#tactical level

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: ‘The Saga of Tanya the Evil’ #10

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 10: Viribus Unitis by Carlo Zen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Pursuing victory without ever exerting the most casual glance toward the consequences of one's efforts invariably blinds the nation-state to the political, economic, and cultural deficiencies and failures sure to creep into the shadow of one's willful ignorance. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 unites the prophesiers of the Empire's impending demise around the one or two flickering candles of hope. And so, knowing the tiniest gasp or the sharpest exhale may snuff out these last lingering insights, Tanya takes a deep breath and pushes ahead. The previous volume of this novel series was the author's most prudent intellectualization of the war, and yet, somehow, the current volume goes one step further. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 yields to the intellectual superstructure of the previous volume and focuses almost entirely on witnessing the emotional and physical consequences of adhering to the wayward truths that infrequently muscle their way through the din of bureaucracy the and fog of military conflict. For her part, Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff contemplates the efficacy of desertion, worries over the narrow viability of the General Staff's tentative false-flag operation, and feverishly ridicules her colleagues for their shortsightedness and inability to properly contextualize war as an extension of politics ("In the absence of problems that require heroic intervention, there simply is no need for a hero," page 003). The Empire is no longer losing the war; the Empire has lost. The only pragmatic observation available to the war's contributors concerns how quickly or how slowly the country will succumb to its varied wounds. The multifront conflict is bleeding the nation dry. Will the Empire simply wither until it runs out of human and technological resources? The diplomats at the Foreign Office have been sitting on their hands for years. Will the bureaucrats pull through and negotiate an armistice of some kind? Victory is no longer probable, and the military and the Foreign Office's prerogative has become to convince the greater government that a negotiated resolution is the Empire's only option for continued survival. Tanya spies these intertwining challenges not unlike negotiating with a three-headed chimera (i.e., the army, the government, the people). But a nation drunk on the presumption of total victory as a natural extension of total war won't sober up anytime soon. Solutions exist. Shocks to the system are possible. But it appears the Empire's communications codes have been decrypted, and it appears the eastern front is set to crumble (again), and it appears nobody truly knows what's going to happen next because nobody's been in this (losing) position before. "Even the mere idea of retreating provoked reactions of contempt… Whether or not there was precedence for retreating, from a military standpoint, the masses had no appreciation for that kind of logical thinking." (page 044) THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 is a compelling book because Tanya fights to validate the war's most dismal truths just as she pushes back against its many, conniving, socio-political constraints. For example, Tanya and the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion are assigned to the western front, under Lieutenant General Romel. But first, a pitstop, as Tanya must deliver a message from Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf to the newly promoted General von Zettour on the frontlines. Tanya-as-courier is a funny, squirrely shift in plans, as Zettour conspires to execute a magnificent tactical shift that could revitalize the eastern front for the Empire. But there are consequences. If Zettour's Operation Mini-Revolving Door fails, then the Federation will have the opportunity to bludgeon its way deep into Empire-held territories, and the Empire's soldiers will have lost their mettle. If the operation succeeds, with no small help from Tanya and her trusty adjutant, Serebryakov, then Zettour will have extended the Empire's lifeline on the eastern front for several tenuous months. The operation's failure and success both reek of desperation, and anyone with a brain can see Zettour has put his neck on the line to sustain a war effort that is slowly crumbling before his eyes. This volume doesn't disappoint when it comes to articulating Tanya in the field of battle. The first of the book's two battles, which occurs in the east, is a marvelous reminder of the dangers of maneuver warfare. This novel series is strong when it comes to field strategy, and war games more broadly, but on the tactical level, Zettour's brilliance is a highlight of the novel's first half. Zettour is an animal and a schemer. Everyone knows this. And yet, nobody can stop him. "It was at the same moment when the con artist across the table, who they expected to show his hand at any moment, kicked the entire table out from in front of them." (page 098) Another highlight? Tanya's face-to-face encounter with Commonwealth Lieutenant Colonel Drake, second-in-command of the multinational mage unit. Drake is an entertaining character because of his grudging compliance. However, THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 spares the man no peace, as Drake almost gets his arm sliced off and is nearly blown to smithereens during Tanya's recon-in-force feint. On the plus side, for readers, Tanya hilariously outsmarts First Lieutenant Mary Sue into blind fratricide. But the twisting and turning violence and deception of the eastern front soon gives way to the frail insecurities of the west. The gears of war grind on, but the oil and grease that keep the machine running are continuously diluted. Back at the capitol, Colonel Lergen meets with an official of the Empire's Foreign Office (the notably snooty Counselor Conrad), and together they plot to convince the hydra to end the war through bloody-nose posturing. That is to say, to strike at the enemy's doorstep and surreptitiously convince foreign citizenry of the threat the Empire poses, and thus spark sincere negotiations at the highest level. The western front is the focus of this effort, and Operation Doorknocker is quickly, hurriedly underway. The events on the western front are similar to the eastern front, but bloodier and less fortuitous. Tanya's 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion is up against a whole brigade of the Commonwealth's marine mages. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 queries readers as to how invincible the 203rd really is, particularly when the political deliberations forcing the battalion's movements are weak, inexperienced, and absent conviction. How does one fight a war when the bureaucrats are too stupid to follow suit? How does one fight a war when one's communications have been compromised? How does one fight a war when an unspoken "Plan B" keeps resurfacing when one least expects it? Tanya emerges from Operation Doorknocker in one piece, but ultimately a failure; the Empire's hydra is increasingly to blame for getting in its own way. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 frames the Empire's imminent decline around Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf's dangerously practical view of power politics. In the previous volume, he floated the idea of a false-flag operation; he postulated that staging an attack in Berun, the capitol, would spur negotiations for peace. Rudersdorf knows that the integrity of a bureaucrat at war is not equivalent to the integrity of a soldier at war. But Rudersdorf's "Plan B" is increasingly problematic. For one, soldiers who acquiesce to hasten the demise of the Empire risk becoming traitors, if on the ironic pretense of overvaluing their patriotism. Lieutenant General Romel, for example, playacts the reckless leader, but his legitimate shrewdness could easily be misperceived as a stress-test gone too far. Second, the issue of hastening the Empire's demise is itself a query prone to bifurcation. Rudersdorf plies Colonel Lergen for reliability, successfully arguing that a false-flag operation grows more feasible as the war itself grows less winnable. Readers would be apt to explore this foreshadowing. If "Plan B" were to go into effect, where would Rudersdorf find such a group of willing soldiers? Obviously, he'd use the 203rd. Further, what would be the legal ramifications of doing so? Tanya's fate would be sealed. And what, then, of the political consequences? Rudersdorf ponders what would happen if he slayed the hydra himself, creating a Supreme Army Command that superseded (if not eliminated) the other heads of government. "I can't let my imagination get too out of hand." (page 276) When Rudersdorf not-so-jokingly asks Lergen to oversee the contingency plan, which he calls the Counter-Insurrection Plan, Lergen balks, but with only the smallest granule of confidence. Third, calling the false-flag operation a "contingency plan" means it's a viable and actionable plan should certain conditions be met. At present, nobody really knows what those conditions are or how much time is left until the trigger is pulled. Well, almost nobody. In the novel's closing pages, Lergen makes a startling discovery that recontextualizes the final months of the war and his role in it. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v10 exposes the myriad ironies embedded in war's purposeful violence. Tanya lives up to her reputation as a ghost or a devil set to drive others to their fiery graves, but she's not without a conscience on the matter ("I know I'm fighting for the losing side," p. 219). Zettour calmly marks up his topographical map of the eastern front, lamenting how his skill compels extending a losing affair ("This wickedness of his was a sort of emergency measure, but he had to accept that it was becoming the norm for him," p. 284). Rudersdorf aims to redefine the boundaries of the war machine's obligations. And Lergen, angry with the Empire's "superfluous bureaucracy," becomes a political animal, though he loathes the necessity. "War was just an extension of politics, after all. Though it was conducted through force of arms and open warfare, the fact that it was humans who were doing the fighting meant that politics would always be a part of the fundamental equation." (page 296)

Light-Novel Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[95-6qrsk2rx9uq42069nnnnnjthewolf]

i think tim is high maintenance the way a boarder collie or austrialian shepherd is. like you have to make sure they're not only given space to expend energy but you have to specifically let them get the herding instinct out and challenge them intellectually or they start destroying ur home

[nocternalrandomness]

"Switchblade"

[rotzaprachim]

a longer analysis needed maybe but I think we’re giving too much moral credit to white supremacists and white nationalists when we say thing like “it’s just a fight if they hate Jews or Muslims more.” They hate us both and in neither interchangeable nor neatly separable ways, just like how antisemitism and Islamophobia are neither interchangeable nor fully separable and deeply racialized ideologies that often get misunderstood as simply “religious.” What they’re actually doing is making strategic decisions about the political capital they can use. Can someone be radicalized in a given moment against Muslims, or against Jews? What is the best way to advance our movement? Can we push a broad platform of hatred towards jihadi terrorists who are going to invade western society, or get people worked up about the Zionist deep state globalists who control our government from within? What is the most effective way to radicalize someone into not only hatred but the idea entire ethnic and religious groups are at the root of all our social problems and that the nation - or the world - would be better without them? Do not assume innocence. And furthermore, do not assume you are safe from their schema of who the world would be better without, even if they aren’t saying your name, right now

[tswwwit]

i have a counter argument to the 'only one person can boop bill' thing, mabel. she's the type of person to slap stickers on people, she would definitely be the type to also boop others occasionally and bill would be no exception. she probably doesn't do it to annoy bill like dipper would, but maybe as a form of a friendly gesture, kind of like those people who will lightly punch friends in the arm when they hang out.

You know what? Good point. Mabel would get away with more than most, as a fun-loving lady! Bill understands those impulses, and being a touchy person! He indulges in similar ones himself.

Though when Bill's not in the mood to be playful and gets booped anyway? The 'sister-in-law' status grants her considerable grace.

[aurelion-solar]

Jazz Bard - Legends of Runeterra Level Up

[missingexaltation]

(Just some post-Vecna D&D shenanigans because Hellfire looked so, so serious, and D&D (IMO) is rarely like that.)

Eddie's a brutal DM. He loves putting his players through the ringer, because their victories against him are then so much sweeter. He knows they get frustrated, but they also get a sick satisfaction from the campaigns, so it works out.

Even after Vecna, when Will comes back to Indiana and joins their excommunicated Hellfire sessions, Eddie doesn't change too much. Vexing them is one of his favourite things to do, he's spent hours creating this storyline after all, and he loves watching the party flounder and pull together to succeed.

It all goes to pot when Steve first tries to play. At first, he can't remember any of the races or NPC names (OR the party's names, actually), so instead he gives them all his own nicknames, which Eddie fucking hates, but puts up with because Steve just gives him the 🥺 eyes. 'I'm new at this, Eds, I'm sorry.' And to the surprise of everyone else, it actually works.

(Eddie does not tell them why it works, and why he's immune to everyone else trying that same tactic. He and Steve have been together for a couple of months and are very much enjoying exploring that by themselves for now. Steve's not above taking advantage of Eddie during D&D though, if anything, dating the DM makes him more bold.)

The thing that winds Eddie up the most though? When Steve starts to get it together, figures out what he's doing, and starts joining in with character role play. He's competitive, gets frustrated when he rolls low during combat, but absolutely lords about when he does roll high, echoing his kingly jock past when he gets a rare kill.

It becomes a running joke, Steve only rolls high on dumb shit, never when it's important, so although he can vague his way through some encounters, he has to rely on the rest of the party (Will in particular) to heal him up again. Unlike the others, Steve doesn't have any particular attachment to his character, so he's happy to 'fuck around and find out', and risk getting killed. (He knows Eddie's already got him a new one drawn up...just in case.)

The dumb shit he gets away with cracks the kids up. Steve gets away with so much through poor ignorance and sheer ballsy plays. Everyone finds it hysterical when Steve gets a nat 20 on completely irrelevant rolls, (the worst was when he gained an NPC to adventure alongside them, causing Eddie a complete fucking headache when said NPC was fighting alone against a dozen enemies and Eddie was stuck.narrating and rolling dice against himself for fifteen minutes), but alongside all of this...there's a more horrifying realisation.

Eddie loves it too.

Sure, this particular campaign is easier than any they've done before (purposefully designed so Eddie can catalogue how his newbies play), but it's so much fun. The kids, Steve, Gareth and Jeff all find it entertaining when Eddie bangs his head against the desk in annoyance, pauses the game for a much needed smoke, when he's forced to bring yet another NPC alongside with them, or when Steve crit rolls for dumb shit like how many beers he can down at the local tavern during a short rest.

Eddie's not sure if the kids know that he's grinning like a maniac behind his DM board, or that he's hiding his face because he's laughing and not despairing, but he's sure they'll find out eventually. He keeps up the facade as long as he can though. His boyfriend, kids and his boys are having fun, so he does too.

Eddie starts only putting his foot down for really ridiculous things, enjoying the weird fucking tangents the party starts to take, and rewriting the story on the fly, not even trying to get them back on track. It's a new challenge for him, and it becomes less a game of tactics and more of a combined storytelling. And Eddie loves weaving a good story.

--------

'So...only one person can go through the portal?' Steve asks.

'Yeah, if you want someone else to try, you're gonna have to come back out first.' Eddie replies, braced for whatever fucking shenanigans he's about to try. Steve's got that face on, which means he's gonna push his luck.

'What about that bag thing, can I put someone in that and go through the portal?' He asks. 'It can hold a person, yeah? I put David Toadie the fifth in there last week.'

That immediately starts the table gossiping, and Eddie sighs, leaning back and waiting for them to all talk themselves out. The fucking bullywugs, he thinks. Steve had called them all David Toadie, because 'bullywug' was apparently too difficult.

'You could put everyone in the bag of holding.' Eddie agrees, once they've calmed down. 'But only one person can go through the portal, regardless of whether they're in the bag or not. Plus there's a time limit before they suffocate to death.'

'What if I turn the rest of us into gas?' Will chips in excitedly. Steve snaps his fingers and points at him, grinning with agreement.

'We're not people if we're gas! And we don't need to breathe!' Dustin yells, 'We can all go through!'

'They all start chanting 'IN THE BAG, IN THE BAG, IN THE BAG', while hitting the table, as they turn to Eddie, wide eyed with glee.

He groans theatrically and rubs his hands over his eyes, pressing the heels of his palms into his sockets. Jesus H Christ, these fucking kids. They weren't this disobedient before Harrington, that's for sure.

'Eighteen.' He says, begrudgingly, 'Natural eighteen or above on your D20 and you can shove all your kids in the fucking bag, Harrington. And roll where I can see it.'

Steve makes a big show of getting all the party to touch the die for luck, and rolls.

It's another fucking nineteen. His fifth of the session.

They all look from the die, up at Eddie, sitting at the head of the table. He sighs.

'I'll allow it.' He says, glumly.

The room EXPLODES with cheers. Dustin and Mike are squealing, grabbing onto Steve, and the others are hammering on the table with huge smiles on their faces. Gareth and Lucas are on their feet, twirling around like lunatics, and Eddie just sits there, utterly defeated and trying not to laugh. Steve catches his eye and winks, and Eddie just knows he's getting lucky tonight.

There's nothing but an empty room with a note, on the other side of the portal. It just needed one person to read it and memorize the runes before they came back through. It was supposed to take a minute, if that, but it's been nearly an hour because they're all terrified of what trap Eddie 'might' have set up there.

It's not defeating a dragon, or Vecna, or any other mythical, legendary monster, but already this session is easily in his top 3.

This. This is why he plays.

[allthegothihopgirls]

I like to think that Tim’s parents never let him grow his hair out and when he moves into Wayne manor he’s mildly terrified that they’ll make him cut his hair too, and is amazed when they don’t. He damn near has a panic attack the first time someone sees that it’s getting long and asks if he wants to get it cut. But they never make him cut it, not even when it’s long enough put in a ponytail.

I have this fic scene in my head where someone, maybe Damian once he’s warmed up to Tim, starts bleaching his hair in his sleep as a prank and he has a full blown panic attack. He attacks the heck out of whoever’s doing it and starts hyperventilating when someone grabs him and holds him back.

ok i love long hair!tim as much as the next person (fuck batman: arkham knight) but oh do i love the idea that he never really gets to explore that part of himself until he moves into wanye manor.

like imagine you've got this poor little kid, who's terrified of so many things that he should just. not be scared of (tim w/no rational fears + tim w/all the non-rational fears). retaliating to a suggestion of a haircut being one of them.

he's moved into this new place where the people are more accepting and willing to show love than anyone in his life has ever been. he's slowly but surely learning to undo all the past notions he holds about what would happen if he 'disobeyed' or made honest mistakes. but among the few things he just can't let go off, it's this whole thing about his hair.

so when bruce makes some offhand comment about 'we should probably take you to the barbers at some point' and tim completely freezes next to him, he stops and asks '..do you want to get your hair cut?' and when tim can't even open his mouth to give his honest answer, bruce just shrugs his shoulders and says 'no big deal, just let me or alfred know if you ever do'. tim is gobsmacked.

his head reels wondering why he wasn't scolded for not agreeing, or had his silence taken as 'wanting to look feral', and reprimanded for that as well. i don't think he really accepts it as completely okay right then and there though.

he takes it more a warning that they're noticing his hair's length, and that it will certainly need to be cut when they pay enough attention to see it again. so he styles it to look as short as he can get it, and wears a lot of hats for the time being. until one day when it's well and truly at his shoulders, alfred comments 'your hair looks nice today master timothy', and it takes tim just more than a split second to realise the compliment was genuine. i think that's when he lets the fear go.

although that doesn't stop him from freaking out when a villain's weapon slices through or yanks out some of his hair, or when he's in a vulnerable enough state (tired, hurt, etc) and someone mentions cutting his hair. the fear might not be there constantly lingering in the back of his head anymore, but it definitely pops up when he least expects it to.

[seawitchkaraoke]

Would loooove for Buddy to heal/revive some of the fallen ratgrinders mid combat like. I know we're usually playing by Pokémon rules here in that the intrepid heroes have revivers in their bag and the bad guys never do and it makes sense bc otherwise the battles would get ridiculously long but it would be so fun if Brennan actually fully went with the whole "anything you guys do, I add to my toolbox"

Like some ppl are complaining about the bad kids doing too well and winning this fight too easily but. 3 of them went down. As many bad kids went down as ratgrinders did, the only reason the bad kids have the upper hand is that the unwritten rules of how they play this game demand that Buddy Dawn isn't going to cast a mass cure wounds to bring all the ratgrinders back up

[uncanny-tranny]

Something I always wonder with the whole: "The lazy populous doesn't want to work!" is if it's only being said to keep minimum wage at the very, very lowest end of 'survivability.'

The "lazy worker" isn't truly a problem. The employers are.

[araluenstories]

Apprentice Gilan, turning up in the main tent at the gathering and interrupting the rangers' meeting with a parchment of his battle tactics assignment in his hand:

"Are you finished already?"

"No, I just don't get it."

"Did you read the whole assignment?"

"I did, five bloody times, and it doesn't make any sense because of what the fucking-"

"Language!"

"- left wing does, a bunch of knights would never do that!"

"...imagine they do exactly that."

"Great, then they are done, and I am finished with this assignment because I can think of at least fourteen ways to deal with this right now."

[autistic-britta-perry]

they're NOT killing the eggs you guys don't worry this makes a lot of sense as a strategic threat to keep these three too scared to resist or do anything to fight the federation. Roier and Slime both lost their eggs so they technically have less to lose, and Roier is connected to Cellbit as well. Tubbo's been trying to fight the federation since he got there and they're clearly very annoyed at him SPECIALLY I think part of the key is also what some meta has talked about recently about the new islanders vs the old ones where the old islanders will just be like 'we already tried that there's no point to any of that' and have gotten used to the kidnappings and such, and tubbo's still like THIS IS FUCKED WAKE UP WE HAVE TO DO STUFF and I think they hate that and want to crush that. To put these three through this achieves two awful things at once: it makes Slime and Roier relive what happened to Bobby & Juana Flipa and it makes the three of them fear that it's happening again. ALSO it could seed mistrust if they tell people about this because anyone who wasn't in the room may blame Tubbo for it

[coffeebanana]

imagine being a server dedicated to supporting fanworks and it being up for debate whether the mods should allow people to bash the fic they selected for book club

[p2ii]

I feel like there's something to be said about the way fandom will treat characters who's trauma they can personally relate to Vs characters who they cant

[nerdie-faerie]

We're just starting off with the trauma unpacking this time? Okay then

[chimaerakitten]

So Sypha’s backstory is less fleshed out than the other two (not uncommon for the female member of an MMF main character trio) and that also means she’s the least personally connected to the villains in pretty much every instance—Sypha’s motivation is 100% ideologically heroic, she decided to fight monsters because someone had to.

Anyway the fun thing about all that is that from the perspective of all the vampires it’s like

1. Dracula’s half-human son. Powerful even by vampire standards and unfortunately siding with humanity. Highly dangerous.

2. A Belmont. One of the lineage of extremely deadly hunters that have been after Vampires for centuries now. Kill on sight.

3. A…third person? Huh she smells like magic that’s probably not good. Still not the biggest threat in the roo—OH FUCK SHE HAS FLAMETHROWER HA—-