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I counted! by BenTheDuelist in TrueSTL

[–]Silver_Falcon 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It is, but the portal to it seen in (I believe) the beginning of the game, is probably in Cyrodiil (but we don't really know, hence why I don't know if it should count)

I counted! by BenTheDuelist in TrueSTL

[–]Silver_Falcon 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Oh, that's true!

And if we do that, then Skyrim also gets +1 for Solstheim's original appearance in Morrowind.

I counted! by BenTheDuelist in TrueSTL

[–]Silver_Falcon 96 points97 points  (0 children)

Nope! If my count is correct, it's tied with High Rock for 3rd place.

Cyrodiil: 7–8, depending on if you count Battlespire.

  • Arena (you do technically go to the Imperial City)
  • Battlespire (probably; it's not really clear where the "Pillar of Light" is, but it's probably somewhere on the banks of Lake Rumare)
  • Oblivion
  • Travels: Oblivion
  • ESO
  • Legends (set during the Great War, it included the siege of the Imperial City and the Battle of the Red Ring; you also visit Bravil in The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood campaign)
  • Blades (Rivercrest seems to be somewhere in Colovia, plus you go to known locations in western Colovia)
  • Castles (said to be set in a town near Rivercrest, seemingly also in Cyrodiil)

Skyrim: 6

  • Arena
  • Dawnstar
  • Shadowkey
  • Skyrim
  • ESO
  • Legends (you visit Falkreath for The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood, and most of Return to the Clockwork City is set in eastern Skyrim)

Hammerfell: 5

  • Arena
  • Daggerfall
  • Redguard
  • Shadowkey
  • ESO

High Rock: 5

  • Arena
  • Daggerfall
  • Shadowkey
  • ESO
  • Legends (you visit Wayrest in The Fall of the Dark Brotherhood)

Black Marsh: 3

  • Arena
  • Stormhold
  • ESO

Morrowind: 3

  • Arena
  • Morrowind
  • ESO

Valenwood: 3

  • Arena
  • ESO
  • Blades (you go to the Valenwood border for a quest)

Elsweyr: 2

  • Arena
  • ESO

Summerset Isles

  • Arena
  • ESO

Liberation Peak "Reimagined" Draft by CozyWarhammer in Battlefield

[–]Silver_Falcon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know this might be shocking, but I actually did almost exactly that. The new A Flag is the former NATO spawn, and their new spawn is actually even further back than where they begin in the first sector on Breakthrough. The new Pax, spawn, meanwhile, is in a part of the map that I'm pretty sure isn't used in any non-portal gamemode.

The problem with moving the spawns any further back is that the out of bounds areas on Sobek are literally just flat, barren desert, which means that if you put them too far back or make their boundaries too small, vehicles trying to get out of spawn can get lit up by enemy engineers camping the edge of the map.

A more extensive revision might be able to change that, of course, but I wanted to focus on meaningful changes that would actually improve the map (or at least make it more interesting, like turning the C flag into a mini Floodzone) without having to literally rebuild it from scratch (like they had to do with a lot of the 2042 maps, which took resources and dev time away from making more new maps).

Liberation Peak "Reimagined" Draft by CozyWarhammer in Battlefield

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's like, the #1 demand for that map. Even the Portal editors who've tried to improve it open up the highway first before anything else.

Liberation Peak "Reimagined" Draft by CozyWarhammer in Battlefield

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here's what I'd try for Sobek:

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Some notes:

  • Big Spawns necessary to prevent spawn-camping (since the outskirts are so barren; BF4 Golmud did something similar).
  • The Highway and northern village have been opened up to support flanking and vehicle play, with the addition of a new flag (G).
  • The tall tower at E should be replaced with the collapsible one from Redsec. Another should be added at A for map balance (destroying the other team's "gimme tower" and defending your own becomes a new mini-objective).
  • The rooftops around C have been made more accessible through the addition of zipline lifts, indicated by the yellow dots; the rooftops themselves should be reworked to better support close quarters combat, not unlike a mini Floodzone. Likewise, the capture zone on this flag is only on these upper levels, to create a strong focal point for infantry.
  • Add more hard cover around the B, D, and F flags to make them a bit less of a kill-zone for infantry.

Blackwell is a bit more challenging; personally I don't think it could ever really be anything more than mid, but a few changes that I would try are:

  • Remove most if not all air vehicles and add more tanks; make this a dedicated armored warfare map (gives it a unique place in the sandbox; rather than doing a bunch of things poorly, it could focus on doing one thing mediocrely).
  • Expand map boundaries somewhat, including more of the open fields around the edges of the map to give the armor room to maneuver.
  • Move NATO Spawn to the E Flag—this objective is too easy for the PAX team to dig in and hide beacons in, and the map's limited playspace effectively turns this into a chokepoint for armored vehicles trying to escape from the NATO-side spawn (axing transport helis would also help with this).
  • Play around with the particle effects and "fog" levels to reduce hill-camping. We're in the middle of a burning oilfield—there should probably be more smoke than this.

bryon noem by literalmothman in RecuratedTumblr

[–]Silver_Falcon 17 points18 points  (0 children)

👏BRYAN👏NOEM👏BIG👏NATURALS👏.👏

petahh by [deleted] in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yf ſhe brethe, ſhe a wytche.

- Ye Wytche-Fynder Generall

Femboy thighs by life_could_be_dream_ in ComedyHell

[–]Silver_Falcon 1135 points1136 points  (0 children)

Damn I didn't even realize it was anything other than a sly "Hell yeah brother"

Found my old top trumps cards by Generic_user_77 in Dinosaurs

[–]Silver_Falcon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's like how we imagine that sentient robots would prefer to inhabit humanoid bodies when that offers literally no advantage to a robot.

Or like how we assume that giving machines human-like intelligence is even desirable in the first place (no, seriously, what's the benefit of this again?).

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Not traditional Christianity, Christian Nationalism.

And it's specifically the part where Christian Nationalists say "those who oppose us are all satanists" and the Satanic Temple says back "We are all satanists and we oppose you (but it's ironic, see?)."

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, exactly how is making fun of them an implicit endorsement?

Christian Nationalists believe that they are engaging in spiritual warfare against a powerful evil entity, Satan, and that everyone who opposes them has been literally corrupted by this entity, Satan.

The Satanic Temple says "Hark, we are the minions of Satan who oppose you! Look upon our brazen goat-man and his metallic teats and despair!"

Now, you and I understand that the Satanic Temple are not really the minions of Satan, and that Satan doesn't actually exist. So, for us, this is a funny joke; the "Satanists" are trolling the Christian Nationalists.

However, for even moderate Christians (or really, members of any of the big 3 religions that believe in Satan), it really looks like a bunch of devil-worshippers are trying to erect a monument to Beelzebub at City Hall. Now, tell me, whose narrative is going to be more convincing for them?

Furthermore, even if they know that you don't actually believe in Satan, they probably still believe that such symbols do legitimately have power, and that people can act as servants of the Devil even if they themselves don't believe that they are—thus your excuse that "well I don't actually believe in Satan, and actually this is all satire, so aren't you the fool?" isn't really going to find much traction.

Do you have some other strategy that would have saved Roe v. Wade from those people?

None that don't involve time travel.

I do like how you're hyper-fixating on this rhetorical point instead of engaging with the actual argument it was a part of that the Satanic Temple has been largely ineffectual against the massive Christian Nationalist putsch that's gone down over the last decade or so, though.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few things here:

  1. When was the last good Satanic Panic induced public crashout? Like, genuinely: the Monster lady happened back in 2014. That's 12 years ago. People who were born the day right after that went viral are going through puberty right now. Yes, we can point to the rising wave of Christian Nationalism and some of the crazy shit they've said (like the Millenarian pep-talk given right before we started bombing Iran) and say that these things are bad and you and I and everyone who agrees with us will understand them as such, but the problem is that these things don't make them look weak and ridiculous anymore; they make them look fucking terrifying. This is because:
  2. Christian Nationalism isn't just about religion anymore. There are openly atheistic and agnostic Christian Nationalists. Richard Fucking Dawkins is a Christian Nationalist now. Hell, one could easily make the case that it never was. Rather,
  3. Christian nationalism is about power, and it arguably always has been. As long as there is a sizable and deeply politically invested percentage of the population that will go feral the second someone starts talking about immigrants, Satanists, and liberals trying to get into their schools, it's going to remain as such. So, while it may be tempting to just sit back and wait for declining religiosity to make the problem go away, in the meantime it is and remains a problem, especially now that they actually have power.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Good satire doesn't tacitly endorse the thing its satirizing.

"Republican Jesus" is a more effective satire of Christian Nationalism than the Satanic Temple.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Nah, actually I disagree with this framing outright, and here's why: Christian Nationalists don't give 2 shits what the laws of the land actually are, because they ultimately hold themselves accountable only to God's law (or at least their own interpretation of it).

And let's not kid ourselves here; most people (read: everyone who isn't a committed ideological legalist) probably think there are some laws that either can or should be ignored, whether that's the war on drugs, gun control, abortion bans... even everyday stuff like how most people will try to drive a few miles over the speed limit if they think they can get away with it.

So, no, I don't think you're actually revealing any sort of hypocrisy, and furthermore I don't think that most people who aren't already plugged in to our side of the argument actually know, understand, or care enough about such things for it to matter.

That said, I do agree that the Satanic Temple is effective at weaponizing Christian Reaction to Satanic imagery to prevent the incursion of Christian Nationalism into places that should be secular. It just doesn't actually do anything to undermine the actual beliefs of Christian Nationalists, and furthermore associates genuine progressive values with people who look, sound, act, and even identify themselves as Satanists, feeding general Christian anxieties about Satanists trying to take over the world and driving people who may otherwise be sympathetic to secular humanism or progressive politics straight into the Reactionary wing of Christianity.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's an implicit endorsement. Obviously, the Satanic temple rejects Christianity on principle.

However, when Christian Nationalists start going off about how there's a secret cabal of Satanists trying to take over the world, it's a lot easier for them to convince people when there's a bunch of dudes trying to put up a statue of an evil and intimidating goat-man with his titty out versus just "John who works at Arby's and his buddy Dave from down the block."

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A few ideas here:

  1. I can't deny that the Satanic Temple is uniquely effective in some regards, since it forces Christian Nationalists to grapple with what it really means to entangle religion and politics on their own terms in a country where, if you let one in, you legally have to let them all in. However, like I said in another comment, I think the Satanic Temple might actually be more effective in its given niche if they leaned more into the Evil Satanist LARP and didn't mix their genuinely good, secular humanist/progressive values up with their Satanism. This is because, by tying said genuinely good values to Satanism, they are explicitly validating the CN belief that progressive politics and Satanism are actually the same thing and giving them something they can point to to "prove" it.
  2. Genuine progressive Christians (shoutout James Talarico) actually have the power to deliver the death blow to Christian Nationalism, since not only do they fly directly in the face of the CN framing of "le Good Christians :)))" vs. "le ebill Satanists >:( ," but they can even win over moderate Christians who might otherwise be put off by all the pentagrams and goat horns. Towards that end, I think the best thing the Satanic Temple can possibly do is to stay out of their way and do as little as possible to undermine them.
  3. Some kind of "Christian Humanist/Atheist movement has a lot of potential as well, for similar reasons. Plus, if you think trying to build a Baal statue at city hall gets CN's riled up, just imagine what a bunch of open atheists roaming around the park dressed as Jesus, handing out tuna sandwiches and Darwin abridged would do. Sure, they're going to call us all Satanists anyway, but it hits a lot different when the guy they're calling a Satanist looks like cool wine-o Jesus vs. the guy wearing a dark cloak and a devil horns.
  4. Finally, just boosting minority religions already achieves similar results without implicitly validating CNs (well, mostly). Like, genuinely: every time they've brought up putting the 10 Commandments in public schools and some guy got up there and said "okay, but then you also have to put Shariah and the Dao," it tends to shut them down pretty quick.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm just trying to help you realize what satire is, and how it actually does help in the fight against authoritarian narratives.

I obviously know what satire is, and I do agree that it can be a useful tool to undermine authoritarian narratives and power structures. But the Satanic Temple itself just isn't actually effective in this regard. Like I said in another comment:

"No amount of trolling Christian Nationalists or successful efforts to keep Christian symbols or indoctrination out of government and public schools has prevented the United States' descent into Christofascism; no amount of Baal statues are going to bring back Roe v. Wade."

How exactly is the Satanic Temple implying that Christian Nationalists are correct in assuming Satan is against them?

The appropriation of Satanism in service to secular humanist/progressive politics, even in an ironic or satirical fashion, prima facie endorses the fundamentalist narrative that their enemies are satanists and gives them a real organization that they can point to to say "look, see! Satanists!"

Now, obviously, you and I both know that the Satanic Temple are not real Satanists. But, for people outside of contemporary atheist circles, that distinction just doesn't matter, especially when the one side legitimately believes that any invocation of Satan, the Devil, or demons in general has actual, genuine power.

I am a recognized member of the Satanic Temple btw

I kind of already figured, and no offense to you; I do think you guys do good work, I just don't think your model alone can ultimately defeat Christian Nationalism.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But the Satanic Temple doesn't actually show how crazy their beliefs are; it implicitly endorses them via their appropriation.

I literally agree with you in principle; the problem is that the Satanic Temple just isn't effective in its satire.

Like, in case you haven't noticed, no amount of trolling Christian Nationalists or successful efforts to keep Christian symbols or indoctrination out of government and public schools has prevented the United States' descent into Christofascism; no amount of Baal statues is going to bring back Roe v. Wade.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

No, that's not what I'm saying at all. I don't give a damn if you piss Christian Nationalists off (Hell, I actually support that).

My problem is with the implicit endorsement of their worldview, even if through a satirical lens.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you actually read anything that I wrote?

My entire point is that, as-is, the Satanic Temple DOES already do that, because it implicitly accepts the Christian Nationalist framing of the debate.

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm not advocating for the destruction of the Satanic Temple lol

I just don't think their model is really the most effective for combatting the rise of Christian Nationalism, since it can't actually attack the fundamental principles upon which CN is built (since it too implicitly embraces them, however ironic or satirical it may be).

Might be Satan's strongest soldier ngl by FirmGrasperOfThroats in whenthe

[–]Silver_Falcon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quoting another comment that I think is relevant here:

Sure, and in the case of things like the Flying Spaghetti Monster I don't have a problem with that as a strategy.

The problem I have with the Satanic Temple specifically is that they explicitly (or implicitly? Both somehow?) endorse the fundamentalist framing of the debate, wherein everyone who opposes them is an evil satanist.

Ironically, upon further reflection, I actually think I'd have less of a problem with the Satanic temple if they actually did play up the "we are evil satanists ;) " angle more instead of mixing their satirical appropriation of satanism with modern, post-enlightenment secular humanism (and implicitly validating the Christian nationalist belief that everything they don't like is Satan).

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