#but like. other than that. all these teams have at least one MAJOR flaw

[gaydryad]

ok question if hypothetically I were to make a html + css template for making custom pokémon teams (cough such as for OCs cough) in the Bulbapedia widget style, would anyone else be interested in using it? if so I will go into this trying to write it as an actual decent template

[kanohivolitakk]

Ok can we stop talking about the "gymbo inika were the reason love isn't canon"when there's stuff in the prototype plans that are far more insane and interesting including (but not limited to)

One of the earliest concepts for 06 was set in Mata nui where Toa nuva fought the morally gray Toa Rahna, who served as a more negative reflection of Toa. A major theme for this idea was exploring if toa could be evil.

While 08 always had bat themed villains, initially 08 was supposed to have army builder mooks instead of BoM Makuta. Also originally 08s villains were supposed to be Karda nui natives

That said, Makuta as a species and Brotherhood of Makuta were planned to by the story team as early as 2004, and were already considered to be the villains of 08. Though by this time only the titan sets.

There's at least two different concepts for aquatic villains that vastly differ from the Barraki. One of them were soldiers that were possibly army-builder villains, while the others were traders who weren't necessarily evil(?) Regardless both of them very were starkly different to the Barraki in canon, thoguh the soldier concept is far more align to with what we ended up getting.

The Piraka we know and love(?) seem to be a fusion of the two prototype concepts of 06 villains: A greedy brigand species who terrorize the locals called Hagalakh and the aforementioned Toa Rahna. The Piraka took the aesthetics/lore/culture of the Hagalakh and the "anti-toa team/ group of six individuals who served as evil disorted version of toa" concept from toa Rahna.

In the concept with the Hagalakh as 06's antagonists, their goal was to wake up Tren Krom who was supposed to be the final boss. Tren Krom in this version was supposed to be a dead giant whose corpse hosts a temple and the treasures the villains seek.

In some of the plans the hunt for mask of life started in 07, not 06. 06 instead had a different goal that depended on which version of the story plans wer'e talking about

Some plans had the toa Inika/Mahri be the main team for all three years, while some plans had the team change every year. The plan

Some of the plans indicate the "Matorans" were meant to be different species of beneveloent creatures, as they used different title than Matoran to describe them. These include the Rana and the Ihoian, though the Rana may have been Matoran

Lot of plans had the titan sets be either Rahi, or at least, other Rahi-like creatures and beasts. Many of 06 and 07s concepts had these beasts be protectors for sacred locations or the Mask of Life.

There were plans for character titans. One of the Haglak/TK concepts had the leader of Haglaks, Torak, while one of the prototype Barraki were meant to have their leader be a titan set

06 was designed a shakeup that would revitalized the brand by addressing major flaws the storyteam felt prevented new kids getting hooked. One of the bigger roadblocks was the lack of a main protagonist. This was corrected by introducing a new Matoran protagonist with a connection to Mask of Life who would act as the centerpiece of the Ignition trilogy and eventually become a Toa.

At the end of 06 the Toa of Fire (Jaller??) was supposed to die and be replaced by the aforementioned Matoran protagonist as the toa of fire

Mazeka was the name of a corridor in 06 plans

Takanuva was supposed to use Mask of Life at some point

Toa Mahri were called Toa Awkwa at one point

[edgy-ella]

IDW SONIC READERS, PLEASE READ THIS!!!!

I am begging you. On my hands and knees. Begging. More so than anything else I’ve asked of this fandom.

Please please buy the Fang miniseries when it comes out

Don’t just read it. Buy it. I will admit that I’m very guilty of reading through a lot of IDW Sonic through…less than legal means, and I know I’m not alone in that regard. But I think it’s really important that for this miniseries in particular, you actually go out and buy the damn thing. Show your support with your dollar.

Really think about it for a second—they gave Fang his own miniseries. Fang! An underutilized, underrated fan favorite for sure, but hardly a mainstay of the series. I’m sure that this was at least somewhat prompted by Superstars, where Fang is a major antagonist…but Bean and Bark weren’t in that game, and it already received its own online promo comic prior to the game’s release (notably, with Fang as the star).

Classic Sonic stories have also exclusively been relegated to one-shots in IDW, not a full on miniseries like what Fang is getting. Basically all of the IDW Sonic miniseries we’ve gotten so far have been plot relevant side stories to the main IDW comic that focus on side characters with little to no involvement from Sonic himself. Tangle and Whisper, Bad Guys, Impostor Syndrome…the only odd man out besides this Fang miniseries is Scrapnik Island.

Really think about it for a second. FANG is getting his own focus comic BEFORE KNUCKLES.

And that’s why it’s so important that we buy it.

I think Sega is using this comic to test the waters to see if people like Fang and want to see him in more future projects—be it comics, games, or even cartoons. But there’s more to it than just that.

See, Superstars hasn’t been doing that great. I know I said in an earlier post that people seemed to like it, but I retract that statement. It was damned by faint praise at launch, and now most of the discussion I’ve seen surrounding the game revolves around its flaws (chief among them being the middling OST and that the Steam version stealth installs an Epic Games service along with the game). No sales numbers have been projected as of writing, but it’s definitely been beaten out by Mario Wonder and Spider-Man 2.

So, Classic Sonic games aren’t doing too hot right now (I’m sure that many modern fans are jumping for joy at the prospect). But the classic characters are.

People really like the extended classic Sonic cast, just as much as they love the extended modern cast. From my experience, the two fan favorites are Mighty and Fang. Fang stands out to me in particular for a couple reasons: people were really upset that Sega specifically said no to Fang, Bark and Bean coming back after Ian snuck in a reference to them in IDW Sonic #3 (using their old team name from Archie, the Hooligans), and the fanmade 16-bit remake of Triple Trouble, Fang’s debut game, received private praise from many members of Sega and Sonic Team. People like Fang and the media he’s in, and Sega is starting to take notice. That’s why we’re getting this miniseries.

That’s why it’s so important that the miniseries sells well. If the big boys at Sega and Sonic Team see Superstars’ iffy reception but see Fang’s comic sell above expectations, then Sega will want to continue to use Fang (and potentially other “classic” Sonic characters as well) in more narrative driven projects. That means modern Sonic.

“But Sega won’t let any classic Sonic character into a modern Sonic project!” I hear you thinking. And to that I say, so? Sega changes its mind all the time. Remember that whole two worlds nonsense? That was thrown out with in Tailstube. Characters debuting in Boom and the comics were previously barred from the mainline games, but they’ve broken that “rule” in both Speed Battle and Frontiers. Hell, they’ve even been talked out of some of their sillier comic mandates, like characters not being able to wear different clothing.

For all their flaws, Sega does listen, and money speaks louder than anything. If this miniseries fails, Sega will just assume that people aren’t hot on Fang or the extended classic cast anymore and throw them back in the bar. But if the comic sells well, then Sega might take it as a sign that, hey, people like this character (and his two lackeys), we should put him in projects that fans are more interested in. Mighty and Ray probably wouldn’t be too far behind, especially given Mania’s success. Whether that means comics or games, modern or classic, who knows. What’s important is that it sends the right message to Sega, and they will listen to their consumers. That means us. If we don’t support this miniseries now, we might have to wait another thirty years for another chance.

[owlphibiaisthebest15]

Hi guys! I want to talk about a minor problem I have with Amphibia and how they could've been done better. I will not be talking about any of the big problems that people have already complained about, like Sasha and Marcy's lack of screentime, their character arcs, parents, nobody talking about Marcy after "True Colors", yada yada yada, because we don't need another post like that, and I want to keep this overdue rant as short as possible. This is based on my personal opinions along with a few others, but feel free to disagree with me if you want. But with further, let us begin...

Anne almost always gets way too easily forgiven for f*cking up.

Okay! This one may be a hot take because I have never seen another person complain about this. But this has been eating me away for MONTHS, and if no one else is going to say it, then I will. While this occasionally extends to some other characters depending on the episode. The one I want to talk about most is Anne. Now, at the start of the series, Anne was pretty much a jerk with a heart of gold. She was selfish, bratty, lazy, and irresponsible, but she did learn from the mistakes that she made and became a true hero by the end of the series. While some of these flaws and mistakes are not worth talking about, there are still others that are actually worse than what the show's narrative portrays them to be.

They may not be as bad as leading a toad army to invade the capital city, burying the only thing that could get Anne home, or sending your friends to another world on purpose. Anne has still made some pretty questionable decisions, even to the point where they often cross the line.

Here's a list of some of the worst things Anne Boonchuy has ever done from Season 1 and 2:

Breaking Hop Pop's favorite cane that also happens to be a keepsake of his father and grandfather all while making fun of him.

Manipulating Sprig into taking Bessie the family Snail on a Joyride without reading. Which is like someone taking a car out for a spin without a driver's permit.

Forcing Sprig to marry Maddie despite his obvious discomfort for Pizza Dough and later forces him to date Ivy while he's still engaged to Maddie.

Faking being sick to get out of farm duty, which led the Plantars getting sick themselves and even thought they were all going to die from red leg.

Slacking off while she was supposed to be protecting the frozen townsfolk, while aware of what happens to one of them while they're frozen. Which, of course, led to Polly almost getting eaten by a giant weasel.

Causes massive property damage with Polly while on the streets of Newtopia, and later breaks into Newtopia University in hopes of finding a rad college party. The second one was Polly's idea, but Anne had no problem going along with it.

A team effort along with her frog family. Sending a giant chicken to attack Wartwood. Which BTW can create tornadoes, breathe fire, and even turned their loved ones into stone, all because they forgot to buy everyone gifts. Sure, Anne was against the idea, but she still went along with it.

What do characters usually respond with when Anne admits her mess ups?! "It's okay! You're good! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died, as long as you learned your lesson."

Though Anne still at least got a lot better, as the worst things she's done in Season 3 were covering up some major plot points from her parents, robbing a museum to get a clue on how to find a way back to Amphibia, and tricking Blair the Balloonist into flying a hot air balloon. Though, the first one is still a little f*cked up, but she did have selfless reasons for doing these, and she came clean for 2/3 of these.

But still, 90% of this show is just a lighthearted slice of life cartoon, but when it shifts to its dark story driven and plot twisting side, this is where the narrative (and by some extent Anne herself) gets pretty hypocritical. It's pretty much when Anne messes up and lies to other characters. It's a simple error in judgment. But when other main characters such as Sasha, Marcy, and even Hop Pop do the same to her, first they gotta face hell for it, and then they get their redemption arc.

Yes! They did do some serious sh*t, and Anne had a right to be mad at them. But it seems that other characters are just not allowed to even stay mad at Anne when she does pretty similar sh*t. I mean, yes, she does try to make up for it, and yes, she admits what she's done most of the time, and eventually, she does become a better person from them. But so have Hop Pop, Sasha, and Marcy. But again, they didn't get the protagonists treatment. They got hurt and thrown around like ragdolls because of one or two big mistakes, and even that wasn't enough.

While Anne sometimes faces some consequences for her actions, like breaking Hop Pop's heirloom cane with HP giving her dish duty for a month (Cmon man! You should've given her way more than that!), gets banned from an arcade because she threatened to eat newt kids for cutting in line (which is not important), and most importantly, gets stranded in Amphibia after being peer pressured by her friends to shoplift it, all on her 13th birthday. Which I guess was enough for karma itself to feel so bad for her that she will hardly ever worry about facing any lasting consequences for her misdeeds ever again. While karma beats the cr*p out of others who would dare lie and betray our precious protagonists, even when they have sympathetic reasons for doing so.

Speaking of, this leads to me to clarify something that some fans have misinterpreted since the beginning of the series. The flashback scene in the second episode, "Best Fronds," was intended to show where Anne's distorted views on friendship and some of her toxic traits come from. Not to justify every single bad decision Anne has ever made, like what some fans think.

While I'm not gonna say that Anne was just as bad as Sasha before Amphibia, as it does show that Anne had her own personal flaws that she had to get through without depending on her friends. Who were more enabling her flaws than causing them.

However, while the show does try to show that Anne wasn't exactly much better in their friend dynamic than they were. For the reasons I mentioned earlier, it instead paints Anne as the least toxic one or not being toxic at all. With them only making a handful of moments that show that even after their betrayals, Anne still isn't much better than them. But the usual wacky slice of life narrative in her character development episodes downplays the severity of her actions, with Anne only just getting an emotional lesson after nearly getting everyone killed, and some of the said lessons being brought up in a few episodes to test her character or as examples to show others how much she has grown.

Now, I'm going to do some comparisons between Amphibia and The Owl House. While there are several things that Amphibia did better than TOH and about an equal amount of things TOH did better than Amphibia. One of those things that The Owl House did better than Amphibia was the writers treating each and every character fairly. The characters make mistakes and learn from them without the narrative downplaying the seriousness of their mistakes, and it isn't always "Okay! You're forgiven! What you did was serious, but it doesn't matter that we almost died. You learned your lesson, and that's what matters." While it doesn't give other characters the short end of the forgiveness stick for doing similar sh*t. With that, it also makes the character arcs a little bit better, in my opinion.

However, I'm not saying that Anne's character development was bad or that Matt Braly is treating Anne like how some see Alex Hirsch did with Mabel. The show did alright with changing a bratty teenager with flawed views of friendship into a true and selfless hero. All of what I described seems to what TV Tropes would call "Protagonist Centered Morality," and if I'm being honest, but because of that reason, I don't find Anne to be the most appealing character to me. I'm sorry! I know that a lot of you love her, and she's the second most popular character in the show; with the first being Marcy (my favorite), but I don't even dislike her either. I just feel that the narrative could've done better in treating the characters more fairly, like how TOH did with their characters. I really want to like Anne more than I do now, but for what I described, it makes it kinda hard for me to.

That's it for my opinions on this. This was longer than I thought, so if you read it this far or read it at all. You either think that I have a point and should do more of this or my analysis stinks, and I should never speak my dumb mind again. I'll probably see how this goes either way. If anybody else here still cares about this show.

[cyberstudious]

An Introduction to Cybersecurity

I created this post for the Studyblr Masterpost Jam, check out the tag for more cool masterposts from folks in the studyblr community!

What is cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is all about securing technology and processes - making sure that the software, hardware, and networks that run the world do exactly what they need to do and can't be abused by bad actors.

The CIA triad is a concept used to explain the three goals of cybersecurity. The pieces are:

Confidentiality: ensuring that information is kept secret, so it can only be viewed by the people who are allowed to do so. This involves encrypting data, requiring authentication before viewing data, and more.

Integrity: ensuring that information is trustworthy and cannot be tampered with. For example, this involves making sure that no one changes the contents of the file you're trying to download or intercepts your text messages.

Availability: ensuring that the services you need are there when you need them. Blocking every single person from accessing a piece of valuable information would be secure, but completely unusable, so we have to think about availability. This can also mean blocking DDoS attacks or fixing flaws in software that cause crashes or service issues.

What are some specializations within cybersecurity? What do cybersecurity professionals do?

incident response

digital forensics (often combined with incident response in the acronym DFIR)

reverse engineering

cryptography

governance/compliance/risk management

penetration testing/ethical hacking

vulnerability research/bug bounty

threat intelligence

cloud security

industrial/IoT security, often called Operational Technology (OT)

security engineering/writing code for cybersecurity tools (this is what I do!)

and more!

Where do cybersecurity professionals work?

I view the industry in three big chunks: vendors, everyday companies (for lack of a better term), and government. It's more complicated than that, but it helps.

Vendors make and sell security tools or services to other companies. Some examples are Crowdstrike, Cisco, Microsoft, Palo Alto, EY, etc. Vendors can be giant multinational corporations or small startups. Security tools can include software and hardware, while services can include consulting, technical support, or incident response or digital forensics services. Some companies are Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), which means that they serve as the security team for many other (often small) businesses.

Everyday companies include everyone from giant companies like Coca-Cola to the mom and pop shop down the street. Every company is a tech company now, and someone has to be in charge of securing things. Some businesses will have their own internal security teams that respond to incidents. Many companies buy tools provided by vendors like the ones above, and someone has to manage them. Small companies with small tech departments might dump all cybersecurity responsibilities on the IT team (or outsource things to a MSSP), or larger ones may have a dedicated security staff.

Government cybersecurity work can involve a lot of things, from securing the local water supply to working for the big three letter agencies. In the U.S. at least, there are also a lot of government contractors, who are their own individual companies but the vast majority of what they do is for the government. MITRE is one example, and the federal research labs and some university-affiliated labs are an extension of this. Government work and military contractor work are where geopolitics and ethics come into play most clearly, so just… be mindful.

What do academics in cybersecurity research?

A wide variety of things! You can get a good idea by browsing the papers from the ACM's Computer and Communications Security Conference. Some of the big research areas that I'm aware of are:

cryptography & post-quantum cryptography

machine learning model security & alignment

formal proofs of a program & programming language security

security & privacy

security of network protocols

vulnerability research & developing new attack vectors

Cybersecurity seems niche at first, but it actually covers a huge range of topics all across technology and policy. It's vital to running the world today, and I'm obviously biased but I think it's a fascinating topic to learn about. I'll be posting a new cybersecurity masterpost each day this week as a part of the #StudyblrMasterpostJam, so keep an eye out for tomorrow's post! In the meantime, check out the tag and see what other folks are posting about :D

[paranoidginger]

The Offensive team just narrowly won during the poll, so here you all go!

In my alternate universe, the Blu mercenaries are clones of the Red mercs, they are, however, their own people with their own flaws and personalities, although they are still similar to their Red counterparts. No clone is a perfect replica, of course!

First off we have Scout! Dubbed "Jacob" he usually goes by Jake with the other mercenaries on his team.

He tries his best to act tough and cool, when in reality, he's much more of a goofy idiot who tries his best to be less annoying than his original counterpart.

Medic is constantly bugging him to wear sunscreen, and Engineer is trying his best to teach Jake some more practical skills and basic reading.

Jake has very strong ADHD, and he has a very hard time focusing on things without some sort of movement and fidgeting.

He has a very strong platonic relationship with Pyro, even if they do freak him out sometimes. Even if he can't understand them, he likes spending time hanging out with them, staring at cherry red coals while a fire burns is a good way for him to let his mind rest.

He is a pretty good artist, and has a sketchbook that he keeps in his room.

His relationship with Soldier is a bit complicated. He likes him as a part of the team, but his sheer idiocy combined with brute strength makes him slightly terrifying to the scrawny and somewhat frail scout.

Soldier, known as June, is outgoing and reckless. Other than being suspicious of potential spies, he is significantly less paranoid than his Red counterpart.

He is the least intelligent on the team, but still manages to come up with half decent ideas, despite the fact that the large majority of his ideas are absolute nonsense.

He is incredibly friendly with anyone who isn't a spy, and it isn't uncommon to receive spine-crushingly tight bear hugs from him if he really does like you. Unfortunately, he likes everyone in his team except for Spy. This usually leads to him accidentally hurting his weaker teammates. Scout especially.

He still occasionally meets with the Red Demoman in secret after managing to talk it out after being bribed to fight one another.

A masked mystery, Pyro is entirely mute, and instead communicates through basic sign language, although their hands are usually occupied by matches and lighters.

They will sometimes seek out candles to give to their teammates as gifts.

They seem to have a bit more of a grasp on the fact that they are hurting people on the battlefield, but try to make up for it with presents and surprisingly good cooking.

They like sitting and watching fires with Scout, and tend to favor him over Soldier, especially with the amount of gifts they give him.

Here is what I have about each of the Blu Offensive Team! I will expand more on my lore and all of that good stuff once I have all of the individual characters posted! Poll coming soon to decide which trio is coming up next!

[fantasyfantasygames]

Scramble World

Scramble World, Jenny J. Jensson, 2011

Scramble World is an extremely badly named RPG with a fairly generic premise and fantastic execution.

The titular world is one of those weird mixed-up dimensions where dozens of different worlds have crashed into each other for unknown reasons. You play characters from different RPGs, teaming up to prevent catastrophes or at least be there to help afterward.

The setting is like Torg, but without our world as the base and without the cosms having well-defined boundaries. It's like Rifts but again without our world as the base, and with all the most flavor-packed parts of each worldbook crammed into an area the size of Pennsylvania. And with less racism. It's a world whose major powers did not evolve in each others' presence, so their mutual existence explicitly does not need to make sense. Scramble World is in constant catastrophe and will be until the sky stops being red and worldbergs stop crashing through the bleed.

Remember We Were The First, where the alien species were all randomized in ways that made sense together? Well, here your character sheet is randomized. I don't mean that you roll for your stats, no, I mean you roll to see which stats you get. You get pieces of the character sheet, suggested locations to place them (you can change those), and half-pages of rules that connect to them.

One character might end up with a standard-six-stats block that goes 3-18, an extensive skill list, and a set of emotional attributes that trigger XP conditions. Someone else might have the same stats but they go -2 to +4, a set of Apocalypse World style moves, some Merits and Flaws, and a Vancian spell system if you choose to pursue it. It's an amazing setup. It was clearly well-tested: there was a character generator online to speed things up for you, using the same mechanics as the random roll tables, and I've never seen it come up with a non-viable combination.

Because there are so many options, some of them boil down to the same thing under the hood. For instance, everyone ends up rolling for (or otherwise generating) a Likert-scale success measure and comparing with each other to see what the actual winner gets. Each character sheet fragment has only half a page to get in, explain things, and get out, so a lot of things have to do double duty. Kudos to Jenny for keeping this as small as possible, even if "as possible" does a lot of lifting in that sentence.

There are lots of "world fragments" described in the book. Out of 304 pages (in 6x9 / A5 format), they take up about 200. Each one is roughly 5 pages, with one piece of art, descriptions of their leaders and common people, a few key landmarks, and a "heroes from here are like X" section. A corebook overflow supplement ("World Omelette") adds another 20 pages of rule fragments and 60 pages of world fragments. They range from "pastiche" to "homage", but none of them feel like "ripoff".

The art is taken from a dozen different types of action-oriented RPG stock art, thrown together with slashes or tears or glitches between them. I'd like to see a version that showcases a small number of artists rather than just stock art, but it's used very well for what it is.

I've already spent a lot of words on Scramble World, so I'll stop here, but hopefully you can tell that I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

* For those of you who are less mathy, 1d100 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, and an average of 50.5. All numbers are equally likely. 1d10 x 1d10 has a max of 100, a minimum of 1, but an average of 30.25. Not only is the average 20 points lower, but it's also more closely concentrated. Less than 5% of the results are 60 or above. 🌈The More You Know!⭐️

[nientedal]

Disclaimer: I'm speaking as a person who's only been in the Megamind fandom for almost 8 years, so I'm not, like, an OG 2010-2011 fan. HOWEVER... I find it interesting that from what I've been seeing, the people loudly complaining about the sequel content are mostly newer fans. People who've been fans for at least 6+ years are hyping this UP and being optimistic despite the flaws. I'm just like "u haven't been here that long, can we stop shitting all over it before it's even PREMIERED?? GOD"

It really is funny that the vast majority of people who are screaming like Dreamworks shot their dog are, yeah, people whose names I've never heard. Not on Tumblr, not on Twitter, not in AO3 or ffnet comments. Don't get me wrong, I've seen a couple of the old Livejournal crew who are unhappy, but even they haven't been spewing vitriol (that I've seen). For the most part, those of us who are actually active in this fandom are ecstatic! And it's not a length of time thing, either - there's new folks kicking around who are just as excited as the rest of us!

I'd say I hate to say it, but I'd be lying - the people who are the angriest about Megamind Rules are the people who wouldn't care if it existed or not in the first place. They're people who watched Megamind and enjoyed it, but didn't enjoy it enough to be excited for more unless it meets their personal standards. They didn't enjoy it enough to look for fanworks, they didn't enjoy it enough to say anything. I'll buy that they do care...but they don't care enough to try to see any joy in this.

They don't care enough to look anything up before sneering at the Doom Syndicate for being a "retcon" despite the massive amount of material out there supporting both the Doom Syndicate's existence and this plot (big "thank you" to some chucklefuck YouTuber in particular for that one). They don't care enough to stop and consider if there might be budget concerns for an IP Dreamworks was totally radio silence on for more than a decade. They don't care about who's writing it, or who's on the production or voice acting teams. They only care about jumping on the hate train, and I am FURIOUS about it, because I am scared to death that Dreamworks is gonna shitcan this before it even gets released. If that happens, I will be a level of angry that defies description. Because the people who did not fucking care one way or the other will have killed it, and the people who loved this story enough to be excited to see more will have nothing. Again. Newer people in this fandom who are bitching might not have the background to realize this, but if this is killed right out of the gate, THERE WILL BE. NOTHING. ELSE. When I say "radio silence" I mean Dreamworks all but refused to even LOOK at Megamind, for more than a decade.

That's not even getting into how much of a slap in the face it would be to the team who worked so hard on this. If anything could gut me hard enough to kill my desire to write anymore, it'd be that; I can't even imagine how the writers and voice actors and animators might feel in that event. I hope we never find out.

But yeah, uh, tldr: can we not fucking shit on something that literally has not even premiered, seriously. Can these joyless shitbirds PLEASE do something that sparks joy for them instead of shitting on something that sparks joy for others, goddamn. The animation looks fine, y'all are just mean.

[gen13ordinaryheroes]

Hi !!! Regarding that recently popular post of yours about female characters always existing to indulge the male protagonist or to get involved in something romantic I COULDN'T AGREE MORE , I don't know if it's bc I'm aromantic but I'm just so tired of getting into a movie, book, series with well written female characters only for the writers to give them some sort of romance that most of the times serves as a weakness , or is there to show that she is indeed human guys look she isn't a bitch who only cares about her work /purpose etc. Like give me a fucking break , women can have other flaws and weaknesses it doesn't always have to be a romance thing . It's almost like female characters can only make mistakes or act flawed only when it comes to romance otherwise they are annoying and problematic. There are so many media comics, books , anime, cartoons with male protagonists that never got them romantically involved and yet they are considered complex and fleshed out characters. GIVE ME FEMALE CHARACTERS LIKE THAT please 🙏. Sorry for my yapping , could you please recommend me some of your favorite media with female protagonists that dont focus on romance . I'll take anything, I'm desperate 😮‍💨

List compiled from checking my back-issues and polling multiple discord servers. Extremely comics-heavy because this is a comics blog.

(*) indicates that I have not personally read/watched/played/etc whatever is listed, so I can't personally vouch for it.

Also, due to the fact that I am not personally familiar with everything listed, I can't provide relevant content warnings. Some of these are significantly heavier than others. Some of these are parts of larger franchises that may not make since without background knowledge.

Comics/Graphic Novels:

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (1983), (1985), 1986 one-shot, Amethyst (1987).*

Batgirl (2000)

Batgirl (2009)* (these get separate entries because they're about different characters)

Birds of Prey (1999)* and (2010)*-- some romance, but it's not the focus

"Most Black Widow runs"*

Botticelli's Apprentice by Ursula Murray Husted*

Champions (2018) -- ensemble cast with multiple female characters. Some romantic plots, but not the focus.

Dark Spaces: Good Deeds (2023)

DIE (2018) -- ensemble cast with transfem/genderfluid lead. She is married, but her wife exists mostly off-screen, and romance isn't a major plotpoint.

Exiles (2018) -- team book with female lead, I don't think there's any romance, though characters may reference past romantic entanglements

Gotham Academy (2014)*

Harrow County (2015) -- I don't think there's any romance with the main character

Hawkgirl (2023)*

Huntress (1989) -- some light romance, but it's not the focus.

Lumberjanes* -- there is some romance between the leads, apparently, but the main focus is friendship.

Manhunter (2004)*

Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat! (2015)*

Powergirl (1988) and (2009)*

Radiant Red (2022)* -- main character has a fiance but I am told this is not a major aspect

Scarlet Witch (2015)

Something is Killing the Children (2019-ongoing)

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015), (2015-2017) -- this does feature some light romance, to memory, but I don't think it's central

Unstoppable Wasp (2017), (2018-2019)* (aspec main character and aspec writer)

Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia

Wonder Woman: Historia

World's Finest (2012)

X-23 (2010), All-New Wolverine (2015), and X-23 (2018)

X-Men (2013) -- almost entirely female cast, no romance

Gwenpool, the character-- I know some of her earlier stuff is rather romance-centered, or at least includes romantic plots, but more recently the character is explicitly aroace, so you might be interested.

Anime/Manga:

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part 6: Stone Ocean* (some romance, but not the main focus)

Magical Girl Dandelion*

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

"Any Ghibli movie with a female protagonist", Spirited Away*

Witch Hat Atelier

Movies/TV:

Alien

The Descent*

Derry Girls*

Evil Dead (2013)*, and Evil Dead Rise*

Hellraiser*

Video Games (blanket statement: I do not play video games. I am not personally familiar with any of these.)

BloodRayne

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Fatal Fame franchise

Resident Evil 2, 3, Resident Evil 8 DLC: Shadows of Rose, Resident Evil: Revelations 1 & 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Silent Hill 3

Books

Wayfarers series* by Becky Chambers, especially A Closed and Common Orbit, which has 2 female protagonists and 0 romance. Can be read as standalone.

Tamora Pierce's body of work*-- the amount of romance may vary book-to-book.

I hope this is helpful to some extent or another :) -- others are welcome to add their own recommendations in reblogs/comments.

[literallys-illiteracy]

A Pedantic Overview of Bleed: Limbus Company:

Within Limbus Company, Bleed is the lust affinity status effect which is why it does not deal lust damage, rather true damage, or fixed damage.

Bleed is one of three status effects in the game able to deal true damage, alongside burn, which was covered last overview, and rupture, which will be in overview 4.

Bleed is one of the more supported status effects, having a decent few Ayin (000) ID’s in the game, almost every sinner having a bleed ID.

This being said, there is somewhat of a bar to entry regarding bleed, at least outside of Mirror Dungeon where you have access to wound clerid, as there are somewhat few ID’s able to apply count - The most notable of the ID’s that can, other than the new Ring ID’s, Is N corp Faust, alongside the other N corp Inquisitors, due to their nails status effect applying bleed count.

Finally, i want to preface that i consider there two categories of Bleed ID’s in this game: There are ID’s which consistently apply, and aim to support bleed as a status effect, these are the body of ID’s which i consider to be real “Bleed ID’s”

And there are ID’s which happen to apply Bleed, in some way shape or form. I consider these ID’s “Bloody Mist” ID’s, as they, though technically counting as applying Bleed, have no constructive purpose for bleed as a status.

A History of Bleed:

Once again this is not definitive, nor am I guaranteeing this is 100% accurate, just the most notable parts.

Launch//Season 1:

On launch, Bleed was more supported than other status effects, having 2 000 Bleed ID’s, and 3 000 which technically applied bleed.

Kurodion, was bad, is bad. I'll get to why poise was bad on launch in overview 6, but in general she was not effective as an ID; She wasn't able to apply any bleed count, which we will hear a lot, but she wasn’t terrible in terms of applying potency. 

Considering that Bleed was not a team on launch, none of the status effects were, barring one, her passive on her skill 3, though very interesting, doubling crit chance against targets with 10+ Bleed, was virtually non existent. Kurodion was somewhat ahead of her time, having a variable counter, and the first ID to interact with poise in any meaningful way. Its a shame that there are much better options in both teams*

Kuryoshu was the only true "Bleed ID" on launch. Rodion is close, as she interacts with bleed in more ways than just applying it for no reason. Ryoshu surpasses this, rather than interacting with bleed, actively supporting it as a status, being the only launch ID to apply bleed count, making her the virtual backbone of the status until canto 3.

The Following 3 ID's aren't Bleed enough to have their own paragraphs: Boy Love Sinclair: Skill 3 applies 5 Bleed. Rabid Heathcliff: Skill 2 applies Bleed. Ting Tong Lu: skill 1 applies Bleed.

Now we get to the final launch-Bleed ID: Kurokumo clan Hong Lu: this ID is fundamentally flawed. not because its numbers are too poor to function, not because it cant apply any Bleed. No. its because of its skill 2, Cloud cutter: Cloud cutter is KKong Lu's primary source of damage, being able to reuse both coins of the skill for 4 total coins.... if*. KKong Lu can only reuse coins if the target has 4- Bleed count. This is the only ID which actively makes itself worse when used in its status team. (also its kinda weird how the 2/3 of the ID's who could reuse coins on launch were Hong Lu Huh?)

Following launch ID's we finally get to Nquisitors, the first major batch of status ID's.

N corp Meursault is not a bleed ID, he has the technicality of applying bleed though Nails. I would like to mention that not all of the N corp ID's are good in terms of bleed (or i general on second though), rather these ID's are able to apply many, many, debuffs. N corp Heathcliff was, and still is, the only ID able to apply multiple stacks of +coin drop. N corp Meursault inflicts bind and attack power down (against targets with nails, which means that primarily this only occurs when ran with other N corp ID's) Gripping Faust inflicts Paralyze and a unique effect, Gaze, which acts as 2 Fragile for Blunt/Pierce. N Corp. Rodion applies Paralyze. Gripped Sinclair. N corp Donqi inflicts paralyze and attack power down, with the same conditionals as Meursault, once again rewarding running these ID's together. running an N corp team together, though not terrible, is somewhat dysfunctional. Nclair wants to be on Low SP, and is also a burn unit. Meursault wants to be low HP and spamming counters, which are wrath affinity, while Kraust wants to have Lust Resonance Kraust stops Nclair from being low SP, yet her passive buffs the rest of the team by giving them fanatic, which is final power against targets with nails; The problem is that because he will always be the lowest SP, Nclair will always be gaining sanity from the passive, meaning he remains at neutral to positive. N corp Don is a tremor ID for some reason, no clue about that. Heathcliff struggles outside a N corp team due to lackluster rolls before UT4 passive. and N Rodion, while not a bad ID in her own right, is slightly lackluster compared to other Bleed ID's in the modern day (though, make a note of this)

Nearing the end of the season, we got chimkens. Chef Gregor got nerfed recently, which is quite frankly hilarious because he wasn't good to begin with. Chef Ryoshu however: applied paralyze, applied Healing down (which I'm pretty sure is still unique to her?), and bleed count, while being one of the strongest damage ID's of the time, and the only one not limited by a resource (WDon, Charge. Reathcliff, bullets.). While, due to UT4 fucking this ID over, KK Ryoshu is theoretically better for Bleed, this ID is, and likely always will be, a viable option for bleed teams.

Season 2 - Reminiscence:

welcome to likely the shortest section. We got no bleed EGO, because there's no such thing as a bleed EGO until the third Walpurisnacht.

there were 2 Bleed ID's this season. Rhino Pack Meursault, who, is not only a slash ID, but the highest source of slash damage in a bleed team, excluding EGO. I want to note that both ID's this season were actual "Bleed ID's", being able to apply large amounts of count and potency; Back on Rsault, one of two charge ID's im willing to discuss, and the primary source of, slash damage, bleed count, Gloom resources, and damage tanking in a bleed team

Hook Lu, the first Walpurgis ID, is a better bleed ID than both of Hong Lu's launch ones, for the simple fact that 1: he does not screw himself over when used with bleed, and 2: is able to apply bleed count.

Alongside Nails unit's, we have the ability to run an entire team of units which can apply Bleed and bleed count, neat. this is the end of the season.

Season 3 - Bon Voyage:

Season 3 was somewhat of a bleed season, and a poise season, giving us 5 more units to match Kurodion back in season 1 as "Bloise" units (i prefer saying Red Poise but IDK, people seem to say Bloise)

First off is Twinhooks Pirate Gregor, which is his first bleed ID since Chef Gregor. this ID functions through, and interacts with, bleed as a status effect, gaining a special effect when hitting heads against a bleeding target. Pirate Gregor himself is technically able to apply bleed and bleed count however he must critically strike to do so, meaning that he isnt the most consistent ID for dealing damage through Bleed, however that does not mean he doesn't deal damage.

[Natural Segue here]

Around this time, mirror dungeon was changed somewhat, notably you were able to start a run with gifts of a specific status effect, you were able to upgrade different EGO gifts, and, most notably, each status effect gained a special tier 4 gift, obtained by fusing a specific tier 3 and tier 1 of the same status effect; The fusion gift for bleed is named "Bloody Mist" which im sure that many people are more than aware of.

Bloody mist grants, +2 coin power up, and +100% damage on ALL bleed skills. This EGO gift is the namesake of the "Bloody Mist ID's", as, though not useful in terms of dealing damage with bleed, my god can they do damage through skills now.

Notably of the "Bloody Mist" ID's, Middle Don and Meursault, who are... interesting. from a design perspective, i actually really like this ID; Through envy resonance, she is able to A: Gain offence level for her skills, and B: use her skill 3, as envy affinity, instead of her counter. With the obvious Bloody Mist synergy of these ID's, with their skills arbitrarily applying bleed, they are quite useful in bleed teams, as Don's skill 3 has 4 coins. but the reason that i like these ID's, or more specifically Don, is the emphasis on her counter; When a counter is activated, it gains power based on offence level in the same way that you gain clashing power for the same reason. As her skill 3 gains offence level based on resonance, and as she is able to use her skill 3 instead of her counter, she is the third best counter based-ID in the game. i mostly like this ID due to the cleverness of the design, gaining large amounts of power for gaining resonance.

Queequeg Heathcliff is another Red Poise unit, gaining poise count s1, poise s2, and getting bonus crit power on skill 3. QueeCliff, like Pirate Gregor, relies on the presence of Bleed in order to be used optimally; Gaining Poise based on the bleed on target. that being said, queecliff is able to apply bleed more reliably than Gregor, as Gregor relies on critting to inflict bleed, while Heathcliff only relies on Critting to apply Bleed Count based on the targets bleed potency (He gains poise from the poise potency, which then allows him to crit, applying bleed count more reliably against targets with bleed potency. this is also clever design that i like.) Heathcliff's skill 3, alongside his passive, increases in value as he decreases in health. At UT4, he deals more damage at 1% for every 1% HP he is missing. at -50%HP, he inflicts 6 bleed across his skill 3. This ID is the third and final of the envy resonance ID's released this season, and inarguably the best of them for one main reason; He has 2 envy skills. This ID was the first to have 2 skills of the same affinity, allowing him to fulfil both his conditional on S3 (Coin power +3), but the conditional of the Middle ID's. The synergy goes further, as all three Middle ID's are Counter based tanks, with the enemy who dealt the most damage being marked for extra effects; Don gaining blunt damage up when allies are hit for damage; Heathcliff gaining offence level up and defense level up whenever an ally (including himself) is hit. the only downside to this, at least theoretically, is the fact that Heathcliff's counter is wrath affinity. While not technically bad, as he has more than enough envy as it is, it means that he is unable to counter, whilst also gaining aggro for enemies to target him, meaning that Don is less likely to proc a counter.

Moving on is coffee (Starbuck) Yi Sang, yet another Red Poise unit: this unit is more poise than Bleed, only applying count on a singular skill (Crit s3 coin 2, this means that he needs to not crit on his first coin, as he gains 5 (25%) poise before attack). This ID is another who, while definitely not terrible in terms of bleed, shines when paired with Bloody mist due to his s2 being able to reuse coins... the third bleed id so far to reuse coins on s2, and there are 2 more to come... weird. Yi Sang's skill 2 being envy affinity assists Heathcliff in terms of envy resonance, as this is his main source of damage. with that being said, there is an argument to be made for using his skill 1, as the third of the trio much prefers Pride resonance

Captain Ishmael is technically a triple status effect identity, acting as a burn ID, Bleed ID, and a Poise ID. Poise is on the technicality that she has a crit multiplier on her skill 3, which is good enough apparently for lucky pouch to count her as a poise ID. While not a good bleed id in terms of applying bleed, my god this ID does damage. her s3 deals more damage based on their missing HP, higher coin power based on bleed potency, and 4 coins of high offense level. her S2 is a pride affinity skill, which has the unique trait of being able to call in the next unit to use a their s1 against the same target, while gaining pride power, damage up and offence level up. It just so happened that the s1's of Yi Sang and Heathcliff are both pride affinity, and both skills that give poise count. once again, not the best in terms of bleed and bleed count, however bleed cant damage a dead enemy.

following the main canto was good old bones claiming time:

There were 2 and a half bleed ID's released this event. the second unique bleed in the form of red plum blossom was created, with Boy love Faust acting as yet another red poise unit; Like all other Red poise units, she isnt good in terms of bleed, but can still count for bloody mist.

The second ID was Kurokumo Clan Gregor, who exposed the glaring problems of literally every other Kurokumo ID, at least in terms of this event's unique gifts: KK Ryoshu is a mono pierce unit, when the KK EGO gifts buff slash KK Hong Lu KK Rodion is a poise unit for some reason. - the KK Clan, at least with the identities we have now, make no sense together as a team, especially with the context of the KK EGO gift unique to this event.

The half bleed unit, bones McGee himself, is an odd case. he does not have bleed in his skills 1,2, or 3. he does not count as a bleed unit for the purposes of bloody mist. his special counter, to claim their bones, does however benefit from bloody mist, if you have 5 other Bleed units to activate it, as it has bleed on the end of it. I just think this is weird, and i wanted to talk about it here

Season 4 - Clear All Cathy:

this season introduced a strange and foreign concept to limbus company: Bleed EGO skills.

In Walpugisnacht we received Sanguine desire Rodion, an EGO able to deal lust damage equal to multiple times the bleed potency on target, as long as you have enough Lust resonance of course; This was the first notable Bleed EGO in the Game, and the first method of dealing damage through bleed without the enemy using a coin, also it rolls like 40~ something which is neat

Wingbeat technically applies bleed.

Following these came the Ring ID's who broke the game quite frankly, and who I'm going to mention in every status effect overview because i can get away with the technicality. bleed is the actual status to which these ID's belong, both being able to heal SP and reuse coins on their S2, for quite frankly absurd damage. When i do status effect overviews I'm running the team in mirror dungeon at the same time because why not, and as i was typing the above sentence i saw one coin of Yi Sang's s2 hit for 200 damage, without bloody mist...

Contempt, Awe Ryoshu, other than having the hottest costume of any EGO in the game, is another Lust resonance ID, dealing more damage and gaining attack weight when in resonance. alongside Whistles passive, and Sanguine desire, Lust resonance is quite effective now as a strategy for bleed.

Bleed EGO:

As mentioned above, the only two truly good Bleed EGO released season 4, Sanguine desire Rodion and Contempt, Awe Ryoshu.

Though there are technically other EGO that apply, or interact with, bleed, almost none of them were good from the standpoint of a bleed team, leading to me not considering them a good "Bleed" EGO. Keep in mind that some EGO, despite not being good Bleed EGO, are still good in general, like ebony stem for example.

The Good ones:

Sanguine desire Rodion:

This EGO acts as the primary Bleed EGO in the game, being as Contempt does not interact with bleed to the same extent which this EGO does. This EGO is a waw, which means that there is no competition for its spot as of right now, the same of which can be said about Contempt, Awe.

because of the lack of competition, theres really no reason to not slot this EGO if you have it, that being said, Bleed made it through four seasons of Limbus without needing EGO skills, the same of which cant be said about some other status effects, notably number 3 and 5, meaning that this EGO isnt as necessary to pull for as the EGO of those other status effects. At the same time, that being said, using a bleed team outside of mirror dungeon requires a high bar of entry due to the fact that most of the units that work well are 000.

If you already plan on running a bleed team, prioritize getting the requisite units before saving you lunacy or shards for this EGO.

Contempt, Awe Ryoshu

This EGO, while not bad by any means, is definitively the lesser of these two, specifically when looked at through the lens of Bleed.

Both of these EGO require Resonance to function properly, however considering the fact that just about every single bleed ID in the game has a lust skill (and most of the ones that don't aren't great as bleed units), this isn't too hard to achieve.

This EGO is more about dealing damage to enemies through the coins, rather than through the bleed itself, in fact, by maximizing the amount of damage the EGO can do, you minimize the amount of bleed that it inflicts, as it spreads the same amount of bleed across all targets evenly, and gains attack weight based on resonance.

I would prioritize Sanguine Desire over this EGO from the perspective on Bleed, however, if one already has a full team of bleed, especially one that does not use Rodion, then this EGO is quite appealing as an option, especially as Rodion does not have too many options for bleed ID, especially Compared to Ryoshu.

Other Bleed EGO:

Hex Nail Faust

This EGO inflicts nails, it is the only non N corp source of nails, however the alternative option for this slot is 9:2, which, whilst not a great EGO on its own, is a lust resonance EGO, synergizing with the prior 2 mentioned

The Blood of Sancho

Base Don EGO is useful. Moreso as a healing tool than a Bleed application tool, but then again, none of the EGO in this section are great at that. The Passive is very useful for sustain, especially if you are using Middle don which requires her to get hurt in order to maximize damage,

Wishing Cairn Don:

Wishing Cairn Don is one of the few EGO in the game which counts as three different status effects, Bleed, Tremor and Poise. Its bad at all three of these unfortunately. As Don lacks a Red Poise ID, she cant make too much use out of the crit conditional, nor the bleed conditional on passive. Her best tremor ID is extremely good at clashing and, as this EGO does not apply as much tremor as others, it has no purpose in general, other than to collect all three infinity stones in the mirror dungeon for fun.

Though this EGO is one of the few which is able to apply bleed count, its generally not the most useful. that being said, this remains Don's only method of applying Bleed count in general, as she lacks it in both of her Bleed ID's (base don and Midon)

Wingbeat Ishmael:

we just jumped from sinner 3 to sinner 8. this is what i mean when i said that bleed EGO dont exist.

This EGO was the first multi coin EGO, it has the lowest base power of any EGO in the game, the highest coin count of any skill in the game, and the highest non MD roll of any EGO I'm fairly sure. This EGO also marks the point in time which PM remembered that the tilde exists.

This EGO, though hard to fuel, as there is extremely little gluttony in a bleed team, is still wingbeat, and still the most potent EGO skill in the game.

What is Cast:

This EGO has no competition, if you need to win a clash on rodion, who you presumably are bringing for Sanguine Desire, but dont want to waste the EGO resources in using it to clash, then just use this, it works as a perfectly fine clash winner.

Impending Day Sinclair:

Self-Bleed on corrosion. just covering my non Holiday bases.

Ebony Stem Outis:

This EGO applies bleed on heads hits. This EGO, while certainly good, and synergizing with Outis's bleed ID of the Ring, is hard to fuel for the same reasons as Wingbeat. That being said, this is still, arguably, the best piercing AOE EGO in the game, and if you need

Suddenly One Day:

No.

Legerdemain Gregor:

you can apply maggots at a gluttony resonance change, there are almost no gluttony skills in a bleed team.

Other useful EGO:

Garden of thorns Gregor

This EGO is useful because its a lust affinity, absolute resonance based EGO skill. Its kind of Weird how the three best EGO for the Bleed team are all Lust affinity Slash Type Waw level skills.

My Form Empties Outis:

Wow, what a surprise, another lust-slash EGO skill for the resonance. as an additional note for Garden of Thorns, overclocking it while using it alongside this EGO makes for i think 5 Lust Fragility. If both of these come before Sanguine desire then that adds up to a lot of damage.

Bleed Teams:

There are a few options for a bleed team. there are bloody mist teams, where you simply use different ID's to fill the quota in a mirror dungeon, and then deal damage almost entirely through your skills.

The ID's for this would be the middle IDs and KK Hong Lu, however any and all bleed ID's work excellently for this strategy, go wild with any Bleed you can find, I've seen people run rabbit Heathcliff in this kind of team before and it truly cannot get worse than that (until overview 6)

there are Red Poise teams. where you aim to get both lucky pouch and Bloody mist, in order to make Ishmael's skill 3 roll higher than ABS or Wingbeat.

The Following are all the ID's that count as Red poise IDs:

The Pequod ID's. Ishmael, Yi Sang, and Heathcliff

Boy Love Faust and Sinclair

KK rodion

Twinhook Pirates Gregor

though not counted as one of the five Bleed ID's, Boy Love Meursault's counter 2, To claim their Bones, is effected by Bloody mist, and is treated as part of his skill 3, meaning that it is effected by Lucky Pouch.

And finally there are the true, non Mirror Dungeon, Bleed based teams.

for these teams you want to have a majority of the Core ID's for the team: In order of priority:

Ring Yi Sang: this ID is able to deal absurd damage, apply bleed count, apply bleed potency, and has a skill 2 which is lust affinity, meaning that it is more available for lust resonance.

Rhino Meursault: additional source of Gloom resources, main source of slash damage, good application of Bleed count.

Harpooner Heathcliff: Though he doesn't seem like a great unit on his own, he becomes incredibly consistent when paired with a bleed team, allowing him to reliably stack Poise and, through that, apply bleed count. Its because of him primarily that the next option is on the list.

Captain Ishmael: Though not herself a great unit, through the absolute destruction caused by her S3, and through Pride resonance, she is able to enable not only Heathcliff, but also Rhino Meursault as it allows him to theoretically get charge quicker.

If you for some reason made it all the way to the bottom... thank you? I don't expect people to read what i write often and I'm not a confident writer overall so from the bottom of my heart thank you for reading all the way through this.

Me below:

literally's literal illiteracy in literature

If you enjoyed reading this you can find more things I have written above. Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for things that i could improve on or that i should write about, be sure to ask.

[vro0m]

Hi

I just wanted to comment on what you said about how cars aren’t made for any particular driver and that teams just make the best possible(fastest) car. I think Mercedes have always been fair with their drivers and their never seemed favouritism over car development (?). Both Rosberg and Bottas seemed to enjoy driving their cars and so it doesn’t look like Mercedes favour Lewis.

However that’s not always the case in other teams… redbulls own staff confirmed that they never gave Alex the car that he wanted and in his recent players tribune profile he said that both cars we’re developed to max’s preference and you just had to accept it. Pierre also struggled in the same car. I think when teams get drivers who like their cars set up in a similar way you won’t find contention but teams don’t always do their research. For example, Charles and Carlos both complained about the car last season and when the car was steered toward Carlos preferences in the second half of the season Charles complained but it was too late.

Hi! So nope, still not true.

I'm gonna put my answer under a cut because it got long with the screenshots and all.

What I was looking for for like 30 minutes was this thread, written by a space engineer on twitter, and retweeted on my TL by several F1-related people such as Blake, from the EngineBreaking podcast, who's an ex-F1 engineer. Now the thread is about feedback, balance and development but here's what caught my attention :

"[...] first part of the answer is, the pilot isn't an engineer. It might seem obvious but not really. He isn't the one who's deciding how to build the car, and even if he can make suggestions, he's not the one calling the shots in the end.

Indeed, someone's favorite driving style isn't necessary the fastest and a faster car doesn't necessarily mean more comfortable to drive. The RB16 is an excellent example of this."

"The designers explained that Max masked the major design issues the car had, which became invisible on data and which the engineers get any feedback on because it didn't bother him. They only understood that very late.

And while it wasn't an issue for him, we saw his teammates struggle one by one. Albon compared the sensitivity of that car to someone setting the sensitivity of their mouse to the maximum to play an FPS game."

And indeed : here's an article about it.

RBR didn't make the car that way for Max. They made it that way, and it just so happens that Max, who is incredibly talented and incredibly adaptable, was able to drive it very fast anyway, to the point they didn't notice they were developing it in a bad direction until very late.

If you go down that road, Max is actually the perfect counter-example to what you're trying to argue. It's not that RBR made a car for him, it's that he's precisely so adaptable that it didn't matter that the car had a major flaw.

As I said the team builds the fastest possible car. That's what they did. The car was flawed. Fact. But they had a driver who could drive it to its fastest anyway, so why change it? That's what people interpret as "they designed it this way for him". But still, they didn't. They designed it this way and he could drive it, so he did. And they didn't correct the flaw because it didn't matter. Even if the other driver was struggling, unfortunately. In that sense, yes, they favoured Max over Pierre and Alex, but they didn't design the car to favour him. The chronological order goes the other way around. Ultimately, they decided it was more important for their results that Max go as fast as he could than risk slowing him down a tad for his teammate to catch up a bit. I find it arguable to say the least that this was the right decision, but still, they did not design the car for him.

ETA : ultimately what the article I linked say is precisely that even if it fit him and he could drive it and well, they ultimately had to stop developing in this direction because it was taking it too far so. yeah.

The whole bit about Ferrari developing the car to fit Carlos being pure rumours and speculations, I will not comment on it.

[organ-market]

What Makes Monster Prom Special? | Love Letter and Review

By Ghost Emoji 👻

Monster Prom, 2018

In 2018, the first installment in the Monster Prom series exploded onto the internet and made some major waves in its wake. Monster Prom, developed by Barcelona-based studio Beautiful Glitch, is a multiplayer visual novel where you (and up to three other friends) run around school, courting different monster characters in hopes of asking your crush out to the big prom. Since its release, the game has spawned two sequels, with the third one coming soon. Its sequels take various different spins on this core structure, but it always remains a humorous, multiplayer romp that friends gather on a couch, or a Discord call, to laugh and have a good time. 

Monster Prom’s creator, Julián Quijano, was inspired by a different game with a very similar gameplay structure called The Yawhg, where rather than kiss hot monsters with your friends, you try to save a town from an impending evil. Monster Prom takes the multiplayer narrative adventure of The Yawhg and runs with it to blend internet humor and pop culture references with the hilarity of a multiplayer dating sim, all the while backed by the beautiful art of Arthur Tien.

To me, the game itself feels less like an actual game I want to play and more like a fun activity or experience to share amongst a group of friends. The game’s stated objective is to successfully ask out one of the game’s several romanceable monsters to the prom, but in truth I’ve never felt too bad about being rejected in the game. Winning doesn’t really matter as much as having fun with some close friends, and honestly, I don’t find myself playing the game alone anyway. For my group, it’s practically mandatory that we voice each of the in game characters. Getting into the characters, the weird scenarios, and making funny voices are what make playing Monster Prom so special to me.

Beyond the excellent writing, characters, and art, I think that is what makes Monster Prom resonate with so many people. It is beloved because it can be shared and experienced communally, which is what differentiates it from other visual novels that usually are much more solitary undertakings. The multiplayer aspect to Monster Prom is essential to its success. So even if your fictional monster crush tossed you into the gutter, you and your friends are still laughing along and are ready to play another round.

Spooky Academy, the setting of Monster Prom

That being said, the game is not without its faults. I really do wish the game had a save feature, at least as a contingency. It’s a real shame when the power cuts out, your computer crashes, or somebody has to leave early and you aren’t able to just pick up where you left off, especially if you’re already halfway through the game. This issue is exacerbated by the length of the games, which in of itself isn’t a real flaw. The games always offer a short and long mode, but even so, the game can easily take up 40-50 minutes even on the short mode, especially if you and your friends want to voice the characters (which I really recommend). The Monster Prom franchise as a whole isn’t really for everyone either. Humor is inherently subjective, so if you aren’t laughing at the jokes, you won’t be having a good time since comedy takes the front and center of this game.

Those general flaws are prominent throughout each of the games, so if you like one, you’re sure to like the other ones. The third game in the franchise, Monster Road Trip, is the only one that strays from the dating format. While romance takes a back seat, you instead try to balance your different stats, ensuring none of them reach 0. It’s also the only game where you can lose before its conclusion, and the only one where you lose collectively as a team. I’ve played about two or three rounds of Road Trip and that’s not enough for me to make a solid opinion on it, so for now I really recommend the first two games, Monster Prom and Monster Camp. There’s a tremendous amount of content throughout all the games and enough scenarios to ensure you won’t get bored anytime soon.

My advice for those interested in the game is to just grab the game with the cast you prefer, or even try out the free demos available on Steam. The games themselves are relatively cheap, all priced around $12 USD, but the first game goes on sale frequently for dirt cheap. It’s an interesting and exciting game, and I really hope more games like it follow. Multiplayer narrative video games feel like an untapped gold mine of possibility. You frequently see the genre explored naturally in the world of tabletop gaming, so I’m eager to see what the virtual world has in store for bold new storytelling.

-Ghost Emoji 👻

[thenationaltreasuregazette]

t do you thinknof them replacing The Wibberlys with a different writer after they wrote both films and the series?

Hey Emmi!

Thanks for your question.

Alright, this might be an unpopular opinion but...I think that was the right choice.

As explored in my initial breakdown of the 2003 script, National Treasure was the result of many creative voices, with the Wibberlys being the final writing team who took the story over the finish line into production. Their voice was an important addition to the project...but it is not the project.

For example, we've also explored just how fundamentally the casting of Nicolas Cage and Diane Kruger affected the tone of the story.

And honestly? I know you don't agree, but to me Book of Secrets and Edge of History are both fundamentally flawed stories, both as sequels to National Treasure and as narratives in their own right. They are missing something, missing some of the quintessential oomph that makes National Treasure special.

After BoS it could have been argued that the sequel was made on too quick a turnaround to fully develop the story--this is incredibly common when movies are popular enough for the studio to want a sequel in short order. The story is, in my opinion, woefully underbaked, but like, I get it. That happens.

It's EoH that confirmed my suspicions that they were not the right team for these later projects. It's clunky. It fails to explore the world in a meaningful way. I want to like Jess. I want to care about the hunt but the story is just not all there for me.

Again, the Wibberlys had a major disadvantage. This was only the second TV show they've created. The other was a USA original that ran for 12 episodes...in 2012 when USA was still in its blue sky era and ran popular shows for as many 22 episodes as they could. Their other show, Common Law, was not the kind of Netflix miniseries 1-season darling we're used to now. It simply flopped.

So the Wibberlys aren't good at writing TV shows. That's, again, fine. It's a different skill set, and I have rarely seen treasure hunts work in ongoing narratives like that anyway? The genre excels as tight one-off narratives. It's hard to keep the excitement going without dragging things out in between clues...something with EoH is incredibly guilty of.

That in of itself does not mean they shouldn't write another NatTreas film.

But they are also not that good at writing National Treasures, because 2/3 of the National Treasure franchise is not that good.

I don't think just because they made the other one means they should get to make every property going forward. Sometimes new voices make stories stronger and bring in new ideas. Yes, sometimes they also make them worse and miss the mark of what was beloved about the original. But again, I think the Wibberlys' followups are already missing that mark so might as well try something different.

That's one of my favorite things about Scooby-Doo, btw. Like Sherlock Holmes and certain other long-running properties, there's just so damn much of it that if you don't like one creative team's take, you can just wait for the next one.

However, while I adore the first Pirates of the Carribean--Can an action-adventure movie be more perfect than Curse of the Black Pearl? Probably not--Ted Elliot was also one of the story-by credits on BoS.

So if you're worried, the franchise is still very much "in the family."

If you wanted more fresh voices, eh, we'll see.

On the plus side, this one seems to be getting plenty of development space, which at least avoids any rushed-to-production problems faced by BoS

God can you imagine Jerry Bruckheimer liking your shit enough to just...wait for it?

So, there you go. That's my take.

Your thoughts?

[poliwhirl42]

Hi! What is your opinion on every pokemon season (by region) or at least the ones you have watched?

Oh man, a great question! I'll try to condense my thoughts about each into a few sentences but you should probably prepare for a novel haha:

Kanto: Honestly, when I watch the Original Series, I actually prefer watching the Orange Islands and Johto over the first season (I'll get to why in the next section). I think the first season is incredibly nostalgic to watch and has some of the most iconic moments in the entire anime, and the rest of the Pokemon anime wouldn't exist without it as a foundation, so I have to give it credit. Aside from most of the gym battles being kinda stupid, I do wish they'd followed up on lore they introduced that could've been incredibly interesting to explore, like Ash's childhood/his father's whereabouts, Jessie's mom, the Mewtwo/Mew stuff and other Team Rocket history from the CD drama, etc. But I also realize that the writers were just getting their bearings with making an anime adaptation in the midst of a rapidly-growing cultural phenomenon based off a video game, so I recognize the challenges and uncertainties that came along with that. Also quickly adding I highly enjoyed Orange Islands and my Pokeshipping heart revisits certain episodes from time to time as well.

Johto: Those who know me well know I LOVE the Johto series. I'm actually in the middle of a rewatch of it. Definitely rewatching it in full nowadays though, has definitely made me recognize that this series was far from perfect, but looking past its writing flaws, it's just purely entertaining for me. The English voice actors really found their voices and added so much to their characters, especially with the dialogue and the creative liberties they took in creating the dub. I like how certain backstories like Jessie's were explored a bit more in Johto as well, and I definitely think the gym battles were taken a little more seriously than they were in the first season. There were also some GREAT Brock episodes which I highly appreciated, and I never tire of watching the Butch and Cassidy episodes (aka the fortune telling one and the Lugia Arc). Also, Gary and Ash's battle in the League is my second favorite League battle of all time behind Ash VS Paul. Johto is also not only my favorite region but is also home to my favorite Pokemon opening song/OST of all time, and I generally just loved the vibes with this series where not every episode or scene had to be jam-packed with action every single second. It was nice to have episodes of them helping out a Character-of-the-Day or visiting a city or just laying in the grass taking a nap after camping out or having lunch. When I think of a Pokemon journey, those in-between moments are for me just as special as the action-packed high stakes moments. I definitely recognize the downside of this, though, because I do recognize that the constant repetitive pattern of Johto's plotlines in many episodes was fatiguing for many fans who wanted to see something different, and as much as I enjoy watching it, I agree. Johto itself is so RICH with its history and traditional Japanese roots and culture and it really felt like the writers shied away from integrating Ash's journey with a lot of the Johto game lore. It would've been cool to have characters like Jimmy and Marina interact with Ash, perhaps have Silver be introduced, and I also think they really dropped the ball on having characters like Casey and Ritchie be rivals in the Silver Conference. This is getting long though lol so onto AG next!

Advanced Generation: AG to me is like the underrated gem of the pokeani series. I think sometimes it slips through the cracks because it's not as "nostalgic" as OS but not as "hyped up" as XY or DP are. I really like AG a lot even though I don't talk about it much, but I do admittedly feel like several episodes or arcs at least in Hoenn are kind of forgettable to me or lackluster- the two major ones that come to mind are the Hoenn League and the Aqua/Magma arc, both of which should've been FAR more exciting and entertaining. DESPITE THAT THOUGH, I thought the group of four- Ash, Brock, May and Max was incredibly entertaining and brought a whole new dynamic which was different from the OG trio's. I also loved May assuming the role of dual protagonist and absolutely loved the concept of contests! I love Contestshipping and adored every moment May's rivals appeared on screen with their quips and banter. Her growth in this series was fantastic and her battle with Drew at the end of Battle Frontier was chef's kiss. Ash himself, this is actually my favorite portrayal of Ash as he's such a little egotistical brat in Hoenn- other people don't like this as much but I still eat it up, like you just wanna punch him but he's so funny. The battles were also SO MUCH BETTER in AG; I loved little scenes where Ash was teaching his pokemon new moves and actively training alongside them; really showed he was getting more and more serious about being a Pokemon trainer.

Diamond and Pearl: Aside from Johto, DP is my favorite series and is actually the series that was currently airing when I first became fully invested in the Pokemon anime (I did not watch it much as a child), so it's very nostalgic for me. I love almost everything about it, between Dawn continuing the dual protagonist role, contests still being included, Ash's entire team, Paul being an amazing rival, the Sinnoh League being amazing and still my favorite League, rivals like Conway, Zoey, Kenny, Ursula, Nando, and Barry all being awesome in their own ways, so many fun arcs like the summer camp arc, Wallace Cup, Hearthome Tag Battle, Team Galactic's major involvement, Brock's development leading up to him becoming a Pokemon Doctor...I can't get enough of this series. The only thing I don't like is probably the giant amount of filler episodes they really didn't need at certain points and the gaps between Ash's gym battles; even though I love it to pieces like I do Johto, I agree that similarly both did not need to be drawn out as long as they did.

Best Wishes: Besto Wishes!!! So aside from me blabbering on about how much I love Burgundy, gosh I absolutely love BW. There are some things about it I will unfortunately never be able to forgive- like the confirmation of Ash being 10, the Rocket/Plasma arc being canceled, and basically the soft-reboot essentially making all of Ash's development pre-BW for naught. But gosh was this series so refreshing in other ways. Iris and Cilan, both amazing characters, offered a new dynamic with Ash that the previous characters didn't and I will die on this hill disagreeing with everyone who says that Misty and Brock are just like Iris and Cilan. I think Iris out of all the Pokegirls actually had the BEST portrayal of a backstory and I like the development she received. I also love that Ash rotated between pokemon that he caught, aside from his DP team I'm also very attached to his BW and loved all their starkly different personalities. BW was just so much FUN to watch. I go back so many times to rewatch the fun Battle Club arcs and I definitely think the rivals made the series so entertaining. I wish they had explored the connoisseur thing more and wish that Cilan had gotten way more episodes than he did. I wish his rivalry with Burgundy had been explored more as well, and honestly I think they could've done without the Decolore Islands arc. I really wish they had just stayed in Unova and had characters like Georgia and Burgundy return at least one final time since they weren't present for the Unova League. I could say a lot more of course but again don't wanna make this a novel so moving on...~

XY: XY is unfortunately the series I've seen the least of and it's known to be well...not one of my favorites lol. I have a lot of issues with the way Ash is portrayed which is why it's taken me so long to watch it. I have, ironically, seen all of XYZ though, and think the Team Flare arc is the absolute greatest villain arc in the entire series. But I'm still working through all the previous stuff! I was in college when XY aired, so I had unfortunately missed a lot of parts due to being so busy, but it also has its own layer of nostalgia for me, mainly because it was between BW-XY when I first came into the Pokeani fandom on Tumblr and was introduced to a variety of incredible friends, many of which I've now met in person and am still close with to this day. One day I hope to sit down and just power through all of it, because despite some of the issues I have, I know that it has so many good moments and is absolutely gorgeously animated. Also Sawyer is best boy he's my fave and his battle with Ash was one of the best things I've ever seen (my 3rd favorite battle ever).

Sun and Moon: Sun and Moon is simultaneously hilarious and depressing as hell, and I absolutely love it. I don't know if I can say too much because it's been a VERY long time since I've watched SM. It was the first series I watched consistently as it was airing but I also had a lot of stuff going on IRL so by the end I had dropped off just a little bit against my own will. Nonetheless I love so many things about it, between the humor, Ash's found family in Kukui/Burnet, Ash's team, the TRio's team and being so entertaining in this series, Team Skull/Guzma (I find Guzma very attractive lol), and of course Ash winning the Alola League which was amazing to experience and be part of that moment! I love the concept of family in this series and it's just so incredibly heartwarming, hilarious, AND heartwrenching all in one. I really need to do a rewatch of it though.

JN: I'm biting my tongue but I really do not like Journeys lol. I don't really wanna talk about it haha it makes me sad that everything I wanted to happen in the future didn't and it was just so poorly written. The only episodes I like honestly are Lillie/Gladion's return and Paul's return.

I KNOW A LOT OF THIS IS KINDA ALL OVER THE PLACE AND DISJOINTED BUT PLEASE ENJOY MY THOUGHTS and feel free to add yours as well!

[ninetqs]

oh definitely 2022 was not only on him; a major part in it was probably how he may have lost confidence and trust in the team that he clearly loved so so much. i think the level of confidence we see now in charles is a testament as to how strong he’s gotten as well, because pre-2022, though charles was already steadfast and confident despite his team underperforming, it had never really gotten to the point where it felt like the team could no longer be trusted with any semblance of communication or teamwork. in 2022 it’s easy to see how any driver’s confidence and mental fortitude could take a hit from what ferrari had been doing, and until around mid-2023 there were so many changes in ferrari that it’s also understandable to see why any driver would have felt a little lost. but it’s crazy to see how charles had eventually built back his confidence and resolve mid-2023 until now. now i feel like after surviving the horrors of 2022, it would be really really really difficult to make charles waver or crumble in any way.

i apologize for rambling !!! i just feel like one of charles’s least appreciated characteristics is his strength. indeed, he’s a bit more privileged than many other drivers in motorsports, but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s had to go through so much as well to be where he is now, and i just think it’s so lovely for him to have come out of everything with such grace.

don't apologise for rambling at all!! i think it's nice to share your opinion, if only because sometimes in online spaces, it's easy to feel isolated in your views. people often hesitate to express themselves, so actually, i think "rambling" and sharing your opinion is important <- idk if this makes sense. it does in my head

anyway i completely agree, it really pisses me off when people say one of charles' flaws is that he isn't mentally strong. i like to use seb as an example: i know some people attribute seb's mental break during his final ferrari years to charles, and while i don't think that's entirely wrong, i see charles more as the final nail in the coffin of what actually started in the 2017/2018 seasons. like... we've seen how other great drivers have reacted to ferrari screwing them over, plus the mistakes they made under that pressure. imho, charles has handled it the best of all of them

i think charles' main mental flaw is impatience, which he has said himself many times. in the car this can cloud his judgment, and while it was especially obvious in 2022, it's still an issue this year. that said i'm not too concerned about it because the team is overall much stronger now and there's less burden on the drivers to make strategic decisions (or bear the burden of a strategic failure) than under binotto

[witchymarvelspacecase]

Spread You Wings Pt. 15: Déjávu

Summary: Reader is a HYDRA experiment (like the Maximoffs, but not voluntary) who grows wings (like Angel from X-Men). She escapes, and is now trying to rescue and prevent further kidnappings and experiments.

Word Count: 3011

Warnings: Cursing, mentions of violence… honestly, I’m not even sure anymore

Surreal didn’t begin to describe landing on that clifftop in Siberia.  

As you’d flown in, you’d filled in as much of your building plan as you could. It looked like they had left the structure alone for the most part, adding security and cameras, but not altering the layout much. 

It was clearly another set up; the entire building was full of what looked like completely empty, useless rooms that locked from the outside. Rooms meant to draw attention, and trap anyone who investigated. 

You didn’t look around much as you jogged from the jet you and Clint had flown in across the snow towards the team. Just the sound of your footsteps crunching in the snow had memories tapping at the back of your mind, but you forced them back. You followed Clint into the other jet and stood just inside the door. Once the two of you stepped on board, the cloaking was reengaged, keeping the jet invisible to the outside, but allowing the occupants to see out. You kept your back to the interior wall, but stood so that you had a line of sight to the outside as well. 

When asked, you had HERMES and FRIDAY project your augmented map into the space in front of the team. 

“If I had to guess, Bucky would be somewhere in this level,” you said, indicating a level that the AIs highlighted. “It’s the most secure.” If they were to attempt to reprogram Bucky, their equipment would likely have been brought there.

The team immediately began talking strategy, but each strategy had at least one major flaw. If it wasn’t the fact that they would be completely mobbed by guards, it was that they were going to get the building locked down, or possibly blown up while they were all inside. It was all you could do to point these flaws out without pulling your hair out, but you kept your composure, until you couldn’t anymore.

All this talking, it was taking too much time; time that you were fairly sure Bucky didn’t have. For all you knew, Bucky could have already been removed from the compound. Or he could be strapped into whatever torture devices HYDRA had stored in this shithole. Or-

Nope. You were done. 

As slowly as possible, you edged your way out of the team’s line of sight. You kept your movements small and slow until you were around the back of the jet, then you broke into a sprint.The door to the compound was open from where the team had entered before, so it was quick and easy to slip in. At the elevator shaft you stopped.

“HERMES, what floor is the lift on?” you asked quietly.

“It seems to be on the bottom of the shaft mistress.”

“Cut the power to it.”

“Done”

Using both your arms and your legs, you were able to pry the doors apart just enough to edge your body through. You released your wings and just as your feet stepped into the open shaft, spread them as wide as you could to hold a hover at the platform, making sure the doors shut behind you, keeping anyone from sneaking up behind.

Slowly and carefully, you lowered yourself through the shaft, counting the floors as they passed, until you were at the correct level. There was a tiny ledge between the doors and where the elevator would have stopped, but it wasn’t wide enough to do more than rest your toes on. You kept pumping your wings as you pried the doors apart again, they were much harder to open from this side, and holding a hover while doing so had sweat pouring down your back, but you managed. As you slipped between the open doors and into the hallway beyond, the doors closed themselves faster than you were anticipating and caught your wings.

The fine bones in your wings were stronger than birds wings, but you could feel the sharp pains signaling near breaks, and hairline fractures. You drew them in as quickly as you could, berating yourself for not being more careful.

As you stepped fully into the hallway, you froze. This… this was the floor you’d lived on. 19 steps away exactly was the door to your testing cell. Through the door at the back of that room, and 10 steps further down another hallway was the door to the room in which you’d spent the majority of your life, trapped. So many memories of your time with HYDRA had taken place within the confines of this floor. How many times had you been dragged, half-conscious, down this hallway? You shivered.

“HERMES, scan for thermal signatures,” you thought to the AI, no longer daring to speak out loud.

“None on this floor mistress. There are, however, several in a room to the left and above you,” he replied.

“Air vents,” you began searching for the access vent. Of course, the nearest access you could find was just above your head. Typical. Digging into the pockets of your tactical pants, you pulled out the swiss army knife you’d tucked there. Air vents, even in evil lairs, were attached with screws. And a screwdriver was always useful even if there were no screws; they made perfectly serviceable stabbing tools.

You jumped and grabbed the grate covering the vent. Holding yourself that way for a moment before releasing your wings again. You used them to provide the occasional boost as you released the vent cover, letting the vent grate drop to the floor as you levered your body up into the space that was just a bit too small for comfort. A person would fit there, barely, but a person with wings? Not so much. It took a moment to get yourself into a stable position while hiding your wings again and sliding fully into the vent. 

“Movies make this look a lot easier than it is,” you thought as you army-crawled along the very small tunnel. It was almost funny how you had to twist and contort your body into the vertical shaft. It would have been hilarious to watch and you would have laughed in any other situation. Finally standing, you pressed your forearms and lower legs into the walls of the shaft and slowly inched your way up. It would have been a breeze if you could have used your wings, but the space was far too tight, so inchworm it was.

“Y/N, where the hell are you?”

“HERMES, please inform Captain America that I am currently crawling through an air vent and cannot speak at the moment,” even your thoughts sounded snippy. Oh well. 

You reached a junction and crawled into the horizontal shaft, following the amalgamated map you had asked HERMES to project for you of your memories, and his heat reading.

“Son of a bitch! We need a plan first Y/N!”

“Bit busy at the moment, whine at me later.” Apparently HERMES took it upon himself to convey your thought because laughter and more curses followed.

“Where am I in relation to the heat signatures now?” HERMES informed you that you were now just above them. You slid along the shaft until you hit the next vent. “How many heat signatures are in the room below me right now?”

“One Mistress.”

You attempted to be quiet while removing the grate, but with no access to the screw heads, your best bet was to slip your fingers through the venting and hold on to it while you hit it sharply from the inside. You managed to keep the grate from hitting the floor, and when no shouts followed your pounding, you maneuvered the grate up into the shaft with you and cautiously peaked your head out of the hole you’d made.

HERMES was right, there was only one person in the room. And that person wasn’t going to be stopping you cause they were strapped into the weirdest looking chair you’d ever seen. 

You were not incredibly graceful clambering out of the vent, but since the person in the chair had a bag over their head and seemed to be unconscious, there was no need to worry about appearances. You looked around the room and found the door. You had nothing to block it with, so you had to hope no one would attempt to come in, or that they at least didn’t bring too many friends along with them.

There was nothing in the room aside from the chair. No two way mirror, no torture devices, nothing. Just the person, a man, strapped into the freaky chair. Finally looking back at the person in the chair, you peeked under the bag and swore. Bucky. 

“Tell the others I’ve found him, and transmit images,” you thought as you looked for some way to release the straps.

“Careful, Y/N. If they’ve done what I think they have, he may not wake up the same person he was,” Steve’s voice was restrained, but you knew this was probably killing him.

“Mistress, two heat signatures are approaching the door” HERMES’ calm voice announced.

“Shit.” There was nowhere to hide in the room so you slid quickly to the wall with the door and positioned yourself so the door would swing in front of you, blocking you from view for a moment. 

The two people approaching were clearly unafraid of Bucky, restrained as he was, but only one of them came into the room. The other remained outside, guarding the door. Good news for you, if you could keep the struggle quiet and quick you would only have to take one at a time.

The man who entered the room didn't swing the door all the way open, but it came within an inch of the toes of your boots before it began to swing closed again. It looked like the man was wearing a lab coat; so he was either an observer or a tester, neither was a good option. Fortunately he wouldn't be a problem much longer.

Not pausing to draw a knife, you pushed off the wall and launched yourself at the man standing in front of Bucky. Upon reaching him, you immediately put as much of your weight as you could into pressing down on the top of his head, compressing his spine before you grabbed his chin and violently jerked his chin to the side. The dry popping sound seemed insanely loud in the room, but you managed to catch the body before it hit the ground, and the guard at the door made no move to enter.

Now, the question was, should you try to remove Bucky from the torture chair now, or wait until the other guard came in?

"We aren't killers, Y/N.” You'd forgotten the others were watching. and Steve's gruff chiding was unwelcome.

You didn't go out of your way to kill, but right then you had few weapons, no restraints available, and any noise could have drawn the guard’s notice. If Steve wanted to judge your actions, so be it; he wasn't there with you.

"You can bitch me out later," you thought, knowing HERMES would translate, "but I am here, and I'm gonna get Bucky out. Help, or shut up!" 

“There's only one guard outside, right?" Natasha spoke up. You gave her the affirmative. "You can handle them if necessary, but I'd suggest moving Barnes while you can"

"Easier said than done," you thought ruefully.

As quietly as possible, you moved the body so that it blocked the door. No, It wouldn't stop anyone determined to get in, but it would slow them down. 

Bucky hadn't made a sound, and his head was tilted slightly, making him appear asleep, but you approached cautiously. You pulled the cover off his head and inhaled sharply. Cuts & bruises covered his face, clearly HYDRA wasn't concerned about the condition of their Soldier, so long as he was back under their care.

A litany of curses, in multiple languages, ran through your mind as you quickly scanned the chair Bucky was strapped to. It was mechanical, but you couldn't see an obvious power source, or a way to release the chair's occupant.

"HERMES, override?"

"Searching, Mistress."

You circled the chair seeing very few exposed wires, you could pull them, but since you were unsure what sort of reaction that would cause, you left that as a last resort.

"Ideas?" you asked the group.

"Working on it," Natasha replied.

"I've never seen the thing myself, Buck's told me about it, but he was never lucid enough when they used it to tell me much about how it works." Steve sounded calm, but you could imagine the frustration this must be causing him.

On your second pass. you found what looked like a control panel, but of course, none of the damn switches were labeled.

"Override located.”

"Thank Fuck." There was no way you were going to test any of those switches.

Following HERMES' instructions, you had the restraints popping open in moments, but Bucky was still unconscious. You looked up at the ventilation shaft you'd climbed through to get in. That was the safest route out, but how in the fuck would you get an unconscious super soldier wth a metal arm up there? The chair could boost you a bit, but not enough. 

Taking a deep breath, you released your wings again, wincing at the no longer negligible you felt from the still healing wounds, and the new possible fractures from the elevator. You pushed yourself into a hover just above the floor. "This is gonna suck." Beating your tender wings had pain rippling over your back and tears pricking your eyes, but you did it. 

Gripping Bucky at the waist, you pushed past the pain, and forced your body to rise until your head brushed the ceiling. Slowly & clumsily you maneuvered Bucky's lower body into the vent shaft, orienting his body in the direction opposite your destination so you could drag him along instead of trying to push him ahead of you. 

His shoulders had just passed into the vent, finally allowing you to grab hold of the opening and let your wings to drop, when the guard knocked on the door and called inside. 

Forcing your wings to recede had you biting back a scream. Your arms shook violently as you pulled your body into the shaft as quickly as possible. Tears were pouring down your face and a scream was rapped in your throat, but there was no time for you to even catch your breath.

"We're out of time," you alerted the team as you contorted your body to grab ahold of Bucky's outstretched arms. You'd shifted Bucky's body beyond the opening by the time you heard the guard force open the door. He was not quiet in his discovery of his downed colleague, immediately calling a lockdown. He apparently did not notice, or bother wondering exactly how their prize prisoner had managed to escape, but it didn't matter, the whole complex would be shut down.

When you'd been kept in the compound before, you had only attempted to use the vents once; you’d chosen the wrong route on that attempt and had been caught quickly. There was no telling whether or not HYDRA had bothered to put any protections in their vent system since then, but you had no choice but to continue to pull Bucky along the shaft with you. 

A map showing the route you had taken to find Bucky appeared over your field of vision. 

You were sweating and shaking by the time you closed in on your exit; it had taken way longer to leave than it had to break in. Not only were you dragging a very heavy supersoldier along with you, but you kept having to freeze in place whenever you heard activity around you, unsure if the guards would be able to hear you. You'd had HERMES project the location of your exit from the vents to the rest of the team during your inchworm journey out, and you let them know you were approaching the drop. 

In order to get out of the shaft, you would have to move your body past the opening, drop your legs down, and then drop into the vertical shaft, pulling Bucky down with you. The shaft was too narrow to try a controlled slide with two people, and the sharp metal lips where the vent sections joined together would slice your back to ribbons. And it was too tall for anyone to be able to reach up and grab Bucky from below. If you hadn't had Bucky with you. you would have climbed down, but it was way too tight to manage a climb carrying someone, let alone an unconscious someone. 

You slid yourself into position, legs dangling in the opening, and waited for your signal. You could hear shouts and weapons firing below you, so you knew a fight was raging, but you had no way to help without leaving Bucky unprotected. Adrenaline made it hard to regulate your breathing, but you made an effort.

"Now!" 

Several, if not most, of the sharp joins caught you as you fell, ripping into your clothing and skin. When your feet hit the floor, a jarring wave of pain shot up your legs, but it wasn't nearly as bad as when all of Bucky's considerable weight crashed down on top of you moments later. The others provided cover fire as you rolled slightly and shifted Bucky off of you. 

Tears still coursing down your cheeks, you braced one hand and one knee on the ground as you pushed through the now agonizing pain and released your wings. Something was definitely broken now, but you forced them wide. Looking down the hall, you spotted the avengers slowly pulling back to your position. As they slid back, Sam kicked one of the fallen enemy’s guns to you, you snapped it up and aimed at the shadowy figures ducking in and out of doorways.

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