SergeantPanther In reply to Lumenox [2021-08-02 20:51:51 +0000 UTC]

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Lumenox In reply to SergeantPanther [2021-08-02 21:33:05 +0000 UTC]

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SergeantPanther In reply to Lumenox [2021-08-04 14:17:15 +0000 UTC]

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SergeantPanther In reply to LPSDC [2019-10-02 18:46:20 +0000 UTC]

No problem, you have some cool photo-manipulations in you gallery, though I’d say your newest definitely is your best work yet.

I’ve got a thing for trains.   

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LPSDC In reply to SergeantPanther [2019-10-02 18:53:49 +0000 UTC]

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SergeantPanther In reply to LPSDC [2019-10-02 19:26:07 +0000 UTC]

👍🏻

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-02 11:54:17 +0000 UTC]

Wow, the illustrations are beautiful. If those were novels I would definetly read them. 

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-03 06:44:37 +0000 UTC]

I kind of thought the same thing too as the colors and images are very vivid. The cover for "In a Little Gypsy Tea Room" reminded me of Bioshock a lot due to its art style.

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-03 14:50:29 +0000 UTC]

Totally, brilliant.

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-03 17:59:11 +0000 UTC]

If I see anything else cool I’ll be sure to send some more pictures your way.

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-04 13:55:38 +0000 UTC]

*Smiles in Jerry-tongue*

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-04 16:19:41 +0000 UTC]

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-05-30 07:57:40 +0000 UTC]

Oh about a month or two ago c:

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-05-31 05:03:59 +0000 UTC]

Hmm, interesting as I didn't even noticed it since I rarely see your main profile since we use messaging all the time. But with the spam warfare going on preventing you using messaging thus I figured I'd just use your comment section. :/

But yeah I'm not going to lie I had a double take when I saw your profile description as I was like, 'wah?'

Speaking of double take what do you think of Fallout's new teaser that didn't really tell you anything but probably did?   
 

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-05-31 07:00:40 +0000 UTC]

MULTIPLAYA MULTIPLAYA MMO SURVIVAL COOP OVERWATCH-STYLE BATTLE ROYALE IF YOU WANT FALLOUT THE WAY PEOPLE LIKE IT YOU WILL BE DISSAPOINTED BOI- game. Yeah sounds like a waste of my energy to get worked up about. Besides how are we gonna mod it?

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-05-31 14:33:58 +0000 UTC]

Yay, expect nothing and deliver even less.

Well I expect the clean face mod will probably be the first one to roll out, but beyond that you’re right can’t get too worked up over nothing.

Though funny enough speaking of having no expectations I picked up mafia 3 with all the DLC and patches and you know what, it’s not a bad game in fact I would call it a good game not great but a good game. that it surprised me in more ways then I thought. the way to look at the game is like that of saints row in that the best in the series was 2 and 3 is not as great as that but still is a worthy entry. And it suffers from the same problems as saints row 3 did but beiades the fact of the repetitive side missions and that you cannot replay missions. the game is good in everything else. I would almost go so far and says it’s would be an amazing saints row game.

From the story being amazing and it’s fun to play. Also one thing it’s doing a million times better than mafia 2 is the DLC is very good that I would call it very engaging though considering what 2 had anything would be better. But still the dlc has about the same production values as the main game. So long story short I was surprised by how fun and good the game is.

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-05-31 22:00:38 +0000 UTC]

I played it again for 20 minutes today because of youand I still hate it’s bullshit History Channel Bill Nye documentary framing device and abandonment of traditional Mafia controls and mechanics in favor of bullshit Minimalist menus andUbisoft sandbox rubbish. 

It’s as if basic, perfectly servicable things like M opens the map and ESC opens the Options, controls, collectible porn mags and Quit menus were thrown off into a wood chipper along with the rest of 2K Czech and the pulp was made to build this game along with afore mentioned Ubisoft vomit.

Take Mafia 2, it was clear that they looked at Mafia and said “yes, this works, this doesn’t so let’s improve on what doesn’t and make a plot we really want to make and make it, just like the cars in it, stylish as hell.”

Mafia 3 wasn’t that, it was some random generic and I mean GENERIC mid to late 2010s Game with nothing new, no one would have given a shit about so they tagged on the Mafia name.

With a plot that kind of is there but leaves me feeling non caring because I have to split my focus on 3 random morons to run errands for,non of which I care for (except Vito but just because I played as him in a not 6/10 game and thus feel some deeper connection to.)

I mean just to pick up on this again,we always got the story told to us from the future in the two previous Mafias but it was always in a very stylish and slick way that had just a hint of ham in it but made the whole thing like the playable version of a mafia movie but here it just doesn’t have that, just doesn’t grab you from the start like Mafia 1 or 2, in fact when it does story missions it feels like an awkward compromise of mafia characters and noisy social justice Afro-Americans, and frankly i’d rather have a tightly contained tale about the former in a Mafia game, the Social current year Justice part thrown under a train and noisy black characters telling me that all we had to do was follow the damn thing. Thank you very much.

Also after those 20 minutes the game crashed and left me with a black box that was layered over my other tabs and made me shut of my PC because I couldn’t get rid of it.

Old wound have been opened again.

And also, I did get Mafia 2 with all its DLC in a bundle so I don’t really cared that it was shit, infact the fact that it’s optional makes it kind of a mute point, but with the reception Mafia 3 got it felt even more like a shitty planned beforehand business move.


m.youtube.com/watch?v=eArQJ3MC…

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-01 01:29:46 +0000 UTC]

I completely agree with you on many aspects, in fact the first few hours of the game where by far the weakest part of the game that I actually put it down after an hour of play and didn't return to it nearly two weeks later. After playing another game I decided to go back to Mafia 3 and gave it a chance cause Witcher 3 had a slow ass start too. So after putting time into it I enjoyed it far more then the other open world game I played.

I think the documentary aspect was discombobulating at first, however I got used to it over time and didn't mind it much after. That I really started to enjoy them due to the fact it kind of gives you an actual history lesson on some the real things going on in the period. I would even say Mafia 3 is actually more period accurate in more ways then you might think then 2.

But as said before comparing Mafia 3 to 2 is like comparing Saints Row 3 to Saints Row 2 in that there is no comparison as Mafia 2 and Saints Row 2 are the better game of the series. But when you end up doing that, then you'll not end up having fun at all. Since both games where made in different generations not to mention much of the same team behind Mafia 1 & 2 where not involved with 3. And you knew waay back in 2011 that Mafia 3 wasn't going to be the same game since at the time of its release Mafia 2 was heavily criticized for its open world that outside the main missions there was nothing to do. Because of that you knew they had to go in a new direction since that type of game really can't be made anymore unless you're CD Projekt.

I wouldn't call Mafia 3 a mid 2010s open world game partly because Mafia 2 and Fallout New Vegas came out in late 2010. I would put its Ubisoft design in line with a game from 2012 aka "Year of the Bow" since Far Cry 3 came out and that really popularized the trend as originally Assassin's Creed was the only series that really did that type of format up until then.   

I also agree with you on the 3 underbosses though at the same time I also enjoyed them since I liked all three. But like I said if you know what kind of game you're playing then your enjoyment will depend on that. And since I enjoy taking over the city since it reminds me of Saints Row I enjoyed the rackets more then I expected. But I did hate that you revisit some locations but then again coming off Agents of Mayhem I can't complain too much. If you want bland Agents of Mayhem while fun was more bare bones even for a game in this day and age of open world.

I wouldn't call Mafia 3 a Social justice game as I wouldn't put the activist of the 60s and today in the same category since they actually did shit and had larger (physical) numbers. Again if you have to realize the setting the game takes place is 1968 and a lot of shit was happening or was about to happen the following year. In the US alone not only was society coming to grips with everything you had rioting in nearly every major city, fire bombings, assassinations, the militarization and radicalization that leads into 70s age of terrorism. Elsewhere in both Mexico and France you had student risings along with the Prague spring and bunch of revolutions going on.

And considering Mafia 3's race and social issues I don't really have a problem with them since they are actually handheld better then most media these days are. Also I thought I would hate Lincoln, but I end up liking him as he is a protagonist from that era of media. Since Mafia 3 setting and issues its not too far from media and literature at the time on absolute revenge, vigilantism and such.


Finally I agree the game was shit on launch as its why I waited to play it. Though considering how its common for games to be shit out before they are done has become an excepted trend that should not be acceptable as you wouldn't buy a car with one tire. So all and all I'm glad I waited to play the game and in doing so I'm don't have any real issues with it. As I'm getting the same feelings as I did playing Mafia 2 way back in 2010 since it is a very thought provoking game.

 

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-01 17:04:55 +0000 UTC]

Okay, your points are fair enough though I think I need to explain what I meant when I brought social justice up, I think the whole 60s- Race thing was something they brought into the game because of social justice trends today, it along with the whole setting it specifically in the south-eastern United States part was just so they could have this kinda in your face oppressed Afros thing which I think just breaks the scope of a game from a series that romanticizes organized crime.

And controversially I think it is detrimental that it was made primarily by actual Americans, I mean the first games were just Czechs watching Mafiosi movies and turning those into games but for Americans it’s just much closer to home and thus it kinda looses that part of the universally accessibility, I don’t really need to know what happened in some specific part of a county I’ve never been to a long time ago, I know that sounds weird coming from me.

But this just doesn’t have the direct international ripple effect something like the Sudetenland Crisis or Thatchers Britain had, sure the movement of the day did inspire a lot of others like the 68er Bewegung but it’s way too specific and detailed here and kind of gets in the way of a ... Mafiosi Story. Especially for me as a foreigner.

So it’s kinda a U.S. 1960s-Segregation- vs. Mafiosi-setting thing.

And to translate it into my way of thinking:

Americans who took over the series bringing their and only their historically relevant situations in because social justice was a theme that was popular there vs. The thing that brought me to the series.

I know I seem a bit like a hypocrite because I complain about how basically all WW2 games don’t offer situation or perspective on the German side, speak relevant to my country but they never set out to do that or awkwardly change a series way of doing things to do so and    thus alienate people who just don’t care because they’re foreigners and it’s not really explained or gone in depth about enough for them to do so.

Sorry,mate for the long reply :/

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-03 06:41:58 +0000 UTC]

No worries about the reply, I know this is a subject that warrants deep discussion since I feel a sense of discombobulate for the new turn the series has taken that it feels like Saints Row all over again. And seeing most people don’t even know what kind of game Mafia 3 is or hasn’t even played the older games and goes off the surface level things and would believe the ads like Wolfenstein’s II “Fuck Nazi’s” ad’s all of which was hollow buzz and never actually amounted to anything. Also reason why this took a little long to reply was that I needed to gather my thoughts.

I agree that Mafia 3 did lost a lot of the charm the other games had such as the Studio Ghibli Food porn which I loved eating the Sandwiches and Gyros in 2. And the fact the two games where made in another country, which looked at the US through a different lens, which Mafia 3 kind is but not really at the sometime (explained later).

Again I want to make clear I super understand what you mean about it not being a Mafia game as I feel passionately the same about how Saints Row, 3 and onwards isn’t Saints Row. I still enjoy them just don’t consider them to be in the same league. (Note- In the 3rd paragraph I mention why it we never got another Mafia game). But in ways Mafia is still a game that deals with the Mob just goes about it differently next to it being a personal revenge story. In which I really like the ending (killing Sal) as it’s the kind of ending we don’t often get in video games. As controversial as this sounds I would say Mafia 3 is still a Mafia game, just takes place in an era where that classic image of the gangster was coming to an end especially in the 70s during the FBI’s crack down of the mob via RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization) Act. While 1 and 2 dealt with the Italian Mob and the main characters being bound to its system, 3’s main character is not bound to that system of either the Italian or Black Mob. Though if you end up staying in New Bordeaux running things like Sal did and giving the Commission their %20, you end up becoming like Sammy did. And if Vito gets to run the city he too falls in that same problem as you, in that you're both bound by a golden shackle.

Which is funny if you read into what Hanger 13 thought about doing for Mafia IV and how they thought about making what is basically the movie “Casino” and you’d be in Vegas during the 1970s. But they also wanted to make their own IP, which at one point was going to be a spy game set in Berlin during the 1980s but never came to fruition. Again you can tell in Mafia’s 3 DLC that they want to do their own thing but are bound to the IP for the time being. Which I hope they get to do their own thing since I really see potential for the studio. Remember the studio that made "Bubsy 3d" was such a piece of shit game made by developers that never made a 3d game before, would go on to make the critically acclaim "Syphon Filter" Series which is now making "Days Gone".

While it would be nice to have a 3rd game following suit in the same fashion as the other 2 games, however reality cannot be ignored as Mafia 2 received mix reviews, on top of the fact the game did not recoup cost (thanks to Red Dead coming out the same time) thus higher ups at 2k wanted to take the game in a different direction so they merged 2k Czech and formed Hanger 13 in California. The lead creator behind the first two games left to make his own company which made “Kingdom Come: Deliverance” which is a game that is super specific to a period in Czech history that could alienate an audience. So in a way you either got medieval Bohemia or 1960s New Orleans both are specific to one period. With the newly formed Hanger 13 much of new hired staff came from the now defunct LucasArts working on the canceled “Star Wars 1313”. So Mafia 3 was not all made by Americans as Hanger 13 was also made up with much of the former staff from 2k Czech so it was mostly a group project with help from the UK. It should be mentioned in the early versions of the game it was a simply revenge story however again higher ups at 2k wanted the new game to be "Open World" like their other franchise GTA even though the new studio never made an open world game using a new engine. Which is why you have all glitches and the girding of building an empire.

On the topic of there being social justice I’m still having a hard time trying to understand what you mean by there being a duplicitous agenda interlace into the narrative. Trust me there is none, and if there were one you’d see it a mile away due to the fact people’s tendency to identifying as belong to a specific group or race is not subtle. But I personally feel it comes down to perspective.

Remember Lincoln Clay is mixed race which in that period you where considered outcast by both white and black people that there where Anti-Miscegenation laws and unwritten rules preventing the mixing of races by both marriage and having kids back then. So if you looked black you where treated as black not to mention being mixed raced in the eyes of most people even your own, means they don’t see you belonging to either group thus you where often alienated. Being mixed race I can tell you that shit is real that many from your own race won’t accept you or don’t see as being them one of them, on top of that you won’t believe how many times people (no matter the race) have asked me what my race is since they can’t figure it out that most think I’m from Polynesian or some thing along those lines. 

If there was anything “modern” in the game’s context its deeper almost universal narrative that transcend what was shown upon the surface that I was quite surprised when I saw it. Lincoln “thinks” he knows how everything works and thus cannot see things happening any other way. And for that reason it caused you to think more about resolution of conflict and violence as a whole but it just so happened to take place in a pivotal period of American History where the status quo was changing for everyone not just black people. Which is why Sal wants to get out of Racketeering and go legit and to have a future for his son. But he got too greedy and screwed over the wrong people that his greatest fears where realized for that is why I think ending is powerful.

Though it cannot be avoided all the racism you “experience” in-game and outside the cut scenes is superficial at best, that I felt they could’ve gone further into the actual subject that playing the game would be like Mafia’s 2 police system times 5 mixed with the sundown town of Sinclair from the DLC. But with Hanger 13 wanting to make a fun game and 2k wanting Mafia 3 to be a top seller you know such a system in a AAA game wouldn’t happen which why speeding and walking into said white neighborhoods doesn’t actually matter other then the NPC’s saying to watch yourself. Even when you walk into White Only stores is very subpar as you have enough time to get what you need before they have time to react and call the police. And that’s not including the get out of jail free cards the game gives you in which you can call off the cops and basically do what ever you want. 

But again that would be if Mafia 3 were all about Racism, which instead was about revenge that happened to lead you down the path of dealing with the Dixie Mafia and the Southern Union but even then the reasons you’re even messing with them is because they work or have associations with Sal. The only reason you even discover the Human trafficking side plot with the Southern Union is because the dude you are after owns the land for the Casino and the guy Lincoln hangs from the Farris Wheel was present at Sammy’s where everyone was killed.

Outside those missions most of the encounters with the Dixie Mafia mostly comes down to them being a standard enemy you run into because it still is a "Video Game".  

I would almost say a lot of the topics on racism again is very surface level that the closest it even gets close to talking about it is probably in the Drive Faster DLC where a Civil Rights activist trying to gather evidence from a number of the town folk for a civil case for people in Washington to take down a corrupt sheriff. But is gunned down in what is a Sundown Town which where actually a real thing not relegated to the south but in most of the US. And you (Lincoln) are task with trying to get the folder back that contains that evidence which the DLC while super fun as all hell ends up becoming “Foxy Brown” fussed with “Smoky and Bandit” and the Blues Brothers”.

Since Lincoln is not a Black Nationalist or some Revolutionary that he’d be buddies with BJ from Wolfenstein II his interaction with the NOT Black Panthers activist is very limited since all he does is help get the folder to build a civil case and that is pretty much that. Plus its not Assassin's Creed so you're not doing missions where you go and help civil right activist being assaulted at a White Only restaurant or stopping the police from harassing hippie protests at an Anti-Vietnam protest. Interacting with like Rosa Parks, getting sprayed with fire hoses and attacked by dogs... www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLhZaf…

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-03 15:15:05 +0000 UTC]

Okay, your points are reasonable and I was a little bit salty when I wrote my previous message, still it amazes me that you put together such a long and detailed text about it

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-03 17:58:26 +0000 UTC]

Don’t sweat it, again it’s super understandable hearing some of your points and worries which is why I waited forever to play the game in the first place. As I know we’re all human and it’s easy to jump to conclusions so I’ve been trying to delay that first impulse and judge things more slowly other wise you might miss out on something neat. From some of the books I’ve been reading about history there is a saying that you cannot judge art in a vacuum and exclude the setting it was made in. Which is the reason I looked up information on why mafia 3 was made the way it was since I heard all kinds of things about it so I wanted to know why it was that way. Not to mention I’ve casually learned about the period over years for my book so it’s why I felt much of the setting was superficial and not what the articles and reviews said it was. Leading me to worry it might turn into some power fantasy about killing white pople while the character shouted black power or some shit in a series that is known for keeping things grounded.

Plus I have a friend (the one I bought the guns from) who can be a piece of shit at times but ultimately is a good person has the tendency to miss out on a lot of cool things because he’s so quick to jump to conclusions (he’s very conservative) from for the lack of a better word he’s miserable because of it. So i’d hate to see the same thing happen to you over something that doesn’t exist which believe me can get annoying thinking this is saying that or this when it’s actually not and the real ploy that does have intent is missed regardless of affiliation.

But yeah sorry for the long message that I had to write the whole thing In Microsoft Word so I could clear a few points and debunk some of the fears and rumors without being condescending.

Perhaps we should just play a nice game of chess.

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-04 14:00:08 +0000 UTC]

Well I don’t know if “Conservative” automatically means keeping ideas and personal development in a vacuum but I am glad I got so much text out of you.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=7xqfC80S…

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-04 16:18:40 +0000 UTC]

Pardon my misuse of word as I wrote my reply message on my phone before I went to sleep so my thoughts where all over the place, the more appropriate word should have been stubborn since anyone of any background can possess such a trait.
Thanks I guess  you how much I like to write stuff, just would be nice if I could put that energy to my actual writing. But thanks for the conversation since I know its fun to BS about random topics that are super interesting. 

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SergeantPanther In reply to BoxofLizards [2018-06-04 17:03:03 +0000 UTC]

I totally agree with you, v.v 

Great stuff.

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BoxofLizards In reply to SergeantPanther [2018-06-05 00:12:29 +0000 UTC]

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SergeantPanther In reply to Greenminerthescoffer [2017-09-22 13:58:35 +0000 UTC]

What the fuck.

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SergeantPanther In reply to Megaloceros-Urhirsch [2016-06-21 18:33:10 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Commenter

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Megaloceros-Urhirsch In reply to SergeantPanther [2016-06-22 18:53:24 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Owner

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SergeantPanther In reply to Megaloceros-Urhirsch [2016-06-22 19:03:26 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Commenter

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Megaloceros-Urhirsch In reply to SergeantPanther [2016-06-22 22:39:29 +0000 UTC]

Ja ^^

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SergeantPanther In reply to Megaloceros-Urhirsch [2016-06-23 08:18:30 +0000 UTC]

?:3

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SergeantPanther In reply to steel-hund-131 [2016-04-26 21:11:13 +0000 UTC]

I love it.

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steel-hund-131 In reply to SergeantPanther [2016-04-27 07:06:33 +0000 UTC]

I knew you would X)

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SergeantPanther In reply to steel-hund-131 [2016-03-30 18:12:45 +0000 UTC]

Did you notice that Kim Jong Un got smaller as the video goes on? My theory is that Trump's ego sucked him dry.

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steel-hund-131 In reply to SergeantPanther [2016-03-30 18:37:15 +0000 UTC]

love the theory

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SergeantPanther In reply to steel-hund-131 [2015-12-22 16:30:45 +0000 UTC]

We Germans are pretty good at making ships float ... the New Jersey weather was the problem

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