Award
Squid Savior From the Future
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2015
- Messages
- 1,661
Obligatory history spoiler tag:
Well, relations in this case are interesting and unique for a variety of reasons. Yes the difference in socio-economic systems and the quest to spread each was the driving cause of the Cold War and that indeed ended. Yet the usual historical definition for the end of a war upon defeat of one side assumes the conquest and dissolution of one side. No side was conquered or dissolved. The political structure of one collapsed under its own weight and restructured. The USSR was a clunky construct no matter how you slice it. The uneasy "union" of Russia and conquered territories held by unwilling force and puppet governments, meanwhile, Russia, the backbone of it, was effectively conquered by the Bolsheviks at the onset, then the Bolsheviks were co-opted (and massacred) by the Stalinists upon Lenin's death. So Russia was, at the time of the USSR, in this weird nowhere-land. They enjoyed a position of power and influence while at the same time being oppressed and, in Stalin's time, systematically killed by their own occupiers from within. So in the unlikely situation that a nation effectively conquers itself along with its neighbors and a ruling party holds it all together by force and intrigue, a similar nowhere-land emerges once that clunky structure inevitably collapses. The question is: What WAS the USSR? Was it Russia? Yes...and no. There's not a right answer, and that defines Russia's position today: It's still trying to determine where exactly they are. They know where they've come from, they know where they'd like to be, but they're still working on figuring out where exactly they are right now. Between WWII and the Soviet years, they lost almost a century of their own history and a vast portion of their population. The 90's were spent digging out of the ruin left behind by the Soviets pillaging, well, everything, wherever they could, so it's only recently they've got to a point where they can look around and say "Ok, that's now done...so...where are we?" Add in the scope of Russian history building the general Russian outlook on everything. Russian history is tragic and fascinating, and it's built this wonderfully wry pessimism in overall Russian thinking. Every friend & ally they've ever had found some way to betray them pretty much always. So the standard Russian attitude to anything policy wise tends to be "well, we're gonna' get screwed anyway, so, whatever" (Imagine Splatoon's ranked points system with real guns....that's pretty much Russian history in a nutshell...Yay, a winning streak! Aaaand back down to C+.)
So in that cloud of pessimism and history, there's this weird balance of things with Russia. Not just with the US but with everyone. They're not very interested in making friends with ANYONE, not just the US, but anyone, as that's never ended well for them. But their relationship with the US is unique. There remains resentment as bitter opponents, and yet there's also this odd respect. They know where they stand with us, which is more than they can say for most of their friends and foes through history, and despite the adversarial approach, they often seem to have a closer relationship with the US than most other countries. I think they're probably more comfortable with a "cooperative adversary' relationship than any other kind because it's one with defined boundaries, and that's something they know they can work with without getting screwed. So did the Cold War end? Yes...and no. It's certainly different in either case. Also note that the "stand-off-ish" Russian attitude applies to the nation, not the individual people. Individual Russians are generally the most outgoing people you'll find, and generally friendly to Americans, and both (mostly) share a severe hatred of all things Soviet which is a common bond. It's the nation as a unit that keeps its distance from everyone.
(Years ago I had a Russian teacher. Soviet trained, defected in the 80's. He spent more time talking about interesting things about Russian & Soviet history than things he was actually supposed to be covering. And he loooved to talk... :p But it was a fascinating window into how things REALLY happened from the other side compared to how it reads in a book. History almost NEVER actually happened the way it looks in a book, because history books are a condensed version of many places, people, and points in time like a Forrest Gump view of history. It makes things look so much larger than life than they looked to anyone at the time and all nuance and complexity gets lost for the glossy sheen of a linear pont of view.)
As for China's involvement in the ME, it makes perfect sense, despite their usual non-interference outside Asia Pacific policy. The ME has been central to their trade for millennia. Silk Road through modern oil. They don't have much choice but to get involved if their most ancient of trade routes is at stake.
So in that cloud of pessimism and history, there's this weird balance of things with Russia. Not just with the US but with everyone. They're not very interested in making friends with ANYONE, not just the US, but anyone, as that's never ended well for them. But their relationship with the US is unique. There remains resentment as bitter opponents, and yet there's also this odd respect. They know where they stand with us, which is more than they can say for most of their friends and foes through history, and despite the adversarial approach, they often seem to have a closer relationship with the US than most other countries. I think they're probably more comfortable with a "cooperative adversary' relationship than any other kind because it's one with defined boundaries, and that's something they know they can work with without getting screwed. So did the Cold War end? Yes...and no. It's certainly different in either case. Also note that the "stand-off-ish" Russian attitude applies to the nation, not the individual people. Individual Russians are generally the most outgoing people you'll find, and generally friendly to Americans, and both (mostly) share a severe hatred of all things Soviet which is a common bond. It's the nation as a unit that keeps its distance from everyone.
(Years ago I had a Russian teacher. Soviet trained, defected in the 80's. He spent more time talking about interesting things about Russian & Soviet history than things he was actually supposed to be covering. And he loooved to talk... :p But it was a fascinating window into how things REALLY happened from the other side compared to how it reads in a book. History almost NEVER actually happened the way it looks in a book, because history books are a condensed version of many places, people, and points in time like a Forrest Gump view of history. It makes things look so much larger than life than they looked to anyone at the time and all nuance and complexity gets lost for the glossy sheen of a linear pont of view.)
As for China's involvement in the ME, it makes perfect sense, despite their usual non-interference outside Asia Pacific policy. The ME has been central to their trade for millennia. Silk Road through modern oil. They don't have much choice but to get involved if their most ancient of trade routes is at stake.
That's pretty cool! Not that you can do much with 3 snails, but it's still a free 90,000 gold for just voting! If was hoarding all my snails but I'm now down to 25 snails or so. I haven't rerolled anything, but I've been adding slots to anything that might be viable for me. (And a few useless things that look sooo fresh! :D)
No, it's Maru Chan Red Fox vs Green Tanuki. They're very much dehydrated instant ramen ;) Maybe they ALSO sell them fresh in Japan, but I've certainly only ever seen the instant version, and the Splatfest artwork is of the instant ramen cups. (This is the pair of sponsored Splatfests I'm referring to.) There might have been a different splatfest about fresh ramen, but if so, that's a LOT of Splatfests about noodles. Which might explain why the teams are more balanced :D
I really can't think of any reasoned pattern to it. It's probably coincidence (outside the NoA where the snowball effect does tilt things toward those "in the know" going with Callie.) But I also think that will shift, like you said, over time when "everyone does it." But it does SEEM like an odd pattern. Maybe Callie is in charge of team scoring. That would explain the neurotic matchmaking. Or maybe Marie just managed to tick off Judd one too many times. :D
(BTW, have fun at Arcade Expo. I'll miss the stories of your little inkers from the Splatfest! :()
LOL, probably just my perception I was Burgers/Nice. I don't think Nice did all that badly, I didn't really get terrible teams (unlike in ranked
) but my opponents were always 3 tiers ahead. It wasn't so much that I was great and my team failed me (unlike in ranked ) so much as we all got stomped. Though my teammates did have a habit of just charging to Team Deathmatch and getting repeatedly splatted . I REALLY hope this one is better. After Custom Hydra comes out tonight I figure my inevitable losing streak before the Fest starts should put me in a better tier of players :p
