blah the Prussian

And that, my dear boy, is where you and I differ. The King and Queen should have loved their country more than their daughter. If that meant killing her, so be it. Also, the baby would be under a regency. Elsa's actions might have made sense, but that doesn't make them right. As a queen, she should have grinned and bore it. And none of that excuses damning her country to a freezing hell while singing about it. For further discussion, please go to the thread I opened in the entertainment section.

Fair enough, I suppose, but I really don't see anyone following her with her cassus belli being "I can feel it."

It's entirely possible for someone to be putting up a facade. Arvis in FE4 did it. I think the game said that her fortune telling abilities can't be summoned at will. I could be wrong though; it's been a long time since I played RD.

If Chewbacca was revealed to be Luke's father in Star Wars, it would be unexpected. Does that make it a good twist? No. It could have worked if Hans had mentioned being last in the line of succession before we knew he was evil, because he has a motive to kill Elsa. The main problem with Elsa is that she pisses all over her responsibilities as Queen. She is too cowardly to face her problems, so she runs away. If she couldn't handle her duties, she should have abdicated and passed the throne to Anna. Elsa is one of the most incompetent, idiotic, and entitled characters ever. During the Let it go song, every time she shoots out some ice, there goes an entire family's livestock. And after? She goes back to living in her palace like nothing happened. Hell (and this may be the part of me made ruthless from hours of CKII), Hans would have made a better monarch. He was never shown hurting the common people, and was a decisive leader. He also was one of the best manipulators this side of the House of Hapsburg. He would have been a great king.

The DB didn't know about the Blood Pact for quite a while, yet still went along with Pelleas in the war. To be fair, it's entirely possible that the course you took was overly centered on America, which wouldn't surprise me.

The Serbs held out for two years against Austria-Hungary when A-H were fighting off a massive Russian offensive in Galicia and there were plenty of rivers that provided the Serbs with excellent defensive positions. When the Bulgarians entered the war, they fell quite easily. The Germans had to get involved because the Italians entered the war, and Austria-Hungary had to shift even more soldiers from the Serbian front to fight them. Wilhelm II was nutty, but he had little power in practice. According to the German constitution, he could appoint a Chancellor, but the Chancellor did most of the heavy lifting. All he wanted for Germany was what the UK and France already had. It is hypocritical to call him an aggressor. FDR was naive to think Stalin would respect the rights of the people of Eastern Europe, but America did very well in WWII, while in WWI, America won with hugely disproportionate casualties. The idea of self determination itself is a flawed one. It assumed that the Hapsburgs couldn't rule over the various ethnicities of their empire because they were different, which is a racist assumption and one that reared it's ugly head when the Serbs committed outright genocide against the rest of Yugoslavia, which the Hapsburgs never did. Finally, FDR did many other good things like stopping the Great Depression. Wilson's legacy is pretty much limited to the League of Nations, who were notoriously ineffective at stopping power hungry dictators. If the Allies had crushed Germany utterly, it would have been very easy for Stalin to roll over it, take France, and control Europe. Then where would we be? We were incredibly lucky that there were two totalitarian dictatorship in Europe who hated each other so they would cancel each other out. If, however, there were merciful conditions, then the German Republic (or maybe Empire) would have stood proudly alongside France and Britain against Stalinism. The best option by far. As for the Kims, agreed, but that seems more to be an issue of underestimation. Also, they are not manipulating the Chinese. China wants a buffer state, North Korea fits the bill. It's that simpl.

I actually tried embedding the images, but the forum wouldn't let me post it. It only worked when I used links.

Bah! The fools of Jugdral, Tellius, Archanea, Valm, and Elibe will fall before the might of the Blitzkrieg! Actually, you know what? That's what I want from the game's story. FE characters vs the Nazis!

Continued from the Wings of Courage feedback. Okay, Eclipse, here's your link: http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=50767&page=8

And the people had a damn good reason to be afraid. How would you feel if Obama had ice powers and could freeze anyone who opposed him? Admittedly, that would maybe make Congress go a bit smoother, but that's beside the point. Her parent's biggest mistake was not making Anna heir. The reasoning for this is obvious. Now, Elsa really should have figured out that she had caused a never ending winter when she looked out of her ice palace and saw everything below her covered in snow. Then, she was informed of this by Anna, and so she sliced her pet Abominable Snowman on her. Now, her parents were doing the right thing. They displayed true courage when they put the needs of their country above the needs of their daughter. Even if it proved to be ineffective, they were still my favorite characters. The fact that they died before they really could see the effect it was having helps her case, too. Finally, Hans wasn't a good plot twist because there was no evidence for it. It would be like if in Star Wars, C3P0 turned out to actually be the Emperor. It would come completely out of left field, but it would still fail as a plot twist. In regards to Ludveck, fair enough. I was just trying to point out that Elincia isn't exactly being the image of wisdom here. Also, it honestly doesn't strike me as something Micaiah would do trying to overthrow an evil monarch. After all, she went along with what Pelleas was doing when he seemed to be acting evil.Chamberlain was the PM of the UK during the late 1930s. He followed a policy of appeasement, which was basically letting the Nazis have what they wanted as long as they didn't have Britain. He is considered one of the biggest idiots in British history. RE the Frozen conversation, agreed. I'll open up a thread in the Entertainment section.

Thoughts on the story: it's a lot easier to sympathize with the Crimean Revels when Daein is actually going down the batshit insane revanchenistic route. Elincia is kinda acting like Neville Chamberlain here. Thoughts on Frozen: Where to start? I really don't like it. In my mind, Elsa is a bad queen. A queen is supposed to live for her people, not run off on some quest to live in an ice castle! Elsa is being ridiculously selfish when she does what she does. She is abandoning her people instead of sucking it up and doing her duty. The price of living in a palace is sacrificing everything for your country, even and especially your happiness. If Elsa couldn't deal with that, fine, but formally abdicate and hand the throne to your sister rather than running away. And if you absolutely must run away, don't fucking cover your kingdom in ice that destroys it's economy and probably caused a good amount of people to freeze to death! Though it could come in handy if the Nazis invade I suppose... Regarding Hans, he was predictable the moment the poor guy came into the picture. Anna, as a Disney princess, is contractually obligated to marry the poor guy over the rich guy. Of course, they couldn't very well make her ditch Hans for no reason, so they made him evil. I feel like his villainy was completely unneeded to the plot, and only existed so that Anna wouldn't look like a bitch for dumping him. Really, the movie didn't need a human antagonist. It would be much better if it was about Elsa and Anna alone.

I'd want a story entirely shaped by the player. In Awakening, the Avatar wash't really an Avatar- he/she was an established character whose looks and name you could change. I want complete control over the Avatar's characterization.

Hi all, welcome bcd to Pokemon Firered! Last time, we beat Brock, this time, we will come face to face with straw feminists and bizarre cults dedicated to Shorts! https://imageshack.com/i/exVNLioFj Oh crap, it's Oak's aid! He must be here to recapture me! https://imageshack.com/i/exV8r6Zej YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://imageshack.com/i/ipaAGczMj Hah! My indomitable resolve scared him off! Run, coward, run! All shall flee before the mighty Dogson! https://imageshack.com/i/f0Lfm4yUj Oh god, what horrid truths could be hidden within this letter? The truth behind the JFK assassination? The news that we are all secretly ponies from that kid's show my sister likes too much? The news that there will be a SEQUEL TO THE ROOM?! https://imageshack.com/i/idopqZUej https://imageshack.com/i/ipueV7otj https://imageshack.com/i/p9wpn5cfj No, it's just a letter from Mom. She encourages me to never give up in my unending fight against Professor Oak... or something. https://imageshack.com/i/eyxARacGj Anyway, heading out onto the route, I was confronted by the worst horror of all... a straw feminist! These terrifying creatures haunt the comment sections of Youtube in their everlasting battle with the Mens Rights Activists, while the rest of us merely look on in awe of the stupidity of it all. https://imageshack.com/i/eypLbdP7j This bug catcher claims to be from Viridian Forest. I don't seem to remember him... come to think of it, my memory of about half of Viridian Forest is extremely iffy. I wonder why that could be? https://imageshack.com/i/ex64FUUhj https://imageshack.com/i/idcBjxmuj Straw feminists and Bug Catchers out for revenge were not the only obstacles I would have to face to reach Mount Moon, however. No, there was also the terrifying Shorts Cult, a group of Youngsters dedicated to the worship of shorts. Great, as if the Otherkin and the Scientologists weren't enough, now we have to deal with short cultists, too?! https://imageshack.com/i/idWhZGP6j Oh God, no! Another Short Cultist! Get away from me! I'm not interested in this crazy faith of yours! https://imageshack.com/i/idasVc54j This guy, on the other hand, is completely normal, merely wanting a good battle. Leave while you still can! The Straw Feminists or the Short Cutists will get you! https://imageshack.com/i/f08Nou5Dj This girl, too, doesn't seem affiliated with the Straw Feminists. That gives me hope. (Note: I might as well use this time to put up a disclaimer: I fully support mainstream feminism. I am merely objecting to the Straw Feminists who give ammo to people like Rush Limbaugh. Note that I also inserted a jab at MRAs.) https://imageshack.com/i/p8NrBTNwj Down here is a patch of grass. This is a good thing. There is a Pokemon there I want. https://imageshack.com/i/f0dYE3Olj Unfortunately, I was ambushed by another Straw Feminist. Guderian and Vorbeck made short work of her miserable excuses for Pokemon. https://imageshack.com/i/p58hI654j And here is the Pokemon I want: Nidoran Male. It evolves enough to remain good throughout the game, and it's final evolution looks badass. https://imageshack.com/i/pcURQqVdj Nidoran, you are hereby christened The State. Why The State, you ask? Well, Nidoran's final evolution is Nidoking. King Louis XIV of France was a famously autocratic ruler, who centralized France and did a lot to decrease to power of the nobility. Unfortunately, his grandson Louis XV screwed it all up, but that's besides the point. Anyway, Louis had a famous quote where he said "I am the state!', claiming divine right to rule. Louis was a badass king, and so my Nidoran references him. It's people like him who make Revolutionaries piss their pants in fear. https://imageshack.com/i/exi15hvaj After some grinding, this is the status of team Dogson. https://imageshack.com/i/f0nSYrbtj Will Dogson escape the Straw Feminists and the Short Cultists? Will he defeat Professor Oak? Will he be swamped by thousands upon thousands of annoying Zubats in Mount Moon? Find out next time, except for the last one, because if you don't know the answer to that, shame on you.

Actually, Fascism was mostly his fault. Not making this up. The Italians, when they joined the war, were promised a bunch of Austria-Hungary's land. When Wilson stepped in, he basically said "Nope! I know you were promised this land, but I'm gonna give it to the Serbs instead to feel good about myself, despite the Serbs doing absolutely zilch to earn that land!" Then, when Mussolini came along, he used that blatantly broken promise to rally the Italians to his side. (Not that I support Mussolini or anything). Wilson, I think, didn't intend to fuck everything up so badly, but he essentially tried to enforce his vision of Europe's future without knowing a thing about European geopolitics. For example, he calmed Alsace-Lorraine should be restored to France, but forgot to mention that it was majority German at the time, and Germany annexed it after a war of aggression started by Napoleon III. Clemenceau didn't want Germany to suffer- he wanted Prussia, Bavaria, Hanover, the Rhineland, and Saxony to suffer. Yeah. He wanted to Balkanize Germany. On Wilhelm II, the next time I see BBC devote an ENTIRE EPISODE of a WWI documentary to his psyche without mentioning any other leader, I'm going to throw a wrench through the TV.

But Zhukov was awesome :(. He saved Russia from the Nazis and would rip any FE protagonist ever a new one in his T-34!

I'm using Imageshack right now. Do the links not work?

Wait, there was a character named after Adolf Hitler's second in command, and one named after the most badass general ever to grace Russia's military? Man, Marth is lucky he wasn't facing the real Zhukov, or else he'd be screwed.

Chapter 6 The War against the Ottomans The Ottoman Empire was a nation on the decline. In the 1870s it had suffered a disastrous defeat against Russia in the Russo-Turkish war, where they had lost territory in the Caucasian Mountains to Russia. In 1808, the Principality of Bulgaria declared independence. It was technologically backwards, and there were Arab and Slavic nationalists threatening the Empire’s integrity. In 1910, however, with its arch enemy Russia engaged in a war with Austria-Hungary, the Turks saw their chance to strike. It was not merely opportunism that lead the Turks to go to war. They had had strong economic ties with the British ever since the Germans had joined with the Russians. A British soldier, T.E. Lawrence, was training Turkish soldiers to Fight with modern weapons. When Britain joined the war, they demanded that the Turks join them. The Turks proposed a bargain: The British would make for them two Dreadnoughts with which to fight the Russian Black Sea fleet. In 1910, these dreadnoughts were completed. As a result in August of 1910, the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Russian Empire, the German Empire, and the Kingdom of Italy. T. E. Lawrence, Ottoman Empire, 1910 Ottoman troops advanced into the Caucasian mountains. However, the region was mountainous enough that the Ottoman offensive stalled, and the Russians were able to bring reinforcements in time to stop the assault. On September 1, the Russian counteroffensive started. It too, however, was stalled by the mountains. The Caucasian front was a stalemate. It’s only practical effect was to force the Russians to divert troops from the offensive against the Austrians, allowing the Hapsburgs to hold on. Ottoman soldiers also pushed into Russian occupied Persia. This was the Turk’s most threatening offensive, as they could encircle the Russian forces fighting in India. The Russians were forced to dispatch soldiers to block the Turks. While successful, this operation forced the Russians to let up their offensive in India. Ottoman troops on the offensive, Caucasian Mountains, 1910 In the Balkans, the Russians had a trump card. At the urging of the Russians, Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria declared war on the Turks, and by extension the Entente. In Greece, King Constantine was all too eager to aid Kaiser Wilhelm, who was his brother in law. These two nations were in a position to threaten the Turkish capitol of Constantinople. Their offensive, however, would be stalled by an individual who will become very important later: Ottoman general Mustafa Kemal Pasha. Kemal, using British equipment, was able to successfully defend most of Rumelia against the Greeks and Bulgarians. This defense continued well into 1912. Mustafa Kemal Pasha In Libya, the Italians launched an invasion with the aim of taking the region. This invasion, however, was complicated by T.E. Lawrence, who had taken command of Ottoman troops in Libya. Lawrence did an excellent job of rallying the people of Libya to the Ottoman cause. Though the Italians did take Tripoli, Lawrence’s troops kept them from taking Bengasi, Libya’s other major city, and the Libyan countryside was filled with Arab militias. Libya, like the rest of the war, was a stalemate. In August 1911, the Russians transferred a huge amount of troops into Persia for an offensive against the Turks. The offensive was successful, and by October the Ottomans were pushed out of Persia entirely. The Russians then moved on to Mesopotamia. However, they were stopped at the Tigris River in November, before taking Baghdad. This offensive also allowed the Russians to go on the attack in the Caucasus, taking Armenia in late November. The Ottoman Empire was coming apart. In 1912, after two years of trench warfare, a combined Bulgarian, Serbian, Romanian, Greek, Russian, and German offensive finally broke the stalemate in Thrace. On June 2, 1912 the offensive began, capturing Gallipoli and putting Constantinople at risk. Despite the best efforts of Mustafa Kemal, Constantinople fell, for only the second time in five centuries, on July 5, 1912. The Ottomans sued for a separate peace the following day. The terms of the Treaty of Constantinople were harsh. Turkey would cede northern Thrace to Bulgaria, Southern Thrace to Greece, and Macedonia would be divided between the three. It would also cede Constantinople and the Greek parts of Anatolia to Greece. Armenia would go to Russia. Finally, a Russian administered protectorate would be established in the Holy Land, and the Kingdom of Iraq would be placed under Russian protection. Finally, and true to form, the Turks would pay reparations. Like most of the treaties ending the Great War, the consequences of this one would be disastrous. The territorial disputes over Macedonia and Thrace, particularly between Bulgaria and Greece, were many. All across the world, though, Orthodox Christians took the moment to celebrate what was to become a new holiday: Reconquest Day. King Constantine was crowned Emperor of all the Greeks in the newly restored Haiga Sophia in Constantinople. Many Orthodox Christians moved to the new Russian protectorate in Palestine, to the chagrin of Palestinian Muslims. Tzar Nicholas II also allowed Jews to move to the Holy Land, perhaps in an attempt to make amends for centuries of Pogroms. In the defeated Ottoman Empire, dissatisfaction with the monarchy reached an all time high. Mustafa Kemal, meanwhile, had become enamored with the ideology of Communism. He began to advocate for a dictatorship of the Proletariat, with himself at the helm, of course.

So they took parts of Johto and just arranged them however they damn well pleased? Jag old, give me my childhood back!

As in a really good plot twist, or the plot in General going in a direction you didn't expect?

You know, being biased in a debate isn't a bad thing. Actually, you're kind of fucked if you're not biased.

Yeah, and the Allies should have done something about that. The Crimean nobles were right to be worried, though I admit that the allies example was a bad analogy. Hell, it would have been better had Begnion retained control, so long as they didn't have a giant dick like Jarod in power. The British and German SOLDIERS had a truce. High Command for both sides tried to stop it.

Eh, Radiant a Dawn was ruined because everyone was a moron. Like what they did with Daein would be like if the Allies invited Heinrich Himmler to be the next Chancellor of Germany after WWII. A dragon has the potential to ruin the whole thing though, because odds are that'll make the two factions band together, which is no fun.

That's actually a really cool idea. I hope it's monarchy vs democracy, because then I can kick corrupt politicians through the walls. Interestingly enough, the Napoleonic Wars were wars where, in my mind, both sides were sympathetic. Based on what we already know, as long as no stupid evil god tries to kick puppies or laugh at the homeless or something, I'll be happy.