Tokyo, Japan

vibe

#Fallen Crusader: How the 3AR's moral crusade has collapsed to it's own hubris and hypocrisy

The Asahi Shimbun | Issued January 1st, 2040 - 12:00 | Tokyo, Japan

TOKYO - No nation is more prolific or incensed about the so-called "legitimacy and radically elevated nature" of it's constitution than that of the Third American Republic. As a result, the 3AR governments have used this constitution to justify global military intervention, must recently against China in which Article VI was directly quoted as the casus belli to open operations. And long has the 3AR claimed itself to be the "Safeguard of Liberty, Democracy, and of Justice" with this being nothing short of a Neo-Manifest Destiny. This "Great Guardian of Liberty" has thus made it it's mission to eradicate the unjust and horrors of this new era, but only when convenient.

We have seen the unending crusade against other Great Powers to which the 3AR has embarked upon, through NAEDCA they have attempted to encircle the Greater Aryan Empire and through backdoor dealings are doing similar against Japan. And throughout they have used the basis of their Constitution to justify whom they align with or against, and to justify that which forms the foundations of Third Republic Policy. Yet a closer look into those that the 3AR continues to support, paints a picture that the constitution is nothing more than a letter of convenience and that the 3AR's policy is not formed on any basis of "Justice, Liberty, and Democracy" but upon political convenience alone.

Poland has always been one of the core allies of the 3AR and yet for almost a decade Poland has seen the face of an unwanted King. Through no election, referendum, or any other form of democracy we have seen the Polish-Lithuanian Republic become nothing more than a dictatorship in fanciful color. Has the 3AR ever acted against Poland in the face of this information? No, instead they have defied Liberty, Justice, and Democracy so that they can continue in their mission to create hostilities with other Great Powers.

The Pontic Union similarly has not heard of Democracy for over a decade, [the Transitionary

^^Sign ^^in

###The Guardian

NEWS | OPINION | SPORT | CULTURE | LIFESTYLE | MORE

October 2nd, 2024

#”India stands to lose moral high ground on China’s moon claim over Antarctic debacle” warns Oxford think tank

>SUMMARY: China intends to claim the entirety of the moon as its sovereign territory. India’s attempt at claiming Marie Byrd Land mirrors China’s attempts at claiming formerly treaty-protected territory. India stands to lose the moral high ground in regards to the moon over a piece of Antarctica.

 

 

>IMAGE: The moon shines over the Antacrtic landscape, will India sacrifice the former for the latter

 

An influential political think tank specializing in post-Collapse international treaties has given India a stern warning: taking Antarctica gives China green light for the moon. Professor Jameson:

>”China’s leaked intentions to claim the entire moon are diplomatically a joke. I would go so far as to consider Ireland even acknowledging the matter a diplomatic faux-pas. As is often the case lately, India could present itself as an international ‘good guy’, spurring nations to support them in their conflict with ‘bad guy’ China. However, India stands to lose the moral high ground on China’s moon claim over their recent Antarctic debacle”.

Both the Moon and Antarctica were formerly under treaty protection, in that they belonged to no country. Following the Collapse, those treaties ended. Some countries, such as China, argue that formerly protected territory like outer space is now an all-you-can-eat Terra Nullius buffet. India’s attempt at claiming Antarctica strengthens and supports China’s arguments.

The regrettable casualties during India’s failed Antarctic mission are evidence of it being ill thought out. Not only was the mission a “total operations failure”, it can also be considered a “total diplomatic failure”.

 

NEWS | OPINION | SPORT | CULTURE | LIFESTYLE | MORE

© 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

>##THE CITIZEN

>The Citizen / News

>###Kagame calls for end to "moral atrocity" of ADIR invasion

>SUNDAY JUNE 21 2026

>By Bethseba Wambura

>^More ^about ^this ^author

>Arusha. As international reports become increasingly clear on the nature of the "War of Deliverance" in Israel, Chancellor Kagame has issued a public announcement calling for an end to the "moral atrocity" of the ongoing multinational invasion.

>"The invasion of Israel, especially that carried out by the ADIR, is a moral atrocity, plain and simple," the Chancellor commented. "My own country has experience with repression and mass killings, but we sought to recover by reconciliation, not revenge. Some revenge killings were inevitable, yes, it was a civil war, but the atrocities being committed under the ADIR invasion are not accident, they are policy. I ask the leaders of the ADIR how they expect to resolve centuries of ethnic tensions when they open their campaign with mass killings of Jewish civilians. If you have any interest in a lasting resolution to the Israel-Palestine issue, you must call off your invasion immediately."

>According to international observers, there have been "confirmed reports of Arab led mass-killings and rapes of southern communities," souring many EAF politicians on the already-unpopular ADIR invasion. The ADIR's acceptance of German intervention in the war has also been seen as distasteful, given Israel's history with nationalist Germans.

>Kagame commented that "the EAF stands with any victims of mass killings," and noted that plans were underway to arrange a humanitarian relief effort.

Hey there it’s your pals at the conglomerate and boy do we have an offer you can’t refuse(unless you do but let’s ignore that possibility we ignore calls for democracy). So you know how we like selling things and how you like selling stolen things? While I don’t don’t know about you but that sounds like a match made in heaven so let’s get cracking and make a deal already! In case you don’t know exactly what kind of bis I’m talkin’ about here I’m talking about a good old fashioned F.T.A.

That’s right for the low low price of the ink you’ll use to sign this contract you can have a unlimited access to our ports to smuggle your ill gotten gains(or should we say just plain gotten? Since who has time for things like morality in this brave new world?). For a limited time only you have the opportunity to make this world a greedier place and become a preferred trading partner.

Like we said before you’ll be able to bring your goods of questionable origin through our nation free of charge. That’s right. Not only that though but we’ll also waive any of the traditional port fees and give your tired and a hungry sailors 50% off coupons applicable for any item on the Sandwich Queen menu(terms and conditions apply). All we ask for in exchange is that our stunning corporate trade fleets get the same privileges we’re offering you. We’d like for our own questionable products to be ignored by the local security personnel and perhaps for your applicable fees to be reduced or made to disappear. You don’t need to give us coupons.

In case this rapid fire offer wasn’t clear enough we want to make a free trade agreement with your nation where we’ll waive fees, give you cheap sandwiches, and allow your plunder to move through our ports and roads without being stopped!

Respond within the next 2 months and we’ll also throw in an extra set of 50% off coupons for some local inns free of charge!

PUBLIC

The situation in Germany has devastated us economically but at the heart of it, we are still alive (except those who, you know... aren't) and the Reich will live further on for one thousand years! We are interested in helping other great nations to continue rising and fighting on. Therefore, Germany is declaring its support to fixing the economic crisis within and abroad!

One such area is China - Germany will work to restore order and balance to this region. Thanks.

SECRET

##Qing

We ask of the Qing Dynasty, in exchange for full German support, to side with the Nanjing clique is this is at all possible. We are willing to support you in any way that we can if you are willing to openly side with the Nanjing Clique and following this, we are interested in doing whatever it is possible to further our relationship.

Tell us what you need, we'll do what we can. This is a question of morals and existence. Will you let yourself fall alone or will you work with us to continue your reign and rule for as long as the Kaiserreich?

##Nanjing

No matter what comes, we are interested in continuing our support for you and will stand by you throughout. Whatever you need, let us know.

>The Nation of Newer Zealand

A Suggestion to the Moral World Order

Nations of the Moral World Order,

We are a collection of the most formidable nations of the world both in terms of the strength of our nations and the strength of our morals.

Every day, our brave leaders work together to build the world up into a better community in the name of all the people of the world. But the basis of not only this work, but these ideals come from our nations exclusively.

The old world ways of keeping the peace have failed in no spectacular fashion. The UN has repeatedly shown to be useless in global policing and aid providing, and is bogged down by the involvement of other, less moral, nations. These nations would rather see their own greed by satiated and have their own wants be met before the needs of others and the good of the world. It is a simple fact, that these nations do not belong in the decision making process of the global community. Do you really want a techno plague making your decisions for you?

The Nation of Newer Zealand would wish to propose that we make our convent of moral nations into a union of nations with the wants of the M.W.O. and it's constituents coming first, always. Combined and formalized, the M.W.O. would be able to stomp out the most immoral of our enemies, like the Fourth Reich and the Unity techno plague, with ease. We would no longer be held back by the wants of these immoral nations, we would be top dog forever.

In short, we wish to establish an official council or senate of the M.W.O. that travels from different hosts, much like the UN currently does. Delegates of each nation would come together and make decisions as a union and we would act unilaterally to enact these changes across not only the nations in the M.W.O., but those outside of it as well.

The Nation of Newer Zealand is very interested in hearing what you have to think about this. We think that this could be the start of a very great future for all of the world and especially those involved in the creation.

Let us know.

Canadian intelligence officers have made a paramount discovery in ending the Unity thanks to German discoveries which showcases the Unity propagates itself across radio waves. This discovery as the Germans put it,

>"Means that we could weaponise it against the Unity (through masking radio frequencies with bigger radio transmitters), or we could take multiple approaches by exploiting the some other of the Unity's weaknesses:" ~ German Intelligence Agency

We of course all know that the Unity is a recognized Techno-plague and Canada is in the process of creating a subsidiary that gives any person who blasts a plague-being with a 12 gauge shotgun $50 dollars. However this new information brought to us by Germany means we (in their own words)

>"attack the Unity in many different ways (eg cyberattacks, disruption of infrastructure, damage to assets in space, etc.), forcing them to mobilise their entire population to deal with the threats, and then invade them when their guard is down. We could also exploit the fact that the Unity uses radio waves to communicate with its population during this hypothetical invasion." ~ German Intelligence officer

We believe that these are very interesting ideas and the knowledge gained from German investigations into the Unity have been exemplary.

However as Germany has given the Unity the Kepler, spied on Canada, and done who knows what else without informing our allies (including inviting non-NATO members to a supposed NATO conference) we have decided to move the conversation elsewhere. Ergo you are all welcome to join us for a nice bit of beer while we discuss the Unity.

Thanks you Moral World Order and Moral Nation Allies.

Basically, as we know, there aren't really laws in the Federation preventing other organizations from contacting and interfering pre-warp civilizations. Since Starfleet is always at the forefront of exploratory missions, they would be the ones who contacted new sapient species in the galaxy. The Prime Directive in this case could be a legal means to prevent Starfleet captains from having too much authority in dictating the terms of contact. Instead, captains would simply report the news to higher authorities, and once the information is public, certain civilian organizations would probably go ham trying to make use of it. Instead of imagining that the Federation always leaves primitives alone, it could be possible that there are those in the Federation that deliberately seek out these pre-warp civilizations and use their advanced technology to carefully shape and uplift their society to the galactic community.

In short, not everyone in the UFP agrees with Picard's staunch ideology of non-intervention and "destiny," and the only legal prohibition on it is exclusively for Starfleet.

CUMHURİYET -- President Şen: "Those who claw to maintain the order of 1945 are determined to start and lose a new world war before they accept reality. It is not the countries benefiting from this but those who believe attacking Turkey is a moral crusade who are foolish!"

[Jan 1st 2042]

(ANKARA) Hosting a press conference to go over the latest development in the region, Turkish President Ersan Şen took a shot at the nations collaborating with the United States in putting pressure on it to relinquish its nuclear weapons.

"It is funny, actually. Countries who make fairly rational public statements in peacetime have began saying things which reflect their state of delirium and, frankly, incompetence. My favorite is that, 'Oh, Turkey is expansionist! It has invaded all of its neighbors!"

"What? Do you mean the civil war Iranians and Syrians started? Or the outrageous attempts in Iraq to develop a nuclear program and ballistic missiles? Or maybe you're referring to the frozen conflict in Azerbaijan we brought peace to?"

"I never know how to react. Are these people following anything around the world? I'm still waiting -- what makes Turkey expansionist?"

Şen, asked by a reporter, continued on to discuss the international reaction to Turkey's nuclear program.

"For the most part, there have been little surprises here. The United States is a finished power trying to maintain relevance by attacking NATO allies Canada and Turkey, whatever."

"What bewilders me is that some nations continue to react with the reflexes of the 20th century. Where were you whining about nuclear proliferation when a half dozen new ones were created by the splitting of the American and Chinese arsenals? They tell us the issue is not Turkey's stability or responsibility but the number of arsenals. Ok well there is that. And if your response to that is that they already have weapons and there is nothing to do.... So does Turkey. The arguments don't really stack up"

"Those who claw to maintain the order of 1945 are determined to start and lose a new world war before they accept reality. It is not the countries benefiting from this but those who believe attacking Turkey is a moral crusade who are foolish."

"Really, there are more countries that support Turkey's nuclear policy than they think. They will have to explain to their public at some point why they wasted financial resources and perhaps even the lives of soldiers over such a pointless endeavor."

NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA -- Nigerian FM: "Nations Rushing to War in East Timor Eroding Moral High Ground of International Community"

[May/June 2031]

(ABUJA) Nigeria's Foreign Minister David Mark has spoken out against the growing desire to retaliate militarily to Indonesia's ongoing invasion of East Timor.

"Of course, we condemn the actions of Indonesia in illegally seizing the territory of a sovereign nation. This violence cannot be ignored."

"However, given the reality that due to logistics and the inability of East Timor to resist the invasion, it is a lie that military intervention would actually stop the take over. It can reverse it, but reversing the invasion is a much less time-dependent operation than intervening mid-invasion."

Mr. Mark established Nigeria's stance that, while Indonesia must immediately leave East Timor and cease its illegal actions, the international community would be "eroding its moral high ground" by going to war with Indonesia.

"Armed action which precludes diplomatic and efforts via sanctions will cause far, far more bloodshed than the actual invasion of East Timor. For this loose coalition of trigger-happy nations to establish naval and air supremacy over the operational theater, they will go to war with all of Indonesia. The human toll of fighting a nation of more than 200 million people is ridiculous."

Nigeria has demanded that these nations await consensus at the United Nations Security Council and a resolution authorizing the use of force.

"Though we prefer trying economic sanctions first, especially because Indonesia's economy stands to lose a lot, lot more than it gains from taking a small plot of land; however, if there is going to be armed intervention it must be authorized in a legal manner."

"And, if an intervening coalition is to be formed, it must be regional countries with a clear connection to the region. The Republic of Texas, for example, has approached us in a bloodthirsty manner, intending to attack Indonesia. Texas has no business in South East Asia and we must be careful to not allow imperial interests to taint what is a noble cause of the international community."

I can't seem to find it. I suggested his "The Meaning of Liberty", but she said that wasn't his speech. Can anyone help me find it?

(Also, I think this is following all the rules, but if not please delete, or point me in a better direction! Thank you!

Over the last few months, some of you may have seen the name 'Peng Shuai' in the news or trending on the front page of Reddit. Some of you may have even heard of tennis pulling out of China, and wondered 'Hey, what's all that about?'. Here is the story of Peng Shuai, and how women's tennis decided to stand up for its players.

Background: Who is Peng Shuai?

Although not widely known, Peng Shuai is a very famous doubles player from China. A multiple doubles Grand Slam winner, Peng also made the US Open singles semi-final in 2014. Over a career that has spanned two decades, she racked up an impressive 25 titles, reached a career high ranking of No. 14 in singles, and held the position of World No. 1 in doubles (becoming the first Chinese player to do so). Alongside the likes of Li Na and Zheng Jie, she is considered one of the greatest tennis players to come out of China.

In early November 2021, Peng posted a lengthy message on Weibo, where she accused China's septuagenarian former Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexual assault. She related an incident where Zhang and his wife both invited her back to their apartment, where he essentially confined Peng to a room until she agreed to have sex with him. (Disclaimer: I cannot read Mandarin and am relying on this translation here - if there are any issues with the translation, please clarify in the comments!). In her post, she stated "That afternoon, I didn't agree and I kept crying. I was terrified and anxious. Taking into consideration the affection I had for you seven years ago, I agreed... yes, we had sex." Peng then went on to say that she and Zhang thereafter had a consensual relationship for a couple of years, with the consent and knowledge of his wife.

Peng's post was immediately scrubbed from the Internet, and searches for her name were temporarily blocked. Regardless, it spread like wildfire, with translations making their way out into other forms of social media. Peng disappeared from public view, and was not seen or heard from for several weeks, leading many to wonder if her disappearance was a result of the Chinese government or the Chinese Community Party (CCP) taking action.

Posters on social media began to raise questions about

#Greetings, Peasants.

##CURRENT MAINLINE PATCH: e1.6.5

##CURRENT BETA PATCH: e1.7.0

##LATEST DEV UPDATE: Future Plans

Welcome to the patch thread, we make these threads to save us another pin space for other things.

##Taleworlds forum bug reporting thread

##Mount and Blade Discord

##Link to wiki - Previous patches and threads inside

#Main e1.6.5

#Latest Changes:

##Singleplayer

###Crashes

Fixed a crash that occurred when inviting a party that was involved in a siege to an army.

Fixed a crash that occurred if the player party consisted of companions alone.

Fixed a crash that occurred when making peace through a kingdom decision while in an encounter.

Fixed a crash that occurred when a companion fought in a common area.

Fixed a crash that occurred while generating the "Scout Enemy Garrison" quest.

Fixed a crash that occurred due to corrupt issue data when settlement ownership changed.

Fixed a crash that occurred when transferring prisoners.

###Fixes

Fixed a bug that prevented emissaries from gaining charm experience after relation gain.

Fixed a bug that allowed the player to assign fugitive and recently released heroes as governors.

###Changes

Chinese language updates.

##Previous Beta Hotfixes:

##24/11/21

##Singleplayer

###Crashes

Fixed a crash that occurred when joining a battle.

Fixed a crash that occurred when loading a save game that was created just before an alley fight.

Fixed a crash related to the lowest graphics settings preset.

Fixed a crash related to issue generation that occurred upon load.

###Fixes

Fixed a DLSS issue that caused the screen to be partially rendered.

Fixed a menu bug with the tournament prize reroll.

###Changes

A 15 days cooldown was added for tournaments in the same city.

Regular tournament prize values are scaled according to the number of nobles that participated in the tournament.

##Modding

Tournament participants and prizes are now moddable.

##12/11/21

##Singleplayer

###Crashes

Fixed a crash that occurred if the player navigated b

TNG liked to do this thing where the characters' interpersonal problems were synecdoche for the larger morality play -- "it's forbidden to disturb new plants" -- and that's how a lot of the storytelling worked. A poker gambit to symbolize diplomacy or some other simile to miniaturize the larger plot.

Discovery does the opposite. It's about self-Discovery. I balked at how there were so many moments where a character "wasn't themselves" as the episode's primary crisis. Ash/Voq's internal duality, Saru's weirdness with the forest spirit planet, Stamets's dissociative mushroom cataracts period, Hugh's crisis of self after coming back from the upside down the mycelial network. But then I realized what was happening: the larger plot was symbolic of inter- and intra-personal conflicts of the characters, and these full mental breaks were each individual's climactic moment as they discovered themselves.

Burnham isolates herself and can't take help when it's offered. She feels responsible for the whole world. So the show, to symbolize that, makes her literally responsible for the whole world.

Stamets has trouble connecting with others, has a superiority complex, and he gets handed a Buddhist oneness with everything. An acid trip that lets him literally see the big picture.

Saru has an anxiety disorder built into his DNA, so he gets an opportunity to face his greatest fear, overcome it, and be rid of his anxiety.

Tilly... Tilly is honestly kind of a hamfisted look at autism. I think the third words out of her mouth were "special needs". I'm still figuring out how I feel about the character. I like the actress's portrayal but the way she's written bugs me a little, but I have some sensitivity about autism and the way it gets depicted in media and my own bias really clouds my judgement here.

At any rate, where the extremely high stakes of the show bothered me at first, I came to realize that the Klingon war plot, escaping the mirror universe, saving all life from runaway AI, these are just vehicles to carry the real plot, the journey inward, boldly going not to space, but into the self.

It's clumsy sometimes, but this interpretation has really turned me around on how and why the writers and directors make their choices and has helped me better frame my opinion of the show. I like it now, even if the Klingons in Season 1 sounded like and old man trying to get a piece of popcorn kernel unstuck from the back of his throat.

“There you are,” Zamira hissed.

Meyneth settled into her chair, beckoned Zamira inside her house, and waited as the Swordmaster stomped towards her. Granted, Zamira was more so stepping with slightly greater force than usual, but by her standards it was tantamount to a boar charging at full speed. It was mildly fascinating, the way her face struggled to retain its usual calm stoicism. Meyneth knew that she shouldn’t have found the sight as amusing as she did, and it took some effort to suppress the chuckle rising to the top of her throat. Zamira’s countenance was such a departure from her usual bearing that it bordered on absurdity.

Then Zamira’s eyes flashed with outrage, and Meyneth remembered that those slow to anger often exploded like a stack of Firebombs when finally pushed to their limit. She considered fleeing, but she’d delayed this meeting long enough already, and Zamira was faster regardless. Consigning herself to a potential demise, Meyneth placed her hands in her lap and kept a neutral expression as Zamira stopped mere inches in front of her, somehow managing to look down on Meyneth despite their height difference.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” Zamira asked, in a pointed tone. “It has been days since...since you...”

Red crept into her cheeks. “What in the name of all that is good and gracious were you thinking?!”

“That you are frustrated in more ways than one,” Meyneth replied, serene as the night sky. As long as she kept to the script, she might just make it through this conversation with her head still attached to her shoulders. “Furthermore, you were stagnating. A push was needed.”

“There’s an order to these things!” Zamira took a deep breath to calm herself. It didn’t seem to help very much. “As inexperienced as I am in the ways of romance, even I am aware that first impressions are paramount. You must put your best foot forward, endear yourself to them, gradually reveal your inner self, and express genuine intent when the time is right.”

Or lay everything bare and get on with it, Meyneth thought. That’s what worked for her. Granted, neither she nor any of her partners had expressed the slightest intention in forming emotional bonds with each other, but it wouldn’t have changed her approach regardless. Although she was forced to admit that the nature of her entanglements was due in large part to her conversational deficiencies, as well as the naked truth that no one in Dragonkin territory would have accepted real romantic o

That. In a sentence, that's why you lot stand out.

You think you've detonated a lot of nukes on your Homeworld? Let me fill you in on an open secret. I've been nuked more than that. I may or may not have actually stopped a Nuclear Armageddon by presenting myself as a target elsewhere. But you lot? When I showed up, you didn't even try to shoot me. You didn't need to be taught to use diplomacy, and you didn't need to be taught that violence won't work.

You did have a hell of a lot of stories about space warfare and politics and stuff. But the were just that - stories. Fictional stories. Hunger, thirst, adversity... all those only come to those who seek it nowadays. You actually asked for my help in delivering food to some nasty war that shall not be named that was going on at the time, too. You didn't even need to be taught that we could dump enough food on your planet to outmass it within a day. You'd deduced that for yourselves already.

Hell, you didn't even need to be told about Yzekimi... sorry, Dyson Spheres and Swarms. You'd figured all of that out already too. Only set of languages that don't use some form of it, forgive me for getting it wrong.

But yeah. Want somewhere else to live? Terraform a world using the power output of the nearest ten dozen stars, wait one week, voila. Need more resources? Deconstruct the nearest Brown Dwarf. More food? We'll send one of our portable Yzekimi Farms over to you. Moral conflict? What even is one of those? Good job on all of that. You have some real forward-thinkers in your population, let me tell you that.

I'm still impressed that you managed to figure all of that out before any of us twigged that you existed.

So yeah. Welcome to Post-Scarcity Society, Humanity!

President Baker delivered a scathing speech regarding the complicity of European states in Italy's suspension of democracy.

Italy performed a hitleresque move, similar to the burning of the Reichstag, banning democratically elected parties from the legislature. Such a measure is clearly a violation of democratic norms and is a stake driven into the heart of the European Union.

> sweeping move Salvini has used wartime measures to expel all left-winged parties from parliament, and has requested an arrest warrant be placed on his rival, People's Choice chairman Alessandro Camussi.

Such a measure is the clear action of a dictator. Following Salvini's retreat from NATO and now this, it is clear that Italy is a threat to Western norms.

As such the European Union's continued collaboration with Italy remains an insult to NATO and the democratic states of the world.

The Netherlands, Sweden and France have all now provided, or at least offered aid and support to the newest dictatorship in Europe. Such a move questions their commitment to democratic norms and ethics and highlights a troubling trend in Europe.

We demand that these countries suspend all support for the new Italian dictatorship, and begin the EU process similar to that taken against Hungary and Poland for violating key democratic norms. Europe cannot fall again to illegitimate dictators.

I'll be posting one update a day until HFY is caught up! In case you missed the previous topics:

Link to Chapter 84 (Part 1)

Link to Chapter 84 (Part 2)

Link to Chapter 85

--

<Rob,> Diplomacy urged. <Calm down.>

I’M SUPER CALM DON’T WORRY, Rob giggled. I MEAN WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL IT’S NOT LIKE SOMEONE WHO CAN LITERALLY SEE SOULS SAID I’M NOT HUMAN AND ALSO THAT I ATE A SOUL HAHA WHAT A FUNNY JOKE.

Diplomacy reached over and gave him the mental equivalent of a hard slap to the face. <There’s an explanation,> the Skill declared. <There’s *always* an explanation. Ask Helkath for further details – trying to fill in the blanks on your own will just drive you insane. Trust me, I can see Exhibit A of that eventuality playing out right in front of me.>

Rob bit his tongue. Hard. Push Through dulled its effect from a yell to a wince, but that small jolt of pain managed to be enough to shake him out of the mental spiral he’d been tumbling down. Rob inhaled, then exhaled, letting the stress flow out with his breath.

“I’ve got a lot of Corruption,” Rob said, causing the group of nine Fiends to tense in unison. “Like, a lot a lot. Maybe that’s throwing off your ‘eyesight’?”

“Corruption is a parasite,” Helkath hissed. “It drains souls, but it does not alter them.”

“Okay.” Rob drummed his fingers on the table. “Right. Helkath, when you look at my soul, what do you see?”

The Fiend bared his teeth in disgust. “A patchwork abomination,” he began. “Your soul – if it can truly be called one – is an amalgamation of disparate constructs that have been haphazardly mashed together into a facsimile of life. There is a ball of sentience at your core, but its purity has been...perverted by whatever foul process you’ve inflicted upon yourself. To describe it in terms that people lacking Soul Sight can comprehend, imagine a torso of living flesh with a beating heart inside. In place of functioning limbs, rotted legs and arms have been stitched onto your extremities, their movement possible only through the tugging of a puppeteer’s strings. Those limbs have additional limbs stitched on their knees and elbows, their forms misshapen and blurre

Hello chaps.

For the longest time I've been interested in making a thorough analysis of Fates' writing. It is a massive game with three distinct routes, a large cast of characters, and it sold well after a wave of hype following the release of Awakening. Yet in spite of this, it is by and large considered the worst written game in the series, and I want to dive deep and explore why that is the case.

Before I begin, I would like to address a few things and also explain the structure of this series.

"This horse was beaten to death in 2016, buried in 2017, dug up in 2018 to be beaten again, cremated in 2019, exorcized in 2020 and now you're trying to punch its ghost in 2021. Why?"

There are multiple reasons for this. The first is the simplest: I enjoy a good story and I also like talking about them. I also think that by addressing poorly written narratives and characters you get a newfound appreciation for ones that are written more competently.

Fates often gets defended by sweeping generalizations. "It's not that bad, people exaggerate", "people miss the point/the themes", "people can't read", "it's a story for teenagers so it's okay for it to be bad", "Fire Emblem isn't known for its stories anyway", etc. I think these kinds of excuses are improper in any serious discussion, and by making an analysis like this I want to detail why Fates is so often singled out as the worst written game in the franchise and show that it's not some kind of conspiracy or people being upset over unmet expectations.

I hope to make this analysis as thorough as I can and cover most issues. A single problem can be easily dismissed as an isolated flaw, but the problem with Fates is that due to its size, it's hard to get a complete overview of all the main issues. I think by going through it in this fashion, it's easier to get an understanding of how multi-layered and far-reaching the problems are.

I will only be discussing the writing, plot, characters, etc., unless there is a rare instance where I need to comment on gameplay elements which directly tie into the plot. Things like Conquest's good gameplay and the great OST aren't the subject of this analysis.

The structure

The current plan is the following:

1. Introduction and prologue (<--- you are here)

2. Birthright

3. Conquest

4. Revelation

5. Final thoughts on the main routes

6. Miscellaneous

As of writing this, I've not finished all sections, and it's likely I will need to split up the routes in di

This is a reply to this excellent post. If you haven’t read it, I strongly encourage you to read it first. The section mentioning the hybrid affinities also draws on u/dinotrex37’s equally excellent post on characterising the hybrid affinities.

I don’t intend this post as a criticism, though by necessity it will have to criticise a few of the conclusions of the Harmony manifesto. Rather, I’d be glad if this post is taken as a sign of appreciation for u/Batya_Khmel’s writing, and a desire to complement it by giving another perspective. Hopefully this means we now have two affinity manifestos, and I highly encourage anyone who’s an adherent of Supremacy to complete the set!

So, with that in mind, what’s the point of this post? Well, I want to lay out a series of arguments for why the Purity affinity is the best path for humanity in the future of Beyond Earth. This should be easy since Purity is definitely my favourite affinity to play and the one I sympathise with most, so let’s give it a go.

What is Purity about, as an affinity?

Batya_Khmel correctly sees each affinity as being a response: as one offered answer to questions like, “What caused the Great Mistake?”, “What should humanity’s relationship to the new planet be?”, and “What is the best vision of humanity’s future?” I want to tackle these questions from Purity’s perspective.

The Great Mistake

Let’s start with the first: the Great Mistake. In my experience this is usually where you find the harshest criticisms of Purity. Purity is accused of wanting to repeat the errors that led to the Great Mistake. “You have learned nothing!”, or so the other affinities say. It’s true that Purity is probably the most small-c conservative affinity, or the one most determined to preserve and protect pre-Mistake human culture, but I think it’s an unfair caricature to say that Purity has learned nothing. Rather, we need to take a closer look at exactly what the Great Mistake was, what lessons can be learned from it, and whether Harmony or Supremacy really have solutions to it. Batya_Khmel cites ‘greed and arrogance’ as causes of the Great Mistake, but can’t we be a bit more specific than that?

The game is deliberately vague around the Great Mistake, but we do have some clues about what it involved. We can put together a

Do your worst!

Alright Jason, it's time to stop feeling guilty about having unprotected sex with a native - after spending the last few days chastising them for doing exactly that - and focus on the task at hand.

And what a situation it was.

There was nothing quite like the smell of smoke combined with the acrid stench of popped roach. When combined with the laser holes and craters strewn across Mining Site Five’s industrial zone, it created the impression that a hell of fight had gone down.

One he was was glad he’d missed.

Part of him had been worried that the final push for the central mining nexus would end in one big ambush. Certainly, that had been the scuttlebutt going around camp prior to his deportation on his mission of diplomacy. Scuttlebutt that he’d known was mostly being perpetuated by the regiment’s aliens, ones who’d dealt with Roaches before and were a little perplexed by the meekness of the resistance they’d faced.

Of course, part of that could have been attributed to the enemy having next to no idea what to do about the regiment’s armored company. Tanks were a weapon system that hadn’t been seen on a modern battlefield in nearly two hundred years. And for all the reputation for ferocity the Roach’s held, they were at the end of the day little more than poorly equipped pirates. Not the sort of people who would be well situated to rapidly adapt to the sort of threat an outside context problem like heavy armor presented.

Still, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t have something prepared. And given that Mining Site Five was the single most important strategic location on the planet, if there was any place they were going to pull off some kind of final trick, it would be here.

Which was why a lot of people were wary of some kind of obscene final trap - like the entire colony being rigged to blow the moment the regiment rolled in.

Clearly that hadn’t happened.

Though apparently the Roaches had pulled something, given how Jason had spotted no less than four burnt out tanks situated outside the colony on his ride in. Clearly the fight for the colony hadn’t been bloodless. Which went someway to explaining the mood of most of the Marines he saw scattered around.

Rather than a feeling of celebration at hard earned victory… there was a certain tension in the air.

He couldn’t help but note the subtle tightening of the postures of the Marines guarding the entrance to the MC-L3 as he approached.

“Champion,” the two women acknowledged before stepping aside

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

Be me, Lvl 10 Halfling warlock/rogue.

Be not me, Half-orc fighter, Elven druid, and DM that I am married to irl

Backstory is I was given up in a demonic bargain but was SO DAMN CUTE the succubus decided to raise him instead of absorbing his pure soul.

Ends up with a weird sense of morality where he would do anything for those he likes and cares for, but wouldn't blink about murdering, robbing, or torturing a stranger.

When he was 17 his mom told him he needs "to spend some time with Mortals and get life experience" and zaps him to the material plain.

Butmoooom.jpg

Winds up outside a tavern meets rest of party

Time passes.

At our favorite tavern, drinking.

Local watchman walks in and drops a dead kobold on the floor "We have a problem"

My only problem is my empty glass.

Tells us kobolds are stealing children

I don't care

Tells us if kobolds are taking captives instead of loot it might mean there's a dragon about.

Still don't care

Fighter says the dragon would probably burn down the tavern which is my favorite one.

NOW I care

Decide to dress like a child and run around the woods while the other 2 follow.

Get captured, by a group of kobolds.

Put on a good show, crying and whining.

Say mommy at one point.

The magic crystal under my shirt says "yes sweetie?"

Oh shit.jpg

Kobolds fail their perception checks

Ask if I can make a nonverbal diplomacy to Garner sympathy. DM says yes, there's one with unique coloring (black and green) that looks like a good candidate.

Invoke bewitching stare to get bonus to diplomacy check.

Roll an 18. Total of 31

Yeah she's charmed.

Suspicious eyes

Walked into a cave, kobolds talking in draconic.

"What's going on?" Kobolds fail again

The black and green kobold reaches out and strokes my hair.

Narrow eyes at DMwife

She does this IN REAL LIFE.

Babble at guards to see if any reacts to my words.

BGK whispers "Be quiet or they'll hurt you."

Oh shit she speaks common.

Friends enter cave

Kobolds put me in a bucket. BGK and two more get get in with me the rest start lowering us down a hole.

Friends charge in, fighter decapitates one guard and it's head falls in the hole.

Other kobolds turn to look

This is my chance

Tackle BGK out of bucket, positioning her below me.

Crystal talks "Are you okay?"

We fall in water.

MFW I grew up in a place where all lakes are full of fire.

Start drowning BGK pulls me onto dry land.

Start threatening her.

Harrison Ford voice "Where are the children!?"

tell

Longtime lurker, first time poster here. I'm not too confident in my storytelling skills, but my session notes were starting to look an awful lot like a greentext after these last few hectic sessions, so I might as well share my experiences. Hopefully they'll appeal to at least some of you.

This is the story of how one PC managed to fuck up every single plotline in a campaign.

Some background first. (Mostly fluff beyond this point, feel free to skip.) I met this group a couple years back, and when I joined they had wrapped up a giant campaign just a few months earlier. Some of them wanted to play around in a new system, so our current GM sent out a Mutants & Masterminds + Fate hack that was put together more for creating oddball OCs in tabletop form than it was for game balance, and we all just started churning out characters and throwing them into one-or-two-session quests.

Some highlights:

- A fourth-wall aware horny bard made specifically to annoy another player

- An empath who once patted their own head like a car salesman slapping the roof of a car and announced "This baby can fit so much goddamn emotional repression!"

- A skeletal revenant made specifically to annoy the player who made the horny bard

- An even hornier bard, made in retaliation

- A teleporter whose name their player forgot because we kept calling them Taxi

- A character who spoke in only Owo-isms, after which the GM threatened creative physical harm on anyone who made another character specifically to annoy a fellow player

(Background fluff over, thank you for your patience)

We used the Planescape-adjacent multiverse setting which was also used in the campaign I wasn't present for, so there was pretty much no need to explain any individual character's weirdness. They're from another world, get off their dick.

So, when we eventually started favoring a group of characters enough that we started thinking of them as, you know, our characters, they ended up being an odd bunch. As an experiment, I'll be referring to them by titles instead of names, since I find that easier to keep track of.

- Mecha-Lich: A wizard from a post-apocalyptic world whose soul is sealed inside a robot body, nearly useless in combat but incredibly good at cheesing puzzles and diplomacy. Despite being both a mad scientist and wizard, acts as the voice of reason.

- Stormtrooper: A jaded low-level grunt from a sci-fi dystopia. Mainly built for close-quarters combat with shotgun

Ugh, another season of Voyager where they're trying to get home.

Ugh, anther season of DS9 about faith and politics.

Ugh, another season of TNG about exploration and diplomacy.

Ugh, another season of Enterprise about being a newly space-faring species.

Ugh, another season of Lower Decks about friendship and emotional growth.

Ugh, anther season of TOS about cowboy fights and morality plays.

After 4 seasons can we just say the show is about galactic level threats? There's 10 other star trek shows about other stuff, but that's what this one is about. Big movie-level threats in beautiful modern ultra HD with hella good CG. That's the whole point. Wishing and bitching it was not the show it is is just annoying at this point.

I'm sure you wish you didn't have to peel your orange, but it's not an apple and no amount of winging will make it into one.

Getting my shaman ready for SSC I was thinking what would happen in this world in the aftermath of illidan's defeat

its shameful that Outland has received only a token amount of new lore since the expansion concluded

These are my developing ideas I welcome critique and alternative proposals, each of these points deserve their own dedicated posts to be fully fleshed out

1. The remaining Naga and their krokrul collaborators would be exterminated
2. The Cenarion circle would start recalling expedition members while plenty would stay behind for long-term study and restoration projects "they would definitely need to hire technicians to reverse engineer the Naga pumps"
3. Goblins and ethereals would compete over the best mining and scavenging locations
4. Shattrah continues to serve as outland's largest city, trade hub, and meeting site for diplomacy "the influx of refugees from all over made the place very cosmopolitan"
5. Krokrul and some dreanei flock to Black temple to start rebuilding their civilization, which mostly ignores affairs on azeroth while being much more friendly to the alliance than horde
6. Forsaken as part of a popular public relations effort sends most of it's apothecaries not involved in the plague to Outland to help work on a cure for fel orcs
7. The Mag'har and new horde Roundup or hunt the remaining Illidari orcs, to try to rehabilitate them "progress is slow and tough"
8. Original alliance expedition members are horrified upon learning about the third war effect on the Northern kingdoms , many can't accept the fact that humanity would inflict such evil upon itself. Thus plenty of its members especially those born in outland and the elves decide to not return to azeroth
9. The horde and alliance officially are at peace in Outland, for the most part their people there just don't interact with each other
10. Arakkoa of lower City start searching the dark hidden places of the planet for their surviving kin, once they redeemed enough of them they match towards Skettis with aid from the Shattari sky guard

Edit: until Outland continuing to deteriorate is more than a one-off line from a BFA cinematic I don't take it into consideration

Edit2: I never have put much stock into legion lore as all it does is bring up plot holes "the only thing I liked about it was how the dark lady was actually morally Gray"

#Types of people in online Foreign Policy Discussions

The Ledditor

• Sometimes skims over what average leftist and average liberal write and just repeat an extremely watered down version

• Will comment something about oil, guns, healthcare, the military industrial complex, 'bombing brown people' or the military budget whenever America comes up

• Will comment "Lol Winnie the Pooh" whether China comes up, as well as one or two lines about how bad the CCP is

• Will repeat average leftist or average liberal's views of any other countries as well which they don't know a lot about

• Hates religion, will take every opportunity to blame all religion

• Takes a negative view on the vast majority of great power countries, small countries that do nothing like New Zealand are basically paragons of virtue though

• While they aren't full throated Communists, will blame any leftist government failing that isn't full tankie on the US

• Will refuse to cite any sources (except if you're lucky a Twitter thread) and will refuse to read any of your sources

• Will respond to you by calling you dumb and a CIA/CCP/Whatever country you're defending shill without actually responding to your points. Will get infinite upvotes but no downvotes whatsoever

• Will insist on black and white narratives

• Primary news source is the headlines on worldnews

• Never bothers reading past the headlines

The Leftist

• Shares lots of the same views with average ledditor but a bit more developed. Instead of "America is going in for oil" you get something about the petrodollar. Instead of something about Raytheon profits you get something about the military industrial complex and, who can forget,

• "The media is manufacturing consent"

• Claims to have read Chomsky, actually read the Sparknotes version

• "War is a racket". Always cites that one general from the early 20th century to prove their point

• Any and every leftist government failing is due to the CIA and evil US sanctions

• Can be weirdly nationalistic for certain countries

• "Hamas bombing Israel is like a rape victim punching their abuser"

• Will side with anyone and everyone who takes action against "American imperialism"

• Including Russia and China

• Especially China

• Will reflexively support every protest, unless it's in an "anti imperialist country", in which case they will oppose the "color revolution" which was formented by CIA agents

• Primary news source is Jacobin

The Libe

First : Previous : Next : My Other Stories

Burners: Onyx

“I’m telling you, my little runaway lover, there’s no summer for me. Nothing but winter desolation since you’ve been gone.”- Light of Aidan, Lament

Chapter 15

“Long ago, a species of arrogant scorpions deigned themselves the shepherds of this universe. They mixed religion and science, seeking to prove their own dogmas. They sculpted the life of the galaxy to their ideals, guiding hands they called themselves, constraining is what I’d call them and when nature answered their arrogance they dropped their artificial dolls with all the glee of a small child finding something new. They burned for it.”

***

The Albion dropped out of slip space, a ripple of discomfort racing through the human crew. Avery sat in the Captain’s chair and looked out at the system, frowning heavily. ONI spooks had boarded the ship along with several Spartans, though so far the 343rd had managed to keep them away from the kids. Avery had her hands full tracking the would be overseers as they stomped around the ship as if they owned it. The Covenant had more of a claim to it then ONI and she’d stolen it, under Sheila’s orders, so that made it theirs.

“Hats, we’re going to be training on world but using the ship as barracks. Get extra security systems up and running. I’m taking pressure sensors in the floors, cameras, sonar, microphones, I want the entire ship under watch. ONI will sabotage us, kill someone or kidnap someone sooner rather than later and that includes Huragok.” Avery wished she’d had more time but time was something nobody had much of, not even the god that was the UNSC it seemed.

“I’ve already got people on it.” Hats typed back quickly and Avery gave him a tired smile before looking down at the planet of Onyx.

“Anything interesting on sensors?” Avery asked and Hats let out a series of clicks she recognized as confirmation.

“Yup! The planet is hollow.” Hats typed out and Avery paused before looking at the planet and trying to ignore the unease in her stomach.

“Right, well Hats I’m going to need you to do me a favor. Wh

Everything old was new again. She realized that now.

“I love tanks,” Cleff announced to the world at large.

“So you have said ma’am.” Puta responded from over by the planning table. “Repeatedly.”

Cleff didn’t care. She’d say it as many times as she felt like. Though, being the magnanimous commanding officer that she was, she resisted the urge to announce her love for vehicular combat again quite so soon after the most recent reconfirmation. Instead, her eyes roamed over the holographic display in front of her.

The collection of icons representing her regiment had pushed far ahead of those representing her allies, while those representing the enemy had been scattered in all directions.

And as much as she’d like to put that result down to her superior strategic acumen, as well as the skills of her soldiers, she knew that most of the credit for her achievements were the result of a dire mismatch in equipment.

In short, the Roaches just didn’t have an answer to her heavy armor and were still reeling from their presence on the battlefield.

Certainly, they might have been able to concoct such a response - if she had given them the opportunity to regroup, re-arm and formulate a strategy to do so.

…But she hadn’t.

Since the very first engagement, she’d pushed her regiment to the limits in the name of keeping the Roaches off guard. Driving them before her like a herd of Kell before a swarm of hunters, while using her exos to chase down and eliminate any that tried to scatter away from the main force.

Certainly, she didn’t have the entirety of the Roach presence on Raknos-Three caught in her proverbial net – that would be absurd - but it was a significant portion of the enemy’s forces. Significant enough that the Roach command element couldn’t afford to let them be overrun and wiped-out without being rendered strategically defunct.

Which was why they’d been facing increasingly desperate rear-guard actions from the enemy, as more enemy troops redeployed to her theater from across the planet, before subsequently being thrown at her in a desperate attempt to slow her down and give the main enemy force some breathing room.

Something she resolutely refused to allow to happen.

As evidenced by the slight lethargy and fatigue in the eyes of her officers as they shuffled around the room.

Not the Humans though, she noted as she glanced at her guards, standing tall in and proud in each corner of the room. The aliens are still looking as fresh as ever.

Goddes

I made a post a while back trying to discuss how the Crusade and such would be affected by having the primarchs land on different homeworlds. The core of it being that the Emperor discovers his sons in order of the original planet order. Another important fact is that while the Terran Born Marines of each Legion stay with their Primarch, all Marines that were discovered from the Homeworld now go to their new primarch.

Sanguinus on Cthonia - First Found, and therefore trained extensively by the Emperor, becoming the Crusade's figurehead, the face of the Imperium as a shining Angel. the 9th Legion, originally the Revenants becomes named the Lunar Angels, possibly the Angels Resplendant. Sanguinius bing there so early in the Legion's history means he moulds fast, and there is never a reputation as a Legion of Bloodthirsty Monsters. Later named the Sons of Sanguinius when elevated to Warmaster.

Important Marines of the Legion include Azkaellon, Horus Aximund, Garviel Loken, and Nassir Amit

Magnus on Fenris - Second Found, Magnus crash landed upon the Death World of Fenris, where he sailed down as a comet, an Omen of sorts that set about great changed. Found by a Shaman spurred on by visions of a great being, the single Shaman, then named Ogadyn, had discovered the Crimson Child. While initially fearful of this strange, floating infant, the child had sensed the apprehension due to his psychic nature, and shifted his skin tone to one more akin to the native Fenrisians, keeping his crimson hair. Ogadyn raised Magnus, and sensed how drenched in psychic potential Magnus was, and trained him in the ways of the Shaman, those of Fenris who could call to the Warp. Magnus took well to his lessons. He learned the traditions of the Rune Priests, of the World Spirit of Fenris. Unbeknownst to both Master and Student at the time, the Shamanistic traditions and the idea of their powers coming from the Spirit of Fenris somewhat mirrored the practice of World-Singing used by Exodite colonies on Eldar Maiden Worlds. These Rune Priests, through their traditions and shamanistic practices, could essentially use Fenris's World Spirit as a psychic filter which let them tap deep into the Immaterium for Power. Magnus the Shaman King grew quick, his knowledge and Pyschic might tempered by the teachings of Ogadyn and the ways of the Rune Priests travelled across Fenris, gathering those hermitting Shaman groups into whole tribes, wishing to unite all of Fenris. Warriors and

I'll be posting one update a day until HFY is caught up! In case you missed the previous topics:

Link to Chapter 84 (Part 1)

Link to Chapter 84 (Part 2)

--

On the next day, the Fiends returned with their decision, and – rather unsurprisingly – acquiesced to Rob’s demands. In exchange for full disclosure of the purpose for their journey southward, and for the exact mechanics of how their Blight barrier functioned, and for their best physicians to make an earnest attempt at restoring his Soul-Burnt arm, Rob would divulge the secrets of Crystal Bearer and explain his theory on how to cure Corruption. Their next meeting was scheduled to take place in the early afternoon; Rob and some Elves were already hard at work setting up a rendezvous point that would act as sufficiently neutral ground.

For Meyneth, this represented a small window of opportunity within which to act. Keira, as per usual, would be joining the meeting as a member of Rob’s guard detail. That left Meyneth the span of a single morning to corner their wayward Warrior and have a long-overdue discussion regarding matters of the heart. Perhaps the timing was ill-advised, what with Keira taking part in a critical gathering mere hours after their dialogue would finish, but if Meyneth put off this confrontation every time there was a stressful event in the imminent future, then they would never have it at all. More to the point, Meyneth was by now rightly convinced that Keira might never solve this matter on her own. The world would hardly sit and wait for her to work up her courage. Too much longer and she may miss her chance altogether.

Meyneth would be the first to admit that she was not a typical Dragonkin, but she was still a Dragonkin. Frontal assaults held a perpetual and undeniable allure. The core difference between her and many of her brethren was that she recognized the wisdom in constructing a plan before charging forth into uncharted territory.

Step 1: ‘Enlist Help’ was vital, and without it, Meyneth’s endeavor would have been stillborn in its conception. The backbone of any plan was to recognize what you could and could not accomplish on your own. Meyneth’s contribution to this endeavor would be her general forthrightness and her friendship with Keira and Rob. She was willing, able,