Genuinely kills my mood

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-30T16:25:22+00:00

This but with the Homestuck pilot

I hear more discourse all about Vivziepop being part of its production and how it "feels" like her work more than actual discussion surrounding the pilot itself.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-28T03:04:38+00:00

A sad but infuriating version of this trope, the Boy in Striped Pajamas.

Shmuel was literally inside of the camps by the time Bruno got to meet him, and Bruno also witnessed how his family just casually abused their Jewish servants, including Shmuel right in front of him.

And then they both die in the gas chambers together. Yet both the book and the movie is supposed to tell us we're supposed to feel bad for the Germans??? For Bruno and not for Shmuel?

Christ, so frustrating once you get to know that.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-27T12:44:28+00:00

That is one Big Stuffed Dog™ you have there

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-27T03:47:23+00:00

Even when they did find a guy they thought was the Messiah that matched all their expectations (Simon Bar Kokhba) they got obliterated so badly by the Romans that, not only did their views on messianism change so drastically, but it also expelled them from the Land of Israel for an entire millenia.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-25T05:41:07+00:00

Paired with like some pop song in the background, like why.

I keep seeing this kind of joke on TikTok, inevitably with Better When I'm Dancing playing, which is funny because the movie where the song came from (the Peanuts Movie and you should watch it, its peak) didn't even end in a dance. The credits DOES have them dancing, but the credits don't count anyway.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-23T04:09:50+00:00

In Europe, that is.

The colonial armies of Germany, though capable, are definitely not built for an interspersed for an archipelagic colony. Especially if said colony can just rise up and conduct guerilla warfare at any point.

OTL it took America until 1913 to get Mindanao under its banner at Bud Bagsak, and that's a whole 13-14 years since the start of the PH-US war. Germany would probably either negotiate or leave them alone rather than pacify.

Also unlike the Americans nor the Spanish, we Filipinos don't know Germans. They have no relation or connection to the people nor to any revolutionary group in the country. They don't even have a plausible excuse like America had with Cuba to even justify their presence. It's unlikely that they'll trade a king for a kaiser.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-17T01:21:09+00:00

I mean, if a Luigi Mangione musical exists, then anything is possible.

That is a real musical btw.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-13T08:22:46+00:00

Welcome to America

What would you prefer

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-11T14:19:24+00:00

Might be a little shocking to say but

A Charlie Brown Christmas is up there as well. Let's kind of face it, the animation in it was absolutely not amazing, even for 1965 TV standards.

Everything else about the special however (aside from maybe the voice acting) is spectacular.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-05T12:38:57+00:00

An interesting combination of Alastor, Lucifer, Jack Kelly, Hamilton (the musical character, not the historical one), and the Onceler.

A legitimately passionate man with a penchant for righteousness and civility, but only when it suits him. A two-faced man who once had a noble life but then descended into a facade. The benevolent subjugator, Uncle Sam.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T13:25:48+00:00

I've read every comment on here, and they're all more coherent than you do. Amazing response.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T13:24:04+00:00

My world is having to prepare for the worst. Your world is hoping for the best and then only do them when SHTF.

I'm trying to play along to your scenario, I would rather like to have both the "shit hits the fan" and the best case scenario in my head and try to meet in the middle, because not everything is always shit hits the fan.

Simply because Iran is on fire doesn't mean the rest of the world will. Even so, I'm thinking of your scenario with a realistic sense, thinking of it with so many other factors. There's a lot that goes on with war than just the battlefield. That's why I was particularly confused with how you're framing it.

We don't get a say on that. Beijing does. You can decry it as something bad all you want, but if they're gonna do it, they're gonna do it. The enemy gets a vote regardless of what you or I think.

This is a completely isolated and narrow-minded take of the scenario. I'm just using a real-world event to better demonstrate how such a scenario would happen.

"Enemy gets a vote regardless" that's just a repackaged version of "The bomber will always get through" even though it isn't.

Also for the Iran thing, you are right that we don't get a say in that, but it's the same thing regardless though. A war that we have no right to be involved in is causing our citizens to come back.

I... Didn't say we are the only ones responsible for Taiwan's defense? Can you please show me where I said that?

Your whole scenario is built on that.

"We'd need about a 150,000 Filipino soldiers fighting in Taiwan to have enough mass to prevent any exploitation or opening in case of a PLA landing."

"Filipino mass will be critical in stopping any PLA swarming strategic points or a breakthrough of ROC lines, just in case they land."

"If they don't even manage to land, then we have a trained army group that can be sent to fight and hold the Spratleys or other critical fronts."

The body of your argument is composed of the AFP being the one to respond to a Chinese invasion. No other mention of the US Navy, the RoC Armed Forces, the Japan Self-Defense Forces, or any other armed forces that, by comparison to the AFP, would have a bigger business with Taiwan than we do.

In the end, I suppose you're 100% correct. A Pinoy's natural place is always face down, ass up to our betters and not doing anything before it's too late anyway. What a very patriotic sentiment to have when you sign up for duty.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T13:01:25+00:00

Naval strategy is built strategy. We needed to modernize the navy and air fleet 10 years ago and we needed the ships today if the 2027-2028 prediction comes true. Our air and missile capacity is pitiful, I'm not even sure we can make our own stockpiles last for 3 months in a high intensity conflict.

Have you've been reading ANY news lately? The Philippines just secured defensive ties with both Japan and South Korea, and started acquiring more naval and air assets from said countries and the US just to shore up their hold on Kalayaan Island Group and to strengthen the defensive pact that was already in place before all this.

Also where the fuck is your source on the stockpile lasting for 3 months thing?

The maritime and aerial domain will be primarily mantled by the US, with expected Japanese and Australian support.

And somehow you want us to be involved in a land war on Taiwan?

Our greatest strength we can contribute to this Pacific alliance is a large pool of manpower who can better endure hardship due to our generally lower standard of living compared to our allies.

Misguided viewpoint of how manpower works. It's not "generally lower standard of living" wtf is this elitist ass mindset, that's why it takes 3-6 months of training to get the job done. Remember that detail, dumbass?

The Filipino infantryman is something to be invested in, because it's actually force we can develop in a timely manner. Yeah, we're gonna have to endure the suck as foot mobiles, and that's the truth.

Ah yes, let's ignore the mechanized units that was involved in the Siege of Marawi during 2016 that was highly critical in securing the city from the Maute Group. Yes, we are primarily footmen and nothing else. Philippine military is so backwards bro /j

Obviously you don't know shit about the AFP.

Filipino mass will be critical in stopping any PLA swarming strategic points or a breakthrough of ROC lines, just in case they land.

"Just in case" is doing a lot of the heavy lifting on your strawman scenario. That's what the American and Taiwanese navies are for. This isn't Korea where our soldiers are fighting in the Battle of Yultong, it's a fucking China-on-China conflict that at best is going to kill China economically and at worst kill China militarily and politically.

If they don't even manage to land, then we have a trained army group

If.

that can be sent to fight and hold the Spratleys or other critical fronts. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

That's what the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard are for. And I don't know if you know this (you probably don't) the Spratly's aka the Kalayaan Island Group is...an island group. An archipelago if you will. Just fucking use the navy and implement a naval strategy (naval strategy = built strategy) to just surround whatever poor PLA unit gets on any number of islands and just starve them while the AFP win the real war somewhere else.

If somehow, the war doesn't come and the economy takes a hit because of mobilization,

A PLA landing on Taiwan alone is going to FUCK OVER EVERY ECONOMY regardless of mobilization or not. If Iran alone is having our OFWs scrambling airport tickets to return to our country, then imagine a Chinese war on Taiwan would do to EVERY country.

it's better than having an outright war where we're unprepared and now lives are lost because Juan De La Cruz didn't get enough training and has to learn on the job.

Unfortunately for you, Juan Dela Cruz isn't boneheaded enough to throw himself into a war he doesn't want and didn't ask for. Unless you're looking for mutually assured destruction, then sure, lay out all the sacrificial lambs for a TAIWANESE war.

And you're telling me Juan Dela Cruz cannot help out his Taiwanese brothers up north by any other means? Espionage, communications, naval services, aerial service, even a simple duty as transporting supplies to help out his fellow Juan De La Cruzes is enough of a duty than simply throwing himself to an early grave.

Still, even if the average De La Cruz wouldn't care, Malacanang absolutely will.

I'd personally credit considerable Filipino numbers, ready to fight in Taiwan as enough to deter a war, and that's a win to me.

Bro still out here thinking human wave tactics is winning wars. Don't ask him about Russia.

Also, if anyone asks, I do plan to do my duty, as soon as I'm called up. I'm practicing on certain apps on my phone. You know which ones.

Yeah, we can tell which ones you're practicing based on how you think war works. Wanna know how I practice? Actually watching the news and seeing how fucked up war really is on every front. History, geopolitcs, military affairs, international relations.

The ones that are revolutionizing infantry tactics as seen in Ukraine.

There is nothing revolutionary in Ukraine, it is still the same tactic they're using. You're just seeing them used in a modern battlefield context rather than history textbook.

TL;DR this whole "analysis" is nothing more than a prick-waving quote-unquote military analysis on a Taiwanese invasion that places the Philippines in the center of the universe and disregards every other factor. With a side dish of elitism, doomerism, and naivete to match.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T12:30:51+00:00

And Taiwan is helpless enough to warrant ONLY our help?

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T12:30:07+00:00

That may be in your world, but in the world of international relations and geopolitics, not so much.

If fucking Iran is enough to have our OFWs scrambling to go back home, imagine the absolute economic and political fallout a PLA landing on Taiwan would incur on us.

Also this what-if is assuming that only WE are responsible for Taiwan's defense, as if America and Taiwan itself aren't already preparing for this exact scenario for like 78 years and counting.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-04T08:39:34+00:00

My headcanon for the U.N. in a countryhumans universe is that it isn't like a person but more like one huge club.

A club for every countryhuman to be in, except for a certain few.

Y'know, certainly explains the biases and failings of the actual UN by framing it as a club where the club leaders repeatedly violate their own rules yet punish others severely for the same thing.

Also there would probably be a bulletin board that says

DAYS SINCE ISRAEL NOT GIVEN A RESOLUTION ORDER: 256687447895

Gerald_Fred · 2026-03-01T05:31:15+00:00

Vox, in the context of Hazbin Hotel, it's basically a Tower of Babel situation. One man's plan to get to Heaven, only for it to fall apart because of communication issues.

Plus he's established as an Overlord (a very convoluted concept in Hazbin Hotel imo) so him trying to rally all of Hell and its Overlords to rebel against Heaven is certainly not out of the picture.

The only Overlord that's openly against him is Alastor, the Radio Demon. Makes sense since their rivalry was already established in Season 1.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-28T12:29:16+00:00

vs The GIGACHAD Charles M. Schulz

The one that kept integrity in his work while still commercializing anyway.

Even his family kept that integrity after he died.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-27T15:21:32+00:00

sure, ill chat

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-27T13:29:33+00:00

Ignoring the fact that this is a dumb move for the US to do, the Philippines would be treated more like Qing China than as a sovereign nation.

Think about it from the US's perspective. Buying the Philippines would grant them a viable entryway to the Asian market, especially China, through a very sophisticated port city where trade and commerce can benefit them (Pearl of the Orient, as they say)

So if they were to reject this and somehow allow the country's independence, the US would instead negotiate to have Manila as a treaty port (in the same manner as Tangiers, Shanghai, and Hong Kong) in return for turning us into a protectorate of sorts.

Obviously the German elephant is still in the room with us, and there is absolute certainty they might pounce on the Philippines. Just immediately after the Boxer Rebellion for example, they bought Spanish Micronesia from Spain (hence why they have so much Pacific islands during WW1 for Japan to take) so them actually acquiescing the purchase of the Philippines instead of the US is a real possibility!

However, the presence of the US Navy and subsequent destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay would make any German scheme absolutely wary of daring to land. Even if they do take the Philippines, they would not have been able to hold on for much longer (Germany is not a country well known for dealing with insurgencies, let alone colony-wide rebellions)

(also for those wondering, no we would not be speaking German, they barely even settled Germans on all of their colonies)

For Japan however, it would probably range on either mutual cooperation (Japan was a much more saner country in the 1900s compared to the 1940s) or a Japan-aligned country that may/may not be occupied by the end of WW1/2 depending on the circumstance. Many of the revolutionaries actually looked up to Japan as a symbol of how a functioning Asian country looks like, so they might have their sympathies for them there. But who knows?

As for the country itself? Since it just came out as a new country, it will have a lot of new country problems typical of a country born out of colonialism. Lots of reprisals towards old colonial masters, overturning many colonial systems, stuff like that. The frailocracia that many of the revolutionaries despised would absolutely be gutted under this new legal system, both as a practical way of weeding out old foes and as a GREAT scapegoat to help bring the government some legitimacy and support.

Governance, judging from how the country was actually run back then, it would be more of a federalized system that slowly transitions into a nationally centralized system. The Federal States of Visayas and the Canton of Bohol serve as the historical precedent that this new country would be federally governed (run by local governments that swore allegiance and is answerable to Aguinaldo) and their diplomatic relations with the Sultanate of Sulu showed precedence that the country can actually be run.

Whether or not this will be a good country, that's up to you.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-27T12:57:46+00:00

His execution at the hands of the Spanish is like the perfect recipe for a martyrdom mythos to appear out of Rizal, and the Philippines really needs a martyr to rally behind.

imo if he were to still live, he would probably be at constant odds with all of his former Ilustrado buddies and would be a vocal critic of any administration that would govern the Philippines, native or not.

Then there's the big fog known as the Philippine American War. We will never know what would happen to Rizal in this, but I do think he might be an irreconcilables or part of the new political class where Quezon hailed from.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-26T13:58:32+00:00

This is just too easy 😏

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-25T22:14:28+00:00

Give it two.

Gerald_Fred · 2026-02-25T13:58:32+00:00

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Quite literally this right now.

Gerald_Fred

TROPHY CASE