(2016) In the grim darkness of 2016 there is only …

That’s an interesting list you’ve got there. Nothing from Forgeworld?

嘛,你队伍里没啥重课金装备啊。

(注:Forgeworld是战锤这个坑钱桌游里有名的坑钱点。一辆塑料坦克几百刀的神奇逗逼店)

Nah. It just doesn’t fit the theme of the army that I’ve got in my head. Where’s the rest of yours?

啊,跟我脑洞中的部队设定不太一样呢。你剩下的模型呢?

Off the table, Mo. Not surprised that you don’t know anything about the meta.

桌子下面呢,莫莫。你对meta(主流套路)真的一点都不了解呢。

Mehwuh?

啥?

…Nevermind, hon. Don’t ever change, alright? 🙂

算啦,亲爱的。永远别变,你现在这样很萌哦。


 

Why a 40k game?

为啥这次用了战锤桌游呢?

Well, I’m gonna let you figure out about what the allegory here is. Florida the loaded power-gamer veteran who has every army ever casted, versus little Missouri on the other end who’s managed to cobble together the oddest little group of fellows and put all of them together in a list that’s uniquely “hers.”

想想吧。这到底是个什么寓言。左边是超重级别课金玩家佛罗里达小姐,手上拥有世界上的所有模型。右边呢?密苏里酱是靠自己的脑洞和爱好,慢慢拼出来了自己的阵营以及概念。你认为我这玩的是什么梗啊?

In other news, for this upcoming primary election, the GOP spent 88% of all of their attack ads (out of three states) in Florida, attacking the one man who they thought was a joke – until he wasn’t. Millions of dollars are being spent to attack someone running as the candidate to represent their own party, and it remains to be see whether or not the ads have any effects.

最近新闻中,共和党这几天88%的攻击新闻都砸到了佛罗里达州,目的就是为了干掉那个本来只是卖萌搞笑的那个突然变的不搞笑的挑战者。这次的这个自己打自己已经砸进去几百万了,到底有没有效果我还不太清楚。

A lot has happened in America just over the weekend.  Thursday. A debate that was civil happened over on the Republican side. Friday. There were riots and arrests in St. Louis, and Trump abruptly cancelled a rally in Chicago citing concerns about the safety of both his supporters and his protesters. Saturday, Rubio offered Kasich an alliance, in which Kasich – in an entirely predictable but at the same time, political – maneuver, flatly rejected. It also happened on the same day that a “peaceful protester” who once dragged a US flag through the ground in protest decided to bum-rush the Republican front-runner by leaping over a barrier (that’s putting it really gently). This is to say nothing of the alleged and/or questionably threatening content found on his social media, or the fact that a major TV network decided to give this man a spot on national TV despite the fact that, oh, I don’t know, what he did could obviously have been interpreted as trying to attack – or assassinate – a man currently running for president of the United States of America?

这个周末美国发生了太多的事情了。周四的共和党辩论意外的安静。周五圣路易斯就开始暴动(因为特朗普的降临),然后某金闪闪本来在芝加哥的活动被取消(因为对抗议者和支持者都有危险)。周六,水哥向州长伸出橄榄枝(因为俄亥俄和佛罗里达州是州长和水哥的大本营,所以理论上来说是有本地优势的) ,而州长这个精明的政治家很无情的落井下石,选择了否认他的联盟。

同样那日,一个曾经把美国国旗丢在地上拖地的“和平的抗议者”选择了飞跃障碍来袭击目前美国共和党总统候选人的领先者。咱不说他到底社会媒体上是不是有奇葩的自(提)游(出)冥(暗)主(杀)的(特)观(朗)点(普)的观点,但你知道美国干啥了吗?

美国最大的一家电视台既然把这家伙送上了国家级别的电视节目。我想吐槽说美国疯了吗?这家伙你看看视频的话,我要是保安我也肯定认为他是要攻击 – 或者直接暗杀 – 美国目前的总统候选人其一啊。

Recent events have made it incredibly hard for me to not inject my own personal feelings and emotions into the matter. I am doing my best to stay fair, but being fair doesn’t mean being neutral. At its core, these pieces are meant to be fun and educational – especially to the half of our audience that don’t speak English. When I first embarked on this journey, I was hoping to cover contemporary American politics in a lighthearted manner, where we could look, laugh, and learn a little about the great and the silly parts of my country and our unique idiosyncrasies.

你知道我现在已经快把持不住我的感受和思考了。我目前尽力的公平中,但公平不表示我没有观点,也不表示这个观点就是完全平衡的。最终我们美舰本做这个的目的是为了娱乐,同时也是有一点点的教育。当我们开始时,我本来希望给海外以及家里的朋友们解释解释美国政治,用轻松开心的方式来看看,学学,以及嘲笑下我们国内的优点,缺点,以及逗逼点。

But we’re at a point where I can’t just pretend to be neutral anymore. To do that would be ignorant and disrespectful. People should not blame everything on the left or the right. I sincerely encourage each and every one of you to consider the other side. There is no reason that you can’t read the New York Post and the New York Times at the same time. If you’re conservative, go read HuffPo or Politico. If you’re liberal, go check out Breitbart or the Federalist. If you’re used to getting all of your news from CNN or FOX news, go OFF the beaten path. We’ve got twitter and facebook now. Hear directly from the candidates themselves. See for yourself what they’re actually saying. Don’t let anyone tell you what the truth is. Find that out for yourself.

但你知道吗?目前问题已经到了一个必须要说点什么的阶段了。我如果再无视下去,这是对你们的不负责任以及不敬。我认为大家不应该完全怪左边或者右边。我真的,真心恳请你们每一个人都去考虑考虑另外那边的观点。纽约时代和纽约Post(一个是极左一个是极右的报纸)都是可以看的。如果你比较保守点的话,去看看Huffington Post或者Politico。你如果比较民主党的话,去看看右边的联邦者或者Breitbart。你如果只是从CNN或者FOX(这俩都是美国的大媒体,类似于中国的新华社的地位)得到新闻的话,去看看民间的信息散播。我们现在是有社交媒体啦。你可以直接去听听那些候选人,看看他们真正在说什么。

凭什么你要依赖别人来告诉你真理呢?真理难道不是应该你自己去找的吗?

Head over to r/the_Donald (EDIT: Someone emailed me and suggests r/askTrumpSupporters instead. This post has been up for like, ten minutes!) if you’re curious about Trump. Find those Facebook groups that genuinely support Madam Secretary and find out why these people are supporting her. I’m not even going to waste text telling people how to learn more about Bernie because, well, if you’re at all on the internet there’s no way you haven’t been approached by a friend wanting you to feel the Bern at this point, but start with Bernie Sander’s website. That’s a good place to begin.

真的。去Reddit上看看他们为什么支持特朗普。去脸书上那些支持希拉里的小组去看看为什么有很多人真的喜欢希拉里。我压根不准备说老头,因为你如果在网上的话你不可能没有人来跟你谈过桑德斯的事情。但如果你需要信息的话,去他网站看看嘛。肯定是个好开始的地方。

(注:Bernie Sanders的名字是Bernie嘛,Feel the Bern (burn)是美国文化梗。大概就是燃起来吧!本来是两个意思。我小学的时候这个意思是你被耍了。当我到大学的时候,变成了…燃烧吧,肌肉(主要在体育馆里面听到的)。现在一改,成了老爷子在年轻人里的口号。)

Ted Cruz. John Kasich. Marco Rubio. All of these candidates have their own people and their own presence online and offline, and I would strongly and seriously recommend that you give everyone a fair shot. Don’t hide away ideas that are unsettling or discomforting. Confront them. Because you know what? If your beliefs are worth it, then it deserves to be tested. The other day I learned from our Chinese friends a proverb, “That of which is true gold does not fear fire.”

无论你支持克鲁斯还是水哥还是州长还是谁,他们每一个人都有自己的组织,都有自己的人。我真心建议你们去看看每一个选项。不要把让你感觉不舒服的感受或者思想埋藏起来。站起来,好好的面对他。你知道为什么吗?因为你的信念如果值得你坚持的话,那你理所当然应该去好好的磨练磨练自己的观点。前几天中国的朋友教了我句成语。真金不怕火炼。

… Er, actually, interjecting a scientific comment, gold does kinda fear fire, I mean it, like, melts and has a low melting point and everything –

(那啥,不好意思,我感觉金还是蛮怕火炼的。熔点蛮低的嘛,然后 -)

You get the idea. My point is, we live in a digital age now. An age of information, where the internet is empowering you for the first time to honestly open your eyes up and decide for yourself who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.

好了,我说多了。你知道我的意思是什么。我们现在在一个数码世纪了。网络给了你世界上从来没有的权利,就是你历史上第一次有一个可以自己选自己观点的选择。睁开眼睛看看吧。你自己应该有判断到底谁在说实话谁在撒谎的能力。

Go look.


Okay, the actual artistic inspiration for this one. In no particular order:

好了,画里的梗。

Florida was a harder shipgirl to conceptualize than we had first realized. Trust me, once you get to see her in her full glory, you’ll definitely agree that she’s worthy of the nickname “Sunshine.” That being said, when Sima asked me what’s Florida known for, I instinctively answered, “Orange juice.”

佛罗里达难度其实比我想象的高。相信我吧,当你什么时候看到她立绘的时候,你就知道为什么这个妹子的外号是阳光了(注:阳光州是现实生活中佛罗里达州的外号)。不过,当司马跟我聊起来佛罗里达有名的东西的时候,我潜意识里答:橘汁。

Yeah… So she’s got orange hair now. Sorry. >_<

所以她头发就桔黄色啦~

The girl to her right is Missouri. This is not at all me trying to prod November to actually let us post her. She’s been drawn for like, five months now. xD Our overall design is actually a fairly sweet and innocent “midwestern” girl. She wears flowers in her hair because the Missouri Botanical Garden is one of the oldest botanical institutions in the country, and we wanted to give a nod to that.

右边那个是密苏里。Nov其实几个月前就画好了,但一直没贴出去。总的来讲她的设计是个甜甜的美国中部妹子。你知道我们每个舰娘梗都一大筐。她头发里插花的原因是因为密苏里州有美国最悠久的植物园其一,而我们想体现出来这个梗。

Now, fairies. First off, yes, that’s Hillary and Bernie duking it off in the back. Someone forgot to tell Ari that this is the 40k and not the Fantasy – I mean, AGE OF SIGMARINES table. We’re still looking for a better Hillary meme, so again, if you have ideas for an outfit upgrade, let us know. 🙂

然后轮到精灵了。后台是希拉里和老爷子在拼杀中。大家忘了告诉雅莉这桌是战锤40000而不是奇幻 – 好吧现在已经改成西格玛战士之锤了。我们目前仍然在寻找更好的希拉里梗,所以如果你们有主意的话,请尽管跟我讲。

(战锤这个桌游分成40000(40k)和奇幻(Fantasy)。但因为某公司为了赚钱,最近刚刚完全废掉了整个奇幻战锤大概25年左右的背景故事,模型,以及游戏规则。替代来的是某西格玛时代,基本上长的跟40k的科幻差不多…不过是奇幻。总之粉丝的反应(反面)蛮大的。)

Then, on the GOP side, we have Governor Kasich. Congrats to the gentlemen writing in from Ohio. Yes, it is a reference to Kasich’s home state. He’s got a bunch of tools in his apron because Ohio (to this NJer, anyways) is widely known for being a center of industry. Off the top of my head I can think of steel, automobiles, aircraft and defense matters, and other manufacturing (wiki says rubber, though I seriously also didn’t know that Ohio had a big agricultural component). Kasich has also been fairly low-key, and we wanted him to keep his suit-and-tie (at least for now) throughout our series. You can tell that a lot of people’s came a long way since.

共和党这边,共和党队里有Kasich州长。俄亥俄的那位小伙子猜的不错。他的打扮就是州里面的梗。我印象中的俄亥俄州是个重工业地带,各种汽车啊,钢铁水泥塑料啊,飞机啊,武器啊等等。没给他特别闪亮的装备是因为目前州长本人的战术也是很低调的。所以我感觉给他留着西装革履也没啥不好。

You know why Rubio’s looking like he’s operating a Dreadnought? A Dreadnought, in 40k lore, is basically a giant robot housing a dying Space Marine so he can return to the battle once more. Look to Rubio’s campaign, now. Florida is going to be his last stand, and while miracles do happen – like in Michigan, I have an honest feeling that we’ll be saying farewell to him (at least in Pacific’s 2016 series) come March 15th. No idea whether or not he’ll be joining –

你知道为啥水哥这次在战斗机器人里吗?战锤梗里,如果星际战士(吐槽:我看你们翻译Space Marine怎么这么别扭啊)得到致命伤害后可以被装进这种铁壳里面来维持生命,靠战斗机器人来最后的为帝国付出。看看水哥现在众叛亲离的情况吧,佛罗里达基本上是这位的最后一战。虽然奇迹也许会发生,但我认为我们15号的时候,至少会在美舰本这个2016系列中,跟他说再见。我不知道他会不会遇见老 –

Yes, that is Jeb. Jeb has yet to endorse anyone at the time of us drawing this piece. At least, since the battle is ostensibly over Florida, he deserves a cameo.

是啊。那位就是小小灌木。他还没有支持任何一个候选人。但毕竟佛罗里达也是他的家乡,所以我感觉他应该出来露下脸。

Front-and-center is Ted Cruz. He presents himself as the “true conservative.” I mean, if we’re really going to go back to the conservative “roots,” might as well put him in something more period-appropriate.

前面那位是克鲁斯啦。这位自称最正宗的保守党自然要给他点符合时代的打扮,所以让我们来回归最保守最保守的时代吧。噗。

That’s more or less the visible folks that the GOP is fielding. The crowd in all black? That’s up to you to interpret what it is. Hopefully I’ve made the reference to that particular piece of cheese abundantly clear – I haven’t played 40k in years, but I remember well when our Spiritual Liege decided to break all semblance of balance with one of those codex updates…

那,那边就是目前老共和党的盟军啦。他们背后的黑衣无脸群众?你可以自己脑洞想想他们是什么。总之我希望这个梗是比较明显的。我已经多年没玩桌游版战锤了,但当我们的Spiritual Liege选择更新某书的时候…那一刻,就是打破本来没有平衡游戏的平衡中,我仍然记得。

(这个故事,很长,很长,这里就不讲了。基本上是战锤这个“文化”或者游戏中的内部分裂)

Now, the legions of the Man-Emperor of Mankind…

面对他们的,是全人类不朽皇的部队。

(战锤一般的玩笑是全人类不朽皇(God Emperor of Mankind)。这个梗有点太冷门,暂时就先不解释为啥叫这个了。)

Seriously, we flip between Gilgamesh and the Big E from 40k. He honestly works as both, and it works. Chris Christie you’ve already seen. The two guys that are new to this side are Dr. Carson, who just recently decided to endorse Trump, and a certain fabulous, fabulous man known to just speak his mind and isn’t afraid of anything.

Hey, if you still want to find out more, the internet’s right next to us. Don’t be shy. Dive in! Go! Read!

说句实话你知道我们设计他的时候是一半战锤的皇帝一半金闪闪。其实两个都蛮合适的。我家的胖州长你们以前也看过了。卡森医生的归来是因为他刚刚支持了特朗普。而最右面那位,是一个天不怕地不怕啥都敢说的哲♂学兄贵中的兄贵。

(注:这位英国小伙子是西方媒体中有名的反社会正确斗士,搅屎棍,记者。经常让各种无脑愤青或者极端女权主义者下不了台。他估计在国内的知名度应该基本上是0,但这部无论是正面还是反面,都指出他是个至少敢喷(并且敢承认错误)的记者。

名字我就不说了。M打头。四个字母。希腊人的姓。)

如果你还有点迷茫的话,网就在你旁边。还等什么?跳进去学习吧!


Super Tuesday II ◇ TIME LINE ◇ Florida II: Judgment Day >

(2016) Super Tuesday II

If only you could see ♪

That I’m the one ♫

Who understands ♪♪♪ –

So why can’t you see ♫

You should vote for me ♪

You should vote for me ♪

如果你什么时候能突然发现  ♪

我就是那个 ♫

那个可以理解你的人 ♪♪♪ –

你为什么不理解 ♪

你应该挑我  ♪

你应该选我 ♪

(这首歌的梗来源)



 

Hey folks. A few quick notes. While pretty much we finished conceptualizing the art design before Super Tuesday even managed to land, as we worked on the angle and the lighting and character arrangements, we ended up adding a little more to the picture.

大家好啊。仍然说几句话。我们虽然在超级周二前就已经设计好了这幅画的结构,但当司马开始挖细节的时候,我们发现有很多的东西 – 举个例子角度啊,灯光啊,以及人物等等,我们最后的细节比我们原来的想法要多的很多。

This is for Super Tuesday, but between now and a week ago, a few more elections have passed have passed. On the Republican side, four states – Kansas, Maine, Louisiana and Kentucky – voted on Saturday. Some people like to call it “Super Saturday” because again, it’s a diverse mix of states. On the democratic side Maine goes a little later, and there’s no Kentucky but Nebraska went instead.

这个自然是“超级周二”啦。超级周二是美国初选中比较重要的日子,因为这一天有很多的州(超过20%吧)会来投票。然而我们现在一个星期后贴出来的结果其实已经有好几个不同的日子过去了。共和党那边我们有个“超级星期六”的说法,因为上周六的四个州(北边的缅因,中部的坎萨斯,南部的肯德基,以及路易斯安那)也是代表美国不同风俗的地方。民主党那边也有类似的东西(不过州相对少一些)。

Then, just yesterday, another bunch of states voted in the Republican primary. They’re Michigan, Idaho, Mississippi, and Hawaii. The democrats have slightly less states (Idaho and Hawaii go later), but the “build-up” of both is the same. After this heavy front-loading period, the battle’s supposed to be over. These races are designed to get the party a nominee so they can start on their favorite past-time: slinging mud at each other and fight over the presidency.

昨天呢,共和党刚刚投完密西根,爱达荷,密西西比和夏威夷。民主党那边只有两个(没有爱达荷和夏威夷),不过用途其实很清楚啦。经过这激烈的这一段,理论上来说,这初选就已经应该结束了。理论上来说这一连串的各种州的目的是让党内马上挑出自己要的候选人,因为接下来的游戏(就是开始互相乱喷)才是更重要的。毕竟我们每四年都这样一次嘛。为了总统。你懂的。

Yeah, haha. No. That didn’t happen. Anyways, let’s get started!

不过,啊哈哈,得。这次美国政治完全乱了。来吧。我来慢慢讲。

First, yes. That’s Louisiana. Chibi-form of course. I love Louisiana. Great state. Wonderful people. We just couldn’t fit the entire primary schedule into our drawing schedule. So we’re making a nod to her here instead.

啊,对,那个是路易斯安娜。迷你的哦。我爱路易斯安娜。这个州不错。这里的人也不错(这里英文是特朗普的梗)。但我们没有足够的时间把她的那几个州的比赛也画上。所以我们就在这里顺便把她带上啦。

Now, for this piece? The idea’s pretty simple. It’s a concert. Of course Tennsy would be singing at a concert meant to get people fired up to vote. Bet you didn’t know the normally timid Okie could get on stage and perform, huh? Well. She’s full of surprises too. 😉

这个演唱会的梗我想大家也能看出来了。考虑到田希的性格,她搞这种活动肯定不会陌生啦。不过一般羞涩的奥姬也敢站出来唱这个,是不是很惊讶呢?嗯,她也能给你带来惊喜哦。

On the outfits: When Sima asked if we wanted to do something special with costumes, I jumped on it. In a very small part as a tribute to someone who to me represents a particular aspect of Tennessee (and  of course, of us women) and of America, I’m proud to see how she – and this piece – turned out.

关于服装:当司马问舰娘们这次穿什么的时候,我马上跳到了上面。如果上面的视频不够明显的话,其实这里的人设以及构图是我给某位我个人认为非常代表田纳西州(当然,包括我们美国妹子在内)以及美国的某种精神的一个赞颂梗。

(对,那个,台上扒衣服也是同样的梗。看看上面那个视频啦。)

Okay, now, onto the fairies. No significant changes barring a few with clothing upgrades. Mostly everyone knows to play nice at least for this part of the performance. Mostly everyone, anyways.

好,现在说到精灵了。上次已经讲了不少梗了,而这次理论上大家都应该在台上安安稳稳的嘛。理论上。大家大多数都会好好跟大家玩的。

Oh. Trump? He’s actually just kinda fun to draw because we can go wild with him. Trump doesn’t follow rules. Teflon Don is real, especially after seeing the blow-out that was yesterday’s results. He’s actually winning left and right, and right now, it’s looking like a battle between him and Cruz since Cruz is picking up states, too.

啊,特朗普啊?他…其实画他本人就是蛮好玩的。因为其实这家伙你可以随便开心的脑洞。特朗普现在已经开始超越规则了。英文这边开玩笑管他叫Teflon Don(Teflon,特氟龙(?),一种防止粘贴的东西),因为无论大家怎么攻击他这家伙目前似乎仍然不会倒。考虑他最近这一连串如同开了无双一样的胜利,我估计可能最后就是他对克鲁斯(Cruz – 抱歉我看中国媒体好几个不同翻译他名字的方式,所以我挑了一个)啦。

As for Hillary? Hey, look. You guys have a better meme for me to go with her that’s not #WhichHillary, I’m all ears. You guys know how to get in touch. In all honestly she’s got a very large delegate lead, and she’s trying her very best now to shut Sanders out so she can move on to face the Republicans.

至于希拉里啊?嘿,各位,你们有比WhichHillary更好的梗,我洗耳恭听。你们知道怎么能联络到我嘛。并且说句实话,她现在遥遥领先老爷子,而她必须要尽快把老爷子给干掉,这样她才能去跟共和党来抗衡。

The actual Super Tuesday was pretty much as expected. Trump won seven states, Cruz won four, and Rubio won one. No matter how you wanted to spin it, Trump won, once again proving that nothing is what it seems in this election cycle. On the Democratic side, Sanders won four and Hillary took the rest, winning handily (as expected).

其实超级周二挺平凡的。特朗普赢了七个州,克鲁斯四个,水哥一个。不管共和党那帮人怎么洗地,这是一个不折不扣的特朗普胜利。民主党那边也一样。老爷子赢了四个州,希拉里清理剩下战场。一切都应该在预料之中。

Yet what happened between now and a week ago was nothing short of miraculous from the left and the right.

然而一个星期内,一连串的奇迹发生了。

On the left, Sanders made history by proving every single poll wrong with a victory in the Michigan primary. Professionals are left scratching their heads because most polls have him losing Michigan by up to twenty points. A stunning upset such as this? Especially when Hillary has been nuking him to the ground in places like Virginia or South Carolina? Buhbuhbut muh minority firewall???

左边老爷子爆发。他在密西根州的胜利表示每一个政治观察家的分析都错了。现在他们还在问,怎么可能他赢呢?希拉里不是领先他10-20多点吗?他怎么可能赢啊?希拉里在绝大多数希拉里应该赢的地方,都是在吊打他(南卡罗琳娜,以及同日的密西西比是个完美的例子。基本上理论上黑人多的地方应该是完全落入希拉里的口袋里面的)

He deserves his costume upgrade.

我感觉这次给老爷子升级服装是对的。

(PS. Thanks to the two of you that wrote in after reading in between the lines last update – yes, you were absolutely right 😉

(另外感谢那两位给我写信的读者。没错,上个帖子我就说到了。这次我感觉可以给老爷子换衣服啦)

On the right? After enduring the singularly largest concentrated attack ads (mostly from his own party) in American history for more than a week straight, Trump took three of the four states in play. Before that, Ted Cruz fought him to a draw on Super Saturday, taking Kansas and Maine.

右边呢?经过一个星期的反面新闻狂轰滥炸后(是美国历史上最高的反面新闻攻击,不过主要都是自己党内的),特朗普赢了四个州里面的三个。之前克鲁斯可是终于跟他斗了个基本平手,硬生生的赢了堪萨斯和缅因。

And then Trump wins states that the other three should be winning. Again.

然后特朗普赢了本来这三个家伙应该能赢的州。又赢了。

Yeah, Republican primary turnout has gone way up. Reddit has imploded. Even now the GOP is fighting amongst themselves in a civil war that hasn’t been seen in seventy or so years.

是啊。共和党的出动率,是近代历史最高的。社会媒体被刷爆了。而目前共和党内部正在经历70年来最严重的内部分裂。

Kasich… We’ll see if he lasts past Ohio. March 15th’s the date to keep an eye on, folks. Florida (Rubio’s home) and Ohio (Kasich territory) are both winner take all, which means all the delegates to the winners. Rubio’s star has faded. Winning Puerto Rico was small consolation for how badly he’s getting trounced. Ben Carson has already left gracefully, and I’ll miss him. I had the pleasure of hearing him speak once at my med school, and he honestly is, in my opinion, a very pleasant and capable man.

州长嘛,我们看看他能不能活过俄亥俄吧。反正三月15号这是个重点。佛罗里达(水哥的故乡)和俄亥俄(州长的地盘)都是winner-take-all(就是赢了全部赢,输了什么都没有的)州。然而水哥的星已经淡下来了。他赢了波多黎各,但他这一连串的失败,我用“打爆”这种词来描述他真的不错。

卡森医生也退了。我会想他哦。他来过我们医学院跟我们演讲过的。你知道我真的认为他是个好人,也是个好医生。

If it comes down to Trump vs. Cruz, then I think I already have some ideas in mind. Personally, I hope that this campaign’ll throw us a few more surprises. We’d love to keep making this series until the nomination contest ends. 🙂

如果共和党那边最后真的就是特朗普对克鲁斯,我也有些想法。说句实话,我真心希望这场初选能再次给我们一些乐点。我们做这个系列很开心哦,真想让他们拖到最后的结尾。


< Super Tuesday! ◇ TIME LINEIn the grim darkness of 2016 there is only … >

From Action Report #1: The History of STEC (7)

STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: Classified
Format: Message, Personal
Object: Correspondence to Harry S. Truman, from Walter B. Smith
Location (if known): Unknown
Time (if known): Unmarked.

Mr. President,

Please see attached comments in regards to recent proposal submitted by USNSTEC.

I. I concur with the proposal regarding establishing core research facilities as part of USNSTEC strategic objective.

II. To answer the feasibility question, yes. Operational costs are not of concern given the prospective nature of threat. However even with proposed enlargement of recruitment efforts OSI simply will not have enough personnel to realistically supply USNSTEC with requisite talent. Ms. Iowa’s weaponry borders that of fables and the difference between it and our current scientific understanding of it is akin to the difference between a stone axe and an aircraft carrier. Further understanding of basic scientific principles is necessary and a breakthrough may take decades if not longer.

I am overstepping my bounds by commenting on this, Mr. President, but if this threat is global in nature we may wish to contemplate discussing the matter with our friends. Loathe I am to make the recommendation, perhaps former friends, fairweather friends, and possibly foes across the Atlantic & Pacific may be worth taking into consideration as well.

III. I have already reassigned as many personnel within my agency as we can towards the appropriate objectives. I am concerned, however, that this is a futile endeavor. We are fundamentally limited by the ability of our operatives to obtain intel in a timely manner. If the ABYSSAL is empowered by destruction, then I fear we may already be too late by the time we obtain news from our ocean watchers. Ms. Iowa is faster than anything in our arsenal, but even she cannot hope to stem the tide of terror and chaos that would surely strike the globe.

IV. I concur with the strategic impetus of maintaining secrecy. The enemy is aware of our actions, but if it assumes that Ms. Iowa is acting independently as they expect, then it will act accordingly. It is my opinion that we play along for as long as possible. Ms. Iowa will be able to buy us time assuming their goal will be to strike her down. That is only sensible, and it is why (on a personal note) I remain firmly opposed to committing her to combat unless we have no choice in the matter.

V. For full details please see attached. In short, my proposal consists of minimizing the utilization and application of our conventional military forces in favor of adopting our unconventional strengths. As you are aware, Mr. President, while I am not opposed to current proposals of aerial recon via strategic bombers or CV air-groups as submitted, it will almost certainly result in diplomatic tensions. The Soviets aren’t blind and they will know we are looking for something, and they can use this as a pretext to carry out their own objectives and influence the globe.

Commercial flights are at an all-time high and will only increase in the coming decades. I can and will place a man on every flight coming in or out of the country if necessary, but with Ms. Iowa’s tiny friends even that may not be needed. In attached please find schematic for observational device prototype used to house our miniature allies on trans-oceanic flights. No one will bat an eye if a handful of wealthy customers submits an extra luggage for check-in, and our military can always fill in the rest of the gaps as necessary.

Signed,
Walter Bedell Smith
Office of the Director
Central Intelligence Agency


STEC Archives, Print Document Division

Curator signature: Classified
Format: Message, Personal
Object: Correspondence to Walter B. Smith, from Harry S. Truman
Location (if known): Unknown
Time (if known): Unmarked.

Dear Bedel,

Thank you for your excellent and timely commentary as always. I have been reading the proposals and like very much No.6 (the one involving aquatic critters). I have never been one for pets but the comforting thought of having a sea full of friendly eyes freely roaming about gives me much thought and optimism for the future.

You and our other co-conspirators have our unflinching support. Please proceed as proposed.

God bless.

Harry S. Truman


 

STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: Classified
Format: Historical Artifact
Object: Internal Bulletin, United States Fish and Wildlife Service
Location (if known): Recovered from wall-board #14, USFWS, Woods Hole Station
Time (if known): Unmarked.

NOT TO BE CIRCULATED BEYOND THE OFFICE OF THE COMMISSION

The Director of the Central Intelligence Agency just asked for up to 200,000 aquatic creatures of various sizes, “preferably big enough to strap a moderately sized box on.”

TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND.

[Curator’s note: For this particular bulletin, “Two hundred thousand” appears to have been heavily scratched in with a very blunt pencil, jabbed repeatedly with small, sharp objects, and had been repeatedly underlined for emphasis.]

Boys, I repeat, this is no joke. You can see the executive order attached.

200,000. 200,000.

200,000.

2-0-0-0-0-0-0!!

[Curator’s note: penned in a different hand.]

W.t.f???

—-

STEC Archives, Print Document Division
Curator signature: Classified
Format: Message, Personal
Object: Correspondence to [Classified], from Walter B. Smith
Location (if known): Field Office #21, Central Intelligence Agency
Time (if known): Unmarked.

Mark,

Tell your staff to do what they can with the giant crabs. I am personally not averse to crab cakes for the next four years but I expect we can probably recoup operational costs if we just funnel it back to the civilian markets. In either case I’m giving him a call tomorrow. With any luck maybe he’ll finally see how nutty the whole idea is – we’ve had an unprecedented string of failures for the last four months!

And get rid of that damn Manta already.


Lucky for the USFWS, the CIA was never able to seriously make headway with proposal no. 6, where some enterprising young associate director proposed to place fairies in waterproof boxes and strap them to captured sea creatures as a “passive” search strategy against the abyssal fleet. While the proposal was deemed a complete failure, a substantial (some would say excessive) amount of insight was gained in aquatic biology and would eventually contribute to the foundation of organizations such as the NMMP.

Insofar as this particular tale ends, the ending was a rather mundane one. America settled on the conventional (albeit boring) strategy of applying recon sweeps, mostly from the Strategic Air Command. For several years, special units of USAF heavy bombers swept over the world’s oceans as civilian research ships – built in increasingly large quantities – prowled the world’s oceans. Only a handful of those involved knew that their missions of observation and discovery carried an additional purpose: to watch vigilantly for any signs of the Abyssal threat.

The early days of STEC may seem a little strange to our modern day sensibilities. On one hand, it built a solid foundation of theoretical and applied knowledge, and helped to create a deep pool of talent (as well as the capacity to create that talent) that America would find herself drawing upon again and again. Yet, at the same time, some of the most outrageous ideas also arose from that transitional time period. Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is that despite all of its failures, in the end, STEC was able to meet most of its strategic objectives. It, like the rest of humanity, did what humans do, which is to fail and fail until it finally finds success.

(2016) Super Tuesday!

LIVE – SUPER TUESDAY

现场直播 – 超级星期二

Tennsy: You say you’re fine ♪~  I know you better than that! ~

田希(合唱中)你说你没事♪ ~,我说你撒谎!~

Okie: Hey! ♫~ What you doing picking a candidate like that? 

奥姬(合唱中)嘿!♫~ 你干嘛要投那个家伙?

 



Hey guys. Morgane here again. 🙂 Sorry this one surfaced two days later – the lighting and angle and everything else was way harder than we had thought. Between when we posted the end of Nevada there just weren’t enough days for us to finish it on time.

各位好。莫根又来打招呼了。抱歉,这个明显晚了 – 灯光和角度以及整个构图对我们的挑战性还是蛮大的。当我们画完内化达的时候,真的没时间在超级周二前搞完了。真的对不起啦。

Now, about the various references here…

好了,这次的梗…

The shipgirls should be rather obvious, so I’m not going to say anything else. All I have to say is that she was an inspiration for me in high school and college. She’s basically my age. Watching her grow up, just as I, too, grew up…

舰娘们我不说了。我只能说她们的这个梗…她的歌曲是我在高中以及大学时代的精神支柱其一,给了我许多的鼓励。基本上是我年龄的她,我可以说是眼看着她,以及眼看着自己一天天长大的…

Dr. Carson’s really been neglected, so we thought we’d put him out front. That, and he’s always been a bucket of hilarity. Remember that the Republican debate allows one to respond if they’re attacked directly.

卡森医生我们这次放前面,因为媒体好像总是遗忘他。另外这家伙真的乐死了。(盾牌上的那个是周四辩论中一句经典。因为大家都忙着攻击川普,没人理他。老医生满脸怨气的表示:你们谁来咬我啊?

共和党辩论规则是被攻击的人可以有时间来回复,呵呵)

A lot of folks have been asking me why Hillary’s a witch. No, actually, it’s not because I dislike her. It’s because of the meme, #WhichHillary. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which Hillary we’re talking about, and you should be the one to figure out just why she’s got that nickname. 😉

另外有人问为什么希拉里是(老)女(妖)巫(婆)。这还真不是我讨厌她。而是这边社会媒体上Twitter上基本上流传的#WhichHillary的梗。其他别的我就不说了。至于为什么这样你应该自己去查就好了。

(考虑到各位查这个可能有点难度,我稍微解释下。英文中的Witch(巫婆)和Which(哪个)是同音词。这个WhichHillary的来源是因为她刚刚登场总统竞选的时候在很多位置上摇摆不定(现在其实也一样),基本上她会说任何她认为你想听的东西。所以当她的参谋们推出了一系列的各种“真诚”“真实”以及“她跟你一样”的这类的广告时,美国人的民意反弹很强烈。许多网民跑到某FB和T上狂刷这个tag: “到底是哪个”(which)希拉里。)

(所以就这个梗啦。)

Sanders? Hey. Look. Which fictional character hails from Brooklyn?

老爷子桑德斯?嘿,伙计。我问问。哪个人物是从布鲁克林来的?

If you guys haven’t noticed from the last outfit, Ted Cruz is uh, wearing a … one of these. Yes, we checked. He’s eligible to run for President, but we thought the fairies could use a little more color, and it works for him.

啊,对了。说起来Ted Cruz(抱歉这位我真没找到我感觉合适的中文翻译。)的梗。他穿的那一套…怎么说呢,我查了。这家伙可以选美国总统(虽然他确实是加拿大出生的)。总之精灵可以多用些颜色啦,所以这个设定我感觉给他也不错。

Rubio? When we first conceptualized this piece, he was definitely on a mission to TERMINATE someone. Especially now, looking at the political situation, the GOP establishment definitely seems to be establishing him.

水哥啊?呵呵。当我们上周四设计的时候,他真的确实从自己的控制者得到了“终结”某候选人的任务。目前共和党的党中大佬也看起来在全力挺他。

In as neutral of a way as possible, I am personally shocked at how quickly his message changed. That is all I’m going to comment on the matter. 🙂

我想以最中立的角度表示:水哥自己传播的信息,比起他之前那几个月,变脸变的好快好快。剩下别的我不说了。

Kasich? Google no more. He’s fun to draw. Occasionally says very odd and funny things, but overall he’s pretty much the first thing we assign since he’s pretty consistent.

州长啊?别查了。梗在这里。画他比较好玩。这个家伙有时会说一些非常古怪的东西(这次这个诺亚方舟梗是党里大佬们让他滚,他表示我自己州还没投票呢,到时候滚也不迟。“诺亚当时大洪水的时候造方舟大家都认为他是疯子,然后呢?所以凭什么让我退啊”),但总体来讲我们一般肯定先画他。

Okay, now the two guys in front. The left is my state’s governor. He showed up because of Friday. The endorsement drop after the Thursday GOP debate came at a point that was just thematically perfect. On top of that, while I was doing research on the candidate, I stumbled upon the guy’s rally at Oklahoma.

好了最后的两位。左边那个是我州的现任州长Christie。周五如同炸弹一样的突然变脸,从反对川普到变川普小弟,这太巧了。太快了。而前面那位呢?我研究他的时候无意中撞到了他在OK州的活动。

(Special shout-out to the super high-energy pastor (Mark Burns?) – just listen to him! Whether or not you agree with his words, I have never seen ANOTHER candidate being introduced with such fervor and passion and feeling.)

(尼玛这太high energy了。我不知道这个视频里面那黑人牧师到底是谁(Mark Burns?)但你们听听听听听听这家伙的热度。燃起来了吗?我的妈呀我宅政治宅这么多年没听过一个家伙能拿出来这种力气来给自己候选人创造热度的。)

Yeah, if it isn’t obvious now, Trump’s design is definitely 40k inspired. I realize we’re crossing two settings here, but look at what he’s doing to the GOP right now. Look at how he’s viewed by his supporters. Or his enemy. Look at the memes.

是啊,如果现在还没看出来的话,川普的设定目前已经转型战锤40k。我知道目前我们手上梗好多呢,但你看看这家伙目前把共和党闹成什么样吧?看看他的支持者怎么看待它的。或者他的敌人。看看各种各样的网络文化(meme),以及红语吧。

This man does not need the Sword of Chang.

这个男人不需要张之剑。(关于张之剑的细节请看上一篇)

And what more fitting weapon do we give to a mere mortal who, for all intent and purposes, is splitting not only the GOP, but long-unchallenged traditions in politics, in media, in everything else we know about the election cycle?

有什么武器更适合这个,按照所有的合理合理定义,把目前美国关于所有政治媒体以及差不多所有其他的东西一劈两半的凡人呢?除了某天地乖離す開闢の神棍剑,还有什么兵器能配上这个男人呢?

(I wonder how kinpika feels about Trump putting his name on that, though. But it’s just not TRUMP otherwise…)

(其实你知道我不知道金闪闪看到川普把自己名字放在他自己的剑上会怎么想。但说句实话,这也是川普梗。所有川普的东西都有自己名字(TRUMP)在上面)

See you next time.

下次见~


Nevada Episode IV: A New Hope ◇ TIME LINESuper Tuesday II >