blah the Prussian

Yes, glory to Thracia. We are a hard people, existing just north of the decadent Alexandrian successor states and south of the tribes of Dacia. We are an old tribe, with a long history of resisting invaders, from the Greeks to Xerxes's Persians. And yet, at times, our resolve falters, when we were shamefully conquered by the pale Celts, and the Persians of Darius. We aligned towards Macedonia when the Romans invaded Greece, and yet, we failed, and Rome incorporated us into their vast empire. Still, the Thracian peoples had a good run, surviving as long as we did even when surrounded by much larger empires, from the Persians to the Macedonians to the Romans. As such, I am proud to say: GLORY TO THRACIA!

Eeeh... the Butterfly effect says otherwise. If the Wii U had been more successful it's impossible to say how long it would have lasted, and what Nintendo would have done when it's lifespan was over. But this is the Alternate History.com member here talking.

I like Gunter as a veteran British officer. Backstory idea: he was a veteran of WWI who was disillusioned by the carnage of trench warfare. However, the more he looked at the rise of the Nazis, the more he saw a true evil he would die to protect King and Country from. Now, marching against the Hitlerite scum, Gunter at last has a cause he's proud to die for.

This comes out in March. My birthday is March 29. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we call destiny.

Oh my god.Oh my god. Sun and Moon are the Emperor Meiji of Pokemon. Seriously. The game could make no other changes and still be one of the best generations ever for that change alone (second to gen 4 for the physical special split).

UNESCO is a garbage organization anyway. All they do is designate certain places where you're not allowed to build bathrooms. They're a huge annoyance here in Prague since basically all of the center was designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site, so you have to leave that to shit.

So I'm going to update this despite the double post, if that's okay. This one, incidentally, has a massive plot twist, and I'm interested to know what you all think. Chapter 12: Something or other The army reaches the gates of the Capitol(which I decided is named Nuvalum). General Euxpray has breached the walls, but in doing so she has left her camp vulnerable to a surprise attack, which the group are all too happy to provide. This map uses what I'm tentatively calling reverse fog of war, where you can see the enemy's line of sight, and victory depends on catching them by surprise. There could also be enemies with huge stat penalties until some amount of turns in, to simulate being caught by surprise. Chaoter 13: Battle of Nuvalum With the army surrounded, Euxpray orders her troops to loot the town and attempt to break out. Thus, the bulk of the army moves away while thieves ransack the city. The player can either save buildings for money and some extremely powerful weapons, or attack the fleeing soldiers for exp. Any soldiers that escape will also be evenly spread across later maps where Aramea is the enemy. After doing what the player chooses, Honoria and Genseric enter the palace. Chapter 14: General Matilda Euxpray Honoria and Genseric enter the palace to find that Emperor Constantius is defending the throne room from Euxpray with Empress Katherina and Prefect Eleftherios. Euxpray goes on the defensive, and, despite her personal guard putting up a spirited defense, she is defeated and captured. As she is led away, she tries to use magic to attack Genseric one more time, but her strike is blocked by Eborin. Genseric is happy at first, but... Chapter 15: Betrayal Eborin turns around and blasts the Emperor with light magic, revealing himself as the Archbishop of Gallicanism (the Archbishop in prior cutscenes was a double). He then steals the Fire Emblem, which allows the wielded to channel the dead, and turns and runs away, pursued by Genseric and Honoria. When they reach the city, however, they find that Eborin and his light mages have disguised themselves as civilians. The player must talk to civilians to out them (you can attack after talking) but at the same time, some mages will reveal themselves and launch surprise attacks. Basically, a simulation of guerrilla warfare, with the player as the stronger army. After the battle is over, Honoria begins to help survivors of the attack, while Genseric runs out after Eborin. He finds the Archbishop on a cliff overlooking the camp of the remnants of Euxpray's army. Genseric demands to know why Eborin betrayed them. Eborin replies that he seeks Justice, and recounts a story about how when he was a child, he was from a family of relatively moderate Gallicans; they prayed, but we're not devout, and wanted to let the Reformers believe what they wanted. However, that didn't stop Constantius III from massacring all males above 14 in revenge for the Gallican murder of his parents (Constantius was 15 when he fled the assassins, and so resolved to show mercy to those younger than him). This included Eborin's older brother and father. His mother fled with him to Aramea, but en route they were attacked by Osvisian barbarians. His mother died to save him. He was radicalized, and swore revenge against the Reformers, wanting to destroy the Allanian Empire. He rose through the ranks of the church, eventually becoming archbishop. He does, however, apologize profusely for the fall of Lotharingia; Teodor, he says, is far too dangerous. The King harbors ambitions to purge the Gallicans when he no longer needs them. Eborin offers to give Genseric Lotheringia in exchange for helping him stage a coup against Teodor. At this point in the game the player has a choice between joining Eborin and remaining with Honoria. As I only have the Honoria option planned out, I'll stick with that, but I absolutely will return and do siding with Eborin. Incidentally, Honoria is the more morally correct choice, though siding with Eborin makes you a darker shade of gray. So as it is, Genseric goes back to Nuvalum. We then see Honoria and her mother mourning her father. She will be crowned Empress tomorrow. Then, the counterattack against Aramea will begin.

Did Hamilcar use elephants? I thought that was just Hannibal. Anyway, I raise you Empoleon(Napoleon), Magmortar(Zhukov), Rampardos(Grant), and Blastoise(Guderian).

Ah, how could I forget about Serperior? Okay, so it's Empoleon, Slowking, Tsareena, Serperior, Nidoking, Slaking. I'm not forgetting Tyrantrum: the tyrant in its original definition was a military dictator in Ancient Greece.

Now that I have seen Tsareena, I can die happy. I can also now make a Monarchy themed Pokemon team: Empoleon, Nidoking, Slowking, Tsareena, Slaking, Kingdra. It shall be glorious!

I would want to live in the world of Radiant Historia because Linearity in general is not necessarily a bad thing. It is perfectly possible for a game to be fun while being linear. It doesn't impede my enjoyment of a game. Apollo Justice is a great game. Furthermore, if Farewell My Turnabout didn't exist, Justice For All would be the worst game Shu Takumi ever did. This is Franziska von Karma's fault. Rise from the Ashes is a better case than Turnabout Goodbyes, and the retcon works better for Edgeworth's character arc.

Ayup. Quite the contrast with the later games in the series.

Honoria's opinion is that she's happy to be on the front lines, still having an idealistic approach to war. She's pissed when she's ordered back to her father. Yeah, it does look like Europe; then again, Elibe and West Jugdral are similar to Europe as well. This is a setting based on Europe. No comment as to the relation with dark magic. Finally, the Eastern Provinces are essentially the Roman East. They also, incidentally, bear the brunt of attacks from Osvisia, and the commander of the Eastern Legions, Odazen, has positioned himself as representing the interests of the East. Yeah, you can see where this is going. Finally, there is a China analogue, but it's on the other side of the Steppes and doesn't play much of a role here. Chapter 6: The Bard from Qinqui The group is nearing the Imperial Capitol, but they find pirates are raiding a town. They are also attacking Xuantong, a bard from the Qinqui Empire, far to the east. Xuantong was also hired by Constantius to be the private storyteller for Honoria at a young age, so they have some history. His supports with her would mostly be exploring her more vulnerable side (as a child she was phobic of a variety of things and his stories helped her overcome this) and her learning to not be ashamed of her childhood fears. They do not get married, don't worry. Also recruited is Thorbjorn, the rebellious son of King Ulfric of Sithod, who ran away and joined the Pirates. He joins because he doesn't want to hurt innocent people. He's a shitty rebellious teenage edgelord who learns to be less of a shitty edgelord through supports. So anyway, they finally reach the Capitol. Chapter 7: Shit goes down Genseric reaches the Capitol and makes his case with Honoria before Constantius III. The Emperor is receptive to the idea of liberating Lotharingia, but mentions that he cannot act until the raids of Osvisian tribes are defeated once and for all. Genseric also mentions the threat of Paganism, which Constantius scoffs at, stating that the pagans have not been a threat for a while. Genseric leaves, and Eborin tells him that he will have to convince Constantius in order to save the world. Honoria, meanwhile, protests her father's decision to recall her, but Constantius states that he wants to groom her for political leadership, not just military. Empress Katharina then states that she has been trying to pull her younger brother Ulfric into a coalition against Aramea, but he has so far not been receptive; Sothod has long been isolationist, and looks to remain that way. Just then, a messenger bursts in with news: General Aelia Prisca's northern army has been completely routed, and the Countess herself has been taken prisoner. Matilda Aeuxpray, apparently, used a reckless strategy, throwing everything she had at Allania's center. It payed off, however, and the weakened center was broken, splitting the legions in two. From there they were destroyed piecemeal. Euxpray marches on the Capitol. Praetorian Prefect Eleftherios Laskaris vows to defend the Capitol, and the Emperor agrees, also ordering the Eastern legions to come to the defense of the West. However, this backfires: Odazen Palmarius, commander of the Eastern Legions, has declared independence, refusing to aid the West and leave his own people un defended against the barbarians. However, many legions have remained loyal to the monarchy, and civil war has broken out. Constantius summons Genseric, and declares that the decision has been made for him; Allania will liberate Lotharingia, when they don't have bigger things to worry about. Right now, though, they do. Honoria and Genseric are sent to aid the loyalists in the Eastern rebellion, and then wheel around and defend the Capitol. Honoria is happy to prove herself to her father, while Genseric has to go along. The group first relieve the Duchy of Cappodochia, the property of Prefect Laskaris and an enclave surrounded by rebel territory. When they get there, they find that the Osvisian mercenaries holding the fort have switched sides, hoping to be rewarded by Palmarius. They have also captured the Duke's daughter, Ioanna (a Troubador). Also recruitable here are Alaric, an Osvisian myrmidon who is a contract absolutist (when he is being paid to do something, he will do it or die trying) and Allana, the mother of Ioanna and wife of Eleftherios. She is a prepromote Nomadic Trooper from Osvisia. Here it is also revealed that because Ioanna is half Osvisian, she was bullied in school, and developed a snobby personality as defense; her father being the Emperor's right hand was the only thing she had over the racists, so she used it. This of course will lead to development in supports, and Alaric will also support with Clothilde where the latter overcomes her prejudice; the same applies to Ioanna. Chapter 8: Battle of the Pass General Odazen is besieging the loyalist forces in their castle; Honoria wants to get there fast to have as many troops as possible to fight the Arameans. To this end, they launch a siege assault on a castle in a mountain pass. Simple as that. This chapter also sees the recruitment of Aleta, the youngest of Thorbjorn's three elder sisters, and a Pegasus knight. She was sent by Ulfric to get her dumbass brother back, but now that the whole getting the shit invaded out of it by Aramea thing is making it difficult to return to Sithod she decides to stay; otherwise Thorbjorn would singlehandedly throw the war without supervision. In terms of personality, think Susie Derkins with a lance; smart, serious somewhat to a fault, and exasperated constantly by the annoying hyperactive male near her. Chapter 9: not the Great Divide because Avatar already took that one Honoria mentions that Odazen has been supporting the Gallicans, who were never persecuted as much in the Eastern Empire as in the West. The group comes across a Gallican militia pogroming a Pagan settlement. Although Eborin says that the Dark Mages are evil, Genseric refuses to let innocents be slaughtered (Honoria ordering him to help as his commanding officer might have also played a role). The leader of the Gallicans talks of taking revenge for the crimes of Constantius; Honoria is confused by this, and resolves to ask the Emperor. The group is also joined by Svetlana, a Dark Mage who's that evangelical Christian you know who's still pretty nice. Zealous, but not to the point of bigotry; you get the idea. Eborin leaves because of this. Chapter 10: Brother against brother A soldier suggests going through the desert to get to Odazen. Honoria shuts this idea down, pointing out that going around the desert would be much faster, and then lampshades that they'd probably get attacked by something wierd like a pair of flamboyantly gay bandit twins. Instead, they skirt the desert, arriving at the castle to find to their distress that it has fallen. However, the soldiers surrendered and were taken prisoner, so are still alive. Honoria attacks the troops outside the castle, and wins. However, Odazen is still inside. Honoria also loses her old opinion of war here; the sight of the conflict makes her realize that she has a responsibility to her men. With this in mind, she prepares to save them. Chapter 11: In at the death Odazen, inside the castle, is desperate. He orders the prisoners executed as a last act of defiance. What follows is a chapter in which the player has to save the prisoners in time (six turns) and then defeat Odazen. Said general has some choice words for Honoria, accusing her of being a tyrant. Honoria replies that he might have been a good man once, but has clearly gone too far. The prisoners are rescued and the Imperial army's ranks swell, but Honoria and Genseric don't have time to celebrate: a messenger reveals that Matilda Euxpray has besieged the Capitol.

Hey! I'VE been talking about that!More seriously, yeah, I don't really disagree with this. I think that what Trump has done is get these people moving as a political force; he's created class consciousness of the worst kind. Trump is Gaius and Tiberius Gracchus, and, suffice it to say, that doesn't bode well for American democracy.

So here's the map of the world. Sorry for my shitty handwriting; couldn't be helped. Yes, the mountains and river will be important to attacking Aramea. Adwin dies in battle against Teodor. Genseric is a Mage Lord, having command of Anima magic. He's a bit less fragile and a bit less fast than most mages, but apart from that pretty similar. Upon promotion he gains either dark or light magic. Carolus does in fact die here. Either the player does it or Rourgeille does it. Honoria is a class similar to Hector, but she starts out with swords and gains lances on promotion. As for appearance, think a Roman legionary. The reason why Honoria's at the fort is because Allania works similar to the Roman Empire, and thus its important for the heir to the throne to have supporters in the military. Constantius gave his daughter command of a border fort to avoid accusations of favoritism; for a 19 year old an entire fort is a pretty big assignment. I did actually get inspiration for Teodor ordering his generals from the scene with Vigarde, so guilty as charged. I suppose Teodor is somewhat similar to Zephiel, but its not intentional. I'll do more about the story later. For now, how's the map?

Victoria 2: God I love this game. One of the best history simulations out there, bar none. Most recent game was as Spain, where I subjugated Morocco while France was beating Prussia and then colonized close to half of Africa. Go team evil!

Okay, so I think now is a good time to start outlining the general plot line, chapter by chapter. The opening narration basically sums up what I already said. Prologue: The fall of Lotharingia Prince Genseric, heir to the throne of Lotharingia, is with his brother, King Aldwin. Aldwin describes how Aramea is invading to force Gallicanism back on the people, and derisively talks to Genseric about how he's unfit to lead. He then suggests that Genseric take some of his men (Andreas, a Cavalier, and Owen, an archer) and attack an Aramean scouting party. What follows is a tutorial mission. When Genseric gets back, however, he finds that King Teodor has arrived with his army. Teodor's superior strategy easily destroys Aldwin's forces, and Genseric is taken prisoner. Chapter 1: Mysterious rescuer Genseric and his sister, Clothilde, are about to be publicly burnt at the stake by the leader of the Lotharingian occupation, Carolus. However, Eborin, a mysterious Sage (and Jeigan) rescues them with the help of Andreas and Owen, as well as Marie, a Knight, and Rowan, a Mercenary. Eborin helps them escape, and they resolve to head for Aramea. Chapter 2: Pursuit General August Rourgeille, second in command to King Teodor, warns Carolus that he had better catch Genseric or else. When Carolus leaves, Rourgeille privately expresses his disgust with fanatics, wishing that they weren't needed to win the war. Meanwhile, Eborin tells Genseric that he was rescued because it is his destiny to save the world from darkness, and that the dark mages are trying to come back. They defeat the pursuers and forge ahead. Chapter 3: Allania The group reaches Allania, where Captain Honoria, commander of Fort Antoninus, greets them. She is joined by Marcus, a legionary with red armor, and Antony, a legionary with green armor. Carolus, however, attacks the fort to capture his quarry, and an easy defense mission ensues. After 7 turns, the Northern Legions under Marshal Aelia Prisca comes to relieve them. Prisca tells Honoria to escort Genseric to the capitol, at which point it is revealed that Honoria is actually Crown Princess Honoria. Honoria is not happy with this assignment, but accepts. Chapter 4: I don't know Filler bandit chapter. Honoria lectures Genseric about the duties of a ruler. Genseric realizes he needs to earn her respect. Chapter 5: Something to do with darkness Genseric and Honoria fight a group of rogue dark mages. Genseric asks Eborin who he is, and Eborin responds that he comes from a dystopian future where the dark mages brought about the return of the demons. He tells Genseric it is his duty to save the world. Genseric is accepting, but Honoria seems skeptical. Meanwhile, in the capitol of Aramea, King Teodor orders General Matilda Euxpray to attack Allania, General Velasque Chambourd to attack Sithod, and General August Rourgeille to oversee the occupation of Lotharingia. He then talks to the archbishop of Gallicanism, whose face is veiled, where the Archbishop demands that the revival of Saint Gallic go ahead, and Teodor responds that this will only happen in return for Gallican loyalty. So that's the beginning of the story. I'll also try to get a map up later. So far, what do you think?

So, uh, I'm going to assume Hisashi was channeling General Sherman and leave it at that.

Children quite obviously don't have the rights of an adult. They can't drive, they can't drink, they can't to a wide variety of things adults can, because they're children. Again, I'm not in favor of chipping, but not for privacy reasons.

Do kids have the right to privacy, though? I know that if my parents want to look at something I have, they have that right. The same goes for inmates; they have some rights in prison, but that isn't one. Of course, cancer risks and the cost of it all still make me against it, but I really don't see how privacy comes in to it.

A true monarchist hero

So. Anthropoid. It's a historical film about the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, second in command of the Waffen SS and leading planner of the Holocaust. He was also the one Hitler charged with pacifying (read: ethnically cleansing) Czechoslovakia. That includes Prague. So yeah, obviously this film is personal for me, me living in Prague and all. It also, however, is very historically accurate coming from Hollywood. First of all, it was shot on location in Prague (yeah, I saw some people in SS uniforms at one point, they even put Swastikas on this whole section of the city). It also follows the story rather well. One of the assassins, incidentally, is played by an actor from Prague Shakespeare company, and the film overall has an admirable amount of native Czechs in it. So yeah, that's my recommendation of it. Go see Anthropoid now because it is a kickass historical film.

Eh, free trade isn't the problem, the problem is that countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. simply don't have sufficient regulations to actually protect their people from corporations. Free trade is fine, but the situation now gives corporations too much incentives to abandon the American worker. I'm all for free trade as long as it's equal trade; if these countries cared about their people enough to make foreign corporations treat their workers like humans, then I'd think you'd see a lot of the current problems with free trade go away.

Actually, the Taiping Tianguo in China were a fundamentalist Christian sect whose leader claimed to be the brother of Jesus. They were responsible for millions of deaths in their rebellion against the Qing, including of anyone who had passed the Imperial examinations. They are by far the worst Christiamity has to offer, but we also must take into account late Tsarist Russia, the actions of the Ustase in Croatia and Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, and of many Christian groups in Africa, including Joseph Kony. The KKK, Crusaders, and Conquistadors are hardly the worst of Christianity.

It's certainly an interesting world; I like the different forms of government and cultures, especially what seems to be a Scotland/HRE fusion. Fighting a Leviathan as the Medeus archetype sounds quite interesting. One question: if Azodon's Kings adopt their heirs Principate style, is Akkar the biological or adopted son of the King?