#Photon Token

[ygoartreviews]

Photon Token

I completely understand that this little orb is meant to be, you know, a photon, but I can't shake my initial impression that this is, in fact, a ball of ice. It's less the ball itself (although the spiky projections on the top and bottom could be mistaken for icicle-like protrusions), and more the jagged white shapes floating around it. They're probably meant to be swirls of energy, but they really do look more like weird floating hunks of ice. I am in love with the mystical looking background here, however.

Rating: 6/10, an orb for you to ponder

[fipindustries]

AIs dont understand the real world

a lot has been said over the fact that LLMs dont actually understand the real world, just the statistical relationship between empty tokens, empty words. i say "empty" because in the AI's mind those words dont actually connect to a real world understanding of what the words represent. the AI may understand that the collection of letters "D-O-G" may have some statistical connection to "T-A-I-L" and "F-U-R" and "P-O-O-D-L-E" but it doesnt actually know anything about what an actual Dog is or what is a Tail or actual Fur or real life Poodles.

and yet it seems to be capable of holding remarcably coherent conversations. it seems more and more, with each new model that comes out, to become better at answering questions, at reasoning, at creating original writing. if it doesnt truly understand the world it sure seems to get better at acting like it does with nothing but just a statistical understanding of how words are related to each other.

i guess the question ultimatly is "if you understand well enough the relationship between raw symbols could you have an understanding of the underlying relatonships between the things these symbols represent?"

now, let me take a small tangent towards human understanding. specifically towards what philosophy has to say about it.

one of the classic problems philosophers deal with is, how do we know the world is real. how do we know we can trust our senses, how do we know the truth? many argue that we cant. that we dont really percieve the true world out there beyond ourselves. all we can percieve is what our senses are telling us about the world.

lets think of sight.

if you think about it, we dont really "see" objects, right? we just see the light that bounces off those objects. and even then we dont really "see" the photons that collide with our eye, we see the images that our brain generates in our mind, presumably because the corresponding photons collided with our eye. but colorblind people and people who experience visual hallucinations have shown that what we see doesnt have to always correspond with actual phisical phenomena occuring in the real world.

we dont see the real world, we see referents to it. and from the relationships between these referents we start to infer the properties of the actual world out there. are the lights that hit our eye similar to the words that the LLM is trained on? only a referent whose understanding allows it to function in the real world, even if it cant actually "percieve" the "real" world.

but, one might say, we dont just have sight. we have other senses, we have smell and touch and taste and audition. all of these things allow us to form a much richer and multidimensional understanding of the world, even if by virtue of being human senses they have all the problems that sight has of being one step removed from the real world. so to this i will say that multimodal AIs also exist. AIs that can connect audio and visuals and words together and form relationships between all of this disparate data.

so then, can it be said that they understand the world? and if not yet, is that a cathegorical difference or merely a difference of degree. that is to say, not that they cathegorically cant understand the world but simply that they understand it less well than humans do.

[irisgoesgardening]

Zexal Month, Day 21 + 22: Originality + Powers

@zexalmonth Magical Numbers Hunters AU!! In which Photon Transformation becomes the key to hunting numbers. I have been releasing snippets of the story throughout my art blog. You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6

The story is as follows:

BACKSTORY: Thousands of years ago, the gods battled to determine if chaos or order would prevail. The legendary warrior Astral sacrificed his memories to seal away the god of chaos, Don Thousand. However, Astral World would not be victorious for long. Astral's memories were scattered across the human plane in the form of Number cards, meant to be the gods' blessings upon mankind. With the last of his powers, Don Thousand cursed the Numbers to possess its wielders and manifest their deepest desires. In turn, Eliphas vowed that if there ever was to be a being who could collect all of the Numbers without sullying their soul, they would be able to obtain a wish from the gods and determine the battle between chaos and order, once and for all. Of course the task is impossible. Numbers are too powerful. Those who have tried throughout history were condemned to madness and destruction upon trying to wield the power of the gods.

Until two scientists are determined to end the war, once and for all.

Mitsuko Tenjo and Dr. Faker attempt to build Numbers immunity in humans. Along the way, Mitsuko gives birth to Kaito.

Then, they have a breakthrough—the Numbers are linked to other dimensions.

Thus, Byron enters. He has been researching dimensions and how certain humans have higher "spiritual drift" values than others. Humans with high drift aptitudes are able to wield Numbers for longer than the average human due to their close connection with the home of the gods (the other dimensions). Unfortunately, once Don Thousand's curse sets in, they become an extremely dangerous individual. The three work together for a few years. Due to the stress of the work, Mitsuko finds that she can no longer have children. She falls into despair, deciding to collect all the Numbers to have another child. With all of the progress they have made, Mitsuko decides to set out and become the first Hunter—Hunter Starlight. One day on a hunt, she and Faker encounter the Barians. They offer to grant her wish as long as her future child will fight on behalf of Barian World to destroy Astral World. They accept. Eventually, Haruto arrives, but at that point, Mitsuko's body has deteriorated from collecting Numbers. She dies, leaving Dr. Faker heartbroken. Although she didn't succumb to Don Thousand's curse, her body slowly withered away.

This was the cost of using the power of the gods. Haruto is born weak. Dr. Faker seeks out the Barians to break the contract. They laugh in his face and say after he collects all the Numbers, they'll heal Haruto. For now, if he doesn't want Haruto to end up like his mother, he'll need to find a few replacements. They hint that the most powerful Hunters are born from despair. Kaito is the perfect candidate. Before he begins his experiments on his son, Dr. Faker must be sure though. He turns his eye on Byron and Kazuma Tsukumo's sons. Yuma Tsukumo is randomly picked to see if an average citizen of Heartland could become a Hunter. Cue episode 55's flashback. This time, Faker sacrifices Byron and Kazuma for his experiment but also to buy more time for Haruto. "Take two innocent souls as a token of my goodwill" kinda messed up shit. In turn, the Barians give Haruto powers to destroy Astral World but still refuse to break his contract. Faker proceeds to isolate Christopher and further plunge him into despair. When he is at the end of his rope, Dr. Faker asks if he wishes to become a Hunter. Hunter V is soon born. He is instructed to train Kaito to become a Hunter as well. Faker continues to keep a close eye on Yuma and Kamishiro Rio and Ryoga—twins with abnormally high spiritual drift values. TO BE A HUNTER: Hunters are legends in Heartland City. Their identities are kept secret, but they are hailed as heroes to mankind. To become a Hunter, there are five key determinants: 1. Despair Values (Or, D-levels) 2. Physical Strength 3. Mental Fortitude 4. Spiritual Drift (Or, the individual's ability to communicate with the Numbers/drift between dimensions) 5. Numbers Affinity (Their compatibility with their Number) Episode summary in the reblog!!

[snugglyporos]

// So I think Marvels is perfectly indicative of two things: one, that Marvel has quickly found itself running out of main characters that people care about, and two, it's about five years late to making content which is transparently meant to be marketed through gifs.

Like, I as a comic knower know these characters. But I can't imagine your average viewer does? Because to know them you'd have to watch the shows and piece together things from at least three not to mention a bunch of other movies? Like, Captain Marvel is all over the place in terms of power levels, Photon exists in this universe because magic wall at the end of Wandavision, and Ms. Marvel is, well...

I mean, Marvel as a company doesn't care about her expect to use her as a token diversity character, which sucks because she's interesting and has a ton of potential. But there's a reason she's gone from Inhuman to Mutant and from super teams to possible future president and who knows what else, because her only constant in Marvel's eyes is 'is muslim representation' in the same way that the the only constant for Black Panther twenty years ago was 'is african representation.'

And that sucks, but you can't fix a thing without acknowledging that the company pushing it blatantly thinks you're an easily satisfied mark for empty platitudes.

Oh right, Marvels.

So Marvel 100% has no chance of keeping this universe going without a reboot. You have lost basically every A-lister, and no offense to the cast of Marvels but we're dipping into C-listers here, which means only nerds know who they are.

Also, this is clearly meant to be shared in gif format. An entire planet of singing and dancing? Clearly meant to be bollywood esque? It's like the executives discovered tumblr a year ago.

I should point out none of this is the fault of any of the actresses. They're doing their best. But the writing is, quite frankly, soulless. It's hollow. It's worse than if an AI wrote it, at least that might try to emulate emotion. This doesn't even do that. It feels like it's pandering in the worst sense, that it can serve you anything and you'll be happy.

It's not even bad it's just... okay. If it was bad you could have a thing to say about it. But it's not bad, it's average. It's like nutrient paste in movie form; it's tofu, in the sense that its flavor is whatever flavor you as a person bring to it.

Meaning if you are attached to these themes, gags, and moments, you'll probably love it. And if you don't, you won't. But that's not because of it, it's because of you.

It just doesn't have any ambition or desire or spirit or passion in it, no matter how much the actresses try to give it some.

[schnabel53]

JJ2 update + event dialogue

The new update changed some things that I think were interesting, like the bot brain fights you in, changing from red to green. Just a couple of observations, plus event stuff, some of the conversations are unfinished because I only screenshoted what I thought was interesting.

Brains’s bot

The machine brains fights Barry at the end of Legitimate Research changed color, along with the legitimate logo being added. It was originally red, a better contrast to brains hair. But I think the color change happened because Red Photon’s final fight is also a red bot. Just to differentiate the boss fights.

The sticker album still has the red version, interestingly enough.

Big Stomper background

Before this update, the background for Stomper would be wherever you were before getting the vehicle token. Just the base background for whatever level you were in. This was the only vehicle without a distinct background, the Galaxy Ship had a space background, the Gravity Suit had a vapor wave background and Wild Wild Rex had a desert. After the update, the background is a trash yard outside of Legitimate Research.

I don’t know why, this really hit me how different this is to what we’ve seen of LR so far. It’s so gray and foggy in the background, looks like they’re burning coal and releasing the fumes. It just looks so sad to me, Barry crashing through their walls everyday hasn’t stopped the progress and destruction of LR. I’m thinking too far into this, but still just shocked me went I saw it the first time

Sometimes Rory will appear on one of the trash piles, just hanging out.

Sometimes SAM will appear behind the trash piles, broken and thrown away. I know every time Barry uses it, it eventually breaks, but this is telling us he’s not coming back this time.

Event Dialogue

This is the second piece of dialogue, the first being Craig telling Barry he’s gonna tell him some JJ facts and Barry asking if it’s to him or the player. These screenshots are missing Barry’s response to Craig, but it was similar to Betty’s.

There is a response from Robo-Barry that he wasn’t listening because he was on power saving mode.

I think this is all the dialogue for this. Also in the main game, the crying brains sprite is never used. I’d love if there was an event where we went to Betty’s universe, seems like it would be fun.

Craig says you can play JJ with one finger. Barry responds we’ve all done the tutorial, Craig.

Barry being Barry, what else do I have to say.

This is interesting because there is no Robo-Betty, unless she hasn’t been made yet or the talking toaster is Robo-Betty. If the former is true, this means their universes have more variation then just gender-bent characters.

I ran out of room for photos :( I’ll put the transcripts for the rest (these two dialogues are my favorites too!):

(This is the only one I can fit, transcript below, I am missing one piece of dialogue I can’t remember that comes before this one, but it’s part of a jingle.)

*Tailor: We’re still working on that jingle…*

*Tailor: Mention code BARRY for a 25% discount!*

*Tailor: Otto’s Tailors! - expert in sleeve reattachment for thirty five years!*

I think this is interesting, because this means that Otto has been Barry’s tailor since he was a kid. Or there’s a weird amount of people losing there sleeves, but it’s thirty five is around the estimated age of Barry. Plus the sprite I showed isn’t used when you originally meet him.

*Barry: I had all my inheritance in the gramophone business…*

*Barry: I was gonna be rich…*

*Barry: Then those MP3 players came along and ruined everything!*

*Barry: Thank goodness for floating coins! *

He’s talking to Craig btw. But this is so interesting to me. MP3 players were invented in 1997, and if he is 35 years old, he would have been born in 1988, in 1997 he would be 9. He couldn’t have invented his money at before that time unless he is much older. This would also match up with Otto because it would be when he was a kid when he would start ripping his sleeves. He would have to be born in 1979 to be at least 18 during that year. Another option for this is his father invested the money and the gramophone business that his father was working at/already invested in, took Barry’s inheritance and invested it and told Barry they would be rich. This would make him being around 35 and we know Barry’s father isn’t the best dad.

[borreloadsavagedragon]

for the "send you a character" your beloved onion boy

Onion posting...... my favorite

First impression: Ok so Some Jay lore Deadass I thought I was gonna hate him I was so sure Ryouga was where I was gonna go if I had to pick a favorite and, with a lot of the bits I got before actually watching, Kaito just did not fit the characters I was drawn most towards at the time. I used to stick to more light-hearted, sunshine characters, like token dumbasses with hearts of gold with a few exceptions to which Ryouga was gonna be because I IRL am such an aggressive fan of sharks the animals, plus he was the ~bff~ trope character in my eyes and this was someone who lived breathed and died Takeru Homura and Katsyua Jounouchi And while I love Kaiba and Ryoken, it took some time to find love for them

Impression now: Uh. He's alright. Just ignore my social media, how I took Photon to 2 YCSs despite the very poor matchup conditions(AND WENT 2-2 FOR FOUR ROUNDS WITH IT IN PEAK KASH FORMAT!!! SIMPLY BE BUILT DIFFERENT), and the near 10k and growing character analysis oh and like majority of the fanfiction I've written for the last 1.5 yrs now plus this tweet:

sweats profusely To say he's impacted me quite a bit would be an understatement. Everytime something photon related happens in the tcg, I wake up to 10 different DMs and it's all this twink's fault

Favorite moment: omfg how does one pick a favorite when the character has become your entire life for a minute LOL Uhhhhhhhhh I will say I have the clip of him jumping into the cockpit saved on my phone for chuckles ajgkdlsj I love his duel against Ryouga, it's very showing of his character and his impact, also love how they banter His rematch duel with Yuma at the end of Part 1 is also really good, love to see him encounter his own uncertainty and let himself be inspired by Yuma I love that he stares at the footage of Mizael in the monitors in his lab like a freak after their first duel His duel with Shun in Arc V is always a rewatchable one

Idea for a story: Every story you could imagine!!!!! The one I'm currently most actively working on between upcoming ship week work is a semi-complicated post canon AU that has a past life subplot to it because lord I'm just gonna fill in the wasted potential subplots for Kaito myself at this rate ALLEGEDLY Have an OC I'm working on that ties back to him too, that's also lowkey in that lore also Stay tuned :)

Unpopular opinion: UH, the one I wanna say I'll wait for another ask that's currently in my inbox gjdsal So here is another from the analysis from another take I saw awhile ago:

I also think one of the long forgotten truths of Zexal is Yuma rarely sees anyone as a true villain. There are a few exceptions to this of course, Don Thousand and Mr. Heartland both come to mind, but Yuma manages to find compassion in just about everyone he faces and uses dueling as a way to bridge the gap between him and them, even ones who arguably don’t deserve it like Faker, Tron, and… well, beloved mothman Vector. If Kaito was ever supposed to look like a terrible person when he’s at the height of his crime spree, we would have seen that from Yuma’s perspective. Instead we see Yuma's fear, his intrigue, and ultimately, his motivation. Motivation to protect Astral from what’s to come, and then following the conclusion of the Kaito vs Zexal duel, motivation to help Kaito, and finally, the motivation to get to his level. Instead of the same treatment we get for other unforgivable types, we get to see Kaito for what he is beneath the snark, the beatdown strategies, and the unconditional love for his brother: he's lonely, he's incredibly desperate, and he's dangerously selfless for those who are the most important to him, so much so he initially struggled to find his next purpose.

I'm also on record for considering Kaito the strongest of all of the rivals lmao

Favorite relationship: Honestly all of them, family, ships, friends, I love how Kaito is written with others both in the shows(Zexal and Arc V both), the manga, and even Duel Links gives some of his lesser shown rivalries and connections more depth Kaito and Ryouga's rivalry is proooobably my favorite though? Especially including Duel Links moments, they've got so much in common but just will not connect unless it's to show the other up, but you know it's game over when they can find a strong reason to remain on the same page Also the card Photon Emperor exists, which is one, named very suspiciously, two, has a similar cape design to Nasch with the shoulder gems and the cape being attached by those pieces, and 3, very notably resurrects itself when it's sent to GY from hand, deck, or when it's detached as material from an XYZ At the same time, I LOVE Kaito and Mizael's entire story too, both as a rivalry and a relationship, god they're so good and it's truly so hard to put into words how much I love their dynamic, the parallels, how they match each other's crazy, they have my longest ship playlist gjkldadas For Arc V, I'm also a sucker for Kaito and Shun as well as Kaito and Edo Shun went back for him and wasn't going to quit until he convinced him,,, and Edo and Kaito have such strong chemistry for no reason, it's not unwelcome at all-- they just threw men at him for some reason and I'm all for it

Favorite headcanon:

I ALWAYS write him as both touch repulsed and touch starved because he's almost never shown without his jacket during canon except for a handful of flashbacks and exactly that one examination scene, and even in the flashbacks, all you get is his forearms from his one collared shirt

He'd rather die than sacrifice his aesthetic, an icon

[nexusnoah-cc]

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[imtrinity94]

VMware Photon OS: Authentication token lock busy

Recently, we faced an issue when trying to reset the Orchestrator root password. Obviously, we followed the official way to reset it but somehow it wasn’t going well. Procedure to reset the root password In the vSphere Web Client, restart the guest operating system of the appliance. Click the console and wait for the Photon screen to appear. Press e to go to the GNU GRUB boot menu editor.…

[xxxprogamer69xxx]

Cranky Kong's Dnd Planning #9 Lotta stuff (comparatively) this time. First I am redoing some of the names. Chitfoth (continent) and Colciax are staying the same. Magfestia is being renamed to Omnatraea Slax is now Peterach (this isn't even edited this is just fantasy name generator and it's perfect and hilarious lol) Fuguel is now Temari. Next, the magic system. I am a bit of a science nerd, so I kinda wanted to do a scientific explanation for how magic works, and I decided on a boson (force carrying particle [for example, photons {the light particles} are actually the boson for the electromagnetic force]) called the M Boson (based off the W and Z bosons). It is a bit handwavey but I'm kinda thinking of it (at least for spells that produce some form of physical effect) as like taking the particles needed (like electrons for thunder wave, specific atoms for more specific things, etc.) from far off, somehow making an instantaneous wormhole to the place where the spell is being cast, and then using the matter to cast the spell. Government system! For more general stuff (Trade, warfare, etc.) the ACA convenes and they discuss and vote and figure out what they are going to do (they have a really trusting relationship so no hard feelings if someone is outvoted). For more specific sectors, the individual members control those. Colciax runs the Technology sector (all tech in Chitfoth can eventually be traced back to it (Colciax it/its pronouns) I am not sure what Temari runs just yet I'm probably gonna go with education or entertainment (but i might keep entertainment free besides a little thingy) Omnatraea is in charge of the Magic sector.

Peterach in jail (recently actually for reasons i just realized about so i gotta figure out what he ran [I'm not sure i can give everyone equal slices of the pie so he might just get somthing smaller {would make sense tbh}])

Schnobgoblin runs cartel????? (not canon)

might do a timeline next time idk also maybe tokens on the map, i might recreate on inkarnate bc i can add notes easier.

[magpiejay1234]

So, let’s talk about Age of Overlord:

There are:

29 Main Deck Monsters

17 Extra Deck Monsters

21 Spell Cards

13 Traps

Because Arcray Dragon is slot 30, this probably means there isn’t going to be a Ritual Monster in the set (though there may be Ritual Spells). The closest recent sets to this structure would be Phantom Rage, and Photon Hypernova.

Because of the large amount of Spells, there is probably going to lots of Token generators, which might suggest Links. But more likely, much like Dual Avatars in Phantom Rage, or Chaos Synchros in Photon Hypernova, we are going to get another Token heavy set of cards.

Due to Lightwurm, the bonus card for Zarc is likely going to be a Synchro version of Ray, but we might also get a Level 8 monster to make it go to Level 12. But if it is a Spell card, then expect a Level 8 counterpart to one of the Four Dimension Dragons in the next set, with Synchro Ray coming much later. There is also likely going to be a separate Level 11 Synchro, but that one will likely be a generic one (maybe a retrain of Star Eater).

Because of the lack Main Deck Monsters, most of the legacy support here will be Spell based.

[luimagines]

Also just looked it up but the armor repels darkness and fire attacks which is cool and also the Armour given by Greygnarl as a token of friendship I don't think Legend or wild could be friends the cranky old dragon

OOOOhhhh, ok, that makes more sense.

Does that mean Dink has nothing against the armor since it repels darkness? Or does that mean like... lack of photons... Does it glow? It is a walking flashlight? Night vision?

Fire is a given, dragon's got that bad breath, you know? It's borderline a requirement.

[coinscapture]

[im-just-a-random-fandom-girl]

trying to articulate my frustrations with Marvel’s treatment of female characters and characters of color

Hi, hello, hola, bonjour. I've been having a lot of thoughts about Marvel’s lack of diversity and of how they treat minority characters, so I'm taking a page out of Luisa’s (@its-tortle) book and just making a long, rambley post to get it all out.

Please bear with me while I try to encapsulate all of my frustration within the limitations of English language.

(ALSO, I'm white. I’m Spanish-American, but I do not have the ability to speak for fans of color and the other grievances they have. This post is just a combination of my own thoughts and what I've heard other people say on Tumblr, in YouTube videos, in articles etc.)

Now that we've had over week to collect ourselves after the WandaVision finale, because it was such a tearjerker and the end of a true masterpiece of a show, we really need to talk about how Marvel treats their their characters of color and female characters. I'll specifically be looking at Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and Monica Rambeau.

Let's start with Sam.

Until Monica Rambeau became Photon just a few weeks ago in WandaVision, Sam was THE ONLY Black superhero in the MCU.

He first appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier 7 years ago in 2014, and he's been in 4 movies since then (not counting the post-credits of Ant-Man).

Let's see what we know about Sam in the MCU:

He was a pararescue airman in the U.S. Airforce

His wing-man, Riley, died in combat, prompting him to leave active duty

He works at the VA to help other veterans adjust to civilian life

That's it. This is all we know about his backstory, separate from Captain America. However, the MCU decided to include these parts of his backstory, (and exclude others) because they make him a better supporting character to Steve.

Sam's a vet - so is Steve. They have the same, early-morning run routine that alludes to strict military training. Steve is still new to the future and hardly knows or approaches anyone, but Sam is wearing his VA sweatshirt, so there's some sense of connection, one that is furthered when they talk about their beds being too soft. Sam is someone who can understand him, aside from being a super soldier.

Riley, Sam's wingman, died in combat - Hmm, haven't heard that one befo - oh, wait. *Bucky waves from the abyss of the Alps*. Yeah.

I'm not saying that these connections are bad, in fact, I think the opposite. In terms of storyline, these connections are incredibly important for their friendship. Steve is lost and alone in the future. No one he knows cares about him for any reason other than the fact that he's a super soldier, nor can he relate to any of those people on any level. Sam just fits. He's funny and kind and although they are 60 years apart in age, he can, to some extent, understand what Steve is going through in a way they no one else can.

But for the last 7 years in the MCU, all he's been is Steve's supportive friend.

Almost immediately after meeting Steve, Sam is dragged into an end-of-the-world battle. He readily agrees to put his life on the line to fight by Captain America's side. After SHIELD falls, Sam gives up his life for 2 years to help Steve find Bucky. When they find him, Sam, without a second thought, becomes an international fugitive to protect Bucky and Steve.

I mean, he practically says that he lives in Steve's shadow himself: 

"Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower."

Who does all this? Seriously? Sam is also a recovering vet. He, in theory, has a life, a family, a job, his own mental well-being to consider, but he immediately gives it all up to help Captain America, to follow in his shadow, to be his back-up and support in every battle. Marvel wrote him as a 2D character that lacks his own identity and agency.

Sam deserves his own storyline; he deserves to exist outside the orbit of Steve Rogers.

What Mackie has been able to do with the character is astounding. He took Sam off the page and truly brought him to life, turning him into a beloved character. I'm ecstatic that both Mackie and Sam finally (hopefully) get their time to shine in TFATWS, but it should have happened WAY sooner. Marvel has continuously overlooked Mackie, despite how much he brings to the movies and despite the significance of Sam as the only Black superhero. It's just so clear that they do not care about representation.

(And let's not start with the whole "Bucky should be Captain America" thing, thanks)

Next, let's talk about Natasha.

Nat has been in the MCU for 11 years, starting with Iron Man 2 in 2010. She was heavily featured in an additional 6 MCU movies (not including small cameos/post-credit sequences). She's one of the few female superheroes in the MCU, and the only one that's been there since the beginning. Nat was the only female superhero for 4 years until Gamora appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy.

Let's see what we know about Natasha's history:

She's a former KGB operative and assassin, trained in the Red Room project

When she was a part of the Red Room, she was sterilized

Clint Barton got her out of the Red Room and converted her to a SHIELD agent

THAT'S IT. The second point is actually nauseating because this is what she says to Banner when we learn about her infertility in Age of Ultron:

"They sterilize you. It’s efficient. One less thing to worry about, the one thing that might matter more than a mission. It makes everything easier — even killing. You still think you’re the only monster on the team?"

Like, actually, what the fuck? I remember watching this scene and having to rewind because I thought I mis-heard what she said. In truth, Natasha is probably referring to the terrible things she was forced to do as a KGB operative are what make her a "monster," but why in the world would they include this anecdote here?? It's just so distasteful and disgusting! It makes it seem like her infertility is what makes her a monster, perpetuating the misogynistic belief that the center of a woman's identity and purpose is to have children.

As Vox says in this article, the subject of Nat's infertility 

"rears its head sub-textually when Black Widow sacrifices herself for the Soul Stone. [...] It’s reasonable for Natasha to make the calculation that Clint’s kids deserve to have a dad when they come back to life after the Avengers complete their “time heist.” But because of that Ultron plot, there’s also an insidious implication that Natasha’s infertility renders Black Widow just a little bit more disposable than the rest of her teammates."

Furthermore, Nat's death in Endgame serves for nothing more than motivation for the other characters working in the time heist, WHICH ARE ALL MALE. Even then, the other characters talk about her death briefly (in a mostly unaffected manner), and by the end of the movie, she's been pretty much forgotten about,  completely overshadowed by Tony Stark.

I don't want to say that Nat shouldn't have died in Endgame. It caused me so much heartache and emotional pain, but I truly believe it was a great way to end her arc. CinemaWins on YouTube put it best:

"She needed to save her family, Clint included, finally wiping the red from her ledger. So much of her jouney in the MCU was trying to find her purpose, figure out which side she was on, and she finally feels like she's found it, just in time to die for it. 

"It's not wrong to feel cheated by her death, [but I think] she deserved this moment because of it's importance."

She says it in the movie: 

"I used to have nothing, and then I got this. This family. And I was better because of it."

Nat shouldn't have to die, but it's on her terms, and she is absolutely ready for it. Saving her chosen family... that is her purpose.

But altogether, over the course of the MCU, Natasha was cheated out of getting the storyline she deserved. Like Sam, she was relegated to the position of the supportive friend of Steve, but also of Bruce and Clint. For the audience, her identity is tied to this role that she plays. The identity and motivations she has independent from these other characters, her history, is skimmed over, and treated with immense disrespect.

It took 11 years, but it is thrilling that Scarlett Johansson finally gets to be the start of her own Marvel movie. There is no way that Black Widow will be able to completely make up for her and Natasha's mistreatment by the MCU, but I hope it will at least bring us some closure and allow us to have a better understanding of Nat's history and who she is away from the other Avengers.

Last, but certainly not least (despite what WandaVision may have you believe) is Monica Rambeau.

I spoke about this last week after posting about this review of the show, but it bears repeating.

Monica is a new character. You'd hope that, after 11 years of extremely limited diversity in the MCU, much to the dismay of fans worldwide, and after recognizing this and creating a movie with a cast like The Eternals, Marvel would try to get their shit together across the board.

Nope!

Monica was seriously the token diversity character of the show. It seemed like they would give her more depth after the episode during which they flashed back to the her during and after the snap, losing her mother, and seeing a little bit of what she's done as an adult since Captain Marvel, but that ended up being the most we got.

But why? Monica literally became a SUPERHERO. She became Photon! She deserved a much greater role in the show, especially in the finale, where she instead had maybe 5 lines and just stopped some bullets for about 30 seconds.

As the review I linked says, 

“There are so many black writers, fans, and critics noting how Monica got relegated to a complete lack relegated to meaningless best friend protector lacking in their own self agency and story except for making a shoehorned comparison of grief.”

Marvel made the same, bull-headed mistake that they made with Sam with Monica!

Let's do this again. Monica was snapped away for 5 years, and when she was snapped back, she learned that her mother had died. Losing someone you love and having the whole process of mourning and pain be complicated by the snap? What an interesti- oh wait. *Vision phases his head through the wall with a smile*

The only reason we got this backstory was because it made her a more sympathetic character towards Wanda. Her understanding of what Wanda is going through allows her to be the catalyst in the creation of the ideological fork in the road between herself, Darcy and Woo, who see Wanda as a victim of grief and loss, and Hayward and the rest of SHIELD, who see her as a dangerous threat.

How do you make the same, major mistake that you've been making for the past 7 years again? Guess what? You don't! Maybe it's not intentional, but Marvel, again, clearly doesn’t care enough about their characters of color to consider the roles they relegate them to in the MCU, realize what they've been doing is harmful, and then change it.

Hopefully, they will not continue to treat Monica this way and will remedy this in the next Captain Marvel.

In conclusion: MARVEL GAVE A FUCKING ROBOT AN ACTUAL ORIGIN STORY, A RELATIONSHIP AND MORE INDEPENDENCE THAN ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS.

But in all seriousness, Marvel needs to be help accountable for how they treat women and their characters of color in the MCU. I just looked at 3, but you could also make a similar argument about Rhodey, Hope van Dyne and Valkyrie, as well as Jane Foster, MJ, and Ned, although they are supporting characters and not superheroes. And I'm sure there are many others. Marvel (and Disney!!) has had an awful track-record, and change is long overdue.

[spikeybits]

Pass or Fail: 40k Kill Team Octarius Starter Set Unboxing & Build Don't miss our unbox and build of the Kill Team Octarius, as we give you our thoughts on the miniature designs, and show you all the gotchas to building them! Get yours for less on Amazon https://amzn.to/3sO4ZHd Dicehead Games http://bit.ly/Diceheadgames or eBay https://ebay.us/6TySDO Open The Fold & Show More ⤵️ All The Hobby Supplies I Swear By ➡️http://bit.ly/Essentialhobby Go Ad-Free & Support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/spikeybits 🔥 Hobby Table: ultrasonic model cleaner https://amzn.to/2tJ6adk Overhead Triple Bright Lamp (I use two) http://amzn.to/2hvz2PP Smaller Ultrasonic cleaner https://amzn.to/2MDpbu0 Dx Racer Chair https://amzn.to/2DpdNuM Gunnar Glasses Protect From Harmful Blue Light https://amzn.to/2ThnqS0 Purple Pad makes any chair better http://amzn.to/2ADGbJB Ott Light Portable Light with No Clamps https://amzn.to/2MB4jja Print your own Bits with this dope 3d Printer: https://amzn.to/2KEVMOL Masters Airbrush Spray Booth With LED Lights: https://amzn.to/2Vh714U Gamer Black Dual Fan Spray Booth https://amzn.to/3qbIqJQ Indoor Filters For Spray Booth https://amzn.to/2LDHIUW Heavy-duty paint mixer is fun AF: https://amzn.to/39hjzN7 Amazon 11x17 Poster Frame 2 Pack for starter box inserts: https://amzn.to/39lCk1U Adjustable TV Tray Table is perfect for hobbying: https://amzn.to/2tVxgkU XL version https://amzn.to/2U2SKqN 3D Printing Anycubic photon S 3D printer is magic for minis https://amzn.to/2LYB1fl Anycubic Photon is pretty affordable and easy to use: https://amzn.to/3i8MKqu New Anycubic Photon Mono https://amzn.to/3sxmon0 Anycubic Wash & Cure Station https://amzn.to/3nCBUdD Egoo Mars (has pretty high marks as well from folks) https://amzn.to/2U4aMr4 Hobby Supplies 15ml Dropper Bottles https://amzn.to/2Mmp7Lh Matte Coat In Any Conditions Testors Lusterless Spray https://amzn.to/2MDumGA Plastic putty for gap filling https://amzn.to/2XISqw1 Tamiya Extra-Thin Cement Quick-Setting: https://amzn.to/2XISqw1 Testors Liquid Cement For Plastics: https://amzn.to/2KZq2Cr Hobby Miniature Holder- http://bit.ly/Gameenvy Cheesecloth for making Camo cloaks https://amzn.to/2XE46QL Testors Easy Lift Off Stripper (ELO) https://amzn.to/2W2NKRA Metallic Sharpie Markers For Painting https://amzn.to/2T8Mc6S Wet Pallet (small) http://bit.ly/Gameenvy Wet Pallet Army Painter http://bit.ly/Armypainterwet Vallejo Chipping Medium https://amzn.to/2FKCpyX Shapers Brushes for filling gaps with putties https://amzn.to/2lzzbHt Mr. Polisher for trimming mold lines https://amzn.to/2KuBmpC Refilling Paint Water Pot: http://bit.ly/Gameenvy Green Stuff: https://amzn.to/2OmOqOz Bomb Wicks & Igniter paintbrushes for miniatures https://bit.ly/MoumentHobbies Tentacle & Tube Maker: http://bit.ly/tentaclemaker Hand Sized Pin Vice https://amzn.to/2OtCniO Drill Bits For Magnets https://amzn.to/2OtC47E Hand Sized Pin Vice https://amzn.to/2OtCniO Drill Bits For Magnets https://amzn.to/2OtC47E Microsol / Microset Decal solution https://amzn.to/38EAkDC High-Quality Sable Paint Brushes: http://bit.ly/Gameenvy Dead Flat Testors Lusterless Replacement https://amzn.to/3oIn6eO Dremel Rotary Tool Set https://amzn.to/2MYlz6d Liquitex Resin Sand: https://amzn.to/3v2yQLk 2 Step Paint Brush Cleaner: Winsor Newton Cleaner removes dried paint https://amzn.to/2BvX5sh Jentastic Brush Goop Conditioner after each use: https://bit.ly/MoumentHobbies Airbrushes & Accessories: H&S Evolution Airbrush (Aluminium) http://amzn.to/2yBB5ZO H&S Evolution Airbrush (Chrome finish) https://amzn.to/3aui52M H&S Ultra Airbrush https://amzn.to/2H7I1EE Badger Patriot 105 https://amzn.to/2H2TOmo Iwata Eclipse Airbrush https://amzn.to/2WI1GB0 GSI Creos PS770 https://amzn.to/2rSzvVg Sparmax Compressor https://amzn.to/2CN3srb Tooty No-Name Compressor https://amzn.to/2QS3SFj Aspire Compressor https://amzn.to/2RJvWcD Vallejo Airbrush Flow Improver https://amzn.to/2Sh8Xbk Vallejo Airbrush Thinner https://amzn.to/2GVz956 Iwata Airbrush Lube https://amzn.to/2FMpkpN Grex Airbrush Cleaner https://amzn.to/2U3wqtL Figure Storage: Collapsible Tournament Push Cart https://amzn.to/2GZYdJa Clear Case For Miniatures 15"x 17", 6" Tall https://amzn.to/2Yo2kEn Project Cart With 6 Cases for Miniatures 12"x12" 2"-1/2" https://amzn.to/2Wq42Ua Steel Sheet (For Clear Cases) https://amzn.to/2H4L1S5 3M Double Sided Mounted Table (For Steel Sheets) https://amzn.to/2JlrZZp 10 Adhesive Magnetic Sheets 8.5" x 11" 20 mil Magnet Peel & Stick https://amzn.to/2LnDLF1 Sterlite Bins x12 https://amzn.to/2lzsdCj Large Acid-Free Cases Perfect for miniatures like Magnus, Mortarion, Beetle Lady & more. https://amzn.to/2TR9T4X These are affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 00:00 Intro 00:12 Welcome Back 02:32 Values Breakdown 08:06 Kill Team: Octarius Unboxing 10:49 Books and Tokens 12:12 Instructions 16:40 Sprues 20:08 Assembled Minis 28:22 Final Thoughts

[noelclover]

PSO2 Short Review ((a.k.a. What I'm Doing Instead Of Earning My Keep Like I Should))

Note: I've gotten one class to level 20 (Fighter) and have spent some time going through pretty much everything the game has to offer at the moment. I'm writing this because I love PSO2. For the few who actually read what I write or are interested in PSO2 NGS but not reading a small wall of text: Pros: The game is super accessible and easy to play. The tutorial is combined with the story so you can't exactly miss things unless you don't read, in which case things are on you. Pretty fast and smooth but not all that fast so you don't need super sharp reflexes to play. Cons: The game is new and thus lacking in content. It doesn't mean you don't really have anything to do, it just means that if you don't like running around in circles killing mobs and doing the occasional UQ, there isn't much to do beyond the story, which is really short at the moment.

So PSO2 NGS is finally out and base PSO2 is there, with a lot of blocks removed as most of the population having moved to NGS. With the new game, classes have been revamped and mechanics adjusted, resulting in a significantly more accessible game.

🍀GAMEPLAY:

As the years rolled by, SEGA made PSO2 gradually faster, more mobile, in comparison to it's predecessor. NGS is a full embrace of this direction. "Just" mechanics ((Perfectly time your attacks or Guard for more benefits)) have been removed and classes feel sleek and agile. Even Hunter, a class known for being boring but practical, feels responsive to the touch. And not only do classes get revamped, weapons do as well. Weapons have Weapon Actions ((skills that don't cost PP, this game's mana)), Photon Arts/Techniques ((skills that cost PP)) and these have been adjusted. Some, such as the Knuckles, have had their PAs combined, cutting down a lot of bloat and making the weapon significantly easier and more fun to pilot than before. Others, such as the Talis, received such a great overhaul that they have become unrecognizable.

The gameplay is, to put simply, fun. Amazing.

HOWEVER:

Regardless of what class you play, you're expected to pull your weight and do damage however, so for players who like the idea of sitting back and buffing their team mates rather than participate in combat ((for whatever reason)), this may not be suitable for you.

Please note that while the Trinity ((Tank-Healer-DPS)) that is present in a lot of MMOs is ((happily)) absent here and everyone is expected to deal damage, classes such as Hunter, Ranger, Force and Techer have skills that provide some measure of utility, such as making yourself more likely targeted ((Hunter)), making your healing items AoE ((Force and Techer)) or applying a debuff to enemies ((Ranger)) or buffing your allies ((Techer)).

🍀CHARACTER BUILDING:

The subclass mechanic is still around, but this time it does feel a lot more freestyle. While some classes don't work well as a subclass still, due to SEGA's insistence on some things being Main Class only ((particularly affected is Techer, the "support class".)), most class combinations are really good. Gone are the days when Hunter was the universal subclass. With new class passives focusing on different things, alongside the new Multi-Weapon mechanic, there's a bit more depth to choosing your subclasses now. It isn't ridiculously deep and hard to choose mind you, and the fact that you can change your class combinations at any time certainly helps, but there's just enough that you can sit there and weigh the pros and cons.

🍀 GRAPHICS: The graphics too are beautiful, but they came at the cost of gutting the original PSO2. While I'm happy that they've toned down the particle effects significantly, I think they messed with the lighting a bit much, resulting in a significantly duller world. Which is a shame in my opinion, I've always loved how PSO2 looked. Personally thought the game looked great for it's age.

Fashion, or Phashion is still a thing for those ((myself included)) interested.

🍀STORY:

With regards to the story, I'd say that it's pretty predictable at the moment. Admittedly it's just the prologue, so there's a lot they can do with it but I won't say that I'm particularly hooked at the moment.

🍀ISSUES TO CONSIDER: The game uses Battlepower, a measuring stick based on your class level, skills and gear all mixed up for some silly number. I was able to join a UQ despite being 5 levels lower, thus dealing quite a lot less damage to the boss, because I had enough Battlepower through upgrading my gear.

With Skill Points being separate from levels, there's no real reason for the level cap to increase. While this is usually a good thing in my opinion, SEGA is bound to increase the level cap because that's easy "content".

((While some MMO players will now go "but Noel it's tradition and we like big numbers", I'll still say that it's arse and there are better ways of giving players more "power" which I'll discuss some other time.))

I feel like Skills, PAs and Techniques will likely be locked behind levels, assuming that they do go this route. Such unlocks are generally unrewarding and while I am used to games being less rewarding ((as I'm used to much older games such as Lunar 2)), I simply think that grinding levels for the sake of levels is dull.

Gear with extra affixes/traits are a bit brow raising as this may affect crafting or buying gear from token merchants.