|
OctaviusBeaver posted:I'm not a Napoleon expert but I'm listening to a podcast about him and so far it sounds like he keeps making peace and then a new coalition forms and attacks France which he then defeats and takes more land. He's definitely expansionist, and he did try to take Egypt without provocation, but he doesn't seem to be uniquely aggressive for the time. Ok, let me put it this way. If you're some British guy who needs to find a "great villain" and you're living pre-Hitler, lets say it's 1900 or something, you pick Napoleon. He declares himself Emperor, takes over large parts of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands, he tries to isolate Britain diplomatically and economically, it takes 5 wars to beat him, and once you beat him and exile him to Elba, he comes back again.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 00:20 |
|
|
# ? May 28, 2024 01:59 |
|
I had a vague understanding that while the Napoleonic code was better than whatever feudal poo poo it replaced, it's still a less "free" system of law and government than English common law i.e. on mainland Europe the police have the right to stop and ask you for your identity papers which they do not in Britain. I remember being in Berlin on my Irish passport and subletting a place with a Finnish girl and when we moved in she went off to register her address with the police, and I was like "what I thought EU citizens here had the same rights as Germans?" and she had to explain that Germans have to do that too.Fuschia tude posted:I can't remember what happens in this scene, but I still can't imagine what V4 aims to do here. Nelson dying didn't even change the outcome; the British still won! And this battle was hardly the last nail in Napoleon's coffin, anyway; France remained a naval threat to Britain until Napoleon was defeated on land. Crossposting from the Aubrey-Maturin thread: Cessna posted:One of the big problems with the timeline is the fact that the big battle which ended any real chance of France seriously contesting Britain's control of the sea happened in 1805, relatively early on. There was a lot more going on before then.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 01:13 |
|
Epicurius posted:Ok, let me put it this way. If you're some British guy who needs to find a "great villain" and you're living pre-Hitler, lets say it's 1900 or something, you pick Napoleon. He declares himself Emperor, takes over large parts of Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the Netherlands, he tries to isolate Britain diplomatically and economically, it takes 5 wars to beat him, and once you beat him and exile him to Elba, he comes back again. Oh yeah, totally fair, I get why he's the main bad guy in British history. I think the British view seeped into American pop culture to the point where my impressions was that he was basically 19th century Hitler until I finally started to read about him and found out there was another side to the story.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 04:54 |
|
OctaviusBeaver posted:Oh yeah, totally fair, I get why he's the main bad guy in British history. Well, I mean, Beethoven didn't like him. Anyway, sorry, but we're going to have to wait until tomorrow to find out what time changing shenanigans ex-Visser Four is up to this time. I got caught up in a bunch of stuff to meet a deadline, and now it's 12:30 and past my bedtime. Tomorrow, though, we will have more fun with time travel.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 05:39 |
|
Visser Four subscribes to the Great Man view of history and is therefore an idiot, that's all you need to know really.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 07:24 |
|
Ironically it would appear Crayak does too
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 09:02 |
|
The Great Cybernetic Omni-Slug view of history
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 10:39 |
|
OctaviusBeaver posted:Oh yeah, totally fair, I get why he's the main bad guy in British history. Yeah, that's what I was getting at. Not the actual historic merits of the man himself, just that the pop cultural representation of him as some great historic villain was something that took me by surprise.
|
# ? Oct 7, 2021 11:10 |
|
Chapter 24 Marco quote:Ax was beside me. Andalite, but right there beside me. So Marco is gunning for Visser Four too, Chapter 25 Rachel quote:Lieutenant, sir!” So much for Rachel.
|
# ? Oct 8, 2021 03:24 |
|
Rare and satisfying case of revisiting a morph for a completely different purpose than it was originally acquired for.
|
# ? Oct 8, 2021 03:55 |
|
Oh, huh, I'd been remembering Marco as the Chimpanzee that got blown apart. Memory's a funny thing.
|
# ? Oct 8, 2021 04:19 |
|
Ah, the Joe Rogan chapter.
|
# ? Oct 8, 2021 10:23 |
|
Chapter 26 Tobias quote:The chimpanzee fell to the deck. A hundred-foot drop. Oh, that ain't good. Chapter 27 Tobias quote:Quiet. That’s what I noticed first. It was so No cannon. No muskets. No screams. So Visser Four has made two changes. He's killed Washington at the Battle of Trenton, and he's led to the British fleet being defeated at Trafalgar. Oh, and a third. He's made Tobias dress like a preppie. Epicurius fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Oct 9, 2021 |
# ? Oct 9, 2021 05:10 |
|
After so long in California, it's great to finally see New Jersey get the outsized representation it deserves in this book
|
# ? Oct 9, 2021 09:48 |
|
Y'know, the Mirror Universe Animorphs make a lot more sense if you assume that they're from the 'What if the British Empire survived into the 21st century?,' not some fascist takeover of the US.
|
# ? Oct 9, 2021 13:00 |
Okay so I’m a few chapters behind, but I wanted to jump in to show off this print I bought recently. I wonder if the artist is an Animorphs fan or just happened to depict a reenactment of the Jake vs David fight by sheer coincidence.
|
|
# ? Oct 9, 2021 14:13 |
|
Chapter 28 Cassie quote:The battle had raged around me, above me, up on the surface. I didn’t care. Yea, I'm wincing here. Chapter 29 Cassie quote:It was like a slap. I couldn’t answer. I just gaped. Putting aside Cassie's awesome response here (and that Rachel's still alive), the chapter confirms that this version of America still has slavery.
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 03:51 |
|
I kind of wish chapters 27 and 28 had come together, because they set up a good contrast. When Jake dies, Cassie checks out entirely and doesn't participate in the next fight at all. When Rachel dies as well, Tobias is devastated, but he doesn't lose sight of the goal; he chases Visser Four until the Time Matrix dumps them elsewhere, then immediately takes stock of the situation, gets appropriate clothes, and starts working on figuring out what's changed and what the new target might be.Epicurius posted:
This might be Cassie's coolest moment in the series, and I'm accounting for the fact that we just saw her do untrained brain surgery. Epicurius posted:
Meanwhile, this probably isn't Tobias's absolute coolest moment, but it's top 5 or so.
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 04:13 |
|
Polar bear Cassie owning the racist and Cassie doing brain surgery share the #1 Best Cassie Moment spot.
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 04:18 |
Lmao at Rachel died, next episode she's just alive again, everyone shrugs and carries on
|
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 04:58 |
|
This is the book's second (and much better) example of cracking out an older morph to use for something different to its original purposeComrade Blyatlov posted:Lmao at Rachel died, next episode she's just alive again, everyone shrugs and carries on They address this shortly
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 10:01 |
Oh I know and I remember it, but it's still hilarious
|
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 10:03 |
|
I actually distinctly remember Ax's upcoming theory on it because it's the first time as a kid I encountered the word "speculating" and it's such a good, dry shutdown of a briefly exhilarating idea the kids get in their heads
|
# ? Oct 10, 2021 10:20 |
|
Chapter 30 Tobias quote:“It’s nineteen thirty-four,” Blue Eyes said. Then added, “sir.” It's certainly a thing! Chapter 31 Marco quote:Cassie let Davis crawl away. We let the other two guys go, too. I bet the Sergeant didn't actually say heck. Also, I'm not really sure why the multiple time shifts would extend the diffusion effect?
|
# ? Oct 11, 2021 03:53 |
|
Epicurius posted:I bet the Sergeant didn't actually say heck. Also, I'm not really sure why the multiple time shifts would extend the diffusion effect? V4 likely has absolutely no idea how the Andalite bandits are managing to follow him through time, I have to imagine it is extremely annoying. His attempt to lose them is goofy but it’s an attempt.
|
# ? Oct 11, 2021 04:04 |
|
Lol Tobias just randomly went from human morph back to hawk
|
# ? Oct 11, 2021 04:20 |
|
freebooter posted:Lol Tobias just randomly went from human morph back to hawk They've been appearing several seconds to minutes apart. He may have appeared first and decided to go scout around.
|
# ? Oct 11, 2021 06:23 |
|
Chapter 32 Marco quote:“Where are we?” I asked, chattering out the words. The fear was contagious. Animorphs. The kid's series where one of the characters describes senseless slaughter while hiding under the corpses of the dead! Chapter 33 Ax quote:I time-jumped into water. My hooves absorbed some of it. It had a high salt content. I kicked wildly, looking for bottom. My hooves touched sand. I propelled myself through the surf, onto a sandy beach. Ka-WHUMPF! "I am profoundly tired of your people is Ax at his mastery of understatement.
|
# ? Oct 12, 2021 03:43 |
|
This book is for 10 year olds.
|
# ? Oct 12, 2021 03:57 |
|
Epicurius posted:Chapter 33 no that's Rachel
|
# ? Oct 12, 2021 08:48 |
|
I love Ax in general but I really like how in this book in particular, he is the one who is the most switched on, the most mission focused, the member of the team who most keeps his head on his shoulders. I also really liked how... quote:I dropped on my butt, spun around, and hugged the floor. Men fell back on me. I began to morph. ...morphing has just become an instinctive response for these kids, and at this point they're really loving good at quickly assessing a situation and picking the right one. We already know that Andalites don't actually use it all that much; you have to think that if Elfangor saw how these kids turned out a year or two after the construction site, he'd be goddamn proud of them.
|
# ? Oct 12, 2021 12:40 |
freebooter posted:I love Ax in general but I really like how in this book in particular, he is the one who is the most switched on, the most mission focused, the member of the team who most keeps his head on his shoulders. Honestly I think Elfangor would be pretty drat proud of them charging into the pool in the first book.
|
|
# ? Oct 12, 2021 12:45 |
|
Chapter 24 Cassie quote:It moved beneath me, a sinister gray snake, clanking and lurching and belching sudden gusts of black diesel smoke. Mon dieu indeed. Chapter 35 Ax quote:I had joined with Marco and Rachel. We had taken to the air. We were still far away when we saw Tobias and Cassie morphing in the woods. It's a heavy chapter.
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 03:38 |
Thats a fantastic loving line.
|
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 04:49 |
|
quote:<Yeah, well, we do know that, Ax,> Marco said resentfully. <Why do you think those guys down on the beach are dying?> This is the line from this book that most stuck in my head. It's a good comeback. (Even if it's not, strictly speaking, true.)
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 04:53 |
|
freebooter posted:This is the line from this book that most stuck in my head. It's a good comeback. (Even if it's not, strictly speaking, true.) One of the best small moments in Wolfenstein is when BJ is told by his black friend "back home you were the Nazis."
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 05:39 |
|
That very 90s "end of history" feeling seems inherent to this book's premise. As though America is a uniquely powerful, uniquely morally correct entity, and that any alteration of historical events worldwide would be most noteworthy for preventing it from reaching this "perfect" form. But from a yeerk's perspective, why would the outcome of bygone, sometimes ancient, political struggles significantly impact your chances of successful invasion? I can understand Visser 4 not wanting to hinder our technological advancement, since one of the stated reasons humanity is such a valuable target is our population, and that skyrocketed because of the industrial revolution. I could see that being a constant among galactic species - better food production, medicine, etc. always leads to a population boom. So they have to try other methods to alter the odds in their favor. But still -- would a yeerk really buy that George Washington was such a savior for the entire species that removing all traces of his existence fundamentally alters the capabilities of his species? Though, maybe V4's just taking a lot of their host's opinions on the matter for granted. feetnotes fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Oct 13, 2021 |
# ? Oct 13, 2021 21:25 |
|
I mean, it was written by an American in the 1990s for a mostly American audience, and even in world, America is where the Yeerks started their invasion, and the US is a superpower with a large population, advanced economy and large military, so making it a focus of early infiltration and conquest makes sense. The Yeerks probably aren't going to start with Nepal (no offense to the Nepalese).
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 21:46 |
|
Yeah, V4's (and the vast majority of the rest of the Yeerks') views on history are going to be colored by mostly American sources. If your primary sources are random Americans' views of history, and especially the sort of Americans the Yeerks will prioritize going after i.e. people in positions of economic and political power, it's not surprising that you would end up believing in American Exceptionalism and Great Man Theory.
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 21:54 |
|
|
# ? May 28, 2024 01:59 |
|
You mean a book written by an American author for an American audience might be American centric?
|
# ? Oct 13, 2021 22:18 |