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catgirlcrisis · 6 months

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arknights 4.5 anni stream recap

haven't seen anyone put a full recap anywhere, which is a shame because there's so much going on in this one! so i'll be posting everything you might have missed in text-form, for anyone who wants that kind of summary.

credits to @AK_CN_Shitpost on twitter and Kazdel Team on youtube for translations/hosting, community members in my discord, and my friends on twitter so i know whats going on. putting this under a readmore because it'll be long:

stream starts off with 4.5 anni congratulation messages from several CN VAs, including:

Kal'tsit

Passenger

Chongyue

W/Frostleaf

Ho'olheyak

Myrtle

Ifrit

Mudrock

Ines

Executor

we get a PV featuring Viviana and Arturia about a new event taking place in Leithanien. we're getting several new ops, including:

Bassline, a 5* Guardian Defender

Lessing, a 6* Dreadnought Guard

Viviana, a 6* Arts Fighter

and Arturia the Virtuosa, a Limited 6* Ritualist Supporter.

her e2 art, like all other limited operators, will have Live2D.

the new event will be called Zwillingstürme Herbst (roughly something to do with the fall and possibly the twin empresses)

new skins for several operators! it's an epoque line this time. theme is "Life," and keywords are "Past/Story".

Gwiazdcytro (Meteor), Noon Twilight (Absinthe), Lances Off (Ashlock), Royal Guard (Bagpipe)

two new animated Live2D skins:

Wdali (Mlynar); the text says "'Fear neither hardship nor darkness'... Ah, an era that is not worth remembering, a dream which is too awake." (credit to @/lingtranslates on their twitter for this translation)

Wingbreaker (Texas the Omertosa)

there's a new QoL update: players will now be able to auto-farm stages up to a maximum of 6 times per run

new red cert shop operators

new archive drops for operators, including:

rosa

arturia

diamante

czerny

santalla

shalem

new operator modules:

mudrock

penance

vulcan

lessing

nearl the radiant knight

bassline

bagpipe

new themed furniture sets:

there's a brief overview and explanation of the new operator skills and gameplay, but i won't go over that here because there's still a lot to get to. however, gamepress usually releases a review on these operators after release, and youtubers like kyostinv will upload showcases pretty quick after they drop, for people who are curious about them

there's a very cute PV about kjerag! it goes into the history of the country and some cultural celebrations about kjeragandr, as well as development of the country and such. it's pretty cute (and sorta wes anderson-ish)

AK is adding a german and russian dub for their lethanien and usran characters, respectively

we'll be getting a new event in rim billiton with amiya and the dr

new sargon-related teaser

we're getting more reclamation algorithm! this time you'll have the ability to "save" and not have to restart from the ground up every time it seems

we got a teaser about the next sui sibling! from @AK_CN_Shitpost:

Next spring event will take place in an agricultural production city, Zuo Le who is sent to rest got involved in farming issue. So the next spring event will involve Zuo Le and possibly the agriculture Sui brother?

there will be another R6S collab. supposedly we're also getting a rerun for Operation Originium Dust, but this will also involve a new collab event.

other assorted notes:

new trailer about a cute, comedic series that involves ceobe, popukar, ethan, bubble, and mountain update: it is called kay's daily doodles! a translated trailer has been uploaded to the official EN AK account here

perish in frost trailer (CN dub)

AK artbook announcements: Arknights Animation Artworks Vol. 1 and Arknights Official Artworks Vol. 3 are being released, with Vol. 3 being teased with an art of the 3 abyssal hunters(!!!)

release of a book that seems to be about the in-universe lore and worldbuilding of Terra, including maps and wildlife

a new manga about Silverash and Gnosis's pasts

release of the first 123 Rhodes Island?! volume, along with new merch featuring Kal'tsit, Rosmontis, Amiya, the Doctor, Blaze, and Ch'en

official boardgame. looks like you will be able to collect supplies, build or move shelter?, and there's various cards with different operators on them (we were shown Liskarm, Kal'tsit, Silverash, Dorothy, and W cards). it is called Nomad City: The Founders.

new figures: 1/7 scale figures of Angelina and Mostima (Fitness Time Ver.) prototypes, 1/7 scale Kal'tsit figure, THRM-EX figure prototype, mini figure prototypes of Lessing, Virtuosa (Arturia), and Viviana, as well as 6 more designs of those character-in-a-recruitment-bag figures of- rhine labs edition! featuring Muelsyse, Magallan, Dorothy, Silence, Ifrit, and Saria.

IchibanKuji x Arknights collab Gunfire in Darknights featuring Amiya and Ch'en (Londinium sprites) on the promotional artwork.

AK Cafe with Chongyue, Ines, and Goldenglow on the promotional artwork in Shanghai and Chengdu next year (AK X PrismLand), called Sweet Zone

AK collab with the Nanyue King Museum (yes, really)

new merch promo that shows what looks to be different plushies (originium slug, chibi nian in dragon(?) form, bunnies), character-in-a-recruitment-bag sora, and figures of Eyjafjalla (swimsuit skin ver.), Shining, and Amiya (these are not new, it's probably a sale or a re-run of some kind)

lowlight breaks eggs with the lethanien icon on them. with a giant hammer. yeah

promo for something that's called My First Story, looks like it's an animated song PV featuring W, Amiya, and Kal'tsit

lore about The First Catastrophe and a timeline of Terran history. the twin empresses are revealed to be Hildegard and Lieselotte (yes, really); the witch king is Herkunftshorn

there's some more extra goodies (like a Monster Siren Records promo, what looks like a new season of CC, a new Joint Action banner with Mizuki, Suzuran, Surtr, and Pozyemka, new ops now available in recruitment like Flint, Eunectes, and Acid Drop, a new free skin - maybe from a record restoration? - for Flamebringer) but i think i'll hit tumblr's picture limit if i include all of those.

that's a wrap!

(shoutout to discord user @/nobowo) who also gave a short stream recap in my arknights LGBT discord server)

#arknights #arknights anniversary #arknights spoilers #arknights 4.5 anniversary stream #arturia the virtuosa #virtuosa #long post #i saw some people posting certain pictures #so heres some context #sorry if some things are just. Wrong #i do not speak and cannot translate CN so im relying on scrounging up translations from Various sources

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besiegedhunter · 9 months

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Why Lupos fear Projekt Red. Il Siracusano lore

So personally speaking Red has always been one of the more mysterious characters in Arknights to me and chief amongst the reasons is how she scares other Lupos. A thing that even theorizing why never made total sense.

But then Il Siracusano came out with so much Beast Lord lore and somehow made it more confusing.

(It's quite a long post so)

What I'm referring to is the last moments of the story before the Zarro boss fight in IS-10:

This. This is effectively the same effect that Red has one other Lupos which it draws attention to by referring to it as a 'chill' such as Red's talent name as well as when later in the event Crownslayer meets Red again

Now on the surface this makes sense. Red is Grandma's Fang and Grandma is a Beast Lord who'd be able to do the same thing. We also know that Crownslayer's mentor taught her a bite so there's techniques that Beast Lords pass onto their Fang.

Except it's not as clean cut as that because we don't see any sort of ability like this outside of Red. Neither Bernado or Lunacub exhibit this ability. There's also no accounts of any other character, playable or not, showing anything similar outside of the Nightmare Knight.

Then you take into account this from Lunacub's files on the Beast Lords:

"Polar opposite of Originium"

We know that like them there are also Feranmuts like Nian and her siblings who have no connection to Originium at all and don't use Originium arts wherein lies the problem.

It's not an Originium Art, it's inherit to Beast Lords and yet Red seems to be capable of it also.

So two options:

One is read the end of that screenshot. "Researchers struggle to find the profound differences between them and us." and we know thanks to Mephisto that if an Ancient goes into the Sarcophagus that they revert into an animal.

Not only that however. This is speculation but between both of Mephisto's boss fights we see that he's capable of healing and making husks out of corpses that he controls however in his second one after going into the sarcophagus he gains the ability to teleport.

I can't say whether this is a Feranmut ability but between the abnormal size as well as this, it's a possibility that it's between a regular bird and a Beast Lord.

But pushing that aside, it's possible that Ancients have abilities deep inside of them that they share with Beast Lords that they can bring out but that it's rare that they do.

Maybe this is the explanation for this part of Horn's files though it, like other aspects of some characters, isn't a 1 for 1 thing like Zarro and Red.

Second option is that it is "functionally the same" but actually has a different origin. I'd rationalize it as Grandma seeing how useful this ability is (assuming Zarro even used it consciously and other Beast Lords do too) and so tried creating something identical.

Maybe it's Red getting drenched in presumably wolf blood, with it lingering on her that other Lupos can smell and that sets off a fear response? This being my original theory based off Red's tendency to identify Fangs through scent as well as this pit from Executor and Vermail's vignette in Operational Intelligence.

Now the thing I would say about this one in particular is that, if killing enough of a certain animal/race makes said race terrified of you then why do we not see that from people such as Hellagur or Lappland or long lived characters?

But that's all I'll say on that because I do have a secret third option which is only secret because it is the worst and if true then wow that's cruel.

And that is that Red isn't the one who has these effects on Lupos but instead it's Grandma who can't be seen but is with Red, possibly intentionally doing this as to stop Red from staying from her mission OR and perhaps more interestingly (and ooc) is Grandma permanently gives off this effect.

Is there evidence? Well sadly there may be.

Here we see another Wolf Beast Lord making herself imperceptible to Rhode Island's personnel and in the second screenshot it's possible that she's hiding herself from even Lunacub, though it may also be that she left to somewhere.

Then there's Red's dialogue after her first promotion where she says she can hear Grandma. I repeat "heard" aka she didn't see her.

Now consider this: Zarro and Grandma are the same being with the same abilities and he went to Lungmen just to tell Texas he needs her for something and also that he raced across Il Siracusano to meet Bernado after he put his plan to detach the new city from Volsinii into action

The fact he doesn't use any sort of long distance communication implies to me that Wolf Beast Lords aren't capable of it, meaning it's improbable that Grandma wasn't there

So if Grandma has probably visited Rhodes Island, wasn't even seen by Red and would naturally have the same ability as Zarro while Red having it opens a billion questions,

It's arguably the most likely one.

Now that's all on the brain storming but if I can have a little more of your time, please read this:

Red's Trust 2. The one after her questioning the importance of family and preceding wondering if her life would be different if she wasn't a wolf hunter (aka groomed by a evil wolf to win a murder game so said wolf can become the leader of their pack off her efforts)

Now consider that the reason why they're afraid of her, why she can't befriend her fellow Lupos is because the person who has controlled her her whole life is still there, warding them off

Think about that the next time you see one of those tail hunter memes

#arknights #projekt red #il siracusano #brainstorming #i have many many thoughts on red #and grandma #but this is my first long post on here #so i hope its okay #im no expert with this

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brave-symphonia · 1 year

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Soooooo what did you think of episode 8?

I...don't know.

I don't know how to accurately describe my thoughts on how much I loved it.

The way it was split into two sides, one showing Talulah's past as she heads down the path that eventually brings her to be who she is now, and the other showing Amiya and the others getting closer to Reunion.

The way that as you get closer to her, you also get closer to understanding what she went through and how she got here? So good.

There's also the fact that it takes Mephisto, the first villain we're introduced to, who I wrote off as a one-note villain who just likes to cause suffering, and turns his character around for me.

To the point where at his end, I was honestly emotional at how he got here, everything he went through and lost up to this point making him who he is.

The developments with the Doctor and all the revelations and setup there for the future.

Then there's the gameplay of the flashback levels, playing through them, being helped by Talulah as she protects people, fighting your enemies. And then that level where she kills all those civilians in the same manner, in a level that you have to sit and watch.

Amiya pulling out a sword that's a copy of Chi Xiao and fighting alongside Ch'en! And us getting an actual animation of that with a vocal music track!

And then there's just Talulah, everything about the truth about her. How it was actually Kashchey controlling her after his death, how it was never her.

And yet, while they could venture into a situation where she's not responsible for anything, they make it clear it was all something she would have been okay with on some level.

Kaschey couldn't make her do something she would never do.

And then there's her living, because she has to live for the people that died because of her, she's not allowed an easy death, she has to live on and take responsibility for what she's done, even if it wasn't fully her.

And I'm not sure how clear it is that those last two are things I really felt, and things that I absolutely loved in another character I love from a different liveblog that I've done. She even has white hair at times, too!

And I love the reasoning that's given for Rhodes Island having Talulah. That it's because it's the only way to stop those countries from destroying Rhodes Island.

And how that ties into a talk that they had earlier in the chapter, when Kal'tsit said that Rhodes Island needs to avoid looking too big, otherwise they'd be destroyed. This made them a bit too big, so Talulah is their insurance.

And then that scene where we see Talulah talking with Kashchey, saying she refuses to give him control again.

I can't wait to see how that develops.

I worry that it's a long shot, but I would definitely not be against Talulah as an operator one day.

I mean, she's in Rhodes Island, she's not antagonistic to us, she's powerful, why can't we just add her to the team?

Anyway, this is all to say, that I absolutely loved Episode 8, my favorite story so far in Arknights. Which is fitting for the conclusion of everything so far.

Also, the final image of the episode:

This fucking got to me. It made me tear up at least a little bit.

Just thinking about how far the story has come since we first saw this, how much more of Ch'en and Talulah's characters we've seen.

And seeing them there, innocent little children, it fucking gets to me.

#zack answers #princezilla #zack plays video games #zack plays arknights #episode 8 #roaring flame #zack arknights summary #keeping that tag #since this is basically a summary #of all my thoughts on episode 8

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the-breloominati · 2 years

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What is arknights

I've seen enough tumblr blorboposts to decide I want in

TL;DR: tower defense with furries (to varying degrees of furry); also a mobile gatcha (I think you can get it on desktop too though)

ok so. god where do I start.. how do I start…..

The player character is called Doctor, and they’re one of the heads (kinda) of this group/company Rhodes Island. Rhodes works to provide medical care for people with Oripathy, called Infected, and are also working to find a cure for Oripathy. Oripathy is a terminal disease (it can be stabilized though depending on how far someone’s infection has progressed) caused by exposure to Originium, which is a kind of rock. (It’s sorta like uranium I guess? In the sense of it can be used for a lot of things, but long-term exposure can lead to illness.) There are also events called Catastrophes, which are natural events that can expose large groups of people to large quantities of originium (which can kill a lot of people and infect many others). In order to avoid catastrophes, people made nomadic cities (don’t ask me how they work).

There’s also a bunch of different races; most of them are animal people (to varying degrees), but some of them, like the Sarkaz, are.. other things? The Sarkaz are based around demons and stuff I think. Vaguely. There’s also at least two guys that are just birds? Idk about all the lore but the wiki (the Wikia or whatever not the Gamepress one) has more info about all of em.

Anyways the main story (and some of the side/event stories) are pretty political? Cause that’s kind of the nature of Rhodes Island; in order to provide care and treatment for more people they have to work together with different governments. It’s not super heavy-handed or anything I don’t think, but you can like.. apply stuff from the real world to it to get a better idea of things? Kinda? Idk gkfbjabhbkdhah

Anyway anyway, it’s a gatcha game with furries (mostly kemonomimi-style characters, pretty sure you can count all the kemono operators (playable characters basically) on two hands). The gameplay is tower defense, which is cool. The story is written quite well, but sometimes each segment can be VERY long (especially with event stages), so feel free to skip it if you want — you can always go back to it later to read it.

#i probably could’ve explained it better lol; sorry #added the tl;dr at the start after I typed everything else cause I’m pretty sure that’s the main selling point?#if you want more info without having to go through the game the wiki (again not the gamepress one) should be able to help #and; as with all gatchas; *please* be careful about how much you spend if you decide to spend real money on it #but yeah! it’s good!#there’s a lot of fanart on pixiv (mostly suggesting it cause people tag stuff more often there than on twitter)#though pixiv mostly has a japanese/chinese userbase; so you might have to check the wiki for character names in those languages #if you want to search them or their tag #pretty sure that’s it; I hope I’m not forgetting anything important……#also ONE OF US; ONE OF US; ONE OF US-

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bumblesimagines · 3 years

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Green Thumb

Part 9

Request: Yes or No

Almost at double digits y'all. Can someone be an angel and send me the ages of every one between civil war and endgame? Ik Wanda was 18-19 in Age of Ultron and Civil war and Sam was probs in his mid to late twenties in Civil War.

You frowned, touching the collar around your neck. It made you feel like an animal. It was to prevent you from using your powers. Rhodes had mentioned it would shock you if you attempted to use your powers. You weren't sure if it was instantaneous or if someone controlled it but you didn't feel like finding out.

"You like cats?" Sam asked T'Challa, prince of Wakanda.

"Sam." Steve called, glancing over his shoulder like a disapproving parent. You snorted softly, biting your bottom lip.

"What? Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't want to know more?" Sam asked, looking at Steve.

"I like cats." You mumbled, looking at Sam with a small smile. Sam turned towards you with a small grin.

"Of course you do, Animal Planet." You rolled your eyes at the new nickname, shifting slightly. You really didn't want to trigger the collar.

"I'm a dog person."

"You look like a dog person."

"And what do dog people look like?"

"Morons." You answered, giving a slight shrug as Steve cracked a smile, trying to bite back a chuckle. Sam huffed lightly, looking away from you. A moment of silence passed before Steve spoke.

"Your suit.. Vibranium?" Steve asked T'Challa. The prince turned his head slightly.

"The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. It's meant to pass from warrior to warrior. Now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. So I ask you.. How long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?" T'Challa asked, finally looking at Steve. Steve stayed silent, looking forward. You sighed through your nose, feeling the tension return. You wondered if Clint had been notified of your arrest yet. The van pulled into a parking garage, officers opening the door once it came to a stop. You got out, following Steve to the man and blonde.

"What's gonna happen to him?" Steve asked. You turned your head, looking over at him. You made eye contact with him again, holding it for a minute before looking away.

"What was that?" Sam asked quietly. You frowned, brows furrowing.

"That- That little staring contest."

"Oh, shut up." You huffed, looking away from him.

"Same thing that's gonna happen to you. Psychological evaluation." The man replied.

"This is Everett Ross, CIA operative and Task Force Commander." The woman, Sharon Carter, introduced him. Her gaze flickered to you.

"The shock collar will be taken off after the evaluation." She said, voice stotic but gaze pitiful.

"What about a lawyer?"

"Lawyer, that's funny. See their weapons are placed in lock up." Ross instructed the officers. Sam scoffed, following the officers. Steve spared one last glance to Bucky before following Ross and the officers. You walked besides Sam, being escorted through the building.

"You'll be placed in offices instead of cells. Do me a favor and stay in them." Ross stared straight forward as he spoke. T'Challa moved to walk beside him.

"I don't intend on going anywhere." T'Challa said. You spotted Natasha, feeling some sense of relief.

"Clint was informed and I assured him I'd keep an eye on you." Natasha told you, giving a small reassuring smile. She looked at Steve, addressing him. The relief went away upon hearing Tonys' voice. He finished his phone call, approaching you and the guys.

"Consequences?" Steve questioned, staring at him. You looked around the large room, noticing the screens and everything going on.

"Secretary Ross wants you three prosecuted." Tony said, motioning to them and you. Your brows furrowed slightly. There were two guys with the last name Ross who looked vaguely alike. That definitely wouldn't be hard to remember.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve asked as Tony and Natasha walked away.

"Technically, it belongs to the government. Wings too." Natasha said, shrugging.

"That's cold." Sam muttered.

"Warmer than jail." Tony called back. You looked at the security cameras, noticing the room Bucky had been moved to.

"You got the hots for him or something?" Sam asked. Steve turned to look at you, blinking a few times. You shot Sam a look, raising your brows.

"No, Samuel. I do not and if I did, why would you ask infront of his longtime bestie?" You asked, almost gritting your teeth. Sam raised his hands in surrender as Tony pulled Steve into a meeting room to talk.

"Why have a meeting in a glass box?" You asked quietly. Sam shrugged, looking it over.

"To prevent fighting." Sam answered. You watched at Steve and Tony seemed to argue. You looked at Sam with an amused smile.

"Physical fights." Sam clarified as Tony stepped out and Sharon had you and Sam enter. You took a seat across from Sam, looking at the security camera footage. Sharon entered, placing a paper infront of Sam.

"I'm sorry about the collar." Sharon apologized softly. You leaned back in the seat, shrugging lightly. She pressed a button, allowing Steve to listen to the footage. Sharon slid over some photos over to Steve.

"Why would the Task Force release this?" Steve asked. Sharon gave a shrug.

"To alert the public, I guess."

"Right.. A good way to force a guy into hiding. Got seven billion people looking for The Winter Solider."

"You're saying someone framed the guy to find him." Sharon mused quietly. Sam seemed confused, looking at Steve. You looked back at the footage on screen.

"Steve, you looked for the guy for two years and found nothing." Sam reminded him.

"We didn't bomb the UN."

"That doesn't guarantee that the person who framed him knew that we'd get him." Sharon looked at Steve. She suddenly frowned, brows furrowing as Steve turned towards the footage. You looked up as the power went out, seeing the staff begin to freak out and try to locate the source. You looked at Sam, slowly standing up. Sharon took out a key, sliding it over to you.

"Level 5 east wing." She said as you unlocked the collar, tossing it to the side as running out of the room with Sam and Steve. Whoever had framed Bucky had found him. You followed the two down the hall and down some stairs. You reached the area, finding guards on the ground. The interviewer lied on the ground, calling for help. Steve approached him with you hesitantly following. You noticed movement out of the corner of your eye, dodging Sam when he was thrown towards you.

"Hey, dude." You breathed out, swallowing. Bucky had a deep frown on his face, blue eyes holding nothing but bloodlust. He looked downright terrifying. You thrusted both hands forward, shooting a fireball that sent him flying back against the wall. Steve quickly stepped between you and him as you turned and rushed to Sam.

"Sam? Sam!" You shook his shoulders, shakey fingers pressing against his neck. You felt his pulse, relieved to feel his heartbeat. You slapped his cheek, waking him up.

"I've always wanted to do that." You muttered, watching him wince. He groaned, turning his head. You followed his gaze, seeing the guy from before looking down where Steve had been thrown. You stood, helping Sam up and following him up a set of stairs. With Steve out of commission temporarily and Bucky in a frenzy, the guy was the only hope of stopping everything.

"Can you try to stop him or trip him up?" Sam asked, rushing up the stairs.

"I can't see him and I'd rather not make this whole building collapse on accident." You replied, almost tripping over your own feet. Sam found an exit, following the crowd of people running.

"He looked like any other guy." You said, taking in deep breaths. Sam shot you a weird look.

"We just ran up like five flights of stairs." You breathed out, hands resting on your knees. At least the chilly weather provided some help. Sam noticed a jacket, jogging over and picking it up. You stumbled after him, looking it over.

"I really need some water." You whispered, lightly fanning yourself. Sam rolled his eyes, following the crowd of people. You sluggishly followed, giving him a small smile when he stopped by a shop to get you a bottle. He took out his phone as you drank half of it.

"Come on." Sam pulled you along, following direction and entering warehouse. Steve had Bucky laying against some machinery, unconscious and metal arm trapped in a wedge.

"You two okay?" Steve asked, looking you and Sam over with a concerned frown.

"Yeah.. Someone over here needs some more training." Sam glanced at you with a teasing smile. You rolled your eyes, licking your lips as you heard the sound of a helicopter.

"Could you ice over his arm?" Steve asked.

"He broke a stone wall. Ice won't hold him but sure, I'll do it." You shrugged, approaching the unconscious man. You licked your lips, splashing the rest of the water on the machinery and touching it after. The ice creeped down, covering over the metal arm. You looked at him, finally getting a proper look. He was handsome. Brown hair that barely reached his shoulders, facial hair just growing in, those icy blue eyes that either swirled with sadness or anger.

"You're giving him bedroom eyes again." Sam called, his voice echoing slightly. You clenched your jaw, looking at him.

"What? I can't admire something that looks nice?" You asked, watching his demeanor change. He looked alert yet amused. You frowned, looking back at Bucky and finding him staring right at you. You rolled your lips into your mouth, clearing your throat.

"God, that's so embarrassing." You whispered, speedwalking towards Sam as he cracked up. You ignored your burning face, arms crossing. Sam calmed down, wiping away a tear. Steve walked over, watching Bucky grunt and sit up. He looked at Steve, calling out his name in a hoarse voice.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked, staring at him intently. Bucky stayed silent for a moment before speaking.

"Your moms' name was Sarah... And you used to wear newspapers in your shoes." Bucky said, smiling softly. Steve relaxed, gaze softening.

"You don't read that in a magazine."

"Just like that we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked, giving Steve a slightly wide eyed look.

"What did I do?" Bucky asked, looking between you, Steve, and Sam.

"Enough." Steve answered. Bucky shut his eyes tightly, shaking his head as he hung his head.

"I knew this would happen.." He whispered. "Everything HYDRA put inside of me is still there. All he had to do was say the god damn words."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know." Bucky answered, though you weren't sure if it was truthful or not. He didn't seem like the type to lie, at least not to Steve.

"People are dead. The guy did all that just to get ten minutes with you." Steve pointed out, watching his old best friend. Bucky looked defeated and confused. "I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."

"He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was captain." Bucky said quietly, gaze flickering around as he tried to remember.

"He wanted to know exactly where."

"Why would he need to know that?" Bucky stayed silent, licking his lips as he stared at the ground. He looked at Steve.

"Cause I'm not the only Winter Solider." He revealed. You looked at Sam in confusion and surprise. Bucky was strong and deadly on his own but a whole army could overthrow governments all over the world.

"That's terrifying." You whispered, leaning against the wall and sliding down so you were sitting down. Steve chose to lean against the wall after letting Bucky's arm free.

"Who are they?" Steve asked as Bucky brushed some hair out of his face.

"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history and that was before the serum." Bucky responded.

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked. Bucky looked at him, swallowing.

"Worse."

"The doctor... Did he control them?" Steve tilted his head. Bucky looked down at his lap.

"Enough."

"Said he wanted to see an empire fall." Steve told you and Sam. Bucky looked up at his words.

"These guys could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate. They could take a whole country down over night and you'd never see them coming."

"Color me impressed." You whispered, playing with the strings of the jacket you were given after getting to Berlin. Sam slowly walked towards Steve.

"This would've been a lot easier a week ago." Sam said quietly, arms crossing. You stood up, dusting off your pants and approaching them.

"If we told Tony-"

"He'd have him locked up." You cut off Steve, glancing back at him.

"Plus, he'd never believe us." Sam added.

"But if he did-"

"It wouldn't matter and who knows if the Accords would let us help him." Sam stared at him. Steve let out a defeated sigh, looking away from you and Sam.

"We're on our own."

"Not completely. Dad would help." You pointed out. Sam nodded, glancing at you.

"And, I know a guy." Sam said with a light shrug. You looked at him with a raised brow.

"You have friends?"

"I said I know him, not that we're friends but to answer your question, yes. I have friends that aren't you. Jealous?"

"Imaginary friends don't count."

~~~~~~~~~~

The drive was silent, Steve and Bucky occasionally reminiscing about the old days.

"On a scale of one to ten, how impressed is Clint gonna be when he sees you?" Sam asked. You smiled, letting out a chuckle as you watched the snowflake float inches above your hand.

"Probably an eleven, but he'll give me the typical dad speech infront of mom." You answered, lightly blowing on the snowflake and watching it disappear. Bucky turned his head to look at you. His muscular figure was semi cramped in the backseat. Steve picked the worst possible car to hijack.

"Hawkeye's your father?"

"Adoptive. He has a tendency of taking care of strays who once tried to take down the team." You told him, giving a small smile. Bucky hummed, nodding.

"Speaking of strays, how are you and Wanda?" Sam asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.

"Uhm, good? We're still good friends, even after the kiss." You shrugged lightly.

"Woah, kiss?" Steve repeated, brows raising.

"Yeah, we kissed but it felt.. Weird. There was no spark or overwhelming emotions. The love I have for her is the same love I have for Lila and the boys. She'll always be like a sister to me." You told them, glancing at Bucky. Bucky was still a bit on edge but you could tell he was trying to get adjusted.

"What are your powers?" Bucky asked, attempting to get comfortable in the car.

"I'm like the avatar, I guess."

"Who?" Bucky furrowed his brows. You blinked, lips parting as you stared at him. He was from the 1900s and worked for a criminal organization, obviously he wouldn't know a kids show from the 2000s.

"It's- It's from a show. An avatar is someone who controls all four elements and they basically save the world, I guess." You explained, growing a bit embarrassed at how silly it sounded. Bucky didn't seem to judge, giving a small smile.

"We could watch it together, if you want. It's a nice show." You offered, smiling. Sam raised his brows.

"Wonder what Clint will think about that." He muttered as Steve glanced at you and Bucky through the rearview mirror. You shot Sam a small glare, reaching out and touching the back of his neck with cold fingers. He hissed and leaned forward, pouting as he rubbed his neck.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Bucky said softly, nodding. You looked back at him, a smile appearing on your face. Bucky was incredibly attractive and you couldn't deny having a small growing crush on him but you didn't want to cross a boundary. He was from the 1900s afterall.

"How'd you end up fighting the Avengers?" Bucky asked, focusing all his attention onto you.

"The orphanage I grew up in threatened to kick me out since I had turned 18. I freaked and caused an accidental forest in the orphanage so the team was called." You told him, chuckling softly. Buckys' gaze softened, a hum leaving him.

"You've got some pretty cool powers, doll."

"Doll?" Steve and Sam repeated. A flustered smile appeared on your face, giggling softly. Bucky glanced at the two, wondering if he had crossed a line or said something wrong.

"Thanks." You looked forward, biting back an even bigger smile. You weren't completely sure if he was flirting or not but it was nice to get a compliment from an attractive guy, even if he had almost broken your friends' back an hour before. Steve slowly parked the car, getting out to greet Sharon.

"Could you move the seat up?" Bucky asked Sam, arm moving so it resting ontop of the carseats. His metal fingers lightly brushed against your hair but you weren't bothered by it.

"No." Sam replied. Bucky let out a deep sigh. You bit your bottom lip, looking at him.

"We can switch." You shrugged lightly.

"It's fine-"

"No, you shouldn't be squished back here." You faced him, feeling him gently grab your waist. He was incredibly gentle and cautious, moving you onto his lap briefly before he scooted to the side. You sat behind Sam, lightly kicking the seat. Sam moved it forward ever so slightly. You looked over at Steve and Sharon, blinking when they kissed.

"Oh? When did that happen?" You asked, brows furrowed. You knew there was some attraction between them but you didn't expect them to already be at the kissing stage.

"A while back, I think."

"Huh.." You whispered. Steve returned to the car with Sam's wings and his shield, putting them in the trunk. He drove to an airport parking lot, pulling up beside a van. You smiled widely, quickly getting out when Sam pulled the seat forward.

"Thanks for keeping my kid safe, Cap." Clint said, opening his arms as soon as he spotted you. You happily hugged him, feeling a sense of relief and safety wash over you.

"About time you started causing me trouble." Clint grinned as he pulled back. You noticed Wanda, pulling her into a hug as well.

"Saw it on the news. You okay?" She asked softly. You nodded, pulling back and brushing some of her red hair out of her face.

"Vision let you go easy?" You asked. Wanda shook her head, chuckling softly. Sam approached you, glancing back at Bucky.

"Might want to keep an eye on these two." Sam said, motioning to you and Bucky. Clint stared at him before looking turning to look at you. Wanda tilted her head, looking at you as well.

"You're such a dick." You muttered. You knew Sam was just being protective. He had always seen and treated you like a brother.

"Bad boy and older, huh? God, I hoping you had skipped those phases." Clint sighed heavily. You were partially suprised he hadn't mentioned or pointed out that Bucky was a guy. You hadn't really spoken about sexuality and attraction with him but knowing Clint, he'd be supportive about it.

"Not bad." Wanda said quietly, giggling softly as she smiled. You gave her a playful smile.

"I've got good taste."

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cerastes · 4 years

Text

E2 artworks are for the most part delightful, but today, I would like us to pay particular attention to certain characters’ Elite 2 artwork: Nightingale, Cuora, and Specter.

The three of them have two things in common: The first is that they are all amnesiac (or, in the case of Nightingale, partially amnesiac, but amnesiac nonetheless), the second is that they are all drawn by Skade. I think the Hypergryph writers just have an Amnesiac Hotline for whenever they conceive another amnesiac character and it connects directly to Skade’s temporal lobe, where all information about the new character is immediately uploaded to and then he just starts furiously drawing.

But let’s focus on the fact that they are amnesiac in this post, and how this is reflected in their E2 art in a way I found clever. Let’s begin with our favorite fashionable demon, Nightingale.

Nightingale’s name is a two-fold allusion: The most evident one is being an homage to Florence Nightingale, the mother of modern nursing. The other, perhaps least apparent but of equal importance, is to the Greek aesop “The Laborer & The Nightingale”, which tells the tale of a poor laborer who, enthralled with the beautiful song of a nightingale that sang every day atop a tall cedar tree, grew selfish and built a cage of iron and twigs to capture the nightingale to make its songs his and only his. Her lines make several allusions to cages and empty rooms,

and of only being let out of her ‘cage’ when someone needed her healing powers, her “song”, if you will (especially relevant when you consider how song and Arts seem to be related in Terra). Her E2 art, thus, represents her bursting out of her cage or iron and twigs. Unlike other Sarkaz Operators, her E2 is not a shape or a representation of a Demon, it is, instead, a representation of her inner Demon, the cage of her head, which contains all of her memories and emotions locked tight within in. She’s not there yet, but she’s making progress. It is worthy of note that Shining also doesn’t depict a Demon in her E2 art, her artwork instead centering on her shield, but while Shining’s E2 art is an allusion of her deep, deep shame of being a Sarkaz and the things she’s done as a Sarkaz (or, in other words, denouncing her own identity to focus on what she truly wants to do from here on, which is to protect others), Nightingale’s E2 artwork instead depicts her destroying part of the cage that holds her back: She’s not fully out yet, but now, it is only a matter of time.

Then, what about Cuora?

Some Operators show a manifestation of their identifying animal that might not be entirely physical but it’s clear, with hard colors and textures. Other Operators show their animal very clearly, as if it was truly there, like Perfumer and Siege, and in some cases, it REALLY is there, as with Eyjafjalla (who directly addresses them in a voice line), and this seems to be matter of artistic preference, but whereas Skade normally draws E2 manifestations with solid colors, in the case of Cuora and Specter, he chooses to make them almost phantasmal, with soft colors and an ephemeral feel to them instead. In fact, the turtle you can see above is as generic as can be, it doesn’t seem to be identifying of any particular turtle species, and all we know about it is that it is “a turtle”. This is deliberate, meant to represent Cuora’s amnesia: Her race, Petram, is not unknown, but she doesn’t remember what specific kind of Petram she is. There’s a lot of turtle species, so which one is she? We have no idea. We know Blue Poison is a Poison Dart Frog, we know Nearl is a Pegasus, so when it comes to species either real or fantastic, we usually have an accurate account of which each Operator is supposed to represent, but not with Cuora, because she’s amnesiac. Whatever specific kind of Petram she is, we’ll never know unless someone that can properly identify her or that knew her from before the amnesia can divulge that information. To represent this, thus, her animal manifestation is ephemeral, phantasmal, ambiguous: It shows us exactly as much as we know of it, that is, that she’s a turtle, nothing less, nothing more.

So where does this leave Specter?

Nightingale has partial amnesia, Cuora is amnesiac but her Oripathy was caught in time and she’s been stabilized, but Specter’s nervous system has been ravaged, and not only is she amnesiac, she’s also prone to bouts of insanity and of sometimes saying some rather concerning things, such as wanting to take Doctor to the “place where secrets are imparted” or how “some people were never ever meant to be one, so it is her duty to cut them into many”.

Nightingale’s art, if you look above, is ‘solid’, bereft of particles or separated parts: It’s an iron cage, the twigs, and herself. Cuora’s art is somewhat more ‘loose’, with some weaving loose lines on the lower part of the drawing to presumably represent low tide, where you would normally find small turtles, as well as to represent her somewhat deteriorated but overall well-preserved psyche. Specter’s art, in contrast, is very loose: There’s an emphasis on aquatic trails all over the composition, representing the deep sea, as well as her flowing cloak, hair, and habit flaps. There’s many loose ‘particles’, like smudges of splattered ink, representative of her shattered psyche, and, most importantly, there’s not one but two sharks of different species as her animal representation. I believe they are representative of how she’s currently ‘two’ people: The somewhat manic but otherwise harmless Specter that can be found roaming the halls of Rhodes Islands’ dorms, and the completely silent fighting machine named Specter that can be found roaming the battlefield like a vengeful ghoul, following orders to the letter, her own safety be damned.

But there’s another meaning, I believe: Cuora at least has one turtle in her art, which can at least let us approximate which species it could possibly be (likely a freshwater turtle judging from comparative size and shell shape, bigger than tortoises, smaller than sea turtles), but Specter has two sharks, which means properly approximating her exact species becomes a lot harder. Skadi and Deepcolor, fellow AEgirians, make it very clear which animals they are supposed to be (Orca and Dumbo Squid, respectively), which further proves that this is a Specter-specific conundrum and not a Deep Sea trait. Likewise, her outfit has several allusions to the overall shape of a shark, but not to any specific shark.

If we want to dig deeper, and boy howdy I bet we do, we can take a look at the Chinese Hanzi that composes her name:

“幽灵鲨”, or “Yōulíng shā”, which translates literally to “Ghost Shark” from Chinese to English. Fitting that her codename is given as Specter. So, what’s a “Ghost Shark”, exactly? Aside, from, you know,

a really bad B-Movie.

Sounds like it’s just a cool poetic name for someone who is but a specter: a fleeting existence, with no memories, only a shadow of her former self, no?

Well, that works out, to be frank, but it turns out, Ghost Sharks are a real species. This is the Bahamas Ghost Shark:

And this is the Australian Ghost Shark:

They belong to a species of fish known as Chimaeras, and they live in temperate ocean floors down to 2,600 m (8,500 ft) deep and are some of the oldest fish alive, they share plenty of characteristics with their prehistoric ancestors (or, to translate this to Arknights terms: keep in mind how Specter looks just like a regular human). These are deep sea fish, with only a couple of them coming close to the surface rarely, and it fits with what we know of Specter, what with her background of fighting giant Deep Sea monsters as an Abyssal Hunter. Of course, whether she is supposed to be a Chimaera of any sort remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if she was, given the thematic similarities.

I found all of these little nudges and nods to be plenty fascinating. Am I perhaps reading too deep into this? Always within the realm of possibility! Are Skade and Hypergryph planting seeds of lore that will bloom much later, making every piece of evidence given until that point suddenly make cohesive sense? Wouldn’t put it past them! So analyze, analyze, and analyze, because even if it takes you nowhere, lord knows it’s fun to do so.

#arknights #long post #specter #cuora #nightingale

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tinned-beans · 3 years

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Avengers AU idea...

The Necromantica: Lead by the Ancient One. She is the founder of the group and has been around to oversee it for centuries. No one knows what her power is, or how she's lived so long.

After a person has had a severe injury leading to their almost death, they sometimes develop unexplained powers relating to necromancy in one way or another. The Necromantica is an underground group dedicated to helping people who have discovered these new powers. They provide therapy for the trauma people have endured, train people in how to use and control their power, and are partnered with the sorcerers at Kamar Taj. The sorcerers teach the necromancers basic magic as self-defence and to give both the subjects and the sorcerers a better understanding of this phenomenon.

Although the Necromantica is a secret group, they often use their powers to protect the people of New York and are low-level enhanced individuals outside the watch of the government. They're based in an abandoned train station hidden by illusions cast by the sorcerers of Kamar Taj.

Characters:

Tony: A poor unsuspecting fool and Stephens roommate after the car crash. He's a graphic designer for a magazine company and frequently asks Stephen to pose as a drawing reference. He could just use Pinterest or even books like a normal person, but at the moment it's his only excuse to stare dreamily at Stephen without being weird.

Stephen: The victim of a car crash about a year ago. He was run off the road by drunk drivers and was near death when he was found. He was rushed to hospital and operated on by Dr. James Rhodes. He made an almost full recovery however his hands were crushed in the dashboard of the car, which resulted in severe nerve damage. They still shake and hurt, meaning Stephen is often on prescription painkillers.

He was found by the Necromantica a few days after he returned home from the hospital. Rhodey, who operated on him, is also part of the Necromantica and so was able to get his records to the group. Bucky came to visit after Stephen discovered his new necro-botanic powers and explained things. Stephen now uses the support of plants wrapped around his hands to regain full control and dexterity with them.

Art for Stephen's power ⏬ (I know I fucked up the left arm)

Dr. James Rhodes: Was in a plane crash which resulted in his near death. Before that, he was a very good surgeon however, after the plane crash he was paralysed from the waist down. After he was released from the hospital he found that a few days later, he could miraculously walk again. Rhodey's power is that he can remove injuries from things and store them up to inflict on people later. Sam came to recruit Rhodey after this. Rhodey has to be very careful about skin to skin contact with anyone because he still has the paralysis stored up: he never found a good reason to use it.

Sam Wilson: A therapist at the local clinic. He used to get the medical records to find out whom to help/recruit to the Necromantica. Now Rhodey helps get the records too. Sam is a veteran and fought in Vietnam. Although he came home with no physical injuries he had extremely bad PTSD and attempted suicide. The gun, however, misfired and his family got him to hospital in time. When he woke up he discovered he had the power to sap the lifespan from others and add it to his own.

James Barnes: One of the Necromantica's 'recruitment officers'. He is the longest-standing member after Sam and was the one who brought in Stephen. He used to be a weapons dealer in Texas however, one of the deal went south and the arms warehouse got blown up with him still in it. His arm had to be amputated, and he now has a cybernetic one designed by Thor. From the explosion Bucky gained to reanimate a person's body for a limited amount of time, no matter how much of them is damaged or missing.

Thor Thomas: the founder of a prestigious technology company and an accomplished engineer. He and his brother Loki are child abuse survivors. They were almost beaten to death by their father, who was in a drunken rage, at a young age. Thor developed the ability to magnify and manipulate the minuscule electric current flowing through organisms, although this often results in their death (it's a delicate process.) This was found out when he was returned to his parents from the hospital. His father made to slap Loki however Thor caught his hand. Sparks erupted and his mother had to pull both children away as Odin stumbled back and hit the floor. Fire burst from under him and the house burnt to the ground before the fire department could arrive.

Loki Thomas: Thor's brother. Can reveal the most likely past and future of a person and sometimes an animal. The prophecy usually centres around their death or that of someone close to them.

Steve Rogers: The Necromantica's other 'recruiting agent'. He was a foot soldier in WW2 when he fell off a train during a raid. He ended up frozen and preserved in the ice until he was found decades later. He's the only know person to wake up and recover from a cryogenic-like process. This is probably due to the power he developed over his time in the ice. Steve can freeze people down to their very core, leaving them soulless zombies. However, he can also reverse this process in not only his own victims but those of mental illness - bring them back in touch with reality and re-animate their will to live. This is why he is one of the group's main therapists who deal with PTSD.

Natasha Romanov: Another member of the Necromantica. She's an ex-KGB spy and was tortured to near death by her employers after she quit. Before this, she suspected something was going to happen to her, so she left clues to her location, which her father unravelled and followed. He got her medical help just in time and she survived after intensive surgery and being comatose for around a week. After that she aware that she could see numbers above people's heads. One was a timer ticking down to their time of death, the other a counter of how many people they'd killed. What she discovered, however, was that the timer could be edited. Someone who had meer seconds before being hit by a car could be saved by her intervening, or even just thinking about increasing the timer. It didn't always work on people with grievous injuries, however, it worked about 90% of the time.

Wanda and Pietro Maximoff: Siblings who were Iraqi exchange students in Washington D.C. After white supremacists bombed a mosque, the building collapsed, nearly suffocating them as they were stuck inside. Both were unconscious when found, but they eventually woke up. Pietro, with the ability to speed up people's lives to their time of death (he can also reverse it); Wanda with the power to operate dead things like puppets.

Li Wei: Was in a train crash in China. Was barely alive when found and needed multiple transplants: he was transferred to a hospital in New York for this. Thor's company is the one who originally developed the surgical technology that saved Li's life. After waking from his coma, Li discovered his ability to move through other people's bodies. It's not a fun experience, but he can also reach in and edit things. He was only a nurse before the crash, however after settling in New York and joining the Necromantica he completed his degree to become a doctor. He's nicknamed Vision by the group and his close friends for his ability to see into another person's body. His power is extremely useful when performing delicate operations and a group of nurses and doctors who work with him know how he does it in case anything goes wrong, and to protect the secret.

Carol Danvers: Flew rescue helicopters to collect soldiers and sometimes civillians from high-risk areas around the world. Was one on the best pilots they had until her chopper was gunned down. She was flying a new and somewhat experimatal helicopter developed by engineering researchers at the time and absorbed a ton of radiation from the engine. She had minor injuries - only a broken arm and severe bruising - but had intense radiation poisoning. Eventually she recovered: mainly due to her power. She can drain the field of life force that radiates from everything living and can store it up to expel in photon blasts.

@salty-ironstrange-shipper @stxphxn-strange @ironstrange-prompts

U probably have no idea who I am, but I like your blogs and thought you might find this cool :)

#ironstrange #avengers #art #gel pens #headcanon #alternate universe #necromancy #magic

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dsknsk · 4 years

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some Arknights headcanons

Going in further on the outcry of that Ancient operators need more traits of the creature they represent...

The skin of Vouivre, Drake, Lung and Savra operators feels a little bit more leathery to the touch. You can’t actually see the scales if the operator isn’t visibly covered in them like Rangers and 12F are, but these operators are cold-blooded and like to stay in the sun to ‘charge’. This skin structure also prevents it being burned, kinda like the fire salamander’s lore. Asbestos’ skin is especially fire-retardent.

It’s canon that Silence can shift her arms to wings or human arms, and I headcanon that the other Liberi can do that too. Young Liberi often think they can fly.

When a Sankta gets really pissed off, their wings will glow, get larger, and become covered in eyes. Their skin also gets eyes. Mostima...well, let’s say that the last time she got angry, no one in the city she was in survived it.

The vampire operators (Warfarin, Closure, and I guess that Midnight is one too), being partially based on bats, are naturally nocturnal. For Rhodes Island, they obviously have to shift to a diurnal system - with varying degrees of success.

The Feline and Aslan operators immediately sleep after and before missions. If you don’t wake them, they can sleep for quite long.

Cautus operators tend to have a lot of siblings.

The operators based on sea creatures are really good swimmers, because they used to be from the Deep. Blue Poison can also swim well, but Magellan can swim good too if the situation would call for it.

Some operators have human ears next to their animal ears; while the former functions just like normal human ears would, their animal ears act more as an enhancer and allows them to pick up stuff from far away. There are quite a lot of animals around here that perceive stuff better than us, anyway.

Specter can likewise smell very well, especially blood. If she loses teeth, they take a very short time before growing back because they’re rows

#arknights

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jackdawyt · 4 years

Video

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With Dragon Age 4 still quite a few years away, given it's expected 2022-2023 release window. I've been reflecting and thinking retrospectively about how long Dragon Age 4 has actually been in development. And so, with that question, here I am on a quest to try and answer it.

This investigation has been put together for the betterment of everyone in the BioWare community, including myself, plaguing the developers with infinite questions regarding what’s next for Dragon Age and when will we hear something about the next game.

If we, as a community, can understand at which point BioWare are with the development of the next Dragon Age, then perhaps we’ll have more grace and patience as we support the developers with their hard work and dedication to creating the next game.

We’d have some appreciation, all the while garnering an understanding of how long this game has left in development. Yes, for our sakes, but also for BioWare’s sake. We need to see if EA are giving the Dragon Age team enough time for them to create the Dragon Age game they want to make, and nothing short of that.

And that’s exactly what I want to uncover in this video. With that, let’s begin. it's no secret that the next Dragon Age game has already had quite the tumultuous time in its early stages of production:

The previous iteration known as 'Joplin' was canned and has been rebooted for 'live service elements'.

The Creative Director and 14-year BioWare Veteran Mike Laidlaw left the studio, along with his vision for the next Dragon Age game.

Shortly after that, the Lead Writer and 17-year BioWare Veteran David Gaider left the studio to pursue other games design avenues.

Not to mention the anxiety and panic attacks the developers faced ensuing Anthem's development.

Although all of these factors point to disaster and worry, and they can lead to mixed feelings about the next game in production, I can assure you that there's still plenty confidence and hope for the next iteration of Dragon Age 4:

The developers working on the next Dragon Age game are creating the next with "an eye to what the fans love about Dragon Age, which is easy because they love Dragon Age."

The Creative Director of 'Morrison', the latest iteration is Matthew Goldman, the previous Art Director of Dragon Age: Inquisition.

Plenty of BioWare Veterans are still in the studio, working on the next Dragon Age title such as Patrick Weekes (15 years), John Epler (13 years), Caroline Livingstone (12 years), Mary Kirby (13 years), Graham Scott (13 years), Mark Darrah (23 years?), Parrish Ley (14 years), Lucas Krisjanson (22 years), and many more legacy developers!

There's been signs of improvement within the working conditions at BioWare, Casey Hudson personally has been getting involved with solving these issues. I've seen a few developers sharing tweets that they're enjoying working at BioWare, and they're eager to share more on the next Dragon Age game. I'll share even more on this topic in my next news video coming end of May! But it seems that the developers are staying on top, and positive for the next Dragon Age.

Regardless, I'll take any chance I can get to inspire folks that the next Dragon Age game is in the right hands and BioWare are aware of what the fans expect from them. Let's move on to the main investigation of this video, to examine the next Dragon Age game’s development process.

Ironically, the next game hasn't officially been announced, according to many of the developers at BioWare, yet EA have already given the project an initial release window of 2022-2023. One of the main questions I want to answer by the end of this video is, do BioWare have enough time to create an epic Dragon Age game, with that strict deadline mandated by EA?

Well, in order to answer that question and understand the production stages the game is currently at, I'm going to have to begin at the start by revisiting Jason Schreier's "The Past & Present Of Dragon Age", which I know we've talked about a lot, but it's the biggest indicator on Dragon Age 4's development. So, here we go.

2015:

Following Dragon Age: Inquisition's Trespasser DLC release in 2015, Dragon Age 4's previous iteration began its very early stages of production. The plans for the next game were very exciting, and some of the developers had put their best work into it.

The project was called 'Joplin' and it would've centred on spies embarking on heists in Tevinter, smaller in scale then Inquisition, however, much further in depth, choices and consequences. And there was an emphasis on repeat play, having the player's visit previous areas again, with new content.

2016:

However, the first major bump in the road occurred in 2016, one year after development had started. Mass Effect: Andromeda required all hands-on deck, and so many members of the Dragon Age team were moved to work on Andromeda, they're even mentioned in the credits of Andromeda as the 'Dragon Age Finaling Team.'

2017:

After Andromeda's release in March 2017, it was back to working on 'Joplin' for the majority of the shifted developers. For some developers, it was refreshing to get back to working on the next Dragon Age. However, it wasn't long before BioWare's next releasing title - Anthem was suffering through development troubles. By the latter half of 2017, Anthem was in real trouble, and so EA took drastic action.

In October, 2017, EA cancelled Joplin's development and moved the bulk of the project's staff onto Anthem. With two years of development on a project that will never see the light of day, Mike Laidlaw departed BioWare that same month.

Alexis Kennedy was previously working on 'Joplin' too, however, according to his LinkedIn profile, he left the project in October too. It seems his work only extended to 'Joplin' and will most likely be scrapped as well.

Towards the end of 2017, as the majority of "Joplin's" core team went to work on Anthem, a very small skeleton team stuck around to work on a brand-new Dragon Age project under the new title 'Morrison.' This team will have consistent of developers like Patrick Weekes, who was anointed the role of Lead Writer since David Gaider departed. Other key developers working on the foundations of 'Morrison' in 2017 included: John Epler, Matthew Goldman, Daniel Kading, Matt Rhodes and many other talented designers.

It's unknown how much of "Joplin's" previous work will make its way into 'Morrison', surely a project with production escalating over two years would have some worthy elements that could be added to 'Morrison'

As it stands, we don't know if the games will share the same vision, or if any of the same key mechanics, concepts, story threads, etc, have made their way into Morrison.

All that is known about 'Morrison' is that the game has been rebooted with Anthem's codebase, so the developers aren't starting from complete scratch, they'll have somewhat of a preset of the Frostbite engine that can act as Dragon Age 4's very foundations. However, unlike Joplin, this new version of the fourth Dragon Age is planned with a live service component, built for long-term gameplay and revenue.

A few developers working on 'Morrison' stated that this game will change drastically in the next two years, however, that's been the case with every Dragon Age game. The point is that the project will take many different shapes until it feels like a Dragon Age game.

2018:

So, we know that this project reboot happened around the end of 2017, with a very small skeleton team going forward following a slightly new approach, and a new Creative Director. This is the new Dragon Age 4 that was later teased at The Game Awards in 2018. However, unbenounced to us at the time, we didn't know the game was rebooted, and therefore, as fans do, we presumed that this title would release soon.

In actuality, when 'The Dread Wolf Rises' teaser dropped, the new iteration of Dragon Age 4 had only been in very early development with a small team for about a year, hence why we still haven't heard, or seen anything of this project since. the game's production stages had barely started.

Not only that, but the teaser wasn’t supposed to act as an announcement, but more of a message to the fans that something is happening with Dragon Age.

2019:

Anthem shipped in February, 2019, and following its release, the Dragon Age developers who were shuffled to the Anthem team back in 2017, then went back to the new iteration of Dragon Age in May of 2019, including the Executive Producer, Mark Darrah.

The Dragon Age team; fully operational with all hands-on deck, could begin to wrap up its pre-production stages, and start production development. We discovered a few key production stages last year in my massive 2019 news roundup, things like voice acting, concept art, and potential 3D models.

Fernando Melo left the studio in August of 2019, stating that his work of “guiding the team through EA’s concept and early production phases” had been complete, and he felt it was the least messy time to leave the company. This proves that indeed; the title has begun production stages.

2020:

With that, we can safely say that Dragon Age 4's production has continually increased, as the project makes its way through many core development stages.

To this date, the game has recently had script readings for scenes, some of them being romance moments. Animations for a dog-like companion. Something about coding 'Scriplets' and plenty more of tidbits, that if you're interested be sure to check out my latest news video.

Conclusions:

So, in an attempt to work out how long Dragon Age 4 has been in development... If we do some quick maths, it seems that project 'Joplin' was in development for around two years, between 2015 - 2017.

Therefore, project 'Morrison' has been in development for around 3 years, given that it started in 2017 - present.

However, from late 2017 to early 2019. the work on 'Morrison' was pre-production. The main production stages began in May 2019.

So, 'Morrison' has been in pre-production for approximately 18 months, with the production stages starting around a year ago, in May 2019.

With its release window of 2022-2023, can BioWare successfully create an epic Dragon Age title? Is this enough time for the developers to create the best Dragon Age possible?

Well, I'm not one to leave you with rhetorical questions. If we look at Dragon Age: Inquisition's development, a game that I'd consider to be a Dragon Age epic, that served the fans supremely well.

In a 2014 interview with Mike Laidlaw, conducted by UK newspaper The Guardian:

Dragon Age: Inquisition's production had been about three years, but taking in the early concepting, it would be four years. As studio general manager Aaryn Flynn kindly pointed out, that’s about 10% of Mike's life.

If we go by that measure, 'Morrison' with 18 months of pre-production and one year of full production, and two to three years of development left before an initial release window.... it sounds quite plausible that BioWare could pull this off.

Although BioWare have their work cut out for them, I have hope that they can deliver an amazing Dragon Age game dedicated to the fans. With plenty of time spent on the pre-production stages, hopefully the team has learned from Anthem and Andromeda's rough early stages, and they've conceptualised the development enough, that production can carry on at ease.

And regarding Joplin's two years of previous work, I hope that at least some aspects of that project's production went into 'Morrison', the core concept alone sounded like it could've been the best Dragon Age game to date, and with so many developers pouring in some of their best work, I truly hope that it all hasn't been canned and it can make its way into the next Dragon Age game.

Regardless, I have a news update in the works for the end of May as I mentioned before, there's still plenty of tidbits coming out, and as I stated in my Tinfoil Tea Party podcast, I'll be doing news videos before the first of every month when we have enough, well news... In April, we got a fair bit, but May has been epic so far. So, stay tuned for that!

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Loki is a Cat Person Now, But What About the Rest of the MCU?

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The breakout star of the latest Loki trailer is not the mustachioed Owen Wilson as Mr. Mobius, nor Tom Hiddleston as Loki himself. Nay, the biggest star is, as it always should be, a cat.

The little guy appears around the 35-second mark and he immediately joins the canon of Marvel’s greatest characters. Does he have a name? Not yet. Does he have a purpose? Unclear. Is he a cutie? You better believe it, bud.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always operated under the mantra of giving people what they want. For the first decade of its existence that meant introducing dozens of iconic Marvel comic characters and having them crossover in one another’s movies, creating an exciting and comprehensive cinematic universe.

Of late, however, Marvel appears to have realized that an action-packed canon isn’t the only thing film-goers and TV-watchers desire. They also want some nice animals. The feline-appearing flerken Goose delighted Nick Fury and audiences alike in 2019’s Captain Marvel. Two years before that, the giant bulldog Lockjaw was the most beloved (and perhaps only tolerable) part of Marvel TV venture Inhumans.

Now, as Marvel transitions the proper MCU onto TV with its spate of Disney+ series, ultra pettable cats and dogs remain a big part of the franchise’s plan for worldwide dominance. In addition to Loki’s whiskery little guy, this Fall’s Hawkeye is set to introduce the beloved Pizza Dog. By bringing notable cats and dogs into its canon, Marvel is embracing a war older than the Eternals. Forget the Sokovia Accords and Civil War, what side of the line does each major Marvel character stand on? Cats or dogs.

Well, since the Loki trailer offers up a good excuse to think about such a silly hypothetical (and because it’s still an excruciating two months before the show premieres), let’s figure out the dog people and cat people of the MCU.

Loki Cat Person – Loki does not seem particularly interested in the cat at the Time Variance Authority office. Paradoxically that makes him even more of a cat person.

Steve Rogers Dog Person – But only golden retrievers.

Tony Stark Cat Person – Stephen Strange once fairly commented that Tony likes to be surrounded by people who work for him. He would therefore find the loyalty dogs appealing but ultimately pooches are too messy for his workshop. Plus, the allure of speaking down to a cat and receiving a blank response is a strong one.

Bruce Banner Dog Person – This is tough as Banner in the earlier MCU installments would steer clear of dogs. They’re simply too excitable and he can’t risk raising his heartrate to dangerous Hulk levels. The self-actualized, in-control version of Banner from Avengers: Endgame, however, would finally embrace his Dog Person potential.

Thor Cat Person – Given Thor’s bubbly personality, one might think dogs would be a better fit. But we know that Thor loves snakes and that seems like a very cat person trait.

Natasha Romanoff Cat Person – Black Widow is absolutely into black cats. Natasha even has a little buddy named Liho in the comics.

Clint Barton Dog Person – See the aforementioned Pizza Dog.

Nick Fury Cat Person – Sure, a flerken cost Nick Fury his eye but I’m sure he’d still give up his other one to pet Goose again.

Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes Dog People – As longtime followers of Steve Rogers, Sam and Bucky can’t help but identify with loyal hounds…even if Bucky has a cat named Alpine in the comics.

The Vision Dog Person – The Vision is highly interested in humanity and what makes us tick. And I’d like to think as a species we’re more akin to happy-go-lucky dogs than aloof and mysterious cats.

Wanda Maximoff Cat Person – She’s a witch, you see.

James “Rhodey” Rhodes Dog Person – As a military man, Rhodey doesn’t spend enough time at home to appreciate a good cat.

Peter Parker Dog Person – While Tom Holland’s Spider-Man hasn’t interacted with many animals yet, it’s only a matter of time before the MCU gets its Sandwich.

Carol Danvers Cat Person – Goose!

Scott Lang Dog Person – Paul Rudd is nothing if not an excitable pup. Plus, cats would certainly pose a bigger threat to Ant-Man.

T’Challa Cat Person – Well, yeah.

Peter Quill Dog Person – Peter is obviously a dog person. Drax, Groot, Gamora, Rocket, and Mantis are exempt from participating in this exercise because the question could be offensive to Rocket there’s a chance they all might one day consider Cosmo the Spacedog a peer.

Doctor Strange Dog Person – The Stephen Strange of Marvel comics has a doggie familiar named Bats. It seems as though Benedict Cumberbatch would have decent chemistry with a basset hound as well.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Thanos Cat Person – Cats are perfectly balanced, as all things should be.

The post Loki is a Cat Person Now, But What About the Rest of the MCU? appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3uryv55

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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ezatluba · 3 years

Photo

A mutated gene gives this tabby blotchy spots instead of the typical stripes.

How cats get their stripes

By Elizabeth Pennisi

Dec. 2, 2020

When Rudyard Kipling told how the leopard got his spots, he missed the mark. Leopards have “rosettes”; spots are for cheetahs, says Gregory Barsh, a geneticist at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology. But whatever you call the markings, how wild cats and their domestic counterparts acquire them has long been a mystery. Now, Barsh and his colleagues have found an answer. In so doing, they have shown that a 70-year-old theory explaining patterns in nature holds true for fur color in cats, and likely other mammals as well.

“This is an important paper unveiling part of the genetic basis [of ] coat color markings so prominent in many mammals,” says Denis Headon, a developmental biologist at the Roslin Institute. It also offers a glimpse of how those genes operate during development, forming what he calls a “highly adaptable mechanism” that responds to genetic tweaks to produce diverse coat patterns, from stripes to spots.

Biologists have identified hair follicle cells as the source of the black, brown, yellow, and red pigments that color hair or fur. “But we didn’t know when and where the process of the establishment of the color pattern took place,” Barsh says.

In 1952, computing pioneer Alan Turing suggested molecules that inhibit and activate each other could create periodic patterns in nature if they diffused through tissue at different rates. Thirty years later, other scientists applied his theory to develop a hypothesis about how spots, stripes, and other color patterns form during development. In this scheme, activator molecules color a cell but also trigger the production of inhibitors, which diffuse faster than the activators and can shut off pigment production. Last year, that idea was proved correct in plants called monkeyflowers: Researchers showed that dark, activated speckles on the petals become ringed with unpigmented tissue as inhibitors spread. And researchers had shown molecules following the Turing pattern help trigger the development of hair follicles in mice. But how coat color develops in mammals remained largely mysterious because mice and other easy-to-study lab animals lack spots or stripes.

So Barsh’s team turned to domestic cats to track the identity of molecular activators and inhibitors of coat color. A decade ago, they tracked down a gene, Tabby, that, when mutated, gives tabby cats black blotches instead of their usual dark stripes. Hudson-Alpha geneticist Christopher Kaelin found that same mutation in king cheetahs whose spots were unusually big and blotchy, suggesting the same genes color both wild and domestic cats.

To see what other genes and their mutations operate during development, Kaelin and HudsonAlpha colleague Kelly McGowan spent several years collecting discarded tissue from clinics that spay feral cats, which are often pregnant. They first noticed temporary thickenings of the skin of 28- to 30-day-old embryos, where black stripes would later appear in the fur. “There’s a change [in the skin] that precedes and mimics what you observe in adult [fur],” McGowan explains.

The researchers then isolated and sequenced the active genes in individual skin cells of early embryos. At about 20 days old, embryos showed a sharp increase in the activity of several genes involved in a key developmental pathway, known as Wnt signaling, in skin areas destined to briefly thicken before the area becomes permanently dark. One of the most active genes was Dkk4, as they reported on 16 November in a preprint on bioRxiv. The team also found that mutations that inactivated Dkk4 accounted for the loss of distinct markings in Abyssinian and Singapura breeds, making their spots too small to distinguish. Tabby and Dkk4 “are in the same pathway,” and likely work in both domestic and wild cats, Barsh explains, though he doesn’t yet know how they are connected.

Dkk4 is a known inhibitor of Wnt signaling, which helps determine cell fates and spurs cell growth during development in many animals. The team found that in domestic cats, Wnt and Dkk4, respectively, are the activator and inhibitor. In dark skin, they exist in about equal amounts. But in paler areas, the faster moving Dkk4 protein most likely turns off Wnt, shutting down pigment production and thereby generating stripes, just as Turing’s theory had predicted. “It is remarkable, although not altogether surprising, that we see Wnt-Dkk4 signaling again playing a critical early role,” says Larissa Patterson, a developmental biologist at Rhode Island College.

“This paper provides thought-provoking insights into potential mechanisms of pattern diversity in wild cats,” Patterson adds. It “greatly adds to the evidence” that this process is at work in cats and, most likely, other mammals, agrees Roland Baddeley, a computational neuroscientist at the University of Bristol.

Researchers had already shown the Turing mechanism involving Wnt and Dkk4 sets up the formation of hair follicles—but not coat color—later in mouse development. Barsh’s team, however, found that the color pattern in cats and possibly other mammals is established well before hair follicles appear, suggesting early color patterns may guide hair follicle pigmentation.

That simple interactions among well-known molecules can explain the variety of coat color patterns in mammals is an example of nature’s thriftiness, Headon says. “It suggests that the same molecules and pathways are likely to be reused for patterning of very different structures and at very different scales to form the intricate elements of the vertebrate anatomy.”

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dlamp-dictator · 4 years

Text

Allen Rambles about Episode 6

Man... I’m just never going to actually talk about anything in a timely manner, am I? Every time I say that a Rambling is coming I get distracted and talk about bad anime, other video games, or I draw my OCs for a months on end and forget all my drafts exist.

And since Children of Ursus... dense, to say the least, I’ll just finish up this draft of Episode 6 and hopefully get on some kind of proper schedule for October... hopefully.

So, Chapter 6 came out... month ago, and I’ve been meaning to talk about for some time. Honestly, I have more criticisms than praises for this episode, but there are a few good points worth talking about.

But first, as usual, a synopsis.

To keep things simple, Episode 6 focuses on the joint operation between the Hong Kong Lungmen Guard Department and the Rhodes Island Pharmaceutical Company. After Episode 5, Rhodes Island finally rendezvoused with Ch’en’s detachment in Lungmen and the two groups come up with a game plan to take out the Reunion troops in the city. Ch’en focusing on the slums and a few key locations while Rhode Island takes out the commanders, namely Frostnova, Faust, and Mephisto.

That’s the basic summary of things, but things go a little deeper.

The Story

A looong while ago I said Code of Brawl contained the best and worst aspect of Arknights. Episode 6 really shows what can be bad about it.

Okay, I’m being a little unfair since this latest Episode just pails in comparison to 5, but it’s still a little disappointing. My main issues are the disjointed story arcs and the attempted at humanizing Reunion, but before I get to that let me just go over all the little things first, just so I can clear the air of all the nitpicks and not accidentally make a 500-word segment about minor things. With that said...

Small Things that Only Bug Allen

Blaze gives Greythroat shit for reasons that seemed to have happened off screen. This makes her seem really catty (pardon the pun) toward Greythroat for no reason aside from assumed slights and weakens Greythroat’s later character growth as we don’t see her show hatred or prejudice toward the infect, not in the same way as Ch’en in Episode 2-ish.

The Doctor’s role as a self-insert really harms more scenes than helps. A lot of moments where they’re the focus feel flat since they don’t have a real personality to play off of. Just for example, imagine if Amiya was trapped in with Frostnova instead of the Doctor, I could see a much stronger chance to characterize both characters in that situation.

Gavial was mentioned several times in this Episode and didn’t get any dialogue. How dare you not give Gavial screentime.

This Episode has proven that Amiya is canonically a 14-year-old loli and in charge of a total not private military company, no I swear, those soldiers are just for CC and special ops don’t think about it too much Silverash is just a CEO of a company stop asking questions.

This isn’t a story complaint, but 6-16 was a bitch to get through. The randomness of Frostnova’s AI combined with that high damaging AoE attack just kills it for me (and half my units).

And while on gameplay, Stage 6-17 was really dumb and its only redeeming value is a free Originite Prime. I get the narrative point of it, but it’s still dumb.

Okay, so with the small stuff out of the way let’s hit the big issues, starting with...

The Disjointed Arcs

So... this Episode wanted to explain Frostnova’s backstory, explain Mephisto and Faust’s backstory, introduce GreyThroat and Blaze while giving them a character arc, further Ch’en’s character arc, humanize Reunion, do world-building on Lungmen society, reveal a political conspiracy of Lungmen that dates back years before the main story, kick-start what I pray isn’t a redemption arc for Mephisto (that’s a Rambling in itself), hint at Crownslayer’s backstory, hint at Talaluh’s backstory, and possibly reveal some stuff about Ursus.

And folks... that’s too much for one Episode to handle.

Compared to Episode 5, which just focused on Ch’en and the LGD, this was just a mess, there’s no two ways about. They were trying to do too much and front-loaded a lot of the important bits toward the end. I really wish they only tried to do two or three things on that list instead of 10 things. Arknights has a bad habit of trying to tell too much in the limited time it has our attention. Episode 4 was guilty of this, elements of Operation Intelligence was guilty of this, and even Code of Brawl has hints of this issue too by trying to hint at Mostima’s backstory while giving Bison and some other characters an arc. I get that they’re trying to lay the ground work for future events and story points, but this is really just too much, at least for one episode.

But speaking of things that are too much...

Humanizing Reunion

This is what really grabs my goat. I’m conflicted on how to feel about the attempt to humanize Reunion and add grey morality to their role as antagonist. My original draft had said this was a bad thing, since Mephisto is so cartoonishly evil any attempts at redemption feel flimsy, but... I think it could work.

The main issue of trying to humanize Reunion is that our introduction to them was Mephisto, who is so far down the moral spectrum that it’s impossible to think he or the faction he represents are redeemable. However, characters like Faust, Skullshatterer, and Frostnova are much more reasonable/understandable in their motives. Skullshatterer is ruthless to his enemies, but kind to his soldiers, and his ruthlessness is really only on the battlefield. Faust is essentially Mephisto’s leash, and just tries to reign in his evil while protecting him. Frostnova just wants to have a home for her Yetis and doesn’t care what side she has to join in order to get it, though she has her doubts about Talaluh.

This is fine by itself, but due to all the evils of Mephisto and the cruelty he’s done to Rhodes Island, Lungmen, and Ursus, it makes it really hard to see Mephisto as the exception instead of the norm for Reunion’s methods. It makes Faust’s death and Mephisto’s devastation of it feel flat since, frankly, the brat’s cocky attitude got his friend killed, and he’s just getting what he deserved. He’s killed and tortured too many for anyone to really feel sympathy toward him. When even Amiya calls Mephisto a bastard, there’s really no redemption, and while Episode 6 doesn’t try to redeem I’ve seen enough anime to know they might try and make it broken state seem more sympathetic than it should be.

Which leads nicely into Frostnova, who’s arc was done very well by my standards. While I personally think giving her solo time with the Doctor was more detrimental than helpful, it worked well enough to show she wasn’t a monster like Mephisto. It gave us some time to understand the motivations of the Yeti Squad and sympathizes with their goals of finding a home, gave us a nice hook for when Patriot comes around in full after being teased in both Episode 4 and Operation Intelligence, and if this Episode only focused on that I’d say it was a good story over all.

But... Episode 6 wanted to also hint at so much more that it was suffocating. I’ll at least say that Ch’en’s segments were fine and move on.

Gameplay

I’m going to keep this as short as I can since the story section was the big thing I wanted to talk about. However, there are a few things I want to mention in terms of the game.

6-7 was probably the best chapter in the game so far. I loved how they gave you an team already with most of them at E2. It was a great way for people without GreyThroat and Blaze and test them out. It let you see how some Operators you might have ignored perform at a higher level. It gave you a hint at where you should be at the point of this level, and the for the lore nerd it gives us a good idea on how an official team is structured for high-level missions. I’d love to see more missions like this in the future where they give you a ‘canon’ team already and have you work out the puzzle of who goes where and when.

6-16 is probably the worst. Frostnova having high stats and a second stage I understand, but so much of that map relies on getting around the randomness of what tiles she knocks out and praying you can survive her massive AoE attack in her second phase. My entire team was E2 Level 30 and it took me over ten tries to 2-star that stage. I was using a guide too. A lot of that map revolved around just praying Frostnova didn’t bonk out certain tiles or praying that her AoE attack didn’t randomly proc at a bad time. There is way too much left to chance on her stage.

General Gushing

I think that’s enough critique, let’s get to some happy stuff and talk about the things I enjoyed.

Blaze’s cattiness aside, I liked her a lot. She’s confident, she spontaneous, she’s... basically a rowdy housecat. Seeing more elite operators would be nice so Rhode Island feels like an actual force with some power and order and less ragtag.

Ch’en character arc is shaping up nicely, her barging into Wei’s office to chew him out gave me the largest grin.

Amiya’s whole speech to Wei was just great as well, really reminds you she is the top executive of Rhode Island for a reason... despite being a 14-year-old bunny loli.

Everyone mildly talking about Gavial makes me really curious about seeing her speak and act in the story. She seems like a feared woman to be sure. I’m we’ll be getting her event somewhere down the line.

Faust and Frostnova’s death, as forced as they felt, were genuinely sad and made me feel something. It gave the series a bit more weight to it.

Speaking of, Faust and GreyThroat had some pretty nice parallels, both Crossbowmen fighting for causes they’re initially apathetic toward save for a very small handful of people. Mephisto for Faust, and Amiya for GreyThroat.

“She jumped down?!” “She jumped down...” Best exchanged in the game so far.

Like Code of Brawl, save for some of the bullshit maps that just spammed the strongest, hardest-hitting units (yes, I do mean 6-5) I found a lot of the maps required some creative thinking. Despite this Episode needing E2 units, my E1 Vigna was the MVP of most stages. Ethan as well, as I didn’t have Manticore at the time and his damage of time skill and AoE damage really made those chokepoints work.

In the Future

As always, I don’t like the idea of fixing something that’s already out, but asking for future changes seems reasonable. To that end, I hope Episode 7 is focused on only 2 or three characters with little distraction. Episode 5 was great not because it focused on a fan-favorite character, but because it was a solid character arc for that one character. So far we have Ch’en and Amiya getting ready to maybe stop a war between Lungmen and Ursus, so let’s focus on these two characters. Amiya maybe finding out that Ch’en is slowly becoming Infected and helping her come to terms with that. Ch’en revealing her past to Amiya and the two connecting over losing so many close to them due to Oripathy. The two standing up to the political corruption of Lungmen, shoulder to shoulder, as women that refuse to see another life lost due to the indifference of a city’s politics.

And no bullshit maps like 6-5 too.

Anyway, that’ll do it for me. I’m... off to write some more essays and get a queue going.

#arknights #your dictator is speaking

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mychemicalficrecs · 4 years

Note

hi, do you know any good vampire frerard fics? :)

Hi Nonny!

I do know a few of those: check out this list that's all about Gerard as a vampire (and mostly Frank/Gerard). If that can't quench your thirst, try this list!I've read the first four of these (no. 2 & 3 are the same universe) but there are A LOT of fics about Vampire Frank/Gerard on AO3 and all of these looked really interesting, so there should be something for every taste!Some fics on this list have multiple pairings, I've added those to the descriptions when they seemed more than a background or past relationship.

Vampire Frank/Gerard

Gerard Way's (Vampire) Detective Agency by jjtaylor, Pennyplainknits, more ships in later fics, 164k, Mature, Teen And Up Audiences, General Audiences. Pete, in Decaydance Mansion, with a yarrow stake. Frank and Gerard, in the greenhouse, with a plant of questionable origin. Bob, everywhere you look, with a gang of assassins for justice. Vampires, valets, pamphlets, haunted furniture, dub-thrall, disembodied voices, zombie couriers, and sinister rituals.

They Came From Outer Jersey! by thatsfinewithus, Gen, Frank/Gerard, 25k, Rated R. New London Fire is an elite fringe government force assigned the task of protecting the earth from some of its more interesting threats: those from beyond the atmosphere or even the universe. They've handled dangerous cases before, but they've never seen anything like...ZOMBIES FROM SPACE. Vampires, long hunted in lore and legend, are now the earth's only saviors. There is little information as to who sent the creatures until Mikey Way, head of the NLF, finds out more by being abducted. Is it too late for him? Is it too late for the earth? Find out how six vampires, one government general, and one frustrated comic book artist save the earth in...THEY CAME FROM OUTER JERSEY!!

I Think I Thought (I Saw You Try) by thatsfinewithus, 3k, NC-17. Vampires, and MCR, and porn. Welcome to some weird AU world in which Gee only does awesome comics and Frank is a vampire.

A State Of Orange by gala_apples, Frank/Mikey, Frank/Gerard, 20k, Explicit. Being a halfling in a red state can sometimes cause issues for Frank Iero. He’s the weakest at Jett Clement High School, and probably the entire state (not counting the meal plans). His moods are oddly stable, as much as he tries to be mercurial. And being able to withstand the sun for up to twenty minutes only allows him more time to be forced into chores. Still, his parents are insane if they think he’s going to be happy about their decision. Frank doesn’t want to move to a Mixed state. How is he supposed to get great friends? How is he supposed to find great food? How is he supposed to have great sex? But Frank doesn’t have a choice. He’s New Jersey bound for the next year, if not longer. He’ll be surrounded by tame vampires who have been nagged out of a sex drive, and humans he’s not allowed to eat. Mixed states suck. Lucky for him, not every person in Jersey sucks.

All's Night by MizErie, 16k, Explicit. The war between humans and vampires has been raging for centuries. Too long according to Frank Iero. But if all humans aren't considered equal, what chance do vampires have in the fight for equality? That's why when Frank bought and began running his small bar, The Jukebox, he also implemented All’s Night. All’s Night began as an all-inclusive Tuesday night for tolerant humans and vampires to come together and socialize. Its popularity in the community has grown, and Frank has since started hosting All’s Night on Thursdays as well. Those are his two favorite nights of the week.

Life as a Process by ViciousVenin, 57k, Explicit. Frank's college experience isn't exactly what he was hoping for. He has no idea what he wants to do with his life, his RA scares him, and his roommate Gerard seems pretty weird. Really weird, actually, but not in a bad way. As the two of them get closer, Frank finds that Gerard is one of the most interesting people he's ever met, and cute as fuck to boot. Frank just wishes he could figure out what Gerard is hiding...

The Life You Always Dreamed Of by caffienedcold, 180k, Mature. You’d think having grown up in New Jersey, Frank would’ve outgrown his horror movie fixation. But no, he’s thirty, teaching Italian in fucking Rhode Island and he actually believes the student gossip that the art teacher is a vampire. So what if Frank has had an awful crush on him since the school year started? He’d helped Mr. Way move into his classroom and carried a box containing issue one of Doom Patrol, a Batman figure, and splattered tubes of screen printing ink. You really couldn’t blame him for the crush. And the vampire rumors? Icing on the cake. At least until it’s Frank’s blood on the line.

'Til the Sun Goes Down by BasementVampire, 2k, Explicit. Frank wants to fuck his best friend. Gerard wants to drink Frank's blood.

I Think I'd Go Insane Without You by hellborn, 3k, Mature. Gerard just smiles, his lips closed, eyes dark red and eager. Mikey covers his face with his hands and squeezes the empty bag between his calloused fingers, "I must be out of my goddamned mind for even considering this." A dangerous, thin-lipped smirk spreads across Gerard's face and Mikey can see row after row of long, sharp, teeth gleaming from between his bloodstained lips, "Come along, Mikes, it's time to dig up my boyfriend's dead body!"

Mortui Non Mordant by Tezy, 32k, General Audiences. “Does that matter right now? I’m – fucking dead, man. I wanted to do so much shit with my life before I died!” “You still can,” the guy said. “Like, nothing’s stopping you.” Gerard leapt to his feet, aghast at how casually he was treating his death. That wasn’t very good manners. “Except being dead.” “What did you want? Fucking ballet dancing at your funeral? Get over it, we all did.”

Those Cemetery Eyes by corruptedkid, 11k, Explicit. Every second Gerard was absent, Frank felt like there was a hole in his chest. The day Mikey showed up at his doorstep blotchy and tearstained, the hole collapsed into a supernova, turning him inside out and swallowing him whole.

at midnight all the agents by orphan_account, 18k, Mature. "I'm so, so sorry, I didn't meant to kill you," the black-haired man said in a distressed voice.

we only come out at night by cemetery_driven, 2k, Teen And Up Audiences. Gerard and Frank are just stupid vampire boyfriends.

Vampire AU by Andromedas_Void, 26k, Explicit and Teen And Up Audiences. Mister Francis Anthony Iero, Junior, Your presence is requested this evening at 221 Upper Birch Lane, North London. A carriage will be awaiting you at 3:00 pm sharp. Cordially yours, Gerard Arthur Way, Esq.

burning up in the sun by akamine_chan, 12k, Explicit. Life hasn't been the same since the Rift. Frank hadn't been planning on getting stuck in this stupid town, kept captive in the sketchiest bar in the universe, chained to the counter like an animal. And just when he'd been sure that nothing could surprise him anymore, he was rescued by a rock 'n' roll band of vampires. He hadn't seen that one coming.

There's A Lot Of Vampires Out There by iamdali, 27k, Explicit. In the year 2025 over 90% of the word's population are vampires. These days, vampires don't have to prowl alleys for human victims, massive medical co-operations mass produce blood and inject it in to every day food. Gerard Way is an office boy for one of the biggest companies in the US, and when he's not paper pushing for Vladimir Co he's plotting to find his still human brother with his companion, Frank.

Like a Secret In Your Throat by frankie_ann, 10k, Explicit. Frank sells himself as a live-in housekeeper/boyfriend. Gerard is a vampire (and independently wealthy artist) with a deeply unhealthy blood addiction who could use a hand around the house now that Mikey is off at school. …Mostly there’s a lot of porn. And blood. And I do believe in happy endings.

(To Die Will Be) An Awfully Big Adventure by FayJay, Frank/Gerard, Lindsey/Gerard, 73k, Mature. Gerard has always vaguely liked the idea of being a vampire, in much the same way he's always vaguely liked the idea of time travel, or of being a pirate - but it's only when he wakes up dead that he realises that not all his fans (or friends) are actually human. This is rather a shock to the system, but Gerard does his best to deal with the fact that he's now an undead American, and he's lucky enough to get a little help from an unexpected corner. Just as he thinks he's starting to get the hang of being a vampire, however, everything suddenly goes to hell in a handbasket, and before he knows it there are angry vampires slayers chasing him around LA, and an urgent appointment with the Fairy Queen looming before him... A story about love, family, metamorphosis, art, trust and geekery.

Cycle of Souls by Green, Gerard/Mikey, Frank/Gerard, Brian/Gerard, 49k, Explicit. Gerard loses his brother in the 17th century, and is turned shortly after. He grieves for his lost brother for centuries, but becomes content when he meets a man named Frank. Now, in the 21st century, he sees someone who looks exactly like his lost brother. In fact, he's positive the young Mikey is his dead brother come back to life. Will Mikey accept a vampire into his life, or is Gerard destined to lose him yet again?

#fic rec list #frank/gerard #frerard #vampires #alternate universe

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buckybarnesbingo · 4 years

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BBB Weeks 14 (late) and 15 (on time) Roundup!

Real life came for the Tumblr mod in a beastly kind of way last week, so here’s both roundup weeks packed in together!

A quick reminder, this is the info we need to log your fills on the spreadsheet. And if we don’t have this info, you can’t get your badges!

Title: Collaborator: Link: AO3 Square Filled: Ship: Rating: Major Tags: Summary: Word Count:

And keep in mind, we’ve got our Discord Party coming up on the 25th! We’ll do games, a drawing for prize tokens, sprints, brainstorming, etc. We will also be opening up badge claims AND late signups again!

Title: Having your cake & Bucky too Collaborator: crazycatt71 Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y5 - kink: body worship Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: Bucky bakes Clint a birthday cake. Clint has cake and Bucky too Word Count: 1775

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Title: N/A Collaborator: feignedsobriquet Link: Pillowfort Square Filled: B1 - AU: Dragons Ship: WinterIron Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: fanart for brighteyesillusionist’s Tales of Cerulean Scales

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Title: Aw, Packing, No Collaborator: squadrickchestopher Link: AO3 Square Filled: U5 - comfort clothes Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: “I know.” He walks over. “You know what this means, though.” “Sex on the beach?” “No. Well, maybe.” Bucky takes the envelope from him. “But first, we have to pack. With actual suitcases.” Predictably, Clint’s face falls at those words. “Aw, packing, no.” Word Count: 1570

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Title: Lead Me Into His Dark Land - Chapter 1 Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y5 - Family of Choice Ship: WinterPepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements Summary: Lord James "Bucky" Barnes, master of the Winterbrook estate, has spent his fortune on veteran's homes and on care for his childhood best friend, Steve Rogers. With the assistance of a friend made during his days at war, Natasha Romanov, he's been able to arrange a good marriage with the daughter of a prominent local industrialist. Pepper Potts's step-mother wants nothing more than to rub elbows with the local aristocrats and her father wants Pepper to marry well - for her own sake, rather than that of his wife. He's confident everyone will end up happy as long as everything goes According To Plan. But when it doesn't? It's anyone's guess what'll happen. Word Count: 2786

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Title: I Never Saw You Coming (And I'll Never Be The Same) - Chapter 1 Collaborator: cpt_winniethepooh Link: AO3 Square Filled: C2 - shelter Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, virus and quarantine life Summary: Steve Rogers is small, sickly, yet more fierce and determined than anybody Bucky Barnes, member of the Avengers, has ever met. After their accidental meeting at an animal shelter Bucky knows he'd very much like to keep Steve in his life, even if it comes with constant anxiety about Steve's mental and physical well-being. Or five times Bucky is worried for Steve, and the one time he isn't. Word Count: 5073

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Title: End Of All Days - Chapter 19: Part XVIII Collaborator: Minka Link: AO3 Square Filled: U2 – Touch Starved Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: Graphic violence for other chapters Summary: Captain Steve Rogers had thought his military days were behind him, left in the bloody nightmare that was Saigon. Retired and working as a History Professor, the last thing he expected was to get caught up in a cataclysmic Slavic prophesy foreshadowing the end of the known world. With Cold War tensions running high, Steve finds himself in need of a guide and translator to get him behind the Iron Curtain and into the isolated snowdrifts of Siberia. It’s deep in the heart of Bucharest’s resistance fighters that Steve finds the ideal candidate, but swaying the enigmatic ex-operative known as The Winter Soldier proves to be complicated. Trust is hard-won, especially in the world of espionage, and with a KGB death squad nipping at his heels, the Soldier has countless reasons to stay presumably dead. As the lines between right, wrong and the supernatural begin to blur, Steve is forced to reconsider everything he’s ever believed, right from the sanctity of his own country to the very foundations of creation itself. Word Count: 89,347

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Title: I Never Saw You Coming (And I'll Never Be The Same) - Chapter 2 Collaborator: cpt_winniethepooh Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - warm and fuzzy feelings Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, virus and quarantine life Summary: A short and sweet NSFW chapter. Word Count: 5073

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Title: Lead Me Into His Dark Land - Chapter 2 Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Tony Stark Ship: WinterPepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements Summary: Pepper manages to say her vows perfectly... to the wrong man. We meet Tony, Rhodey tells a story (which Tony interrupts - frequently), and there's a tearful reunion. Just another day in the life of Pepper Potts. And yes, her stays are too tight for that kind of running. Word Count: 3210

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Title: I Never Saw You Coming (And I'll Never Be The Same) - Chapter 3 Collaborator: cpt_winniethepooh Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y1 - rescue mission Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, virus and quarantine life, mentions of off-screen OC character death and trauma Summary: A mission in the background and some teamwork ahead! Word Count: 5073

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Title: Lead Me Into His Dark Land - Chapter 3 Collaborator: Faustess Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y3 - Whiplash Ship: WinterPepperony Rating: Teen Major Tags: Inspired by Corpse Bride (2005), Angst with a Happy Ending, Not Cheating, Pre-Poly, Supernatural Elements Summary: Pepper returns to say good-bye to James, but Tony misunderstands and reconsiders the wisdom of their marriage. Meanwhile, James raves about the living dead walking the earth and even his best friends are afraid for his welfare... and his marriage prospects. Word Count: 4481

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Title: Crop Tops and Thighs Out Collaborator: rebelmeg Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - frenemies Ship: Sam & Bucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: art embedded, crack and humor Summary: Bucky is struggling with the blurred lines between himself and the Soldier... at least until he sees Sam's new outfit. Word Count: 633

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Title: Calm before the storm Collaborator: Raz Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U5 - Historical Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: An elusive, yet renowned mercenary stops for a break by the fireside between jobs and locations. Being highly skilled with a wolf branded axe has earned him the name Ulfragnarr; terrifying wolf warrior. Aka Bucky Barnes Viking AU

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Title: Happy Not Anniversary Collaborator: startrekkingaroundasgard Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U4 - Clint Barton Ship: WinterHawk/Reader Rating: Teen Major Tags: light sexual themes Summary: Clint makes Bucky and the reader breakfast for their anniversary, however they all have different ideas of when that day actually is. Word Count:1913

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Title: no more, no less Collaborator: nightwideopen Link: AO3 Square Filled: C3 - free space Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Teen Major Tags: implied/referenced past sexual assault/harassment Summary: When Bucky kisses Clint for the first time, he’s surprised, to say the least. Word Count: 1146

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Title: Handshook Collaborator: Menatiera Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K3 - Till death do us part Ship: WinterIron Rating: M for fic, G for moodboards Major Tags: Strangers to Husbands Speed Run; Canon-Typical Violence; Happy Ending; in-universe equivalent to public nudity; in-universe equivalent to public sex; (bared hands and hand shaking); Oops we’re married; Accidental Bonding; Sci-Fi AU; Tony Stark Does What He Wants; eventual BAMF everybody Summary: “Get me a handshake, Tony, that’s it. Don’t break anything and please do not turn this into an interspecies war.” -James Rhodes Tony Stark is the first man in the history of the human race to breach the heliosphere keeping humanity from the rest of the universe. Bucky’s people, the Aldori, a technologically advanced, space-faring race, watch him do it. They demand a meeting to establish diplomatic relations and determine whether or not humans will prove to be a threat. Without letting the Aldori know that only Tony’s ship is advanced enough to make the trip, Rhodey is forced to send him as ambassador. Simple enough, until the Aldori learn that humans make first contact by shaking hands. Lewd.

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Title: Putting The Pieces Together Collaborator: steves-on-a-plane Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C4 - Secret Relationship Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Gen Major Tags: ? Summary: Reader is Steve’s sibling and they’ve been seeing Bucky in secret for years. Steve is away on a mission, so Bucky and Reader are enjoying alone time together. That is until the Star Spangled Man comes home early… Word Count: 1260

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Title: I Never Saw You Coming (And I'll Never Be The Same) Collaborator: cpt_winniethepooh Link: AO3 Squares Filled: Chapter 4 - what doesn’t kill me makes me mad Chapter 5 - asking for trouble Chapter 6 - showoff Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, coronavirus and quarantine, BLM and protests Summary: Steve Rogers is small, sickly, yet more fierce and determined than anybody Bucky Barnes, member of the Avengers, has ever met. After their accidental meeting at an animal shelter Bucky knows he'd very much like to keep Steve in his life, even if it comes with constant anxiety about Steve's mental and physical well-being.Or five times Bucky is worried for Steve, and the one time he is worried for everyone else but Steve. Word Count: 10,407

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Title: [Podfic] Mirror Collaborator: shadow-ravin Link: AO3 Square Filled: C1 - AU: Canon Divergence Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: Spies & Secret Agents, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Remix, Podfic, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes Summary: Podfic of Mirror by saiditallbefore - Natasha travels to Miami to root out intelligence on HYDRA. She finds much more than she bargained for.

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Title: echoes from the breakdown - Chapter 4 Collaborator: hddnone Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y4 - Hand-holding Ship: WinterIronWidow Rating: Mature Major Tags: Graphic Violence, Post CA-CW Canon Divergence Summary: On a mission gone wrong, Bucky breaks down. With Bucky and team signed under the Accords, the fallout of his mistakes could break the team apart all over again. Natasha won't let that happen. Turns out Tony won't let that happen either. Secrets had divided them before, but now maybe a shared secret can pull the three of them together. Word Count: 6392

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Title: Ashes and Blood Collaborator: shadow-ravin Link: AO3 Square Filled: C2 - Ashes Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: Poetry, Self-Reflection, Self-Hatred, Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, podfic included Summary: Bucky reflects on who he is and what he has done. Word Count: 352

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Title: Enemy - Chapter 2 Collaborator: grimeysociety Link: AO3 Square Filled: U1 - Bucky/Darcy Ship: Bucky/Darcy Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Explicit Sexual Content Summary: Friendship with Bucky began like pulling a thorn out of a wolf’s paw. Word Count: 3025

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Title: Friday night and the lights are low - Chapter 1: Bucky/Jane Collaborator: heyboydraws Link: AO3 Square Filled: K4 - Bucky/Jane Ship: Bucky/Jane Rating: Teen Major Tags: art Summary: Bucky is a vet, recently back home and finally healed from his injury. In an effort to blow off some steam and meet new people, he hits the club every weekend. It turns out that this particular nightclub is also a favorite hangout for some local superheroes. Word Count: 221

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Title: Fire Sale Collaborator: betheflame Link: AO3 Square Filled: U5 - Plot Twist Ship: Stony Rating: Mature Major Tags: none Summary: Set in Earth 97082 - where Tony tries to sell of his suits and it goes BADLY. Word Count: 1261

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Title: The Witch Hunter Collaborator: tisfan Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y3: Identity Porn Ship: WinterWitch Rating: Teen Major Tags: Witches, Church, Heresy Summary: It’s the same old story, every time. Witch appears, idiots try to kill witch. Shit happens. God, Bucky’s tired of it. Word Count: 1724

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Title: Steve, I Feel Pretty Collaborator: Purple_ducky00 Link: AO3 Square Filled: C3 - Free square Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: concubine AU Summary: As king, it isn't surprising that King Tony has a harem. What shocks them is the time(s) he brings a concubine to court.Or, how Bucky learns to love himself. Word Count: 2203

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Title: Tap That Collaborator: Kalee60 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C3 - free space Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: none Summary: When Steve is distracted while waiting at a busy crosswalk on the way to an important meeting, he inadvertently meets the man of his dreams - but only after making the most mortifying social gaffe of his life. Red-faced and apologetic he tries to forget the incident. But sometimes when things go wrong - they suddenly turn out spectacularly right. Word Count: 2129

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Title: Sixteen Months Collaborator: squadrickchestopher Link: AO3 Square Filled: U2 - barista Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Explicit Major Tags: graphic descriptions of violence Summary: There is a reason James doesn’t allow his dates to spend the night. Word Count: 3658

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Title: Exile Collaborator: grimeysociety Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y4 - exile Ship: Bucky/Darcy Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Suicide Attempt, Suicide/Self-Harm Themes, Explicit Sexual Content Summary: (n.) the state or a period of forced absence from one's country or home. The state or a period of voluntary absence from one's country or home. A person who is in exile. Bucky's stint in hospital after a suicide attempt. Word Count: 8342

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Title: (Waffle) Iron Man Collaborator: tisfan Link: AO3 Square Filled: U3 - Upgrade Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: implied domestic abuse (not between main characters), violence, death of a waffle iron Summary: Ana gave Tony a waffle iron when he moved out. Ty Stone appropriated it after their breakup. Tony wants it back. Word Count: 3948

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Title: Listen Before I Go Collaborator: avintagekiss24 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C1 - angst Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Explicit Major Tags: angst, heavy angst, smut, sex, bucky barnes’ trigger words, cock warming if you look close Summary: you and bucky just can’t say what you want to say. Word Count: 6630

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Title: Running In Place Collaborator: the_genderman Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y5 - disability Ship: Bucky & Steve & Tony Rating: Teen Major Tags: none Summary: A brief slice of life as Bucky acclimates to life in the Avengers Compound, his chronic pain, and Tony Stark... being Tony Stark. At least Steve's as reliable as ever. Word Count: 1400

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Title: echoes from the breakdown - Chapter 5 Collaborator: hddnone Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - insomnia Ship: WinterIronWidow Rating: Mature Major Tags: Graphic Violence, Post CA-CW Canon Divergence Summary: On a mission gone wrong, Bucky breaks down. With Bucky and team signed under the Accords, the fallout of his mistakes could break the team apart all over again. Natasha won't let that happen. Turns out Tony won't let that happen either. Secrets had divided them before, but now maybe a shared secret can pull the three of them together. Word Count: 9238

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Title: Things are going great, and they're only getting better Collaborator: heyboydraws Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C5 - Multiple Personalities Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: Bucky serves up a variety of looks when he goes undercover.

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Title: Friday night and the lights are low - Chapter 3: Bucky/Scott Collaborator: HeyBoy Link: AO3 Square Filled: ? Ship: Bucky/Scott Rating: Teen Major Tags: art Summary: Bucky is a vet, recently back home and finally healed from his injury. In an effort to blow off some steam and meet new people, he hits the club every weekend. It turns out that this particular nightclub is also a favorite hangout for some local superheroes. Word Count: 605

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Title: Space Cowboys Collaborator: thewaythatwerust Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U4 - NASA Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: gifset Summary: Steve + Bucky in space. What could possibly go wrong?

#buckybarnesbingo2020 #bbb2020 #bbb weekly roundup #bbb week 14

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cerastes · 4 years

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Imagine how Doctor felt when they finally got to Rhodes Island after Evil Time, and Amiya and Kal’tsit immediately warn them about the ‘special’ cases.

Don’t overestimulate Ifrit this, watch out for suddenly bursting on flames around Skyfire that, Skadi can accidentally turn you into a bloodstain on the carpet with a flick of her finger so keep your distance this, Lappland will possibly eat your carotid artery like she eats Kit Kats wrong if you delve too deep into her world that, yeah, yeah, a lot of stuff that is either obvious or makes sense after spending an aggregate seven seconds in the same room with the person in question, nothing terribly hard to understand or believe.

And then, you have Specter.

“We have to keep her in the medical ward in a reinforced room whenever she’s not in an operation,” explains Kal’tsit. “She is highly unstable and dangerous if left unsupervised. Only make contact with her if it is completely necessary.”

So you have all of these dangerous people running amok freely in the base, but this one, this one Specter person in particular needs to be locked behind reinforced walls? Sounds dangerous.

Doctor then takes one look at this supposed rabid animal and sees this:

Bam, Doctor is immediately emotionally supported. Doctor cannot comprehend how this pleasant, sweet, soft-spoken lady could possibly be as dangerously violent as advertised. Ifrit has a mean streak, Skadi IS legitimately that strong and lacks any sort of social skills so she always ends up resorting on it, Lappland has all the makings of a sociopath, and Skyfire is unfortunately Skyfire, so Doc can understand these perfectly, but Specter? This somewhat short nun that, to be fair, occasionally blurts out how some people were always meant to be pieces, but otherwise just hangs out at the dorm and breaks out a cute little prayer for others now and then? How could she possibly need nigh permanent containment?

Then Doctor sees her in action for the first time in an Operation and everything makes sense.

Just as a reminder:

Strength? Top class. Endurance? Top class. Tactical planning? None whatsoever. Combat skill despite no tactical planning abilities at all? Rated excellent. Specter dissociates harder than a child with ADHD taking three ritalins instead of the prescribed one and has a body ravaged by a lethal, incurable illness, and despite all of this, there she is, catching machetes, arrows and Arts blasts to the chin and shrugging them off while swinging a buzzsaw duct taped to the end of a pipe she found laying around on a Costco parking lot to immensely devastating effect. Nothing can take her down, no one can take her strong swings, all the while she’s completely out of her mind, relying entirely on muscle memory from back when she was actually sane, only muttering some nonsense to herself in a low voice now and then. Sometimes, one of her eyes just starts intensely glowing for some reason. Kal’tsit has no freaking clue how she does that. Hordes of Reunion nobodies wondering if they should even bother swinging at this blank-faced small nun because even if they get lucky and don’t lose an arm in the process, it’s not even going to hurt her. It’s quite literally and realistically meaningless to attack her. She’s a walking horror movie.

And it’s not even due to powerful Arts or a powerful mutation given to her by Oripathy, no one knows how or why Specter can do any of this, less of all herself. It’s go time? She just says “ok, tell me how it went when I wake up, see you later, have a pleasant noon”, turns off her brain and activates her Ultra Deepsea Instinct to Gokupunch Elite Casters and Defense Crushers through buildings.

It’d only take one particularly bad manic day to really ruin some lives at Rhodes Island if she ever lost control. They’d no doubt be able to contain her one way or another -- she’s not the only freak of nature in Rhodes Island, after all -- but it’d be a Herculean task to stop her nonetheless, and practically impossible to stop her with no loses. Specter is the unstoppable force and the immovable object simultaneously thanks to her deadly mix of physical strength and endurance. It makes all the sense in the world that Kal’tsit would prefer her in a nice, tidy, reinforced hospital room where all she’ll damage if she ever flies off the handle is some medical equipment instead of very realistically ripping someone in half with her bare hands or punting Skyfire out of the stratosphere or something. Sure, she’s a nice, soft-spoken lady, but you also never know when sudden (or even full) onset insanity will kick in, especially since Specter’s nervous system is already a wreck. As dangerous as Ifrit or Lappland can be, there’s a sort of ‘guarantee’ that they won’t harm others if they can help it; Ifrit is temperamental and rebellious, but not at all malicious, and Lappland is kind of a sociopath, but aside from making people uncomfortable, she doesn’t hurt others. Specter, on the other hand, can simply go fully insane one day and there’s no way to tell when it’ll happen, and given her clinical condition, it’s indeed less an “if” and more a “when”.

Specter having the dubious honor of being the only Operator we know of that has to be kept in a special room for the safety of others suddenly makes a lot of sense when you consider her medical condition and what she’s capable of.

#arknights #specter #who is this nun? why can she do these things?#emotional support shark

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