Lurker > Thorn

LotR: The Rings of Power Episode 5:

I've been thinking that the Stranger with the Hobbits is Sauron from the start because of... just everything about him lol... so I'm inclined to think the Adar thing is a fakeout because he never actually said he was when asked.

Also Arondir needs to just take that sword hilt and run tbqh. Like strategically that has to be the right move regardless of how callous it is, right? Hell, I thought he was going to suggest that Theo and his mom take it and head towards the nearest Elf outpost while he tries to delay. Though I guess they don't seem to have any horses or anything from what I can tell so maybe they really are that screwed.

https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1573442914281312273

kinda feels like this should be a big deal but it probably won't be

I won't believe it until it happens.

https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1573088502409043970

DeSantis out here giving us a preview of the new American history if the GOP takes power, I guess.

"The American Revolution caused people to question slavery for the first time."
"...That sounds like bullshit, but assuming it's true, America then outlawed slavery as the atrocity it was, right?"
"..."
"Right?"

Also, I guess future GOP history books will show iconic scenes of America - that is to say, actually Russia.

https://twitter.com/jbendery/status/1573394446351478785

The thread shows that the House GOP's "Commitment to America" video repeatedly shows images it presents as America actually being images from Russia. Which I guess is accidentally honest in its own way.

i guess people itt are having trouble getting over the localization barrier

think they might be regretting putting this guy's name forward as special master

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1573041199568625664
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1573042213067624448

https://twitter.com/jamisonfoser/status/1572691974007967744

Marquette University Law School Poll finds for the first time ever, a majority of Americans support increasing the number of justices on the Supreme Court, including 51% of independents.

https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1572727110380453889

The 11th Circuit has ruled in favor of DOJ and has stayed parts of Cannon's (the Trump MAL judge) ruling and allows DOJ to continue using the classified material in its criminal investigation.

3 judge panel was 1 Obama appointee and 2 Trump appointees.

LordoftheMorons posted...

Oh whoops actually that summary is of Collins' Senate bill; not sure if there are significant differences with the House bill or not

I think the threshold for objection is different. As far as I can tell the House bill says an objection requires 1/3 to proceed. Your twitter thread explainer says 30% so I dunno if they amended it, if I'm looking at the wrong section, or it's a goof but either way it's a lot harder to drag it out with spurious challenges.

Otherwise I think they're pretty similar.

Maniac64 posted...

What does that one do?

Amends the ancient Electoral Count Act which was key to Trump's "Pence can just declare me the winner" plan for 1/6.

More specifically:

It makes it explicitly clear that the VP's role in the joint session is ceremonial and they can't just overturn the election.

It raises the threshold needed for an objection to a state's electors. Previously you just need 1 person in the House and Senate. Moved up to 1/3 of each.

Seeing articles saying it also address state legislatures from trying to go back and overturn the results of their popular vote. I've been skimming the bill text and I think it's too arcane for me to place exactly where it does - there's a section mentioning it's striking the whole "safe harbor" thing but I dunno if there's more scattered throughout.

NYAG also sent the results of her investigation to the IRS Criminal Division and SDNY for possible criminal investigation.

ChaosTonyV4 posted...

Im taking the stance that you shouldnt lose any right after your debt to society is paid.

Sometime after I moved to Florida, we voted to give felons their right to vote back, and Florida Repugs passed a bill requiring all fees be paid in full to qualify, which meant that like a million felons still cant vote.

Yeah, and I'm saying that this is some mutually assured destruction shit like blue states taking the model of Texas's bounty bill and using it against their pet issues instead of just laying down and letting only them get what they want out of it.

Jakyl25 posted...

Thirdly, there is no Constitutional basis to deny basic enumerated rights to people who have served their time.

Do you want criminals who have served their time to be welcomed back into society, or should they always be burdened as second class citizens

Sidebar - this case wasn't about a felon who had served his time. He was under indictment for burglary and missing court dates and lied about being indicted when buying the gun.

I actually think the scenario you're describing about someone who has served their time is a bit more complicated ethically and philosophically but that's not what this judge ruled.

See, I'm going to take the opposite tack here and say if we're going to live in a society that can take the right to vote from felons then you better fucking miss me that the right to guns is held on some sacred pedestal above that.

And we do live in that society.

persona 3 fes v persona 3 portable for a new generation

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/09/20/texas-gun-ban-indictment-unconstitutional/

Trump-appointed federal judge ruled it's unconstitutional to ban gun sales to people under felony indictment. He cites Bruen (the recent NY gun case SCOTUS had) and invokes the language in Dobbs about how because it does not "align with this Nation's historical tradition" it is thus unconstitutional.

DOJ plans to appeal (would be to the 5th Circuit next), but if this works its way up to SCOTUS I have no faith.

SaveEstelle posted...

By the way, Switch version of Trails from Zero lacks the Vita quests, just fyi.

...Wait, what?

what the heck is going on with these ports?

So is PS4 the most complete content-wise but lacks the QoL updates from Durante while Switch/PC have the QoL updates but are missing some quests?

Level 2: Dallas
Bonus: 4

LotR: Rings of Power Eps 1-4:

I meant to watch this earlier but between Xenoblade 3, F/GO, and just stuff I kept not having the time. But finally I did. Basically all I remember from the appendices is that Isildur has to make his way to Middle-Earth so other than that I don't really know what'll happen.

Field Skills are a pretty criticized area of XB2, yeah.

XB3 learned the lesson.

HanOfTheNekos posted...

That puts like, 2 teams that can beat the Bills at this point?

I wouldn't discount the Chiefs yet. Maybe the Chargers too.

Well, I mean the refs like 4 plays earlier called Fields short on that 3rd down play when he had obviously extended the ball over the line so I mean... yeah.

not a great series for them

TBQH, I thought they got it in live but that wasn't getting overturned.

interesting time for shotgun

Though I think that replay deserves another look.

dang. at least the rams got me out of level 1.

Emeraldegg posted...

The 2nd coming of Jimmy is upon us

Hate to see it come about this way though.

afc north in shambles

This has been an amazing end to the 1 PM games.

MVP Tua

AFC BEast is back.

Jets get an INT, game over. looooooooooooool

TOUCHDOWN JETS

JOE ELITE

lmaooooooooo

omfg i shitpostted it into reality

let a jets receiver get all alone like 20 yards behind the secondary for a quick 66 yard td

browns foolishly falling into the trap of scoring a td to go up 14-make that 13- and giving the jets the ball back instead of dropping down after the first down was made to be able to run the clock out by kneeldown.

the comeback starts here

Joe ELITE gets one more chance to turn back the clock.

update: time remains undefeated

Good News: Wilson is back on the field
Bad News: He just dropped a 3rd down conversion and that's probably game.

TeamRocketElite posted...

PS4 version is worse than Switch? How did that happen?

PS4 version is a straight port of Falcom's Kai release.

Switch is a port NISA did of the above and consequently was able to add QoL updates on top of it.

Damn, Wilson hurt. One of the few hopes on this Jets team.

Edit: Looks like he's walking on the sidelines now, hopefully it's not serious.

LeonhartFour posted...

Joe Elite

only reason the jets aren't leading is the refs couldn't comprehend how ELITE his passing was and upheld as incomplete a pass that should have been called complete

wow user saveestelle flaunting that EARLY ACCESS in front of us commoners

3rd > Ao > SC > CS3 > Zero > CS4 > CS1 > CS2 > FC

SC, Ao, CS3 trio all very close. Could reorder them pretty much whichever way.

Because he's a malignant narcissist who misses and craves the adoration from his supporters?

He scheduled his rally - in Ohio - up against an Ohio State football game lmao. Probably even more empty than usual.

TeamRocketElite posted...

Is there a list anywhere of which quests get extra dialogue for bringing a specific Hero? The only one I noticed was bringing Alexandria along to meet Pulipuli in The True Culprit.

I know bringing Ghondor on the quest at Agnus Castle where the City team is bringing back supplies but the boat gets ambushed and one dies has extra Ghondor scenes, including one with her reacting and grieving the death. Even an affinity link update but maybe that happens even without that.

She seemed to have a lot of incidental chatter on the Agnus Castle line quests even where she wasn't required. Like chewing out her bodyguards when they were screwing up their tasks in one quest (maybe even the same one?)

Monica had (voiced) party chatter for the City Homecoming quest as you went around doing its objectives.

Colony Mu is definitely one of the better colonies as a group, IMO. Probably them and Colony 4 feel the most lived in/developed/together?

Ashera really is the best.

I read the theme more as overcoming the fear of uncertainty/doubt (represented chiefly by Moebius) and loss (as reflected in a more personal level by N).

The entire twisted situation the game's setting is was born out of the collective fear and uncertainty people had with regards to the Intersection and Origin. It led to Moebius freezing time and preventing them from coming to pass even if such a "solution" was doomed to end in failure (Annihilation Events accumulating over time until nothing is left) or how fucked up the world became in its place (10 year terms, an endless war, Flame Clocks, etc.)

On a more personal level, we see N succumb to the temptation to give up on fighting for a chance of something better when Z reveals to him the countless failures his reincarnations have had and then confronts him with losing Mio again right in front of him while he's reeling from it. Mio's test for Noah when showing him all this in the dreamscape explicitly asks him if he can keep moving forward even if it would mean losing Mio to determine if this Noah won't make the same mistake.

And in the end the party has to make the decision to let Origin restart and the Intersection proceed even though they don't know what will happen, if they'll ever see one another again, and despite the fact that it clearly pains them all to make that choice given the bonds they've formed. That's why I think it works thematically. And as much as I personally want to know that there's a reunion for them I can get why Takahashi won't give us that (at least in the game proper - DLC please, I think it still works although I get why it might undercut it too.)

As for the ending being a reset. I mean, yeah, technically I see where you're coming from but I think that's approaching it from the wrong angle. The status quo the party was seeking to (and did) overcome was the twisted joke that Aionios was. Moebius essentially hit the pause button on the worlds many cycles before and the party was looking to hit the unpause button. It just comes off a bit weird because off-screen that paused world morphed from the city we see Noah/Eunie/Lanz/Joran in in the intro cutscene into Aionios so correcting the distortion ends up feeling like going back. Like I think it's obviously not a "it was all just a dream" thing but I think it's easier to think of it in those kind of terms for this specifically. Aionios was a twisted nightmare and the party's goal was to "wake up" so they could move forward.

Well, since you've seen my thoughts as I played I'm sure you're not surprised I disagree with you on the story/ending. Keeping spoilers out of this post as well.

I thought the ending was completely in keeping with the themes of the game and was beautifully done and it impacted me more than perhaps any game ever has. The cast is far and away the best of the Xenoblade games and their group dynamic is incredible. Mio and Eunie are the standouts IMO and Taion is a great straight man. Team Agnus brought it while Eunie is carrying Team Keves. Many of the Heroes are great too even if there a few duds among them. Definitely agree that villains are a major weak point. N is great and I agree with you that (Moebius) I was one of the few standouts among them but this is definitely an area that could have been improved on a lot.

Gameplay was super fun and probably the most fun I've had with any of the Xenoblade games, especially once you gain access to all of it. Exploration doesn't meet the highs of X but X might be the peak of exploration in all of gaming so no shame there.

I also agree with you that the music didn't feel quite up to par with the other Xeno games but I think it's more a matter that the area and colony themes are lacking. The Elite Monster theme is good and I agree with you that the Moebius Battle Themes are absolute standouts. Weirdly, a few of the last colony areas have some great music but you're basically done by then so you don't get to enjoy them much.

Strategos outfit is indeed A+ and Thaumaturge is up there too. Tactician criminally low however, that scarf is incredible.

Main Party: Mio >= Eunie > Taion > Sena > Noah > Lanz

Because of how the game affected me I basically had no choice but to elevate it to my favorite game. I need that story DLC like nothing else.

Grimlyn posted...

I had no idea people thought so much about the subtitles of games

i literally can't think of a single game I've done that for

358/2 Days

Level 1: Rams
Bonus: 4

TeamRocketElite posted...

What your favourite fan theory that you've read so far?

XB3, draws heavily on Xenogears parallels: Basically it extends the "Noah and Mio draw heavily from Fei and Elly" thing even further and equates Noah with a role similar to that of Xenogears' Antitype to Mio's Contact with Origin playing the role of the Wave Existence. Essentially, Mio - all but stated to be Nia's daughter - had some contact with Origin as it was built on the Alrest side. The Antitype is basically Origin's means of interacting with the Contact and is intrinsically connected to it. Noah's seemingly unique awareness of frozen time in the intro cutscene is because of this tie to Origin.

The theory as I saw it proposed suggested that in the stinger that since Origin has now completed its purpose is why Noah vanishes there with that being the sequel DLC hook to kind of seperate Noah's existence from Origin so he can permanently remain. Personally I highly doubt Takahashi implemented a retread so literally but I like the parallels and just cut short the theory there and headcanon that Noah gets sent to Alrest once Origin's purpose is done because of the Antitype/Contact thing.

Though like I said, I very much doubt the parallels were intended to be that strong but it gives me some comfort and just more generally I choose to believe the lyrics to "Where We Belong" mean they do reunite. The above is just a convenient way for me to navigate the practical issues with how it happens.

As for Riku, yeah lol. Not to mention he and Melia share a nod right before she teleports out of Origin once freed suggesting a connection there that has absolutely no followup lol. Still think my "Riku is the mystery Seventh Founder described by the City's Ouroboros Stone plaque" theory is live but if so I fear that might lean towards prequel story DLC of the City's rebuilding after N trashed it and like I said I desperately want my sequel/epilogue DLC lol.

Consul A yeah idk. Seems like obvious DLC material but that could be one of the Hero Quests for all we know. I've also seen it theorized that it's literally Aionios itself.