#tactical level

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: ‘The Saga of Tanya the Evil’ #10

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 10: Viribus Unitis by Carlo Zen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Pursuing victory without ever exerting the most casual glance toward the consequences of one's efforts invariably blinds the nation-state to the political, economic, and cultural deficiencies and failures sure to creep into the shadow of one's willful ignorance. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 unites the prophesiers of the Empire's impending demise around the one or two flickering candles of hope. And so, knowing the tiniest gasp or the sharpest exhale may snuff out these last lingering insights, Tanya takes a deep breath and pushes ahead. The previous volume of this novel series was the author's most prudent intellectualization of the war, and yet, somehow, the current volume goes one step further. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 yields to the intellectual superstructure of the previous volume and focuses almost entirely on witnessing the emotional and physical consequences of adhering to the wayward truths that infrequently muscle their way through the din of bureaucracy the and fog of military conflict. For her part, Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff contemplates the efficacy of desertion, worries over the narrow viability of the General Staff's tentative false-flag operation, and feverishly ridicules her colleagues for their shortsightedness and inability to properly contextualize war as an extension of politics ("In the absence of problems that require heroic intervention, there simply is no need for a hero," page 003). The Empire is no longer losing the war; the Empire has lost. The only pragmatic observation available to the war's contributors concerns how quickly or how slowly the country will succumb to its varied wounds. The multifront conflict is bleeding the nation dry. Will the Empire simply wither until it runs out of human and technological resources? The diplomats at the Foreign Office have been sitting on their hands for years. Will the bureaucrats pull through and negotiate an armistice of some kind? Victory is no longer probable, and the military and the Foreign Office's prerogative has become to convince the greater government that a negotiated resolution is the Empire's only option for continued survival. Tanya spies these intertwining challenges not unlike negotiating with a three-headed chimera (i.e., the army, the government, the people). But a nation drunk on the presumption of total victory as a natural extension of total war won't sober up anytime soon. Solutions exist. Shocks to the system are possible. But it appears the Empire's communications codes have been decrypted, and it appears the eastern front is set to crumble (again), and it appears nobody truly knows what's going to happen next because nobody's been in this (losing) position before. "Even the mere idea of retreating provoked reactions of contempt… Whether or not there was precedence for retreating, from a military standpoint, the masses had no appreciation for that kind of logical thinking." (page 044) THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 is a compelling book because Tanya fights to validate the war's most dismal truths just as she pushes back against its many, conniving, socio-political constraints. For example, Tanya and the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion are assigned to the western front, under Lieutenant General Romel. But first, a pitstop, as Tanya must deliver a message from Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf to the newly promoted General von Zettour on the frontlines. Tanya-as-courier is a funny, squirrely shift in plans, as Zettour conspires to execute a magnificent tactical shift that could revitalize the eastern front for the Empire. But there are consequences. If Zettour's Operation Mini-Revolving Door fails, then the Federation will have the opportunity to bludgeon its way deep into Empire-held territories, and the Empire's soldiers will have lost their mettle. If the operation succeeds, with no small help from Tanya and her trusty adjutant, Serebryakov, then Zettour will have extended the Empire's lifeline on the eastern front for several tenuous months. The operation's failure and success both reek of desperation, and anyone with a brain can see Zettour has put his neck on the line to sustain a war effort that is slowly crumbling before his eyes. This volume doesn't disappoint when it comes to articulating Tanya in the field of battle. The first of the book's two battles, which occurs in the east, is a marvelous reminder of the dangers of maneuver warfare. This novel series is strong when it comes to field strategy, and war games more broadly, but on the tactical level, Zettour's brilliance is a highlight of the novel's first half. Zettour is an animal and a schemer. Everyone knows this. And yet, nobody can stop him. "It was at the same moment when the con artist across the table, who they expected to show his hand at any moment, kicked the entire table out from in front of them." (page 098) Another highlight? Tanya's face-to-face encounter with Commonwealth Lieutenant Colonel Drake, second-in-command of the multinational mage unit. Drake is an entertaining character because of his grudging compliance. However, THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 spares the man no peace, as Drake almost gets his arm sliced off and is nearly blown to smithereens during Tanya's recon-in-force feint. On the plus side, for readers, Tanya hilariously outsmarts First Lieutenant Mary Sue into blind fratricide. But the twisting and turning violence and deception of the eastern front soon gives way to the frail insecurities of the west. The gears of war grind on, but the oil and grease that keep the machine running are continuously diluted. Back at the capitol, Colonel Lergen meets with an official of the Empire's Foreign Office (the notably snooty Counselor Conrad), and together they plot to convince the hydra to end the war through bloody-nose posturing. That is to say, to strike at the enemy's doorstep and surreptitiously convince foreign citizenry of the threat the Empire poses, and thus spark sincere negotiations at the highest level. The western front is the focus of this effort, and Operation Doorknocker is quickly, hurriedly underway. The events on the western front are similar to the eastern front, but bloodier and less fortuitous. Tanya's 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion is up against a whole brigade of the Commonwealth's marine mages. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 queries readers as to how invincible the 203rd really is, particularly when the political deliberations forcing the battalion's movements are weak, inexperienced, and absent conviction. How does one fight a war when the bureaucrats are too stupid to follow suit? How does one fight a war when one's communications have been compromised? How does one fight a war when an unspoken "Plan B" keeps resurfacing when one least expects it? Tanya emerges from Operation Doorknocker in one piece, but ultimately a failure; the Empire's hydra is increasingly to blame for getting in its own way. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 frames the Empire's imminent decline around Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf's dangerously practical view of power politics. In the previous volume, he floated the idea of a false-flag operation; he postulated that staging an attack in Berun, the capitol, would spur negotiations for peace. Rudersdorf knows that the integrity of a bureaucrat at war is not equivalent to the integrity of a soldier at war. But Rudersdorf's "Plan B" is increasingly problematic. For one, soldiers who acquiesce to hasten the demise of the Empire risk becoming traitors, if on the ironic pretense of overvaluing their patriotism. Lieutenant General Romel, for example, playacts the reckless leader, but his legitimate shrewdness could easily be misperceived as a stress-test gone too far. Second, the issue of hastening the Empire's demise is itself a query prone to bifurcation. Rudersdorf plies Colonel Lergen for reliability, successfully arguing that a false-flag operation grows more feasible as the war itself grows less winnable. Readers would be apt to explore this foreshadowing. If "Plan B" were to go into effect, where would Rudersdorf find such a group of willing soldiers? Obviously, he'd use the 203rd. Further, what would be the legal ramifications of doing so? Tanya's fate would be sealed. And what, then, of the political consequences? Rudersdorf ponders what would happen if he slayed the hydra himself, creating a Supreme Army Command that superseded (if not eliminated) the other heads of government. "I can't let my imagination get too out of hand." (page 276) When Rudersdorf not-so-jokingly asks Lergen to oversee the contingency plan, which he calls the Counter-Insurrection Plan, Lergen balks, but with only the smallest granule of confidence. Third, calling the false-flag operation a "contingency plan" means it's a viable and actionable plan should certain conditions be met. At present, nobody really knows what those conditions are or how much time is left until the trigger is pulled. Well, almost nobody. In the novel's closing pages, Lergen makes a startling discovery that recontextualizes the final months of the war and his role in it. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 exposes the myriad ironies embedded in war's purposeful violence. Tanya lives up to her reputation as a ghost or a devil set to drive others to their fiery graves, but she's not without a conscience on the matter ("I know I'm fighting for the losing side," p. 219). Zettour calmly marks up his topographical map of the eastern front, lamenting how his skill compels extending a losing affair ("This wickedness of his was a sort of emergency measure, but he had to accept that it was becoming the norm for him," p. 284). Rudersdorf aims to redefine the boundaries of the war machine's obligations. And Lergen, angry with the Empire's "superfluous bureaucracy," becomes a political animal, though he loathes the necessity. "War was just an extension of politics, after all. Though it was conducted through force of arms and open warfare, the fact that it was humans who were doing the fighting meant that politics would always be a part of the fundamental equation." (page 296)

Light-Novel Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[95-6qrsk2rx9uq42069nnnnnjthewolf]

i think tim is high maintenance the way a boarder collie or austrialian shepherd is. like you have to make sure they're not only given space to expend energy but you have to specifically let them get the herding instinct out and challenge them intellectually or they start destroying ur home

[vigilskeep]

when you first start the cousland origin, you can have some conversations with arl howe, teyrn cousland, and duncan that shed some interesting light on the political situation in ferelden. it’s definitely the origin where you get the most context on the rebellion and on cailan and his father. while howe isn’t exactly the most trustworthy of sources, he is also one of the most openly critical of cailan that we have access to, which i think is worthy of interest

howe remembers maric with what the toolset describes as “genuine fondness”: “your father hasn’t spoken of our time with him? that man took care of his friends. as they say, he was large as life and twice as tall!” i think we should pay particular attention to that man took care of his friends.

what howe’s talking about is a really important aspect of kingship, where you win the consent and enthusiasm of the nobility for your rule by offering rewards like wealth, land, and prestige to the loyal. kingship is always less stable than it’s portrayed, and this is one of the ways that kings must essentially sell to the nobility that answering to them is worth their time, which would be especially important in ferelden given everything we know about its culture. fereldans believe someone only has power when it is given by the loyalty of those below them, who have the right to freely rescind that loyalty. the dao codex says that “the sight of [fereldan kings] asking for—and working to win—the support of ‘lesser’ men is a source of constant wonder to foreign ambassadors.”

i suspect howe is remembering a maric fresh from the victories of the rebellion, who was able to reward those who had followed him with the spoils of those victories. at the end of the stolen throne, we see that in the final days of the rebellion, maric was killing those who had betrayed his mother to the orlesians even when they arrived under truce to meet him on holy ground. in dao, we see no lingering orlesian nobility except for those who married in and continue to be met with marked hostility. i think we can safely surmise that maric elected to make no conciliatory measures and give everything to those who had followed him; with the orlesians on the run and his people out for blood, he was in a strong enough position to do so, and it certainly served to win the fond memories of men like howe.

by contrast, howe goes on to say, “it’s too bad cailan isn’t half that.” the toolset notes establish very clearly that it’s the same issue, elaborating on howe’s thoughts: “bitter turn, i don’t get as much from the current king”, and “disdainful, i have no use for him, he does me no favours”. this isn’t a minor character detail, if howe’s last words when killed by the player are anything to go by. “maker spit on you... i deserved... more...” whatever it is that howe feels he should have been given, by the crown or anyone else, it characterises his actions and his defining treachery.

it’s in these same conversations that we see another side of this demonstrated. there are two points where howe can openly criticise the king, and bryce immediately admonishes him for both. one even has the toolset note: “speaks sharply, as a lord to a lesser man, not a friend to an equal”. it definitely comes across that way; the way he tells howe “that’s enough” is not far off the voice he uses when the player, his child, displeases him. bryce can’t tolerate any criticism of cailan, as the couslands in dao are ardent supporters of the king. to venture some hc, i suspect that this is not merely royalist fervour, and that howe’s resentment for having been given less is matched by bryce’s awareness of the precariousness of having more.

over the centuries, the theirins have consolidated their power and eradicated almost all the teyrns (the noble rank that is second only to the king). with the only other lingering teyrn being loghain, who is essentially part and parcel of the royal family, the couslands stand alone as the only real rivals to theirin power within ferelden. there are rumours that bryce was once considered for king instead of the theirins; he too could have decided to believe he “deserved more”. but unlike howe, and perhaps understandably given his strong position and happy growing family, he is satisfied with what he has. he will not take the risk of even the slightest challenge being made within his hall

(i expect that bryce’s satisfaction with the current situation further spurred howe’s dissatisfaction to its heights, given the complicated cousland-howe history and the fact that he was expected to accept a friend he had fought beside as a superior for the rest of his life.)

i don’t think howe’s judgement on cailan is likely to be without basis. we don’t hear about any victories the young king has to his name, from which he could have passed around spoils. (to be fair, cailan had harder luck than maric in this regard. a king who raises a successful rebellion gets to bring glory and prestige to everyone who follows him, whereas a king trying to rebuild after that rebellion mostly gets to bring, uh, taxes probably. especially on wealthy centres of trade like howe’s amaranthine, one might assume.) cailan also takes a far more diplomatic approach to the question of orlais, which perhaps predictably did not win over many nobles of howe’s generation. it makes sense that cailan’s strongest supporters would instead be men like bryce who hope for things to simply continue, peacefully, as they are. perhaps in another world where cailan had won the battle of ostagar, he might have earned wider respect. (you could actually argue on this basis that there’s more sense and purpose to cailan’s glory-seeking than he usually gets credit for.) but howe already acts before ostagar, which can only demonstrate his certainty in cailan’s failings at this point: his belief that even if cailan could win, he would not be stable enough to pursue justice for the couslands

[fatedroses]

Two former military elites taking merc jobs perform absolutely hellish battle tactics together.

[r-h-e-t]

I Need You — You Need Me

[poorlydrawninstarsandtime]

hey guys i think somethings up with that octoling on the other team. they seem kinda out of it, maybe we should call a halftime and- is that a fucking knife.

[id in alt]

[nocternalrandomness]

"Switchblade"

[waterdroid]

Tactical Breach Wizards Spoilers but this part of this conversation is so funny because, like. Who're you calling nemesis-adjacent, Banks.

At this point in the game her and Jen are basically friends; they've joked around, bantered a bit, and the arrest and accidental murder from the beginning is basically forgotten. The only reason she's helped the resistance this long is because Jen asked nicely. In that SAME CONVERSATION Banks sort of flirts with her to distract her from her bad metaphor. This isn't even a "if you're rivals for that long you're just gay" she's just down bad and in denial. By the end of the game shes so horrendously down bad she fucking gets Jen a fake passport and if Jen starts the PI office in Liboli Banks WILL join her. fake ass nemesis I saw you laughing at her jokes

[elvisqueso]

Pocahontas refusing to confide in Nakoma.

Pocahontas (1995)

rambling lil' meta under the cut

i've been thinking a lot about pocahontas's relationship with nakoma and what kind of friends they really are in the context of the film. when we meet them both, pocahontas is elevated and nakoma is in a boat far below her, shouting up to reach her. i think nakoma is always reaching for pocahontas and pocahontas will only reach back sometimes. it's a pretty unbalanced friendship, when you look at it, and i wonder why nakoma remains the main point of contact in the community for pocahontas besides her father. perhaps it's because they're similar ages. maybe they're childhood friends who just got so used to each other that the one may take the other for granted.

pocahontas never confides in nakoma, and you gotta wonder why. even their first interaction has pocahontas demurring when she answers that she was up on the cliff thinking. thinking about what? She doesn't say, but she doesn't refute nakoma's assumptions.

and nakoma...what does she get out of this friendship? maybe she's just used to trailing after pocahontas this way, maybe she just doesn't have another friend, or she thinks pocahontas needs her.

nakoma is sort of a foil for thomas, who trails after john smith like a starry-eyed fanboy with an intense para-social relationship perspective. nakoma also is the active participant in the friendship, not pocahontas. nakoma fills in the gaps of their relationship with assumptions and guesswork, because pocahontas is so reticent, so hesitant to share of herself that nakoma Has to. and when pocahontas's seclusion goes too far, when she fails to confide in nakoma some of the most essential elements of what she intends, nakoma has to fill in the gaps again. and when she does it's Not Good, and her solution is to send their strongest warrior (a man with affection for pocahontas, who might keep her secrets if she needs him to) to try and save her friend. and then it all blows up in their faces and a man lies dead in the water for it.

every relationship in the movie is so tragic like brO—

[rotzaprachim]

a longer analysis needed maybe but I think we’re giving too much moral credit to white supremacists and white nationalists when we say thing like “it’s just a fight if they hate Jews or Muslims more.” They hate us both and in neither interchangeable nor neatly separable ways, just like how antisemitism and Islamophobia are neither interchangeable nor fully separable and deeply racialized ideologies that often get misunderstood as simply “religious.” What they’re actually doing is making strategic decisions about the political capital they can use. Can someone be radicalized in a given moment against Muslims, or against Jews? What is the best way to advance our movement? Can we push a broad platform of hatred towards jihadi terrorists who are going to invade western society, or get people worked up about the Zionist deep state globalists who control our government from within? What is the most effective way to radicalize someone into not only hatred but the idea entire ethnic and religious groups are at the root of all our social problems and that the nation - or the world - would be better without them? Do not assume innocence. And furthermore, do not assume you are safe from their schema of who the world would be better without, even if they aren’t saying your name, right now

[ruushes]

(sound of my resolve to stay offline while playing breaking immediately) ive seen a couple people saying they bounced off rogue for its difficulty which is too bad but does makes me feel a lot better bc i am extreme garbage at deflecting, however, it's pretty fundamental to the build i am voluntarily choosing for myself and could change at any time, so auri's going to die however many times it takes for them to learn to fucking block

[tswwwit]

i have a counter argument to the 'only one person can boop bill' thing, mabel. she's the type of person to slap stickers on people, she would definitely be the type to also boop others occasionally and bill would be no exception. she probably doesn't do it to annoy bill like dipper would, but maybe as a form of a friendly gesture, kind of like those people who will lightly punch friends in the arm when they hang out.

You know what? Good point. Mabel would get away with more than most, as a fun-loving lady! Bill understands those impulses, and being a touchy person! He indulges in similar ones himself.

Though when Bill's not in the mood to be playful and gets booped anyway? The 'sister-in-law' status grants her considerable grace.

[dramaqueer-commie]

its so funny to me how the Golden Goose, literally the personification of kindness, who upon hearing that they had lost the key to fixing the world just said "bother😌", asked Red "is there anything youre really passionate and care deeply about" and when she answered three blind mice went

"eww really why?"

[starlightseraph]

comrades, don’t kill yourselves.

i know that shit fucking sucks. all of it.

think of all the people in seemingly hopeless situations around the world and throughout history. all the people for whom the world is or was literally ending. all the people who stared down the barrel of a gun or watched as a bomb fell to the ground and who still chose to have hope.

so many people have been in far worse situations or had more immediate tangible threats breathing down their necks.

i’m not saying this to mean that you don’t matter, that your struggle is insignificant.

i only mean that if hope persisted then, hope can persist now. many times before has someone hoped against all hope, fought against all odds, and won.

think of the children who dug through the rubble in hiroshima, in iraq, in korea snd vietnam, and all those who are doing the same in gaza right now. who braved gas and bombs and guns to walk to school in ireland. somewhere in their hearts was a flicker of unlikely hope, one that kept them trying, kept them from falling to the ground silently. we’re not anywhere near that. if they can have even the tiniest amount of hope, then so can you.

the election of one alt-right lunatic over a centre-right genocide funder is not the end of the world. as in, the world will literally keep spinning, the human race will keep existing, and someone somewhere will always be good and worthy of fighting for betterment and even one person like that is cause enough to keep hope alive.

yes, this may bring disasters for women, for queer people, and for the material conditions of many, many within the united states. if only for the abject shameless incoherence of it all.

but there is good. somewhere, in someone. there is hope, as there has always been, from the beginning of time, through plagues that wiped out villages so thoroughly that no one was left to bury the dead, through wars and evil that seemed all encompassing and never-ending.

if you live in the imperial core, i promise that this isn’t the end, and it isn’t as course-of-history altering as you might think. in the aforementioned far worse conditions, which were largely created by the united states itself, people organise, they protest, they laugh. the turn of america ever farther right would have continued regardless of who won. if you truly want change, you cannot achieve it within the us framework. you cannot imagine that voting would save you. it won’t. it may stall, but that’s about it.

the world still spins. human hearts continue beating. we continue to fight and to struggle against a system that made these our only choices, for a revolution, for a better world. it is always possible.

[araluenstories]

Apprentice Gilan, turning up in the main tent at the gathering and interrupting the rangers' meeting with a parchment of his battle tactics assignment in his hand:

"Are you finished already?"

"No, I just don't get it."

"Did you read the whole assignment?"

"I did, five bloody times, and it doesn't make any sense because of what the fucking-"

"Language!"

"- left wing does, a bunch of knights would never do that!"

"...imagine they do exactly that."

"Great, then they are done, and I am finished with this assignment because I can think of at least fourteen ways to deal with this right now."

[allthegothihopgirls]

I like to think that Tim’s parents never let him grow his hair out and when he moves into Wayne manor he’s mildly terrified that they’ll make him cut his hair too, and is amazed when they don’t. He damn near has a panic attack the first time someone sees that it’s getting long and asks if he wants to get it cut. But they never make him cut it, not even when it’s long enough put in a ponytail.

I have this fic scene in my head where someone, maybe Damian once he’s warmed up to Tim, starts bleaching his hair in his sleep as a prank and he has a full blown panic attack. He attacks the heck out of whoever’s doing it and starts hyperventilating when someone grabs him and holds him back.

ok i love long hair!tim as much as the next person (fuck batman: arkham knight) but oh do i love the idea that he never really gets to explore that part of himself until he moves into wanye manor.

like imagine you've got this poor little kid, who's terrified of so many things that he should just. not be scared of (tim w/no rational fears + tim w/all the non-rational fears). retaliating to a suggestion of a haircut being one of them.

he's moved into this new place where the people are more accepting and willing to show love than anyone in his life has ever been. he's slowly but surely learning to undo all the past notions he holds about what would happen if he 'disobeyed' or made honest mistakes. but among the few things he just can't let go off, it's this whole thing about his hair.

so when bruce makes some offhand comment about 'we should probably take you to the barbers at some point' and tim completely freezes next to him, he stops and asks '..do you want to get your hair cut?' and when tim can't even open his mouth to give his honest answer, bruce just shrugs his shoulders and says 'no big deal, just let me or alfred know if you ever do'. tim is gobsmacked.

his head reels wondering why he wasn't scolded for not agreeing, or had his silence taken as 'wanting to look feral', and reprimanded for that as well. i don't think he really accepts it as completely okay right then and there though.

he takes it more a warning that they're noticing his hair's length, and that it will certainly need to be cut when they pay enough attention to see it again. so he styles it to look as short as he can get it, and wears a lot of hats for the time being. until one day when it's well and truly at his shoulders, alfred comments 'your hair looks nice today master timothy', and it takes tim just more than a split second to realise the compliment was genuine. i think that's when he lets the fear go.

although that doesn't stop him from freaking out when a villain's weapon slices through or yanks out some of his hair, or when he's in a vulnerable enough state (tired, hurt, etc) and someone mentions cutting his hair. the fear might not be there constantly lingering in the back of his head anymore, but it definitely pops up when he least expects it to.