Pro tip for anyone hunting the for the Walmart 35th exclusives: try the seasonal aisles rather than the toy section. I found the display with all the exclusives and a bunch of the reflector wave practically untouched amongst those novelty arcade machines and a bunch of frozen merch.

Although that does spark an idea for me. In a new continuity, Censere the Necrobot could be the herald Cityspeaker for Quintessa the Necrotitan just to play on their monikers utilizing Greek for dead, nekrós.

I hate to burst your bubble, Maximus Ambus, but 90% of things said in IDW turned out to be amnesiac half-rememberings courtesy of Adaptus or outright lies courtesy of Shockwave.

The toy's designed to look like Wipe-Out, anyway.

Didn't they try to retcon that into a figure of speech because that connection went against everybody else's long-term plans?

There's still some connection given Trypticon was created by Mortilus.

Yeah that toy doesn't exactly look like Necrobot.

But.... it's just "Necro" not "Necrobot".

But why does the God of Death need a giant space kaiju? Wait, never mind, answered my own question.

Yowza I just realised Titans Trypticon comes with Necro AKA Censere AKA Mortilus.

I... think the best equivalent would actually be the British "There is room for improvement".

There's always a sense of irony to it, but what the ratio between irony (you really failed) and straightworwardness (at least you achieved something) is depends on the situation and the speaker.

The meaning can be both literal (you succeed on one level but fail on another), or it can be utterly ironic (you fail in every regard but the most technical; or even worse, "you really gave your best"), and anything in between.

For example: A singer can hit the notes really well, but clearly isn't a native speaker and what little of the lyrics you can make out sounds nothing like what it's supposed to be.

The premise seems to be the mixing of technical and aesthetic technical qualities towards the overall success.

But both "hollow victory" and pyrrhic victory" are referring to having lost as much as you've gained. IE; a battle was won but both armies were destroyed. The town being seiged is victorious, but all the soldiers are still dead. Nevermore's concept is more "You did it, but it's so ugly we don't know if you actually succeeded".

Alternately, one could probably also call it a "hollow victory".

Example: In the Powerpuff Girls episode "Uh Oh Dynamo", the monster-of-the-day was a really tough, giant-size one that required the use of a really destructive mech to defeat it. While the monster was ultimately beaten, the city of Townsville was utterly trashed by the mech's weapons in the process. So, while the city was saved from the monster, it was harmed even worse by the mech that saved it, making the victory bittersweet.

@Nevermore, sounds to me like what one might call a "bittersweet victory". The goal was met, but at great cost or by disastrous result that call into question if the achieved goal could even be called a success.

Seems to be close enough to "Pyrrhic victory"

What do you get from putting the German term through a translator?

That is a ridiculously interesting concept. But I don't think english has a singular term for what you're describing.

Is there an English equivalent for what we Germans call "deductions in the B rating"? Context: Someone did something and suceeded on a technical level (as in, achieved the intended goal), but failed to some degree in the details, i.e. there was some collateral damage, or while a technical success, the end result is an aestetic failure. It can be used highly ironically, as in "barely achieved the intended goal, but failed so much in every aspect that's not purely technical that it might as well be considered an utter failure altogether." The German term is derived from the old judging syste in figure skating, which gave separate ratings for "technical merit" and "presentation", with the latter being the origin of the German term.

Huh. I did not know before today that "medieval" had an alternate spelling "mediaeval". Like "paleontology" and "palaeontology".

'Beast Wars in underrated' the comment went. I exploded.

Absolutely.

So... you can look like a cop from the 70's AND a huge nerd at the same time?

I feel like the best way to carry the Switch would be an under-arm torso holster.

It's not. hell. If the 3DS zelda case just stretched a LITTLE more it would fit.

I feel like the Switch Lite is a bit big to have hanging on your belt like that, but I don't take my Switch out with me often anyway.

I must be the only one who wants a switch lite case with a belt loop. o.O

I'm gonna have "Chainsaw Buffet" and "Candy For the Cannibal" by Lordi playing in my head all night.

Trick or treaters can only consent to cannibalism in Germania.

Hey, if the trick or treaters can't take some loving insults, that's their problem.

Just make sure to put the leftovers in the fridge, so they don't get spoiled.

I love children... but I can never eat a whole one.

I can neither confirm nor deny this allegation.

...you don't roast the trick or treaters, do you....

A cold beer, a warm fire, some smores and trick or treaters... Man, you got this life thing down.

That actually sounds pretty awesome.

we'll move to the open garage if it's raining

every Halloween since we got a house, TMM and I chill in the driveway with a fire bowl and roast things while handing out candy. It's pretty great.

Peter Cullen voiced King Kong let that sink in.

I've noticed that after a year or two, though, people with children will start getting into it for their kids

I think a lot of the decline you see in Halloween is due to newcomers to Canada who don't really get it... I mean,there are only a handful of countries in the world that practice this particular oddity

I recently attended a talk on Samhain and its associated mythology by a professor from Limerick.

Trunk or Treats have become more popular because it is supposed to be safer, and even if it isn't, it just tends to be easier for the Trick-or-Treaters.

That's okay: between ever more extreme weather, ever more violent society, and general paranoia of parents: halloweens not doing to well out here either.

We used to have Bonfire Night here in the UK as our thing instead of Halloween... It's withered away for the most part. Halloween used to be the strange American tradition you knew of from ET or various cartoons

So that's why I never get invited anywhere.