 9 videos).

Excellent rebuttal of religionist claims about atheism, atheists and the purported existence of their gods.

[givemegifs]