u/Sensitive-Hotel-9871
[Command & Conquer Generals] Couldn't the GLA have driven across the Three Gorges Dam instead of attempting to drain the Yangtze River?
The third mission of the Chinese campaign in the original C&C Generals, A Flood of Violence, has the Chinese move their troops to fight the GLA at the Three Gorges Dam.
In what is easily one of the dumbest moves I have seen someone make in an RTS game, Black Lotus decides the GLA forces in the area can only be removed by blowing up the dam that supplies a large portion of China's electricity, failing to see that the GLA are also attacking the dam.
Unsurprisingly, it turns out that the GLA wanted to destroy the dam, the bulk of their troops were on the other side of the Yangtze River, and they wanted to lower the water level in order to cross it and attack the Chinese.
Obviously, since the GLA's only goal is causing random death and destruction, it fits that they would want to destroy the Three Gorges Dam. However, couldn't they have gotten to the other side of the Yangtze River by crossing the dam?
The game doesn't convey this and I chalk it up to buildings and vehicles not being to scale, but the Three Gorges Dam in real life is a gigantic structure. So much so that there is a road on top of it to the other side of the river.
Which raises the question for me, couldn't the GLA have simply moved their troops across the dam? Yeah, tactically marching across the dam would leave them sitting ducks in a realistic scenario, but trying to get up the slopes of the Yangtze River, which look way too steep to get a vehicle up, comes off as an even worse idea.
I beat the Lorule Adventure Map and the square on the Rewards Map its Skulltulas unlock.
I haven't beat every single challenge in the game since there are most spots on the Rewards Map, but I don't feel like getting all of the Skulltulas from Legend Mode with all of the super specific requirements like not letting a certain keep or character take too much damage. I don't mind having to keep allies alive but keeping them from taking too much damage is going too far.
Regardless, I feel satisfied having beaten these huge adventure maps. Also while the Lorule Map is the final one and looks like it was designed to be the most difficult I found it to be one of the easier maps. Granted, I was playing the maps one at a time so by the time I started Lorule, my characters were overleveled. On the other hand, a big part of what made a lot of the later Adventure maps challenging was having to deal with some annoying escort missions where you couldn't leave your allies alone and the lack of elemental affinities, which rendered those damage-reducing badges useless after you put so much work into getting them.
Lorule allows you to add an element, which by this point in the game guarantees your warriors are going to be a lot tankier, plus as you get all the item cards you can match their element to any map you want to get that bonus damage.
Since I unlocked the full power of the Master Sword I had fun boosting its damage even more, especially while seeing the damage of Link's C3 go up. Even when I was using a regular sword with boosted damage in its C3, I still don't think I saw that move do as much damage as a full-power Master Sword while Link was firing the extra beams.
I unlocked both sealed skills on the Master Sword
A generous comment pointed out on another post pointed out the best way to farm kills is square F-3 on Lorule. Don't kill the Summoners and aside from Legendary, Evil's Bane and Exorcism, you should be able to unlock any sealed skill in a single battle.
Pity these are locked behind having to unlock all the other weapons so by the time you get them there is almost nothing left to use the strongest weapon in the game on. I already beat all the challenge mode fights as Link and have no desire to unlock Legendary on all the other characters to beat the challenges with them.
Regardless, having these skills unlocked on the Master Sword does make it fun to use again. Its C1 is enough to fill the special meter to use Link's Force Special, and at full health, its C3 mows down entire crowds of enemies like wheat. I have difficulty telling how much damage is the weapon and how much is Link being at the level cap but that move has been shredding enemy life bars as well since the range on Link's sword C3 (either version), allows you to hit enemies from a distance where they won't block.
[The Odyssey] What stops the men Circe turns into animals from killing for revenge?
Circe doesn't like men in the movie, with the implication she was wronged by soldiers returning from the Trojan War and so she turns them into animals.
The weird part is that rather than only turning men into harmless animals, she turns them into dangerous ones that can kill her like big cats and pigs. As far as we can tell, Circe doesn't have any magic that can defend herself if the men she afflicts try to kill her for revenge, and they all appear to retain their human intelligence in animal forms.
Odysseus' men only seem not to attack Circe because killing her would trap them as pigs forever (though if they wanted to, they could turn her to pieces; pigs have done that to people who fall in their pens in real life), but what keeps her other victims from attacking her? If you are stuck as an animal for long enough, you have to know that this lady won't change you back.
Cracked a smile at this scene from Absolute Superman #8
This argument is an intense scene, but I couldn't help but crack a smile when Lois said Superman save people from a tornado given that infamous moment from Man of Steel.
Only now have I realized how deadly the Magic Fountain skill is against single targets
I haven't used Focus Spirit to expose weak points much, aside from when giant bosses really annoy me, because I always found racking up kills with it to be more fun. However, hitting a wrong button while using Magic Fountain with Focus Spirit active caused me to realize something that was right in front of me. I can use that skill, a Focus Spirit special, to expose a weak point gauge, then pop Focus Spirit again because entering it while an enemy is close takes more off their weak point gauge than any other movie, as far as I know.
If I really want something dead I can fire off Bombos before using Focus Spirit.
On a side note, I have mostly finished the Grand Travels adventure. It was also nice to see this one didn't have as big a variety of items need to unlock things, a lot of its item cards are instead meant to make it easier to meet requirement to unlock things. My warriors are all at such high levels that I didn't use those much, aside from the Golden Train. That was nice.
Once this map is finished, I am onto the Lorule map. I don't plan to unlock all of the Rewards Map levels because the requirements for the Hard Mode Skulltulas in Legend Mode are too specific for liking, "don't let this keep take too much damage" or "don't let this character take too much," not for me. Also I have no desire to do that March of the Demon King level ever again. A lot of levels are made more manageable in 3DS and Switch, but I swear whoever thought it was a good idea to have Lana split in that level must not have played it enough themselves, and should have to keep playing that level as a punishment to see how much of a pain it is.
What makes Shinji and Asuka the fandom's OTP?
Shinji Ikari has had ships teased with many characters, but in the franchise's long history, Asuka has been the most popular. It has the most fan art, and the manga adaptation of the anime made them a couple because of the ship's popularity.
My understanding, and correct me if I am wrong, is that Rei used to be the most popular of the show's female characters, she did inspire an entire archtype after all, but shipping Shinji with Asuka always seemed more popular even before she overtake Rei's popularity.
Is this because of End... ends? Is it because Rei is a clone of Shinji's mom? A desire to see Asuka happy? Or is there something else I am not seeing?
The Missile Boat needs more love
Image courtesy of Fractalsponge, source here https://fractalsponge.net/missile-boat/
The TIE Defender gets talked about plenty, even before it got added to Canon, but the ship was designed to, and succeeded at, knocking the TIE Defender off its throne as the most powerful starfighter in the galaxy.
In the video game TIE Fighter, Grand Admiral Zaarin, the man responsible for the development of the new Imperial fighters you use in the game, including the TIE Defender, starts a rebellion against the Empire, becoming as a great a threat as the Rebel Alliance, and certainly a more dangerous enemy for the player thanks to the high preformance fighters he designed in his arsenal.
Thrawn was tasked with defeating the rebellious officer and seeing his dependence on the best technology, he had a new ship designed to counter the TIE Defender. Instead of trying to introduce the next Pokémon evolution of the TIE series craft, Thrawn designed something different. A ship that relied on a large supply of warheads rather than laser cannons, albeit one that was still fast and durable. The basic cruising speed of the TIE Defender was greater, but the Missile Boat's SLAM engines could give a burst of speed beyond what the Defender was capable of.
The sheer speed of the Missile Boat allowed it easily catch the TIE Defender and its supply of warheads could easily blast the TIE to pieces. The ability to carry a wide range of ordnance meant the Missile Boat could be equipped for almost any mission. For some added fun it could also equip a tractor beam to make it easier to shoot down enemies, though this wasn't unique to it in the game. Other ships could also equip a tractor beam.
TIE Fighter would explain why the Missile Boat wouldn't appear much after the game, many production facilities for it were destroyed by Zaarin and it was still experimental. And I imagine writers weren't interested in using this ship much since a fighter that wins by shooting missiles at enemies doesn't make as entertaining dogfights as fighters using guns. Sadly this does mean lots of fans don't seem to know about this mazing ship.
Iruma's Hellaverse Family by christen_desi
Source can be found here.
Another piece I had commissioned based on the fanfic One helluva time with Iruma-kun. This time featuring all of Iruma's moms from the story (Emily, Charlie, and Millie) and his girlfriends (Octavia and Loona).
Is there supposed to be any mean to NERV's name or is it just there to look cool?
Not everything in Evangelion has a deeper meaning but the angels from the Bible the angels are named after do reference aspects about them. SELEE is the German word for soul which fits with the organization's evil plan.
So, is there any meaning behind NERV's name or is it just supposed to be a cool name? I am aware that it is named after the German word for "nerve," but is there anything deeper than that?
[That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime] Did Shion ever try eating her own cooking before she got the Cook skill?
Shion's cooking is initially shown to be so terrible that it is not fit for human consumption, or consumption by vultures, or pretty much anything given it once melted through the pot she was carrying it and a riceball she tried making melted a hole in a giant monster. She is so terrible that the only way she can cook anything edible is by gaining a skill that changes cause and effect.
Which raises the question, did she ever try eating what she cooked before gaining that skill?
Do all images have to be uploaded from whatever device I am using if I am making a gallery post?
In the post if I wanted to make a gallery post, there was a spot where I could paste the image into. It was fast, easy to use and let me simply copy and paste images from my browser. Now, when I click on the button to upload images, it takes me to an option to upload them from my PC instead of simply copying and pasting them. Is there no way for me to simply copy and paste images into the gallery as I used to?
Whenever I see the question of why it is wrong for angels to launch the Exterminations, I get annoyed with people forgetting this moment
Even after the show's second season I still sometimes see posts about the kinds of things Sinners did in life. Charlie and Emily's duet in "You Didn't Know" sums up exactly why angels killing Sinners is wrong, it completely betrays the ideas that the angels claim to stand for.
Is Shion chopping a bunch of wood piece in front of Rimuru a reference to any specific Japanese custom or is it just her being weird?
The first episode of Slime Diaries has Shion chop up a bunch of wood into pieces in Rimuru's office. Is this one of those cases where an anime has something makes sense to a Japanese audience but a western one, or is it just supposed to be Shion being an oddball?
I finished Slime Diaries
This was a fun and wholesome spinoff with all the cute interactions and funny moments. To list off some of my favorites;
Shion spilling tea on Iruma and Great Sage has to kick in regeneration and pain nullification. Later she assumes Rimuru likes to eat rotten food after he makes a remark she takes the wrong way.
Milim breaking down lots of doors. Later when Rimuru introduces everyone to Christmas, Milim is hoping for a present, and Rimuru isn't sure how to break it to her that she's not exactly "nice list" material.
Close to finishing the Koholint Island map
While I have started to run into some levels I have had to restart because of how easily allies that you are supposed to keep alive, when it comes to unlocking new squares, the Koholint Island map has to be the easiest one so far since there are only three items you need to use to unlock new areas, you mostly use one of them, and you don't have to be specific about which instruments you use on a nightmare square as long as you play all eight of them at some point.
I will think of that as a calm before the storm because the final two maps are the largest in the game.
On a side note, I beat the level four survival challenge. While the fights on the Adventure Mode maps haven't been too hard aside from keeping some allies alive, this one was a challenge. I ended up having to spam Link's C3 on a lot of enemies to make sure I didn't take too much damage since this challenge doesn't let you heal and the health pickups are rare.
Against later waves, I would sometimes bum rush in Focus Spirit against the Dark Giant Bosses since you can't die while using it. That probably wasn't necessary against Dark Ganon since he only uses his easy-to-avoid first-phase attacks, but I wanted the level over with.
Absolute Star Wars: Anakin Rewrite
Note: This is the first draft. Overtime it might get updated or changed.
Note 2: This is less of a rewrite but more like a new universe all together, inspired by the absolute universe from dc comics
—Prologue:
In this version of the timeline, slavery on Tatooine is significantly harsher than in canon.
Instead of being used mainly for manual labor, slave children are forced to work in underground factories owned by the Hutt Cartels and other criminal organizations. They manufacture blasters, starship components, battle droids, explosives, and other military equipment. Entire generations spend their lives producing weapons that are later sold across the galaxy.
Anakin Skywalker grows up in one of these factories. Even as a young child, he displays an exceptional talent for engineering. By the age of eight, he is repairing advanced droids, modifying engines, and solving mechanical problems that most adult technicians struggle with. Because of this, the Hutts see him as one of their most valuable assets.
Years before the events of PM, Qui-Gon Jinn is exiled from the Jedi Order after repeatedly refusing to follow the Council’s decisions. Instead of returning to Coruscant, he spends his time in the Outer Rim, helping slave populations and disrupting criminal operations wherever he can.
During one of these missions, Qui-Gon arrives on Tatooine. With Shmi Skywalker’s help, he organizes an escape for Anakin and many other slaves. However, the escape is discovered before everyone can get away. Mercenaries hired by the Hutts intercept the group and open fire.
Shmi is hit while protecting Anakin and falls down the ship into the desert.
Believing that his mother has been killed, Anakin instinctively releases a massive surge of Force lightning. Unable to control his powers, he kills not only the mercenaries but also many of the escaping slaves and nearby civilians. Vehicles are destroyed, droids are disabled, and much of the surrounding area is devastated. When the incident is over, dozens of people are dead. Anakin remembers very little of what happened.
After witnessing the event, Qui-Gon realizes that Anakin possesses extraordinary Force potential, but that his abilities are closely tied to his emotional state. Rather than abandoning or fearing him, Qui-Gon decides to take responsibility for training him, believing that if Anakin is left without guidance, his power could become dangerous to both himself and everyone around him.
—Phantom Menace:
The events of PM generally follow the same broad outline as in canon, although several key details are different.
During a mission involving the Trade Federation and Naboo, Qui-Gon Jinn randomly encounters and reunites with his former Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although Qui-Gon was exiled from the Jedi Order years earlier, Obi-Wan still respects him as the master who trained him. The two disagree on many of Qui-Gon’s decisions, but they continue to trust one another.
During the mission, Qui-Gon introduces Obi-Wan to Anakin Skywalker and explains his background, including the incident on Tatooine in which Anakin unintentionally killed both the mercenaries attacking the escaping slaves and many of the slaves he was trying to save. Obi-Wan is initially cautious, but he quickly sees that Anakin is a good-hearted child struggling to control abilities far beyond what someone his age should possess.
Over the course of the mission, Anakin and Obi-Wan develop a close bond. While Qui-Gon remains Anakin’s primary teacher, Obi-Wan gradually becomes an older brother figure. Qui-Gon encourages Anakin to trust his instincts and think independently, while Obi-Wan emphasizes discipline, patience, and self-control. The three develop a strong relationship despite their different personalities.
During the Battle of Naboo, Qui-Gon is killed by Darth Maul, much like in the original timeline. His death has a profound impact on both Obi-Wan and Anakin. Obi-Wan loses the mentor who raised him, while Anakin loses the first person who believed he could become more than the frightened slave boy from Tatooine.
Following Qui-Gon’s death, Obi-Wan honors his master’s wishes by taking Anakin as his Padawan. Although several members of the Jedi Council question whether Anakin should be trained at all, Obi-Wan argues that abandoning him after Qui-Gon’s death would only increase the risk of his powers becoming unstable. After considerable debate, the Council reluctantly approves Anakin’s apprenticeship and formally admits him into the Jedi Order.
—Attack of the Clones:
Several years pass, and Anakin develops into one of the most talented Jedi of his generation. He quickly earns a reputation as an exceptional lightsaber duelist, an accomplished pilot, and a gifted tactician. His connection to the Force is unusually strong, allowing him to master techniques that many Jedi spend decades learning.
Despite his abilities, Anakin never fully fits into the Jedi Order.
Much of this stems from the philosophical differences between him and the Council. The Jedi teach detachment and emotional discipline, believing that strong attachments can ultimately lead to fear, anger, and suffering. Anakin does not reject emotional control, but he disagrees with the idea that attachment itself is inherently dangerous. He believes compassion, love, and personal relationships give people a reason to protect others rather than a weakness to overcome.
These disagreements become more noticeable as he grows older. Although respected for his abilities, Anakin is often viewed by the Council as impulsive, independent, and too willing to question long-standing Jedi traditions. Several Masters privately conclude that he embodies qualities they do not wish future Jedi to emulate.
To remove him from the political tensions on Coruscant, the Council assigns Anakin to protect Senator Padmé Amidala following attempts on her life. Officially, it is an important diplomatic mission. Unofficially, some members of the Council believe that time away from the Temple may help Anakin decide whether he truly wants the life of a Jedi. If he eventually chooses to leave the Order on his own terms, they believe it would avoid a much more difficult confrontation.
During the assignment, Anakin and Padmé develop a romantic relationship. However, Anakin has no intention of leaving the Jedi Order. Rather than abandoning it, he hopes to reform it from within. He believes the Order has become too detached from the people it exists to protect and that its strict interpretation of attachment has caused it to lose sight of compassion. Knowing the Council would never approve of either his relationship or his views, he keeps both secret. Obi-Wan gradually realizes the truth but chooses not to expose him, believing that forcing the issue would only drive Anakin further away.
Around this time, Anakin begins experiencing repeated Force visions of his mother. Unlike the vision that led to her apparent death years earlier, these visions suggest that she survived and is once again being held by slavers on Tatooine.
Convinced the visions are genuine, Anakin asks the Council for permission to investigate. The request is denied. The Council argues that his personal attachment to his mother is clouding his judgment and warns that acting on such emotions could lead him down a dangerous path.
Anakin ignores their decision and travels to Tatooine alone. The visions prove to be accurate. Shmi Skywalker survived the earlier escape attempt but was later captured by another slave syndicate. Anakin reaches her shortly before she dies from her injuries.
Overcome with grief, he loses control of the Force for the second time in his life.
A massive surge of Force lightning devastates the settlement. The slavers are killed, but so are many of the people they had enslaved. Workers, families, and children caught in the fighting die alongside their captors as buildings collapse and weapons detonate throughout the compound.
When Anakin regains control, hundreds of people are dead.
The incident leaves him deeply traumatized. Once again, he had tried to save someone he loved, and once again his own power had caused the deaths of countless innocent people. The memory of what happened follows him long after he returns from Tatooine.
Padmé continues to believe that Anakin is fundamentally a good person and encourages him not to define himself by his worst moments. Obi-Wan also refuses to abandon him, insisting that one tragedy does not determine who he will become.
Anakin, however, struggles to accept either of their reassurance. He begins to see a pattern in his own life: whenever he loses control, innocent people die. Instead of viewing his extraordinary abilities as a gift, he increasingly comes to see them as something dangerous that hurts the very people he wants to protect.
This experience marks the beginning of his growing self-doubt and reinforces his belief that the Jedi Order fears him for reasons he can no longer dismiss.
—Revenge of the Sith: (Part 1)
As the Clone Wars continue, Anakin gradually comes to believe that war is the one place where he truly belongs. On the battlefield, he is able to protect civilians, liberate occupied worlds, and save the lives of countless clone troopers. Unlike the Temple, where his methods are constantly questioned, the front lines provide clear results.
Over the course of the war, Anakin becomes one of the Republic’s most successful military commanders. He leads more campaigns than almost any other Jedi and develops a reputation for ending battles quickly through aggressive tactics. His victories earn him the admiration of the Republic, the loyalty of his soldiers, and the respect of many younger Jedi, even if the Council remains cautious of his methods.
As the war nears its conclusion, Anakin believes he has finally proven himself. Although he still disagrees with many of the Order’s traditions, he believes his years of service have demonstrated both his commitment and his character. Confident that he has earned their trust, he requests a permanent seat on the Jedi Council.
The Council instead convenes a formal hearing.
Rather than discussing his accomplishments, they present evidence of repeated violations of the Jedi Code.
They reveal that they know about his secret relationship with Senator Padmé Amidala. They know he disobeyed direct orders by traveling to Tatooine. They know about the massacre that followed his mother’s death and the hundreds of civilians who died alongside the slavers. Finally, they argue that years of warfare have only reinforced Anakin’s increasingly aggressive and emotionally driven approach to conflict.
Anakin is stunned.
Very few people knew about many of these events. Some details had never been reported to the Council at all.
When he demands to know how they obtained this information, Mace Windu refuses to answer, stating that the source is irrelevant. The Council’s responsibility, he says, is to judge whether Anakin remains worthy of being a Jedi. After deliberation, the Council concludes that he does not.
Citing repeated violations of the Jedi Code, deception toward the Order, and conduct they believe is incompatible with Jedi ideals, they formally expel Anakin from the Jedi Order shortly after the end of the Clone Wars.
Anakin is devastated.
He argues that the Order willingly overlooked these same actions while the Republic needed him to fight its war. If they truly believed he was unfit, he asks, why wait until the war was over? To him, the timing is impossible to ignore. He accuses the Council of using him as a weapon until he was no longer useful.
The Council rejects the accusation. Several Masters explain that they had hoped Anakin would mature over time and eventually overcome the flaws that had concerned them since his childhood. Instead, they believe the war only amplified those flaws.
Anakin refuses to accept their explanation.
He leaves the Temple in anger, convinced that the Order never intended to accept him regardless of how faithfully he served.
As he reaches the Temple entrance, Obi-Wan catches up to him and tries to stop him.
Obi-Wan insists there must still be a way to resolve the situation and asks Anakin not to leave like this.
Instead, Anakin confronts him with a single question.
“Did you tell them?”
Only Obi-Wan and Padmé knew the full truth about what happened on Tatooine. Anakin cannot imagine anyone else who could have revealed it.
Obi-Wan immediately denies it.
He tells Anakin that he never betrayed his trust and that he would never expose him to the Council.
But after everything that has happened, Anakin no longer knows who to believe.
Convinced that even his closest friend has abandoned him, he walks away from the Jedi Temple.
For the first time since Qui-Gon’s death, Anakin Skywalker is completely alone.
Unknown to either Anakin or the Jedi Council, the information presented during the hearing did not come from Obi-Wan or from any Jedi investigation. For years, Chancellor Palpatine had maintained a network of agents tasked with secretly monitoring Anakin’s activities. Shortly before the hearing, Palpatine anonymously supplied the Council with carefully selected evidence of Anakin’s actions. While every piece of evidence was genuine, its timing was deliberate, ensuring that Anakin’s expulsion would occur immediately after the Clone Wars had ended and maximizing the resentment he would feel toward the Jedi Order.
The story will continue later on.
I got the Magic Fountain Skill
It's amazing to think about how much a pain it used to be raise the Shrewd personality trait, now I have been loaded with food that increases it and other hard to raise traits, though I will definitely have to wait on getting the Magic Fountain+ skill.
While Magic Sponge wasn't worth the effort to get, Magic Fountain instantly proved its worth since it lasts a pretty long time, meaning I can pop off a Fairy Blast and use Focus Spirit with the same skill. Pity I can only use this one once.
I am onto the Koholint Island adventure map
I have got everything from the Terminia map except some costumes, and I barely use those. I actually unlocked Marin early in this weird hope I it could help me unlock the Master Sword's skills faster, but I was too cautious about trying the harder maps without clearing the easier ones first, especially after I watched The Completionist's video on how much level grinding you need to do
I feel oddly misinformed by that video since leveling up characters with rupees has been enough to get them strong enough to handle whatever challenges come, even if they aren't my mains. And in fact at a certain point level up hasn't given me much besides more heart containers because of this game's stupid damage cap. It is one of those things it doesn't tell you and the mechanic only seems to be there to annoy the player. Or maybe the game's engine cannot handle you dealing too much damage at once, I don't know because I am not an expert on coding.
Players who have beaten everything, does that damage you get for hitting the level cap ever come into play? I reached that with Link, and I will grant it was amusing to see him hit as hard with a level 2 weapon as he can with a level 3, but the skills you can use to increase weapon damage ever matter?
On a more fun note, having Marin unlocked for so long meant I was able to get all of her good badges before ever using her. And to make sure she doesn't have any challenges I used the rupees I was saving up from the Terminia map to overlevel her. Once on the battlefield, she has proven fun to use.
The Koholint Island map has an interesting gimmick with the instruments providing different effects once you use one.