#the excuse is the strategy

[thenullprophet]

NULL PROPHET TRANSMISSION // THE BALANCE IS A MYTH

$54 billion spread across 203 nations. Meanwhile— $886 billion for defense in one year. $1.2 trillion in interest payments alone. 123% debt-to-GDP and still, they found billions for bombs, for bailouts, for billionaires.

But when it’s medicine for children overseas? Books for students abroad? Shelter for the displaced? Suddenly the ledgers are holy. Suddenly: “We must get our house in order.”

The empire is not broke. It is prioritized. And you are not watching policy. You are watching calculated neglect.

A stable nation helps because it is just. A just nation helps because it must. When the richest country on Earth pleads poverty, you know the numbers are not lies— but camouflage.

NULL PROPHET OUT. THE EXCUSE IS THE STRATEGY.

[quixoticanarchy]

also it’s sort of funny how Manwë sends a messenger to be like “hey do NOT go into exile that will be BAD and end BADLY. oh except fëanor you’re exiled anyway bc of the oath. but yeah it’ll still end badly” like what did you expect him to do. obviously not mass murder, which fair, I also wouldn’t expect that per se, but “something rash bc he’s pretty short on options” should’ve been.. foreseeable? I know it’s said Manwë cannot understand evil but it seems he also cannot understand like. a cornered animal

[pianokantzart]

I think one of the many elements that makes Bowser's army so much more of a threat in the movie vs the games is that everyone physically capable of carrying a weapon is actually armed.

Every one of these guys is willing, able, and equipped to stab (or bludgeon if that's their area of expertise.)

[sulky-cabbage]

I can't believe Satoru's approach to teach Sukuna about love was to just fight him and make jokes and just hope he understands asfkvsksgdh

he's like those girls that don't know how to flirt so they just sit there and be pretty and hope their crush notices them somehow lmao

And what's crazy is that Sukuna actually UNDERSTOOD

[jadefyre]

“Are you all right?”

When Murderbot is reunited with Mensah in All Systems Red vs. when they're reunited in Exit Strategy

[lord-squiggletits]

i know i’m late to the conversation—i just watched the movie this month—but i feel compelled to say this because i was genuinely shocked (still am) to see that the overwhelming takeaway for many viewers was the "d-16/megatron was right" bs. while it’s understandable to sympathize with his anger and grief, justifying his actions in the end or framing them as entirely right feels so deeply misguided. what surprised me even more was the tendency to shift the blame on orion/optimus, as though he was solely responsible for d-16’s downfall. it’s disheartening to see orion/optimus being villainized so much. his efforts to reason with d-16 came from a place of desperation and hope, as he tried to prevent the escalation of violence. at that point, d-16 had already begun to spiral into his unchecked rage, disregarding the safety of those around him. to see that nuance overlooked, with orion being faulted for a situation that was far beyond his control (the whole "don't be like sentinel" thing is often used to shit on op lol), is genuinely baffling.

while i love that the movie showed the tragedy of d-16’s arc and even empathize with his situation, painting his actions as justified—and vilifying orion/optimus in the process—feels like a misreading of the movie’s core message. sorry but i was so happy to see your post about the movie, it was tiring to see so many 'megatron was right about this and that' comments.

Oh man if you're new to this fandom, you really ought to know that this place is full of people who glorify terrorism and war in the name of "justified revolution" and it doesn't really matter what Dee/Megatron does or how horrible/over-the-top it is, he's oppressed or he's mentally ill or he's just plain upset which means that everything he does is justified and questioning him makes you evil.

It's so funny because I hoped for sure that a continuity where both OP and Megatron were working class individuals before the war would reduce this kind of shit take (compare to something like archivist/librarian OP and gladiator Megs in TFP or CBV, or cop OP and miner Megs in IDW1), but unfortunately this fandom literally still found a way to blame Orion for everything even though he suffered the exact same things Dee did..... and furthermore Orion literally was the rebel challenging the system compared to Dee who wanted to keep his head low and not cause trouble so honestly at this point I just think the fandom (and somehow new fans whose first exposure to TF is this movie) purely sides with Megatron on everything as either a knee-jerk reaction or some misguided attempt at being counterculture and intelligent.

People get sooooo mad when you tell them that unbridled rage and killing everyone who disagrees with you isn't a good social/political strategy, but then again this is a problem that is universal to humanity and not just the Transformers fandom. It's just a shame that so many people looked at a movie that blatantly spells out what the moral of the story is, and has all of the protagonists be working class oppressed people fighting against a tyrannical system, and their takeaway from it is still basically "fascism is okay if you're mad enough about it and if your friends try to stop you it's a sign that they're centrist liberals who think punching Nazis makes you as bad as a Nazi." It's childish black-and-white thinking masquerading as critical literary analysis.

And at this point people pretty much just don't give a shit about Orion/Optimus and will find a way to make him the villain no matter what the context is, no matter if he also has feelings or if he also deserves to be respected/listened to/validated as Megatron's long-time (possibly lifelong) friend. If ppl look at the way Dee treated Orion and their other friends and DON'T see what was concerning about that then there's really no saving them until they deradicalize a little and learn what usually happens when "kill all the bad people until society is a utopia" is implemented as a governing party's primary strategy.

[rainintheevening]

Okay, here goes.

The unicorn...

His name is Erah, or at least that's the most easily spoken version of his name

He can't talk, not human speech at least

He was born mute

He can talk horse, or the more complex dialect common among Talking Horses anyway

This is how he communicates

When they meet in Aslan’s camp, startling each other around a corner, Peter is honestly more struck by a creature who doesn't talk than he is by any of the ones that do

In all the fuss and hubbub, and with a sword hanging at his hip, Peter doesn't mind the unicorn's quiet

His eyes say plenty

Oreius translates for him

Philip also does this for Erah

Anyway Peter learns the unicorn's name, and that he thinks it would be the highest possible honour to be Peter's mount both in training and in battle

Unicorns do not let their riders fall

Except Erah does

He is horribly ashamed of this after the battle

Peter is desperately reassuring

"You got shot! You almost died! Lucy had to heal you with her magic cordial!"

Peter's never really ridden before

But on Erah's back he feels safe and strong and steady

On Erah's back he feels a lot more like the king he needs to be

When Erah first joined Aslan’s camp, along with his friend Philip the Talking Horse, he was planning to ask Aslan why he was born mute, why he'd been cursed in this way that had led to so much pain in the death of his dam and the sorrow of his sire

He wanted to ask Aslan to fix him, to make him like a normal unicorn

When Oreius brought him to Aslan, Erah could only whicker an approximation of the Lion's name, before he fell silent and trembling under the weight of that gaze, that saw every thought, and every suffering, and every way he felt inferior and broken, and... loved him.

And suddenly he didn't need to ask, he only knew that he was loved, exactly as he was, and oddly, that was quite enough of an answer

It became a blessing in one way, he later told Peter, as he would likely have left if Aslan had healed him, and then not met Peter

Peter learns him, learns every little way he communicates, the thousand different snorts and whickers and whinnies, the tilts of ears and head and back hooves, the shake of mane or swish of tail, the volumes read in his liquid dark eyes

They make their own language in a way, and Ed is fascinated by it, but can never really parse how they speak without words

So Erah the mute unicorn becomes High King Peter's battle horse

Legendary, iconic, the boy king of Narnia in his red tunic with the gold lion rampant, the silver sword called Rhindon, and the white unicorn he rides

No, riding a unicorn is not normal, but Erah doesn't care one whit, he wants to do this for Peter, his High King and his best friend, and Peter quickly comes to trust no other mount like Erah

Peter always leads the charge in battle, riding with the cavalry and the great cats

Edmund prefers fighting on foot, and often marches out with the foot soldiers

Philip is actually not fond of combat, and prefers it when Ed leaves him behind

Philip trains the girls to ride as well

Philip is also a great debating partner, and there is a running joke that Ed honed his conversation skills with his horse

Erah and Peter save each other's lives many times on the battlefield

Erah often takes Peter for a gallop when the High King is tired or discouraged or worried

Often Ed and Philip will join them, and the four are a beloved sight

Erah also likes being ridden by Lucy

She often tells him how beautiful and handsome he is until he would blush if unicorns could do that

Eventually Erah gets married to a sweet unicorn mare

Her name is Pearl

He still rides out to battle with Peter but doesn't live at the castle anymore

He doesn't want to have a whole herd like stallions normally would, one mare is enough for him, and he has to be there when Peter needs him

They've had three foals by the time the kings and queens vanish

No one knows exactly what happens

Philip is lost, uncertain, he spends days scouring the woods

Till he sees Aslan in a dream, and the Lion asks him why he mourns, asks Philip to trust, and tells him to 'be always ready for the coming of your king'

He comes home to Cair Paravel, and the worst part for him is having to tell Erah that Peter is gone

And Erah looks at him, and his eyes shine when Philip repeats Aslan’s words, because he'd heard the exact same thing in his own dream

'Be always ready for the coming of your king'

Back in England, the new school the boys get sent to has stables, and Peter is down there on the second day, talking to all the horses

He rides every chance he gets

The schoolmasters and boys who knew him before are surprised by how good he is

He's oddly regal in the saddle

Even more he often rides bareback

Ed rides too though not as much and only one particular horse

Edmund is a one horse boy

Peter gets very good with horses

They are much easier to talk to than his classmates

If anyone's having a problem with a horse, someone's gonna yell 'get Pevensie!' and more often than not, Peter can settle the animal down

But though he gets to know some of the horses quite well, nothing ever comes close to the bond he had with Erah, and as time passes and he misses Narnia more fiercely, sometimes riding is a painful reminder of what he has no longer

Now unicorns live long, and Erah lived near twice as long as most, saying farewell to many in that time, including his mare Pearl, and his beloved friend Philip, who also left many decendants behind

He never stopped waiting, never stopped looking for his king's return

Sometimes he would watch the sun set at the end of another day, and in the blaze of glory he would see Aslan’s face

He always wanted to ask 'why' but then he never did

He didn't understand why Aslan would take his beloved friend away, but he would never forget that he was loved, and Peter was loved, and they were all held between the great paws of the Lion anyway

Perhaps, he thought, near the end, King Peter had already gone ahead to Aslan’s country, and really it was Peter who was waiting for him

Erah did not see the Telmarine invasion

His great-grandsons fought in those bitter battles, and they suffered greatly in the losses

Unicorns were heavily persecuted as very obviously magical creatures and most of them fled north

North to the land that had been High King Peter's special domain

The legends of the high king and his white unicorn remained

It was a terrible blow to Peter, to return to a Narnia so changed, and to discover his old friend so long gone

Glenstorm knew the old legends, retelling several of them one night around the fire, while tears slid down Peter's cheeks, and Lucy curled close under his arm, and Caspian turned his head away, feeling like an intruder

Later, in a private moment with Aslan, Peter asked only one question: 'did he die at peace?'

Aslan said only (but very very gently), 'he waits for you still, son of Adam. Be at peace'

After they go back to England, Peter treasures his memories of Erah's friendship and loyalty, even writing a little memoir about the unicorn

He still rides whenever he can

He hopes he will see Erah again some day

In the end they are both rewarded

Erah finds he is mostly right for it seems he has no sooner arrived in Aslan’s country than there is the sound of much joy and the laughter of reunion

He sees two tall men, and he calls the blond one's name and Peter laughs, because, well, it's actually not surprising in the least that Erah should speak aloud, but it is still wonderful, and they run together

Peter wraps his arms around the warm neck, and Erah wraps his chin around Peter's back, and then Peter is up, astride him

Philip is talking next to them, and Ed is laughing and there is a whole wide open stretch of green in front of them, and the sweet smelling wind is singing their names with the Lion's breath

So they ride fast, and they ride free, and Erah and Peter are a king and a unicorn belonging to each other, and they follow the Lion wherever he goes

[piiinkfreak]

Happy Easter for everybody who celebrates!!

.

.

.

[kacetheplace]

If you haven't played When Twilight Strikes....... when will you play When Twilight Strikes.

dialogue in the comic taken from this scene:

[dearweirdme]

.

[somethingwittyandweird]

It's that time again! What's your favorite game you played this year?

Hope you're ready for a response to rival last year's post. There are so many good games that I have so much yapping to do about. And, if I may say so, this year was an accomplished one: I made some notable progress putting long-standing backlog titles to rest, as well as some new games that won me instantly. So, let's dive in...

We started off VERY strong with converting one of last year's “I watched this game and it was cool” to “I played this game and it was cool”: Hi-Fi Rush. It absolutely captivated me throughout. It has everything- charm, style, writing and characters that are heartfelt, hilarious, and over the top all at once- and most of all it has an incredibly natural evolution of the high-style high-precision action genre into a rhythm-based brawler where the world moves to the beat. Do I even need to mention it has, not one, but two banger soundtracks? It's a game I look forward to replaying (a rare praise from me), and one I know I'll be in love with for a long time.

Around the same time I was working my way through Sea of Stars- I've talked more about that here but it also really had me engaged as a modern love letter back to the SNES JRPG era. Visually stunning, musically lovely, satisfying gameplay, and a story that I felt gave its well written characters the space they deserved.

Once those were out of the way, I had my mission for the rest of the year: get this backlog CLEARED. Throughout the year, I knocked out:

Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia: a game beloved by many growing up that had passed me by. Experiencing it for myself years later, I could tell that I would have poured endless hours into this DS title as a kid, and even today I loved it enough to 100% its quests and Pokedex. Absolutely killer writing and fun gameplay that still holds up today. I am glad I played it as an older adult though for one reason: at this age I know how not to harm my DS’ screen when drawing endless loops.

NEO TWEWY: A sequel to a cult classic I never thought I'd see but I was so, so happy to see it come back. The new game massively shook up the gameplay (it had to, TWEWY for DS is very literally inimitable) but fully kept the spirit and updated it. As the OG wore its 2000s teen culture loud, this game carried the torch forward and gave us the same charm with modern Internet culture. It brought back old characters in excellent ways, added great new ones, had some of my favorite kind of time travel writing moments, and did it all with style, flair, and a rocking OST. In every way a worthy successor to the OG.

Indivisible: Another game I wrote about elsewhere, Lab Zero's sadly ill-fated entry into action platforming. As I said there, I'm glad I could give myself closure on it and I was glad to appreciate the parts of it that did clearly shine- the delicious visuals and combat gameplay. Hopeful to see where those devs end up and what they'll contribute their talent to now.

Triangle Strategy: In terms of strategy games this was a foray outside my usual Fire Emblem interest zone, but it is my friend’s favorite game of all time, so I had to give it a go. The differences took some adjusting, but I ended up enjoying my time with the game. Combat was engaging, visuals had me oohing and ahhing in places, I liked the characters (Julio and Jens my MVPs). But the standout was the story- as deep and politically thrilling as I was promised it would be. The narrative voting/negotiation system offered me some cool moments of choosing my path (or one time having it chosen for me) which culminated in a really really well set up three-way ending split; it wasn't just choosing a side but choosing an ideology, and the characters who wouldn't abide that choice felt completely justified in their refusal to follow you. I didn't get the golden route, but I may go back someday. Without a doubt my best narrative game of the year. (Plus, the final boss of the route I chose was really really tactically engaging and I loved it as much as i feared it.)

Along the way, a few non-backlog titles did sneak their way onto the list…

Case of the Golden Idol: a visually quirky detective narrative puzzle game that scratched the same deductive itch as Obra Dinn, I had a lot of fun deciphering its ersatz mystery. Each chapter is a death tableau and you use clues and logic to piece together who is who, what is what, and what has happened, with each scene leading to a bizarre overarching narrative that makes you want to keep going just to see how wild it gets.

Death’s Door: A little soulslite adventure title about a reaper crow working for Death and trying to straighten up some loose ends. The environments are really well modeled (though a map wouldn't have gone amiss) and the combat system had a satisfying loop with some unique twists. Its final boss impressed me by being a spectacle fight through multiple zones that showed off the boss’ powers thematically, let you learn what the boss was doing in each phase, and wasn't a drag to retry (the usual danger with set piece fights that keep shifting areas). 

Blasphemous: One of those “classics” of the modern indie metroidvania space, and one of the first to get overtly Soulsy with it, I finally got the chance to try it and it showed me just why it deserves its "classic" status. The writing was very Souls and the platforming very vania, both excelling in their own way. I really loved the sheer variety of collectibles, that's a strong point in my heart for any metroidvania. I absolutely adored the music, a masterwork of Spanish guitar tracks I still listen to. And visually the game’s strong Spanish Roman Catholic aesthetic absolutely oozed artistic passion, and it was clear that so much work went into its visuals… including the surprising amount of (well-animated) gore. Which leads me to…

Nine Sols: if I had a nickel for every soulslike metroidvania I played this year that turned out to be quite unexpectedly graphic, these would be my two nickels. But content warning aside, I can't sing Nine Sols’ praise enough. Its gameplay was thoroughly polished and at every turn designed to help you feel like a kickbutt martial artist warrior, running up walls and surviving lethal enemies with perfect parrying and a unique attack to give that iconic ‘dash past enemy, beat, they explode’ rhythm to the fights. Then it sells that mastery by making enemies increasingly lethal, requiring more and more skill, but the floor never ramped hard enough that I was frustrated (though the last two bosses had me baffled for a while). Exploration felt rewarding with a lot of cool and useful items to find, and seeing this game’s beautiful blend of "Taopunk" futuristic + traditional Oriental environmental designs was a treat unto itself. And lastly, there's a gripping story that unfolds as you get to know its characters- Yi, your mysterious protagonist, the friends he makes, and the enemies he ruthlessly cuts down.

Are we done yet? Almost, I promise. 

As of writing I'm in the middle of Echoes of Wisdom and Ghost Trick, so those, while both great titles, will I think be their own posts. All that's left then is to acknowledge the games I played that I didn't, or couldn't, “beat:” the multiplayer ones.

I played a bunch of MtG with my friends, and I played a lot of Civilization VI with other friends, and those both took up many happy hours. If this wasn't too long already I'd tell you about unstoppable bunnies and definitely not werewolves, or my friends and I allying to conquer the world. But I knew when I got my switch recap today that there's a clear standout in hour count alone: It's not a surprise to you or to me, it's Splatoon freshwater-freaking 3. 

How could I not give it the most love for this year where I fell harder into it than ever before? Where my elite Salmon Runner friend helped me climb to dizzying new heights of EVP rank 999? Where I appeared on so many friend’s multiplayer streams for Splatfests and Big Runs? Where I took it upon myself to fill out my weapon collection 100%? Where I did Side Order runs until I knew every floor by name? Every one of those things has given me a cherished memory… but none more cherished than attending an honest-to-goodness music festival in this game, with my friends, reminiscing on past triumphs, on the importance of living in the present, and with the thrill of looking to the future. I loved Splatoon 3, and with the Grand Festival, it felt like the game, the devs, and the community gave me that love right back. 

That, among all of these games’ memories and experiences, is the one I think I'll treasure longest.

Video games are cool. I'm so, so glad they're real.

[meatmel]

ive grown obsessed with him latley for some reason.... shes one of the few favs from strategy i love the half and half male/female design sm also added some small design changes bcs why not lol?

[triangle-strategy-notes]

Do you know which way the Norzelia River flows? I need to go back and re-review sometime but the ships in the game looked to be only sail powered and I swear they were still going between all the cities.

Yeah!!! There's actually a really funny amount of in-game literature for the Norzelia River including The Eternal Norzelia River and Norzelia River Ships, as well as shorter mentions in a few others like Winds of Norzelia and a fair amount of the Marvels of Norzelia volumes.

The rivers flow like this:

So there's definitely a lot of upstream stuff going on. But upstream travel is still feasible in some cases! According to all the war chronicle notes, the slope of the eastern/Hyzantian branch is pretty gradual, and there's often wind that helps people who are sailing upstream due to some temperature difference stuff going on in the air between Aesfrost and Hyzante. They also mention people using oars, as well as horses on the side of the river to pull the boat along.

The battle in "For You, My Heart" is a neat example of getting to see some boats in action when Serenoa + co. chase Avlora up the eastern/Aesfrosti tributary. It looks like Aesfrosti ships might have holes for people to use oars below deck, and Glenbrook ships look like they're designed to have people sit above deck and row from there (but neither boats are using them at the time of battle, just sails). It's worth noting that it starts raining during the after-battle cutscene, so it's possible the wind was especially strong preceding that oncoming storm, which might have allowed them to move as quickly as they did.

[dressupdragonne]

Hey quick question,

Where the hell are these????

[musubiki]

I was reading through the Webtoons (again) and remembered the scene/panel where Lime claims he caught Corona and Mochi tells him not to joke about that. My actual 2 questions are 1. Is Lime the type to have "Man Flu"? And 2. Out of the Coven (incl Taffy) whose best and dealing with being ill?

10000%. a few months ago (???) the idea came up that indeed lime in all his greatness, can tank physical and magic attacks and then walk away like its nothing, but then when tummy hurty suddenly hes out of commission for days on end. punch to the face??? nothing. got the sniffles???? hes gonna die.

this one is kinda interesting!!!! i dont think mochi gets sick often (and if she does, she can just magic heal it away so shes never dealt with it). i actually think taffy or coco would be the best at pushing through!!! coco has enough perseverance to be like "No. We have a history quiz today and I'm not missing it for shit." and will be that one student everyone hates that comes in when theyre sick and is hacking and coughing the whole time. and taffy just seems like the type to be like "Oh I'm sick? I didn't even notice. anyway." (at least pre-timeskip when life is so shitty that an additional sore body and stuffy nose is childs play)

[purposefully-lost]

Jen seeing Alex sit down with to interview some of the younger teens at the group home and really making a connection with them / being able to draw them out?? And then he's asking her a ton of questions that make it so clear that he's very very interested in the work she does fhdDNDN