#rhodes island pharmaceuticals

[exoticalmonde]

DOCTORS OF RHODES ISLAND, PLEASE, MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION

Those of you who are self-insert and those who have created a dedicated OC, or those who have managed other means to enjoy the being of the Doctor,

Blow up the comments with information on your Doctors and why you chose your class/did you pick abilities?

*I forgot the word is 'class'....

Which class is your Doctor...

[exoticalmonde]

The real Laterano experience with @corvoshomeboi is when you're at church and suddenly the marble stars vibrating

Doctor Lundi is not afraid of doing a little bit of crime when it comes to getting her patron firearm to accept her again. Her Head Assistant has given up on convincing her what is right and wrong. The other assistants have already learned not to ask questions and merely follow her whims, since they have been here for longer than Uncle Nearl.

[kc5rings]

Saw some discussion about it so I’ve been thinking about Arknights designs and what sets it apart for me/why it got me in the first place and I think it really comes down to the designs on the 3 star units, Beagle, Kroos, and Fang in particular. (Hibiscus too but to a lesser extent for reasons I’ll get to in a sec)

The low star units are gonna be most peoples first exposure to the games designs, especially when I first started at launch and the pool of units was just way smaller in general. I remember thinking it was cool that they all had company logo’s/ID’s etc to group them together, even if out the gate I didn’t what RI really was or did yet, they clearly belonged to the same group

Getting several three stars out the gate I appreciated seeing that Hibiscus, my first medic, was wearing the same kind of blue exam gloves that I’d used in my previous career in the medical field. It felt like a good bit of attention to detail, the medic wearing realistic gloves despite the otherwise tacticool designs, neat!

But I then remember noticing it on Fang first, and then on Kroos and Beagle as well as I gathered my starting roster, they all wore those same nitrile exam gloves I was familiar with. Now it made sense for the medic but why was my frontline Lancer wearing medic equipment?

Of course shortly after that early confusion I continued the story and learned more about what Rhodes is, a medical company first and foremost. It was very cool to me to realize that the groundwork for what kind of place RI is was laid in my mind by that small practical character detail

Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company, so it’s basic rank and file are reminiscent of medical first responders. Those gloves aren’t practical for wielding a spear or firing a crossbow, but they are evocative of what Rhodes is here to do so the feeling comes across and circles back around to seeming practical

A friend of mine who works in game dev occasionally says “people don’t want realism as often as they say they do, they want believable.” and I think this is a good example of that for me. Those gloves make me believe the person wearing them is here to do medical relief or give aid despite wielding a spear, shield or crossbow

They say to me “I’m here to help”

There’s been some highs and lows of designs since then, but I think that detail of the three star designs is what really sold me on the practicool vibes Arknights uses a lot and why I’ve come to enjoy it in some of their other looks

[zeravmeta]

i sincerely believe there is some mid 20s burnout minimum wage intern volunteer worker on rhodes island who wakes up every morning and is reminded that the ceo of the paramilitary pharmaceutical company and legacy inheritor of the crown to rule the demon people of the world is 14

[freyalise]

why did rhodes island have to establish a paramilitary and intelligence gathering division in their pharmaceutical company. why didn't they simply go out and VOTE

[orquidborgo]

Well, I'm getting a fever and with a lot of ideas, so I'm going to write them here because I don't have anything better to do!

This are concepts/writing ideas I got that I have more or less the story made in my head but I never wrote it down because I don't have the confidence to publish anything (haha self esteem issues are so funny), so here they are:

Jake Muller, professional B.O.Wsitter

* I got this idea while reading a modern fantasy resident evil fanfic (where the wound drips venom from your soul), basically:

After the events of resident evil VI, Jake only accepted jobs that allowed him to fight B.O.W and protect people BUT that didn't get him a lot of money, with Sherry's birthday approaching he is thinking about taking a mercenary jobs that pays very well until he receives a call from Chris Redfield, go to the middle of nowhere in Nebraska(? I'm thinking about changing the location) on a mansion with everything paid to take care of 5 B.O.Ws, just not the way he though he would.

Perfect paintings

* I got this idea from reading a really short story from space marine husbandry (I think it was from @kit-williams, is a story about a custodes, idk I forgot, it was so long ago) but I never got the confidence to write it because I don't think I will write a good mystery piece that'll comply with my expectations:

Detective Arad Yilmaz approached the scene, this is the 4th murder this month, the murders follow a pattern: All of them were strangled to death, had long black hair, honey/light brown eyes, middle eastern heritage and where last seen interacting with a really tall astartes.

The location of the corpses leave a trail as if the murderer have been moving constantly, following the same movement as the chaos warbands path, now with this corpse being found by a Dark Angel the astartes want to take this matter in their own hands.

Will Arad be able to find the murderer, bring them to justice and avoid an all out war between astartes before is too late? The clock is ticking.

There is no home like the one your bonded is:

* After reading Cedric's story in space marine husbandry (I also forgot to say that Cedric belongs to @sleepyfan-blog, sorry) and watching the movie "Bolt" I got thinking, what happens when a space marine grows a bond with a human that lives in another country and is only visiting? So here it is:

Guillermo Testarossa is visiting the U.S.A for his winter vacation, following his aunt's advice to stave off boredom he ventures into the local astartes hospital with his aunt's bonded apothecary. There he meets an injured space wolf, the rest of his vacation he spends it talking and having fun with this astartes but not everything last forever and he has to comeback to his home country Argentina, saying his goodbyes and promising to comeback next year.

Unbeknownst to him, this space wolf will not wait an entire year, using a joke his brother-captain made as motivation, with a camera, a notepad and supplies on his back he embarks on a adventure walking from the U.S to Buenos Aires - Argentina to find his bonded, taking photos and recording everything he encounters in his journey. The only thing he knows is that his bonded lives in San Telmo, works in a coffee shop with private tango shows and studies electronic engineering.

Save us from ourselves

* I seriously need to read Magnus primarch novel because there is no way you are telling me a whole planet of highly trained psykers (this mfs have magic, mind you) with space travel technology didn't have a plan B to evacuate civilians in case of a invasion, and I also like Arknights a LOT so, this is kind of a crossover between 40k and arknights:

Rhode Island is an humanitarian/pharmaceutical organization that travels across space with the mission of saving psykers, protecting those infected with flesh change and find the cure of said illness, right know they have treatment and have developed technology to protect/stabilize psykers with it so they can live a normal life.

Marckus Ahriman is a young 16 year old field operator with signs of mutation and a big heart who wishes for a world where all psykers are free and flesh change is finally cured. In a fateful operation battling against a chaos incursion he finds a soul shard that "calls" to him, upon touching it he remembers: he Magnus the Red, primarch of the Thousand Sons and son of the Emperor of Mankind, or well... A shard of him.

My big... Primarch?: Friendship is Magic (this is a temporary title)

* I watched a few episodes of my little pony so this is a crack fic, don't mind it that much:

During her fight against Starlight Glimmer through timelines; Twilight Sparkle gets "knocked out", but when she wakes up again to try and stop Starlight, she ends up in Magnus's body as a baby. So is basically her dealing with 40k insanity, family issues and trying to go back to her home.

She would try to understand why the other primarchs are so apprehensive of magic and would try to befriend them: She would try and not use magic in front of Mortarion after knowing his trauma and help him through it the best she can, would cure Angron of his nails, Leman would finally like her because she gets tired of his bullshit and start throwing hands and things like that.

Magnus's regular day

* With how pridefull is Magnus about magic, I'm surprised he hasn't gotten in a lot of psychic shenanigans in "regular show" style, every chapter would be Magnus getting into a crazy adventure, sometimes pulling his brothers, any of his sons or a unfortunate custodes along the ride.

The Emperor, Malcador and Constantin are just... Done with his magical bullshit at some point and just let him be because they know that he'll somehow fix it at the end.

So... Yep. This is all I got.

[i-am-a-reunion-soldier]

hey hows rhodes island? ive been thinking of getting treatment from there but almost all of my gold certs are gone from fucking columbian healthcare man and i can barely swing a punch. idk what services i can offer for them but im just really desperate at this point...

no yeah Rhodes is probably the best there is right now in terms of oripathy treatment, and they've got plenty of non-combat positions so if you need work it's also not bad

like don't get me wrong I still don't think they're perfect or anything but as far as thier pharmaceutical stuff goes its actually pretty good

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

Why is Arknights set in Rhode Island?

The arknights world is mainly about the world being heavily affected by the disease oripathy. The game is mainly about a pharmaceutical company trying to bring treatment to oripathy infected. The company is named Rhodes Island, named after the Greek island of Rhodes, not the US state Rhode Island. According to the fandom wiki this is why it’s named that:

As far as I’m aware this is correct, and I certainly wouldn’t know otherwise. I hope that answers your question

[badcatbad]

Perfumer - 38

She's hired under Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals as a Director of Pharmaceutical Greenhouses. She manages the greenhouses and seedbanks for plants used for Oripathy Pharmaceuticals Research.

She's also an accredited psychiatrist, botantist and pharmacist who works for Rhodes Island Mental Health services. She uses aromatherapy as part of her practice but she still prescribes standard medication. She uses aromatherapy to dampen and tamper with pain receptors when she applies her healing arts. This is why people like being treated by Perfumer.

She was married young (18) to a much older man. While she was studying biology, he was teaching at the local university. She produced perfumes as a hobby.

When she was 27, she discovered he had been cheating on her with his students and he had been presenting her research as his own. After an acrimonious divorce, she moved back home. The only person in her family who supported her was her pappous who provided her with the business capital for her perfume business. Her perfume business took off but relations at home were souring. She also felt like she needed a life change. She sold off her business and ran away to Rhodes Island.

[exoticalmonde]

Arknights Chapter XI - Return To Mist

So... Chapter Eleven is at its end and because I am desperate to have enough Originium I need to go through as many chapters in Adverse level as I can so this terrible Clown Fiesta of a skinset coming out tomorrow would be mine.

And conveniently enough, Dr. Kryo is here to help me out.

SPOILERS OF THE STORY AHEAD

Mandatory Opening video because it's too good to skip. I love re-watching these after I'm done with a chapter.

Me, frantically: "Kryo, Gummy is gonna be eaten." Kryo: "AH- UH- STALL WITH GRAVEL." Me: Stalls Gravel: *Gets devoured* Pinkie, returning out of nowhere: "I see Gravel has been used. They really took 'Eat dirt' to a next level."

---

I have had this woman ever since I started playing, and I have spent all this time almost not reading anything about her. My lass was in Kazimierz, she's here in Victoria with us now, she's a follower of the wendigo, a witch... and I still gape at the mention of her actual relations and experience.

She's a necromancer and a Sarkaz with the funkiest horns ever and just refuses to elaborate, uses her dark arts to heal as a mock of redemption... or something.

---

Me: "IS THAT--" Pinkie, amused, sarcastic, smug: "Yeah?" Me: "Now I don't care who it is."

---

HOLY HECK IT'S THE --- GOOD GOD OH MY GOODNESS AAAAaa--

Kal'tsit lore, Kal'tsit jumping in front of us to save me, to save Amiya little baby saw so much and she's sobbing limp in my arms after the wall crumbled underneath her tiny little bunny feet!!!

I am so sad oh my golly Mrs. Cat lady you are in the middle of all the drama, you are THE historical event you horrendeous fossil you, all the horrible things that happened happened because of you and now everybody is mad; what does your brain see that we do not, what sort of demons haunt you, whose voice do you hear that guides you, I need to know. ---

...

---

Pinkie: "Oh hey Kal'tsit, what are you doing there?" Me, who already knows: "I don't want to." Kryo: "Are you ready to hear the team comp? Oh, it's pre-set. Tell me when you're ready." Me: "... Let me go through the story first. I feel like I need to learn the context before I witness it." Pinkie: "Yes please." Me and Pinkie: *Reading* Kryo: *Falls asleep* Me: "Alright, we're done now. I'm ready for guidance." Kryo: "..." Me: "Kryo?" Kryo: "..." Pinkie: "Is he gone? I have time. Let's do it." Me: "... Alright." ---

Me: "I want to save her." Pinkie: "You can't stop a canon event." Me: "I don't want it to be a canon event."

Pinkie: "O, he's coming." Me: *Sad whimpering*

Pinkie: "Oh, here it comes." Kal'tsit: *Dies* Pinkie: "Now he's gonna leave. So long, losers. Refuses to elaborate."

---

Me: *Pogging* "It's the sword!" Pinkie: "Wow, now we have TWO swords that only work if the one destined and chosen by the sword is wielding it."

---

Man... My life in Operation 11-18, am I right?

---

Kryo: "Why is he panting in my ear? Dog, chill!" Me: "Thank you for your services... Both Hung's VA and Hung himself."

---

Me: "I don't know which one is worse, a level where the enemies are only three 'No Data' boxes, or the levels where there are three rows of them." Pinkie: "Hey, but you get to find out for yourself, right? It's the fun part of it. Trial and error." Me: "I don't want trial and error..." ---

Me: "What was the Steam Knight music called again?" Pinkie: "You don't need to know." Kryo: "Sexy Vampire music." Pinkie: "Damn it... It's Vampire Sex Music." Me: "Reverse-psychologises you into telling us the name because you think we got it wrong and you always need to be right." Pinkie: "... How dare you."

---

Me: "So, the Vampire Sex Music." Pinkie: "Yeah." Me: "..." Steam Knight:

---

Pinkie: "I wish he was someone we could get as a character one day. Imagine being able to deploy the Steam Knight." Me: "He's gorgeous. Look at that."

---

Me: *Squealing* "Look at her! Baba! Look at her tiny ears. Oh my god her teeny tail. I love her." Pinkie: "I remember when people were super surprised to just... see baby Siege out of nowhere."

---

Lord, this scene...

Absolutely insane.

---

First try, here we go-

OH NO

EBENHOLZ

...

Pinkie: "I think you need a better Hoshiguma." Me: "..." Kryo: "My Hoshiguma was lvl40 E2, I think hers (lvl25 E2) would be fine." Pinkie: "I struggled and mine was lvl60." Me: "Maybe because you didn't have Ebenholz E2 level 90." Pinkie: "WELL! You're right. You'd think that I'm missing the boss-killer on the Boss stage and would do something about him sooner, but I just haven't been able to around all the other things I need to do for this game." ---

Me and Kryo: *Finish the stage on the second try* Us: *Celebrating* Me: "It was so much easier than I expected. I've seen so many elaborate videos that are... Really nothing in comparison." Pinkie: "It seems I am the problem. Skill issue."

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Adeola Adeosun

Amidst a resurgence of COVID-19 cases across the United States, pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. has announced a voluntary recall of its antiviral drug Veklury, commonly known as remdesivir, in cooperation with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

The recall comes after the discovery of glass particles in vials of the medication, raising concerns about patient safety at a time when the drug's importance in treating severe COVID-19 cases is once again being underscored.

The affected lot, identified as 47035CFA, was distributed nationwide in the United States beginning July 16, 2024. This FDA-monitored recall coincides with data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showing high levels of COVID-19 viral activity in wastewater across the country, despite a recent decrease in positive cases.

As of September 13, the CDC reports that while overall viral activity in wastewater has been demoted from "very high" to "high," 21 states still show "very high" levels, particularly in the West. Sixteen states exhibit "high" levels, eight are classed as "moderate," and only Michigan and Rhode Island show "low" levels. New York stands out with "minimal" levels, the lowest classification.

The recall of Veklury comes at a critical juncture in the pandemic's trajectory. While positive tests now account for 14.9 percent of all COVID tests (excluding at-home testing) in the U.S., down 1.6 percent from the previous week, the emergence of new subvariants has kept health officials on high alert.

According to Gilead's risk statement, the administration of Veklury which contains glass particles could lead to a range of complications, from local irritation to potentially life-threatening situations if particles enter the bloodstream and cause blockages in vital organs.

Veklury has been a key tool in treating COVID-19 since its FDA approval in October 2020. It is indicated for use in both hospitalized patients and those with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for disease progression.

The recall affects the lyophilized form of Veklury in single-dose clear glass vials containing 100 mg of remdesivir in powder form. Gilead has reported no adverse events related to this recall to date but is taking proactive measures to mitigate risks.

This recall also comes as the U.S. grapples with a new class of COVID-19 subvariants nicknamed FLiRT. As of August 31, the dominant subvariant, KP.3.1.1, accounted for more than 50 percent of all U.S. COVID-19 cases over the previous two weeks, with FLiRT variants collectively responsible for over 80 percent of cases.

While these new variants appear more infectious, they generally do not cause such severe symptoms. However, the CDC continues to monitor for common symptoms including fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, and loss of taste or smell.

Healthcare facilities possessing the recalled Veklury are urged to cease use immediately and return the product. Gilead has established a dedicated information line at 1-866-633-4474 for those seeking details about the recall.

Patients with concerns about their COVID-19 treatment are advised to consult their healthcare providers, and any adverse reactions can be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

Arknights Analysis: Chapters 0-4

So I want to start this off by stating that I'm going to analyze these chapters in two separate fashions. The first will be analyzing the chapters as if I had booted the game on launch and experienced the story without any of the surrounding events and story chapters that give these chapters additional context. The second will be analyzing these chapters from a retrospective angle, looking at how further chapters and further events have provided new information that re-contextualizes a lot of what happens and is said in these four chapters.

One of my primary theses when it comes to Arknights is that the episodic storytelling often hurts Arknights more than it helps the game, and I want to illustrate that through these two styles of analysis.

So without ado:

Part One: The Bad and the Evil Time

Now, there's a relevant question that needs to be answered from the beginning of this analysis: why am I analyzing all four chapters together instead of splitting them into four separate posts? There's an argument to be made that splitting up the chapter discussion would allow for each chapter to breathe individually. But I want to explain my reasons for not doing that.

First, these chapters were not released individually. They were released all at once, and unlike say, the first four chapters of F/GO, they do not form four separate stories plot-wise that share some connecting themes. They directly relate to one another and are basically contiguous with one another. If you wanted to, you could play and get through the first four chapters of Arknights all at once. While newer players likely would have gotten stuck on a boss like Skullshatterer and not been able to progress, I want to emulate that experience of reading all four chapters at once.

Second, these chapters do not have a lot to them in terms of actual writing and I do not intend to merely summarize the events of each chapter ahead of time. You can read them here to get an idea of what I mean. They're short chapters all things told.

Third, they share pretty much all of the same themes and messaging between the three of them, and characters do not make a ton of meaningful progression through the story. These four chapters flow into each other really well, which suggests to me they were written roughly all in a row from each other, but this results in an initial four chapters that have a lot of overlap with each other.

So that's why this analysis is going to look at all four chapters together. To give a quick one sentence overview of the plots:

Chapters 0-1: Rhodes Island's extraction operation for the Doctor and their conflict with Reunion Chapters 2-3: Rhodes Island's pursuit of Misha and their confrontation with Skullshatterer Chapter 4: Rhodes Island's rescue operation and their meeting with Frostnova

Despite the fact that these chapters span between three different locations and concern themselves with three separate events, broadly speaking, they're very tonally consistent. There's no clear separation in terms of how these chapters meaningfully contrast with each other.

In terms of the major players, Rhodes Island is the protagonist and Reunion is the antagonist, and are written pretty diametrically opposed to each other. Rhodes Island is a pharmaceutical company that is looking for a cure to oripathy and generally condemns the violent measures that Reunion takes in these four chapters, which is often spoken quite strongly. In particular I want to note that Dobermann in particular is heavily critical of Reunion, and this sets the tone for how Reunion is portrayed and generally looked at in these chapters.

Reunion as the antagonists for these four chapters are basically not portrayed sympathetically at all, and this can be pretty easily seen from the antagonists that are initially introduced to the player: Mephisto, who delights in causing harm and toying with his opponents and is named after the fictional demon Mephistopheles; Crownslayer, who is ruthless and whose name invokes regicide; and W, who is enigmatic but mostly cruel and seemingly only let's Rhodes Island go on a whim.

This image does a lot to establish the tone of Reunion: they're draped in darkness and shadow, stand atop rubble and carnage, and their leader, Talulah, is associated with dramatic heat and consuming flame. It's a very strong message to send to the player.

Reunion's job in these four chapters, outside of being the antagonists, is to act as a critical foil for Rhodes Island. The prime question of Reunion towards Rhodes Island, time and time again, is "What do you do to deserve to fight for the Infected?". Reunion is repeatedly stated to embody the rage of the Infected, calling back to the idea that "Riots are the language of the oppressed", and they repeatedly criticize Amiya for not recognizing the anger the Infected feel.

This, at least in my opinion, is not actually a bad way for narrative tension to develop. Violent and non-violent movements do tend to have some tension between each other, and importantly, are both needed to compliment and keep each other in check. However, the problem here is that these chapters are not interested in interrogating these facts. These chapters are not interested in interrogating basically anything it puts in front of you.

Amiya never really has a response for why she's acting in the way she does, and as a result, neither does the narrative. But because Reunion needs to be the antagonist, their anger is not merely limited to the authority figures behind oppressive policies or the primary people who exploit them. Reunion oppresses and kills innocent people in Chernobog, using a Catastrophe that decimates the city and infects a large portion of its populace with Oripathy, using their anger as justification, and there is never a competing viewpoint shown in opposition with that. So when Reunion is marching on Lungmen, there is every reason to believe that a similar occurrence will happen there. This is reinforced in Chapter 4, where Mephisto has created a literal flaming display of Reunion's symbol at least partially fueled by civilian bodies.

Rhodes Island being the defacto protagonist means that their actions are given an inherent justification. It creates a lot of weak writing in the chapter where, for example, their cooperation with the L.G.D. is never given any kind of moral depth, despite Lungmen's own oppressive policies towards the Infected and the attitudes of L.G.D. officers towards the infected.

The only character we see some meaningful change in is Ch'en, and unfortunately, it's part of a chapter she's not really present in. Chapter 4 shows that Ch'en is capable of some humanity and connection with the Infected that the others in her psuedo police force weren't willing to show, but it's not made particularly clear why and Ch'en quickly exits the chapter.

If you came away from these four chapters feeling like this is a RWBY situation, I really wouldn't blame you. The chapters are weak and not particularly well-written. There are points of intrigue made for example in Chapter 2 with Kal'tsit and Wei Yenwu that do not really go anywhere. Probably most importantly, despite being the protagonists, Rhodes Island's, and consequently Amiya's, moral position is never really defined. You don't get a clear sense to know why Rhodes Island is taking the actions that it is.

Now, to a certain extent, a bit more of the moral backbone of RI is revealed in the character files for the launch operators. I do think it is worth discussing these for a bit here because most of them are very brief and not well detailed, but they help to highlight what is, in my opinion, one of the central conflicts and messages in this early part of the arc.

The difference between Rhodes Island and Reunion is identity. That is, what is expected out of the identity of the Infected underneath them. This can be seen in a couple of the operator files and, most importantly, with Misha. For Reunion, the Infected and Reunion are considered one and the same. When Rhodes Island kills Reunion rioters in Chernobog and hands over Reunion prisoners to the L.G.D., Reunion makes the criticism of what Rhodes Island is doing to the Infected. Misha remarks that what else can an Infected be but Reunion. It is a continual point that many of its members are whipped into fanaticism in part because Reunion presents itself as the only option.

Rhodes Island, on the other hand, allows its Infected personnel and Operators to take back their identity as people. The Operators of RI are all unique people with their own goals, wants, and dreams. They do not, fundamentally, become Rhodes Islanders. It's why there is such an eclectic group of people working for RI.

To summarize, these chapters are invested in portraying a very black and white board to the Infected struggles, with the correct Rhodes Island contrasted with the violent, arguably evil Reunion on the other hand, and does so without really performing the necessary labor to justify Rhodes Island as the protagonist. While there are interesting messages and ideas in these chapters, it's let down by overall very weak writing.

Part 2: Separated Hearts and Arcs

So you know what the fuck a Kaschey is at this point and you're looking back. Here's the thing that kind of fucks me up: these chapters don't read nearly as bad in a retrospective lens. There's a fair amount of reasonably subtle storytelling and foreshadowing going on that hints towards things revealed in later story chapters, and a lot of its awkwardness can be forgiven with the better writing down the road for pretty much all of the characters involved (except for Skullshatterer, who basically disappears from the narrative entirely, and doesn't even show up typically in flashbacks).

In truth, I think the writers knew these chapters weren't very good, and something very interesting happens from this point on which I will cheekily call "the Reunion Arc Redemption Arc". A number of things happen in fairly quick succession with each other: the first is the release of Chapter 5, which does a lot to add additional moral depth to Rhodes Island's relationship to the L.G.D. as well as to Ch'en herself. This is followed by Grani and the Knight's Treasure which gives us our first, sympathetic Reunion character in Big Bob, and then perhaps most importantly by maybe one of the single most important vignettes in the game.

The Anonymous One's War.

This Vignette is a much, MUCH needed stitching of the various problems with Reunion. Patriot, the disorganization of Reunion, and the condemnation of the acts against Azazel do a tremendous amount of work in redeeming a lot of the previous writing. It's arguably a retcon in many ways.

This REALLY highlights a big problem with the episodic approach. I think part of the reason Chapter 5 is often lumped in with Chapters 0-4 is for a while, you were stuck sitting and ruminating on Chapters 0-4, and then Chapter 5 releases and its a chapter whose primary POV is Ch'en and the L.G.D. With episodic writing, it's easy for writing flaws to sit and fester, and it's easy for a lot of fandom voices to get together and make things worse.

Chapters 0-4 just do not hold up on their own, and honestly they do not really hold up with additional context either. The additional context softens a lot of the blow and provides a lot of closure to the issues in these chapters, but the issues still remain. You didn't necessarily need more writing in order to make these chapters work. Chapter 5 isn't that much bigger than Chapter 4 is, but I felt like there had been a sudden shift towards stronger writing in Chapter 5.

This seems by and large to be a real problem with gacha game development. Early story chapters are neglected because the time and effort needed to actually make a gacha game seem to eclipse the desire to have a strong and functional story. It feels like Chapters 0-4 were pushed out the door to make sure the players had something.

But in comparison to other gachas I've played, the turn around on Arknights is very, very quick. F/GO notably takes four additional chapters until it finally hits a good, well-written chapter in Camelot, and it's events are still very lackluster. In comparison, the only dud event that happens at least imo is Grani and the Knights' Treasure, and the next three events (Operational Intelligence, Heart of Surging Flame, and Code of Brawl) are all quite good.

What the turn around at least tells me is that Arknights from the beginning had competent writers, but that they only really got to shine once the game got on the ground.

[justintaco]

i see you post so much arknights but I still have absolutely zero idea what the basic plot of arknights is

Uhhhhhh what's the best way to describe it without having to go into all the side stories...

Basically the planet Terra (maybe far future earth but also probably not?) is very similar to Earth but regularly experiences massive natural disasters known as catastrophes that have shaped the development of human(?) civilization. They're seemingly fueled by the planet's abundant reserves of a mineral called originium. It's a powerful but volatile substance that can be used for energy, as gunpowder, etc. but is very carcinogenic, seems to grow, and according to some characters is alive and has thoughts.

Terra doesn't seem to have coal, oil, gunpowder, etc. the same way Earth does, so all nations are reliant on originium despite its dangers. The ranks of the poor are full of those who have contracted a long-term fatal illness (from being miners, or exposed to originium technology) called oripathy. Generally those suffering from the disease are seen as unclean, more contagious than they actually are, and forced to live in separate ghettos, if allowed into a city at all.

The story follows the player character and the pharmaceutical organization (+ paramilitary group, don't worry about that!!) named Rhodes Island. (their logo has a castle tower, so it seems to be a reference to the island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean, not the US state...). RI seeks to cure oripathy for good but must also involve itself in political conflicts and other types of "business" to stay afloat. Though the threat of originium-driven natural disasters is only growing and other menaces from the edge of civilization are getting closer, the nations of the day are extremely preoccupied with geopolitical struggles to dominate each other instead.

The writing is actually really high tier, so good that it's actually really frustrating it's a gacha game. Some events are quite literally short novel length. It touches on a lot of themes of nationalism, capitalism, discrimination, poverty, etc. so it's actually pretty good if you like mobile games and you want writing with a little more substance.

Honestly hope if it ever ends it'll get an offline version so the story can be enjoyed more easily.

[shiroboom]

Arknights x Tekken AU doodle 😋 (i forgot that i have this au lmao)

Let's start with the Mr. Mishima himself!

So in my Crossover AU, G-Corporation is a pharmaceutical company. A company works for medical stuff and also seeking a cure for Oripathy (rock cancer). G-Corp is currently having partnership with Rhodes Island and sending Kazuya as a representative of the company also works as an operator too!

As an operator, Kazuya is an operator who has a habit that is not being able to get along with others even with the doctor themselves 😂

He has this habit for a long time since he became the CEO of G-Corp. Sometimes he's also a bit strict towards the doctor which made the doctor a little reluctant to invite him to go on a mission with other operators

Ah btw he's a "Sarkaz" (A race that has demon or devil traits). He's a guard class and his archetype is fighter/brawler. 😆

I'm thinking about his codename though 🤔 Is "Oppressor" a good one??

Old Concept :

And Last one 😉

The Sankta Woman

Jun is a female Sankta (a race with angel traits) with Oripathy disease who is looking for a cure. Rhodes Island is the only place for her to stay alive with her incurable disease. Previously she had asked G-Corp for help but was flatly rejected. So her meeting with the CEO surprised her. Her relationship with the CEO was quite complex. Even it's just a "close friend".

Ah as an operator, she's a supporter with bard archetype :)

Old Concept :

And yes it's done! Actually I'm interested in continuing this AU further.

I've been thinking about other tekken characters with the races in arknights 😆💜

For example: Jin is a hybrid sankta, He has an angelic appearance like his mother but when he uses his arts abilities, he will grow a Sarkaz trait such as horns like his father (Devil Jin).

He suffers from split personality because his mother had Oripathy, so he also got infected when he was still a baby, this Oripathy attacks the nerves of his brain which makes him have a split personality until now.

And there's more, maybe Heihachi with Oni race and Kazumi has Sarkaz race same as Kazuya's. I still have a lot to say but maybe that's it for now 😂

Please stay tuned for more!

[stem-sister-scuffle]

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 1 MASHUP 16

Kal'tsit (Arknights) vs Entrapta Princess of Dryl (Netflix She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

Kal'tsit is a Medic and Pharmacist!

Entrapta Princess of Dryl is a Roboticist, Programmer and First Ones' Tech Historian/Archaeologist!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Kal'tsit:

"Kal'tsit is the Officer-in-Charge for Rhodes Island's Medical Department and she uses her expertise to heal other operators in battle while being apart of the battle herself. Kal'tsit seems to be one of the closest characters to the player character "Doctor", being familiar with their past while Doctor has no clue due to amnesia. Apparently she has been around for quite a long time and, old lady jokes aside, due to all the experience she has she seems to be one hell of an op operator (though I have been unable to play Arknights myself so I am relying on the information of multiple different people who do play). Also she is my wife I love her <3"

"first of all, she is a cat woman (she is very old)... her companion is a green dragon crystalline monster whom she has a symbiotic relationship with... they understand each other and kal'tsit also commands them in battle she oversees the medical branch of rhodes island which is a research & pharmaceutical company trying to find the cure to the fatal rock disease that plagues this world and kills you slowly :( despite living in such a harsh world, she never stops fighting for and helping the people... even tho people want to kill her, she remains kind she mentors all sorts of people and trains them to be future doctors and in the game itself she is classified as a medic! hiiiiii demi its me lapis teehee i hope u have fun hosting this too!!!!"

"My beautiful catgirl ex-wife. She has definitely been alive for millennia, is a passionate ally to the downtrodden (you know, to atone for her previous history of war crimes), and founded a pharmaceutical company that largely does charity work for sufferers of the setting-specific incurable magic rock cancer. She's psychically bonded with the xenomorph-esque monster that lives in her spine. She wants to kill me. <3 For added context to the above, when I say "me" and "my" above, I refer to the player character of Arknights, the otherwise-unnamed "Doctor." While it is unlikely that Kal'tsit and the Doctor were ever literally married, the particular nature of their closeness, implied history, and current co-parenting has lead to "the ex-wife" to be a near-universally accepted fandom nickname for Kal'tsit. In a game full of hyper-competent characters with mysterious pasts, Kal'tsit is both the most competent and the most mysterious, and is genuinely a major factor in my fondness for Arknights itself."

"(cracks fingers) here we go-- dr. kal'tsit is a wise and kindhearted individual who travels and helps as many people as she can in need. when you first encounter her in the game, she comes off as cold and harsh, cutting straight to the point. however, that's only because the player character probably did something really awful (unknown atm). in events where we were able to explore her backstory and see how people reacted to her, we find out that she will save as many lives as she could through tactical negotiation, but she is ready to fight as needed if people fail to consider her warnings. as a doctor with an incurable rock disease (incuritis 2 JDHEJDJFKE), she understands the pain of that illness and administers help to people who get infected, no matter who they are, even if theyre some rando in the village woods. she also created a type of poison that would help in a quiet assassination, something that wouldn't be immediately detected by other forensic scientists until it was too late. i know i said that she tried to save as many people as possible, but this situation was a bit different. i would expand on it but i might be rambling a bit too much, but basically shes got a complex set of decisions and loves humanity a bit too much and also has the skills to back it up.she rocks both a maid outfit and a suit in canon"

Entrapta Princess of Dryl:

"She builds robots!!! She's curious and inquisitive!! She loves her robots!! She has the coolest hair and also I want to be her bestie. She's an absolute love"

"autism :)"

"Builds robots and computers for fun and companionship. Can take apart and understand almost any tech she is presented with. Autism lever set to max and I love her. Mandatory boob window in all her outfits and I've never related harder to a character."

"autistic icon, amazing inventor and app round excellent character"

"she has prehensile hair it’s literally the best thing i’ve ever seen in my life, it’s never once acknowledged by any of the characters as abnormal or explained in any way i’m literally obsessed with it. also autism queen"

"PIGTAILS!!!! autism"

"Entrapta is very bubbly and positive. She never lets anything like losing her friends or going to the bad side or getting put on a death-sentence island stop her from scientific pursuits! She actually drives a lot of the conflict in the story, as she explains the technological backstory of the world, and helps both sides be better at fighting. She loves data, doing experiments, and the scientific method. She's also in love with space. She is an autistic queen <3"

"phenomenal canon autism representation without being weird & shitty. also she’s so strange & wonderful & relatable in so so many ways. my computer is named Darla bc that’s what she named the AI for the spaceship in s5"

"She is THE science queen because she loves science so much and her love of it is INFECTIOUS. I don’t know anything about science but Entrapta makes it seem like the coolest thing in the universe. I love her"

"She ourple. I luv her"

"She's so passionate about her work. Takes through notes! Figured out how to hack her home planet!!! She's autistic as hell and I like her overalls."

"You won’t get autism like this anywhere else bestie"

"amoral mad scientist who flips between the good guys and bad guys, loves building so many inventions, ends up converting the head bad guy (for most of the series) to good through the power of love"

"She has outfitted her entire castle to be a maze, and installed electronic locks on some. Her staff seems to be mostly robots she has built herself. In good part reverse engineering or adapting ancient tech found on the planet. She's incredible at what she does and personally fixes, invents and builds a wide range of stuff from space ships to portals to a prosthetic exoskeleton to trackers to war machines. She can do it all. Autism win! Girlie has been criticised for being treated childlike or being unable to understand those around her to a ridiculous degree, but I'm honestly just glad she's not a Sheldon Cooper. Her favorite bots have personalities and therefore implied AI (but not the shitty kind), which means she's pretty fucking good at software too. She likes tiny foods."

"So very autistic about technology. Initially believes robots are way better than people, eventually makes human friends but also very much still has robot friends (I love Emily so much). Gets so excited about finding new First One's tech. Also her happy spinning around in a space suit in that one season 5 episode heals my heart every time I watch it"

"She's the planet's leading expert on ancient tech (sci-fi/fantasy universe) and develops most of the tech in the show and is very autistic about it. i love her"

"She is fun and funky. Chaotic neutral. Definitely some autism coding going on, which is very charming. She has a pet robot? It is cute"

"Bc she is ENTRAPTA!! No srsly she is such a well-written character. At times kinda morally grey but always lovable and great and she is truly amazing at what she does!! I'm pretty sure she's already been submitted but I wanted to make sure :)"

[ouroborosorder]

i love the idea of the rhodes island reception room. imagine walking into a pharmaceutical company's meeting room to negotiate contracts and on the other end of the table is a teenage gyaru with a sword and a random girl who insists she is a detective despite all evidence to the contrary