#MERCY MYTHIC IS CRAZY

[lovedrruunk]

It would be so cool if you could write a venture x reader where Y/N is too nervous to speak to Venture so Mercy wingmans for them‼️

‘The best wingwoman ! ଘ(˵╹ᴗ╹)━☆

Venture (Overwatch) x GN reader

Authors note!; super cute request!!! Did I tell u guys I'm a mercy main…. DISGUSTING I KNOW!! But I also main Ana so it cancels out… also tbh there’s a lot of requests that I haven’t gotten to *YET* simply bc idk how to go about them :( but this one came to me rlly easily !! Ty!!! also finished this whole thing while listening to phantom of the opera on repeat for 2 hours (i need 2 write a moira fic omg...) UPDATE: HELLO??? THE MERCY MYTHIC? okok ill stfu now sry!!

Earlier today, you were dragged to a work party by your colleague and guardian angel, Angela Ziegler. You begged her to let you stay home, but she refused, saying she wouldn't be able to go without you since you were the only coworker she actually enjoyed spending time with. And so, being the amazing friend you are, of course, you agreed to go to keep her company!... Just kidding!

Angela knew you too well. Once she mentioned that the cutie from the Wayfinder Society was attending, you did a complete 180, now asking her what you should wear. She couldn't help but laugh at your reaction, amused at how predictable you were when it came to romance.

Sloane Cameron, also known as Venture, also known as the cutie from the Wayfinder Society, had quickly captured your attention ever since you first met them a couple of months ago when the Wayfinder Society was adopted by Overwatch as a sub-branch. Being the head anthropologist for Overwatch led you to spending a good amount of time with Venture and their team. Granted, it was just work and sharing data and all that, but you couldn't help but find them super intriguing. They were funny, lively, and so passionate about their work! But as badly as you wanted to get to know them, you just couldn't. Their confidence was a blessing and a curse, being the cause of why you liked them and the cause of why you were so terrified of talking to them.

Every week or so, you and Angela meet up at the cafeteria at Overwatch's headquarters to catch up while drinking your morning coffee/tea/whatever, which you of course just use as time to gush about your overwhelming crush on your new coworker. But last week... last week, you had decided enough was enough. You made a promise to Angela that by next week, you would at least ask them if they'd want to hang out outside of work. Feeling pumped and confident, you had excitedly gotten all dolled up for the party.

And now, here you were. The party was in an old Victorian mansion with lots of expensive art and chandeliers, nothing less for Overwatch, of course. The first time you had attended a work party, you were extremely underdressed, assuming it was a casual get-together, not at all expecting it to be an elegant and serious "ball" like party. You cringed at the memory before Angela snapped you out of it, handing you a glass of champagne.

"So? Is today the day?" she questions as she leans against the back wall you had been standing next to.

"I don't know, Angela..." you whined as you not so discreetly stared at them from across the room.

It was the first time you had seen them in formal attire, and you couldn’t help but admire how they looked good in everything.

"Go ask them to dance!" She suggested happily.

"What!? No way! I can't dance, especially not with them!"

“Oh, don't give me that! The worst they could say is no."

"'No' is definitely not the worst they could say. They could say 'get away from me' or 'why are you talking to me about something other than rocks' or 'your foundation doesn't match your neck.. and no I would rather drop dead than dance with you'."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm serious!- Wait!! Did you see that? They smiled at the new rookie! What if they like her!? What if they came here together!? What if they're dating!? Married!!? Oh my god, and now they're chatting it up with Tiff from communications! They're laughing, what's so funny!?"

"You have got to be kidding me..."

"Right!? She's not even funnier than me..."

Catching you off guard, Angela grips your shoulders, forcing you to face her.

"Shut up," she says sternly, fighting off the urge to smack you in the face. "Just ask them. You'll never know until you do... And if you don't, I owe that infuriating geneticist twenty bucks..." She murmurs the last part to herself angrily.

"Y'know what? You're right!"

You quickly finish the glass of champagne, putting it on the table next to you. Feeling encouraged by your friend, you take a deep breath before marching towards Venture... right before turning your heel and marching straight back to Angela.

"I feel like I'm gonna throw up..."

"You haven't even said anything!!!"

After a bit of back and forth, Angela is fed up and tells you that if you weren't going to do anything about it, then she will.

As she makes her way towards Venture, you whisper yell at her, begging her to come back and let you give it another try. But knowing you, she decides to ignore your desperate pleas as she continues to happily strut towards them.

From the distance, you can't make out what they're talking about, and it's driving you nuts. Angela's back is facing you, but Venture's face lights up, so you decide to take that as a good sign. And just as you start to smile... Angela turns around and points at you.

You freeze in place for what felt like a year before your eyes focus again. Venture is grinning as they wave to you, and Angela uses her hand to call you over. You force a wide smile (not aware of how crazy you look) as you timidly walk up to the two of them.

"Y/N! I was just mentioning to our sweet Cameron over here how you love to dance! They've never been to a party like this, isn't that crazy!"

"Yeah!! Wayfinder never had the funding by itself to afford something like this! I've never really had a reason to learn how to dance, so I have no clue; was hoping you could teach me!?"

"Me? Oh, sorry! I don't know how to dance!"

"But... Dr. Ziegler just said.."

"I know! Poor little Angie... ever since her last birthday, her memory has been terrible!! Must've confused me with Lena!"

You could feel the death glare Angela was giving you, but you continued to smile innocently at them.

"Well... I guess this would be a good opportunity for us to learn, don't ‘cha think?" Of course. Of course, they would somehow find a solution to your excuse.

"Great idea!!" Angela claps her hands together happily. "Why don't you two head to the dance floor? You'll only learn from experience!"

"I agree!"

Before you can say anything, you're dragged by the hand of a very excited Venture, and although your palms are sweaty and your head is spinning, you can't help but feel so much excitement.

. . .

And so as the dancefloor clears and the two of you are making your way out to the gardens, you spot a grinning Angela and a scowling Moira putting away her wallet.

#venture overwatch #overwatch x reader #venture x reader #moira mention bc i love her #MERCY MYTHIC IS CRAZY #Moicy 4eva idc

[lizardsfromspace]

So there's this scientist who's laughed at due to his theories about where a mythical ancient civilization went. He wears glasses and is offered a position by a mysterious expedition that confirms his crazy theories are all true, with him translating inscriptions to find the way there. After getting stranded in the world he theorized and saving it, he decides to stay behind with a native woman he met

And ONE MUST FALL! NO PRISONERS, NO MERCY, NO ASCENSION! ONLY ONE MAY SURVIVE!

#stargate #stargate sg1 #atlantis the lost empire #polls #daniel jackson #milo thatch

[kneelingshadowsalome]

That last drabble pf yandere konig officially ended me, consider it the last nail on my proverbial coffin😭😭😭😭 day 4637738 of me falling head over heels for a fictional man I should NOT be attracted to bc he’s a psycho but he’d be a psycho only FOR ME😩🤡

of course this weirdo has a corruption kink, and engel being a pure untainted fair maiden, all for him to take would make his heart soar!!! Bonus points if she cries and if she bleeds (don’t look at me), this mfer sees his dick (consciously or unconsciously) as his biggest and most lethal weapon and doesn’t even connect the dots as to why deflowering her and making her cry from pleasure feels so similar to stabbing through his enemies, times ten. In both scenarios, he gets to showcase his true self. And in both scenarios , he’s rock hard and twitching like crazy, plowing without mercy and in an almost beautifully violent way into whoever is in front of him. Only with his engel, his beautiful sweet engel, the death he brings is the small one (yes thats a pun for the french term for annorgasm yet again don’t look at me). And he vows to bring it to her again, and again and again as he looks down at her flushed and sweaty form. He is there to take her into his arms and bring her solace once he is finally done with her for the night, kissing the bruises and the tears and blood away, with that trademark eerie, electrifying and reverent gaze

thank you for coming to my tedtalk and I’m sorry

Please anon this is so beautiful and perfect I can't and he's such a dick (I love him) 😭❤️ and I'm not even sorry, which means I need another sprinkle of holy water, I need to say my prayers and beg for forgiveness AGAIN.

Deflowering is exactly what König would call the most beautiful mission he's ever had.

After the gentle but passionate first time she's shaking a bit, cries softly in his arms, not because of pain but because König can be very intense, even when he tries to hold his horses. It's not just his mass, his size, that executioner's hood, it's those eyes, that obsessed stare that makes her feel like she's this guy's next murder victim.

She cries as he tells her how well she did, how brave she was and that she's a woman now (thinks it's all thanks to his dick that she turned from some mythical virgin girl into a grown woman). Between the kisses he gives her, König promises their coupling will bring her so much pleasure very soon ❤️ He will let her rest for a while before they try again (oh my god.)

Then he kisses her tears away, kisses the blood between her thighs away (oh god oh god), so, so gently and carefully that it makes her cry again. This guy is just so weird and attentive and intense and now he's kissing and licking her tears and her blood, for heaven's sake, how did she get into this crazy mess…?

König thinks his woman is weeping again because she's in a fragile state and needs more comfort, so he returns to pull her back into his arms and tries to shush and calm her and tell her it's alright, everything's alright… He can wait, if it's too much then he will not touch her tonight. He is sorry (no he's not) that he is so big. But doesn't she get it that she is the criminal here… guilty of the crime of feeling illegally good?

#answered #yandere könig #könig x virgin reader #cw: dark content

[japhan2024]

A little bit of madness

A retelling of the story of Smosh, through Shayne's eyes. And there's a lot of one-sided pining, internal turmoil and jealousy. I hope you like it!

read on ao3

It's so crazy. I am happy for them of course. But how do you come back from having your friendship so destroyed, so betrayed, to being best friends again?

Shayne got a notification. He sat in the lunch room at the Defy building after filming a Smosh sketch. He looked at the e-mail he just received on his phone. His colleagues were all gasping, yelling and some were even crying. Everyone had gotten the same message:

"Effective immediately, Defy Media has ceased business."

It's not like he hadn't seen this coming. Shayne knew enough of the entertainment business that the 'business' side of it was stone cold and creatives were pretty much at the mercy of the machine.

But it still shocked him. He was finally free of his own worst demons - telling him he had failed in Hollywood, that he wasn't trying hard enough - and had settled into the grind that was Smosh.

He had finally found a home.

But now, now everything, his whole life, was crumbling around him. He watched, helplessly, as people started to day-drink, attempting arson and generally acting like it was the Purge.

Who was he, what was he, without Smosh?

As Shayne stood there, nailed to the ground, he suddenly felt a warm hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man. This sucks, doesn't it."

Shayne turned around and saw Ian there. He'd almost forgotten about Ian. This must be so much worse for him right now. First his best friend Anthony left him and Smosh, now this...

"So, is this it for Smosh?"

"No. We will overcome this, Shayne. I will make sure of it, I promise."

Shayne saw a look behind Ian's glasses, that he hadn't seen before. A little bit of madness, maybe. But also a fiery determination. And Shayne believed him. Ian's vow moved him. He didn't know him like this, like a leader. It made Shayne want to follow Ian to the end of the world if need be.

"How can I help?"

"Well, right now, people are ransacking the whole building. I'd say we save as much as we can and then get the hell out of here."

"Already on it." Courtney passed them, arms full of office supplies.

"Are you ransacking or saving?" Shayne joked.

"Come with me to find out!"

Shayne grabbed as many supplies as he could and scuttled after Courtney. When they got outside, two large moving trucks stood ready.

"How can you think so fast, Courtney? This is amazing."

"You know," they said, raising their shoulders. "I have kind of seen this coming."

"Yeah, me too."

"So, what comes after this, you think?" Courtney wasn't their usual cheery self. They were probably just as stressed out as Shayne was, no doubt. Their face was a bit paler than usual, and they looked at him for answers.

But Shayne genuinely didn't know.

"Ian will get us through this," he said determinately.

~

The following months, Ian really came through. Apart from working tirelessly behind the scenes to save the channels, he also invited the cast and crew to his house, just to party but also to work. He paid them himself.

Shayne grew more and more fond of Ian, but he didn't quite know how to communicate with him. He was such a mystery. Ian was struggling though, that much was clear. Shayne would always be the last one around to help tidy up and try to talk to Ian. But it was usually in vain.

"Hey Ian, so, how are you doing?"

Shayne took a sip of his beer. They stood on Ian's balcony.

"Yeah, pretty great. Ya know, I don't have a life, love or any free time, haha. As per yoush."

It was this kind of thing that made it impossible for Shayne to get through. Ian always hid behind irony.

"Oh, that sounds just great," Shayne joined in. "And yeah, same here."

They toasted.

"Has.... has Anthony contacted you?"

"Yeah, he texted me."

No elaboration. Shayne didn't dare to ask further.

"Hmm, okay."

Time went on. Ian showed up so extremely well, he made a deal with Mythical Entertainment, and Smosh was saved. Even during lockdown, he still got the cast and crew together, via Zoom or somewhere outside on an L.A. property. He made it work.

And just like Shayne had, everyone put their faith in Ian. Ian himself though, seemed very lonely, however hard everyone tried to connect with him. Shayne was desperate to help Ian somehow. He did wat he could. He worked tirelessly, putting his everything into the videos. And it did have an effect. The audience loved him and steadily grew.

The stronger Shayne felt about Ian, the more he started to resent Anthony. It seemed like Anthony was still there, or his absence was there, very tangibly. Of course Shayne joked about it all the time. It was a way for him to vent.

Anthony had always been nice to Shayne. When he first came to work for Smosh, he'd been perfectly pleasant.

But Shayne knew how to read people. And while Ian was impenetrable, Anthony was extremely easy figure out.

Anthony didn't like Shayne. He didn't want him to be there at the time, him or any of the other new cast. But he didn't just leave the company, he also left his best friend. Because at first Ian believed Anthony would still be in touch. When that appeared not to be the case, Ian had faded into the background. That is, until he saved the company from the brink of death.

~

Lately, something was different. But Shayne didn't know what it was. Ian seemed extremely happy, very out of character, or maybe back IN character, whichever it was. Even though he still didn't communicate well, Shayne was happy for him. To see him be so funny, to see him finally doing something about his wardrobe and fitness. Maybe he'd met someone... Shayne didn't quite know why that thought annoyed him.

"Can you believe how good Ian looks today?" Tommy whispered. They stood at the coffee corner.

"Yeah, it's amazing. He's transforming before our eyes. What is happening?"

"All I know is, I'm in love."

"You're always in love with everyone," Shayne joked.

"Yeah, I am still into you too, mister Topp, don't you worry," Tommy joked back. Then he looked at Ian again, who was talking to Courtney across the room. Shayne looked as well. Ian was talking animatedly, making jokes. Courtney was losing it laughing. They kept fixing their hair unnecessarily. Flirting behavior.

~

"Well, that's the end of Let's Do This."

Ian gave a speech for the cameras, and everyone who worked on the show came on screen to say farewell to the successful format. Why it had to be axed, Shayne didn't know. It was a lot of work to make, but the final product was so cool, so fresh and had such a high production value, it was totally worth it in his mind.

"This show is ending for a very good reason," Ian continued.

Shayne had no idea. Just that every show on the main channel was getting axed and they were given a holiday after this shoot. Was he still gonna have a job after this?

~

Shayne fell into a hole again mentally, during the break. He was overthinking everything, overanalyzing. Was Ian happy because he was going to use Smosh main to do his own show and break away from Pit and Games? Was he selling it off for cash? What was he up to?

Shayne went to work out to get his mind off things. When he got out of the gym, he saw Ian had called him. He called back.

"Hey man, how's the holiday?" Ian said in a cheery voice.

"Yeah, it's pretty good. How about you?"

"I'm really good! In fact, do you wanna come over?"

Shayne's hart suddenly raced. Was Ian inviting him to a private dinner?

"Um, I don't know, uhh," he stumbled over his words.

"It's about Smosh, I want to talk to you about some stuff, it's pretty important."

Oh. So it was just work. Was Ian going to tell him he didn't have a job anymore? Suddenly, Shayne's appetite had vanished.

"I'm sorry Ian, I'm on vacation right now, I will talk to you when I get back. Okay?"

"Yeah, no worries man!"

~

"Holy shit."

Shayne stood nailed to the ground once more. What had just happened? The room around him was erupting in cheers and claps. People were laughing, some even cried. Ian and Anthony were hugging and high-fiving. They just bought Smosh.

"What are they gonna do? What do they think of me and Courtney, and Keith and Noah, and Amanda and Arasha and Angela and Olivia and Chanse and... what are we gonna do?"

Shayne's rambling thoughts were disrupted by a warm hand on his shoulder. It was Ian. And Anthony.

"Dude, your face!" Anthony joked and laughed. Apparently Shayne had worn a shocked expression.

"Wow, man, I'm just processing this, haha! Congratulations! Ian, this is amazing!"

Shayne hugged Ian, maybe a bit too tightly, too greedy. Anthony's negative micro-expression in his peripheral vision. Or did he just hallucinate that?

Ian though, smiled widely, and patted his shoulder.

"So, this is what I had wanted to talk to you about," he said.

"Yeah, I get that now, hahaha!" Shayne boomed. He was slowly settling into this new reality. Everything seemed a bit different. A little brighter, a little more intense. Exciting, sure. But it was very new. Very uncertain for Shayne.

~

Shayne was at home. He was watching the interview Ian did with Anthony.

"And if we burn it to the ground, I'm happy to do that with you."

Shayne's heart broke.

"Wow, he really loves him, doesn't he." Shayne replayed that sentence a couple of times. So that's why Ian had been so much happier lately. He was going around scheming with Anthony for the big reveal and their purchase of the company. It had nothing to do with him. He had been utterly unable to help Ian, and was now just a spectator to his joy and happiness.

"I guess that's how it is, huh."

~

At the office, Ian and Anthony - when he was there, as he also still had his own channel to worry about - were like two puppy dogs, playing, prancing, obsessed with each others' butts... Shayne had never seen Ian in this mood. What was it? Ecstatic?

"Hey, Shayne." It was Tommy.

"Hey. So, this is incredible, right? Anthony is back."

"It is like the conclusion to a great epic, like, what the hell. Have you ever seen Ian like this?" Tommy smiled at Shayne. "I didn't know he had it in him. I thought he was depressed, like me," he joked.

"His energy has completely changed, hasn't it?"

Tommy put his hand on Shayne's shoulder. Why did people love to do that?! Shayne didn't mind too much though. But he rather it be Ian.

"Our dads are back together," Tommy said dramatically. Shayne laughed.

"It's so crazy. I am happy for them of course. But how do you come back from having your friendship so destroyed, so betrayed, to being best friends again?"

"It does take a little bit of madness, I guess," Tommy philosophized. "And a little bit of love. Look at them. They are so into each other."

"Yeah, they sure are," Shayne said, a bit loud.

#smosh #shayian #one-sided pining #shayne topp #ian hecox #anthony padilla #fanfic

[fehtism]

time to show off the dumbest aether raids offense chaos season team i've ever used !

starting off we got winter edelgard supported with velouria for the -2 cd turn 1

after 3 actions with fury 4 she falls into wings of mercy range so she doesn't need fury sacred seal

also after 3 actions half the map will be covered in flame terrain

next we got velouria ! she's mainly here because i like her because winter edelgard generally doesn't have issues galeforcing unless there's like crazy amounts of scowl...

she can galeforce herself but generally just breaks pots lol

now we got our wings of mercy dancer ! she'd be better with wings of mercy 4 but i am not wasting a legendary hinoka or a arcane euphoria for that.

of course starting turn 2 after she dances she refreshes herself and she's a very competent combat unit (though i wish she was +spd instead of +atk)

ah yes. this fucking thing. she is the killer of all the dumb unkillable tanks and i /think/ the only tank she has trouble killing is duo winter byleth due to scowl...

i wish i had occultists strike to give her to get even more pre combat damage however sabotage is good too if she can win the res check... i should probably give her still water sacred seal.

oh and ofc she's a ninja duo so she has her duo button as a galeforce button

lastly here is duo askr for the -1 cd to allies within 2 spaces. honestly i probably should have put a disarm trap 4 unit here since i generally didn't have issues triggering galeforce.

my dirty secret is that i actually don't have disarm trap fodder because i didn't get duo kagero lol... if i did get duo kagero id be giving disarm trap to winter yunaka :3

uh that's the team : ) i like chaos season cause im not locked to using mythics (galeforcing in astra season is a very sad thing to do if you are me and lack more offensive astra mythics like heidr)

#feh #fe heroes #fire emblem heroes #feh build #fe heroes meta #feh meta #feh team

[overwatchleaguesigns]

Alright, let's do this. Personal Overwatch 2 review, one week later:

Back in 2016, when OW did a last beta weekend where they sent a bunch of codes to people who signed up for them before release, I finally got to try it for the first time, and I remember playing and jumping around and thinking to myself "this is the most fun I've had with a videogame in my life."

This feeling gradually faded over time and I feel like this is a sentiment that applies to many others. Even before every piece of bullshit news people heard about Activision Blizzard and that tainting the game, people were already done and actively hateful of the game. The sense of wonder and discovery was lost. You become more and more aware of mistakes you and your teammates do. Lack of updates and incentives to play. Anything new that drops feels like it makes the game Less fun with more and more CC and barriers.

I was kinda done. I didn't hate the game like many others, but it wasn't fun, so I just kinda stopped playing.

OW2 does feel like they did everything possible to revert every fuckup that brought up this feeling in terms of gameplay. Remove CC. Remove barriers. Rework things to deal event more damage and do cool things. Remove a tank and a player, less room for error and less unfun mechanics to worry about. Now for the first time in years I feel like something similar to how it was in 2016, when I just get to have fun and do stuff instead of being denied from playing. I get to rush in and start knifing people with Junker Queen like a crazy person and it's fucking great. This is very good.

Everything I have to say about OW2 gameplay and its maps is generally positive. Push is weird and maybe they can find ways to tune it more (maybe spawns getting closer or something?) but I don't hate it. I miss 2CP maps but it's mostly just visually, so maybe they can get reworked into a viable gamemode later, but that's just my personal hope for the future.

All in all, it's fun.

Now off to the main issues.

I have so many concerns about its progression and monetization systems. To say they're not good would be an understatement. It's not just stupidly greedy, but also just stupid in general as there's no incentive to keep playing and that's the main issue here. I have zero interest in anything in the season pass with the exception of maybe the Genji Mythic skin, but even then I'm not a Genji player so whatever. Let's say I want to buy (yet another) Mercy skin, and I either have to bust out 20$ OR grind the game for like... 10 months? Assuming I get every weekly challenge, which I'm most likely not going to do as I am sitting on one uncompleted challenge on reset day, so yeah no. The problem here is that the solution of "well just buy it" doesn't work because people fundamentally can't buy everything. Like, people are broke. People gotta eat. Some players might be like 12 years old and they don't have money. I live in a country with 1º a broken economy and 2º a +75% international purchase tax. Like this level of greed doesn't work here because it's assuming everyone has the ability to buy things, when in reality this is very much not the case, and grinding for 10 months to get One skin is unrealistic because I'm just going to Stop playing your game that is giving me nothing rather than continue playing forever for one goddamn Mercy skin.

This is just badly designed and it's going to fail. No doubts here.

Is the idea for a season pass and a shop inherently bad? Not really, no. Most games offer you free money on the season pass path, meaning that you could theoretically pay 10$ and continue to make that money on each pass forever and get all rewards with just 10$ once. Other games do offer periodic challenges that will just give you free stuff as an incentive to come back and keep playing, and in this case, maybe get coins to buy a skin for your main instead of an arbitrary reward that means nothing to you.

And this takes me to the thing to watch out for and potential fixes: The Halloween event is coming soon in about two weeks, and that's the opportunity to show exactly what a special event will be like in OW2. Let's say that they give you a bunch of temporary challenges that give you coins and you can get up to like 1000 (being generous here) for just playing during this time. This guarantees you being hooked for a while, getting enough currency to get the season pass (which guarantees even further engagement if you do take it), or you can choose to get something for the specific character you like, which for me is another incentive to keep playing because now my character looks cool and pretty and fuck yes let's do this.

There's not even an argument of "well they want to take your money here so of course they do this" because THIS DOESN'T WORK LONG TERM. People are just going to LEAVE and you make NO MONEY if people DON'T PLAY YOUR GAME. And you can be cynical about it and say that this is planned and they'll make it good once they got that initial cash-in on release, and you might be right. But honestly I care about this game, like, Living. Because I was there for Heroes of the Storm, and I know exactly how Blizzard can just fucking give up on a game that they themselves ruined.

Things, as they are right now, are bad. And if they continue this way (which I'm honestly thinking THEY WON'T because it's such a badly designed system it's baffling) the game will just die.

This is a terrible first impression.

PvE

PvE was promised years ago to be the main focus of Overwatch 2. So, where did that go?

Honestly, following the OWL community like I have for years showed me that Overwatch has a weird divide in terms of how people enjoy this franchise. You can almost split fans into two groups; the people who are here for a really fun game, and the people who are here for the characters and the world. And there's no right or wrong way to enjoy the game either, whichever does it for you is completely valid.

The problem starts with OW1 here. It is a mainly PvP competitive game, with just a few PvE modes for fun during certain time windows. But because the way the game is shown and advertised, it makes sense that it would give people the promise of way more content regarding its world and characters than they're given. But this also means that if you do try to branch off into more worldbuilding you will take resources away from the PvP players' content. This is the problem the game immediately faced, where instead of committing to one thing, they tried to sort of do both, and failed at both. There wasn't enough content for either.

Also, OW1 wasn't planned to be maintained as a live-service game. This means that every update, character, map, and fun events we got were more of a bonus rather than planned content in order to keep the game alive. The dev team mainly approached OW1 as a "we're going to take 6 years to develop this banger of a game and then release it and be done with it" which means that there weren't many plans to keep it alive from the get-go. You already bought the game, now begone. This is why we really just got the same events every year with just a couple of fancy new skins and that's it.

OW2 is trying to change that. Going F2P is essentially a promise that they will maintain this game with new content, but now we have to see what that new content is and how fast it comes at us.

So back to the main question, where's the PvE? Okay, here's a better question for you. How do you think the already established PvP playerbase would feel if OW2 comes out and it's exactly the same EXCEPT that now you have co-op story modes and that's it? That would change nothing for them, and I'd say that they are the main audience that continues to play.

The priority here is to finally commit to get new content to keep the PvP players happy. And they know a lot of people care about the lore, but realistically focusing on that first probably wouldn't be the best idea. It makes complete sense that PvP reworks come in first, and I think they did a great job as I said earlier because the game now just feels so much more fun. But PvE is just going to be delayed until whenever they can finish it because PvP is a priority and that's just the reality here.

Also, the game is just not a complete product. There's not enough content to call it a complete product. You can argue so many things were better in OW1 and I would be inclined to agree. If you ask me, the only reason why "Overwatch 2" is a thing is because they needed to push out an announcement out the door to stop people from badmouthing Blizzard. And maybe the call to make OW2 was already made the moment OW1 came out and the big suits saw dollar signs everywhere given how well the game did initially, but I think announcing the game when they did only made things so much worse long-term, because now we're in a weird "Overwatch 1.5" state while they're advertising this as something completely new and different when it's not.

I will say finally giving the PvP players this giant overhaul to make the game much more enjoyable is definitely a good thing and you can even say this was done in good faith by the new team if the alternative was waiting in limbo for an extra year which sounds terrible, but I don't know if this was the right call from every other perspective.

Closing thoughts are, I'm having mixed feelings on the game. I like the game, I have fun with the game, I feel so conflicted regarding everything else besides gameplay, and I'm facepalming at some of the decisions made here and I'm awaiting for them to realize how stupid they are and change them.

We'll see how this game develops. But as of now, I'm just going to play it, have some fun by myself or with a friend, and probably stop in like a week or two as I move onto something else as the game is not doing much to keep me in.

Please let me know how you feel about the game! I'd love to hear from other OW fans too.

Take care, and have fun y'all.

#overwatch 2 #boy that's a long post i'm sorry #i talk about a lot of things here sounding like i know everything but these are just mostly my personal thoughts #with some knowledge i've gathered over time from being around the OW community and games industry

[stayevildarling]

4, 8, 16, 26 & 28 😘

merci💕

4. mythical creature you think/believe is real?

witches. (i‘m not sure this counts. may or may not be to do with delia)

8.do you change into specific clothes for the house when you get home?

yes. either into pj‘s or tracksuits

16. thoughts on mint chocolate chip?

I luv that flavour. However, it‘s not really that common in Germany. I love mint chocolate though and always buy some when I‘m in england

26. how’s your spice tolerance?

I‘m not too sure. I like spicy food but not too crazy spicy

28. last meal on earth?

Kartoffelpuffer 😇

#ask game #ty💕 #lucyintheskywithxanax #😘😘

[june-again]

mirror.

-> TENDOU x READER

content. fluff & angst. wc. 3.6k

warnings. food. tendou having emotions. not read over.

summary. tendou wasn't surprised that he was treated the same at the culinary school in France. but you were a whole other matter.

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting to find in France, but it certainly hadn’t been this.

Tendou Satori had learned in his childhood that he was an abnormality, something unappealing to see or even be around. He’d been told, even, that he was a monster. So he believed it. He grew into it. He decided that — well, if everyone was so sure that his differences made him a monster, then he would be a monster. He earned a title that was slightly more glorifying, the ‘Guess Monster’. But it meant nothing as high school grew to a close. The connections he formed, aside from one with someone who didn’t seem to care this way or that whether he was in his life, easily broke off.

And now he was on the other side of the world. He had no idea why. He’d spent a month or so practicing some French without true intentions of coming here, and he’d sent an application into a culinary school there as an inside joke with himself. It seemed like the most obscure thing he could think of, just right for him. He was used to doing the first thing that came to mind. He’d been known for his crazy instincts in volleyball and it wasn’t a wonder that they’d carried over into his everyday life.

On the other side of the world, in a classroom with words of a language he barely knew all over the walls and teachers that didn’t pause for him, in a school that he’d gotten into purely due to luck, and sitting on his desk, with pink frills and a lavish greetings card entirely in his home language from an unknown writer, was a paper bag with chocolates. They weren’t just any chocolates — they were clearly handcrafted, in the careful and unmistakeable shape of three-legged mice with ram horns. Perhaps it was an ancient mythical French creature.

But when you appeared at his desk and slowly explained them to him in your distorted, obviously unpracticed Japanese, telling him to enjoy them and read the card if he got a chance because you’d spent awhile working on it, he realized he hadn’t been mistaken. They really were just the most obscure animals you seemed to be able to think of. He liked you for it.

“Is it cute?” you asked him, making a face to suggest that you weren’t sure whether you’d worded it right. “It’s cute, yeah?”

He gently took one out, smiling like an eight-year old with a toy. “It’s awesome. I like them.”

You looked at him quizzically. You really must be new to Japanese. Well, he was in your country, so he might as well attempt his knowledge. “Les chocolats… j’adore.”

You beamed, your whole body lifting as you took a breath. You must be trying to remember the Japanese words you’d practiced. “Welcome to our country. I hope we have a good year. Please take care of me.”

“Merci.” He opened his mouth to say more, but he found that he couldn’t come up with any more words of your language. It was funny, the way you’d learned more Japanese to speak to a foreigner than he had himself before traveling to the country. Endearing, though.

He’d never had someone learn his language for him. And not just the speech, but the action, too — something so completely obscure and yet quite possibly the coolest thing he could genuinely think of.

He shouldn’t let himself get too attached to you, you and your heavily accented Japanese and pauses you spent to smile at him and the way you continued to try to talk to him despite the language barrier.

He shouldn’t get too attached to you, but you were the reason he grew more motivated to learn how to speak French.

Tendou wasn’t in France to learn. He was excited about being in a new culture and all that, but his main goal was to get that certificate at the end of these four years so that he could go anywhere he wished. He was smart enough to generally catch on to what was going on in each class, and if he did something wrong, he’d just try something else until he got it right.

The process of not getting attached to you didn’t go so well, because ever since the first week, the two of you became inseparable. And in being inseparable with a student such as yourself, somehow so familiar despite barely knowing each other yet, he found it hard not to slowly let down his walls.

It was so nice to have someone like you.

You helped him learn French. You helped him adjust to the different ways of the culture, and you seemed not a bit deterred by his personality. He never held back in Japan, but somehow he was more inclined to here, because he wanted to make a good impression. The strangest part was, he found that no matter how he acted around you, you’d smile or go along with it as if you’d thought of it yourself. Like you got him. And having someone finally click with him was something he’d never experienced before, and he didn’t quite know what to do with it.

By now, it was your second year, and he was easily fluent in French as you were becoming in Japanese. The two of you were hanging out in your dorm, laughing over one of your classes.

“It’s so easy to piss off Mme. Cambier. She got mad at me once — have I told about this? — I handed in the wrong essay.” You snorted at his expression. “No, no, I swear, I didn’t mean to give her that one. I had been in a rush that morning, that’s all.”

“So you grabbed the essay on your fascination with chocolate milk powder,” he finished, nodding. “I must say, it’s a rather admirable deed. If I was Mme. Cambier I would have much preferred to read that over the history of hunting in America.”

You raised your hand to your mouth in giddy shock. “Oh, I forgot about that time. So, I did it twice.”

“Different essay?”

“Different assignment. Same essay.”

Tendou put one hand out, remembering. “Didn’t she write something on it the first time?”

You opened your mouth during your own recollection.“Yep. She just added onto her note the second time. Holy cow, how did I forget that.”

“I remember that time I accidentally drank from her coffee.”

“Satori. You did not do that accidentally. Don’t even try to lie about that.”

He grinned. “You’re right.”

“You don’t deny it?”

“What can I say. Caffeine withdrawal does a lot to a person, makes them someone unrecognizable.”

“I feel like you’d be very likely to do that whether you were suffering a caffeine addiction or not.”

“You got me there.”

“I got you.”

“You got.”

“I.”

“You.”

The two of you went quiet for a moment, and then burst into very 1am-esque laughter.

Moments like these — he’d never had this kind of friendship with anyone. Not in high school, not even with Semi Eita or Ushijima Wakatoshi or the rest of his team. There hadn’t been a single person that didn’t send him looks of confusion, or openly question his behaviour.

First, they called him a monster. And then, they criticized him for giving up on trying to shed the title when he decided to live up to it?

But you were different.

It had been over a year, and he still didn’t know whether to be excited by this or incredibly terrified. It was too late now not to get attached, but he still had a chance to make sure he acted right around you.

Being loud and chaotic and weird and everything he was good at had seemed like the right behaviour judging from your reactions. But when the nineteen-year-old ex-monster failed a class and asked why, he remembered who he was.

“You’re scary, Satori,” the teacher had told him. A long nose, glasses that seemed to go unused sitting at the tip. Dull, bulging eyes. A naturally downturned mouth. He’d been unlikeable from the beginning of the semester, but Tendou wasn’t taking this class to make best friends with the teachers, so it didn’t really matter.

It was strange to have people call him by his first name. Even if it was normal in this culture. And even if he had adjusted mostly to it. He still told people to use his surname if they could remember. A polite way to say that it was strange to be called anything else.

Tendou learned that French people were just as capable of bad manners as Japanese people, though maybe in a different way.

“You’re scary and you make the other students uncomfortable. You’re too loud.”

“So, you’re just gonna fail me?”

“Well, I’m afraid so, Satori.”

“Maybe it’s just a specific kind of students that you have in here. Not everyone is scared of me, you know, sir. Y/N—”

“Y/N was hell on Earth. I kicked them out on the first day, they were utterly useless and couldn’t understand instructions. Maybe it’s been hard to keep you here because you remind me of them.”

How could they even hire someone like this to work at a university? But — well, he was probably right. All those people before had had perfect reason to call him a monster before, right? He hadn’t changed much, really.

Why hadn’t you told him you were kicked out of this class?

“You can’t become a chef if nobody likes you,” the teacher was explaining as if he’d been telling him this the whole semester. “Be realistic. You have to learn some social skills.”

“You have to learn some ‘social skills’, Monsieur—”

“And that’s why I’m failing you. Not a drop of respect for your professors. I used to be a well-known chef, you know. I can’t believe you’d dare to talk like this to me.”

Tendou went quiet. And then he smiled. Then, laughter bubbled out of his chest and echoed throughout the class hall. He wasn’t laughing at the professor. Nor himself, he’d learned by now there was no point in trying to change himself.

He was laughing at the irony. The cruel irony of being told he wasn’t good enough by a teacher that embodied the very flaws Tendou was being accused of. And once again, Tendou had two choices. To be angry about his helplessness, or to embrace it.

And Tendou would be damned if he let anger become his drive.

—

Oh, but of course you would notice. You were too close to him now not to notice.

Tendou, had he been in a better mood, would probably be marveling at the fact that he even had someone in his life that would notice that something was off. But the fact that something was off and was making it incredibly hard for him to focus on anything seemed to be evident to you and you didn’t hesitate to bring it up as soon as you became worried.

An evening that would usually be filled with laughter and chatter was silent.

Tendou didn’t sulk. But you did, and he’d said something he didn’t mean. Oh, he hadn’t meant a letter of it. French could be such an ugly language. It was no different from Japanese.

“If you weren’t such a freak,” he’d snapped, “you wouldn’t hang around me, Y/N. Why are you bothering to, hm? Pity? I don’t need a freak’s pity.”

He sat, watching his words sink in.

He’d meant to call himself a freak. He always called himself a freak. He didn’t see himself as a human being at this point. He was used to being the monster in the room. He was so tired of it, but he was accustomed to it.

And he got the feeling that you were the same.

You sat in front of him, eyes burning like glowing embers. You didn’t open your mouth, instead pressing it into a thin line. Finally — finally — you said something.

“You don’t mean that, ‘Tori. Something’s happened, hasn’t it? Something’s going on.”

Tendou’s heart dropped at the sound of your voice, quiet, clearly afraid. He bit his lip. He wanted to cry. Tendou didn’t cry, ever. But he wanted you so badly to feel safe again.

He loved you so much it hurt. It wasn’t fair, that you cared about him. He didn’t care in what way it was that you cared about him. It was so — and he knew now — it was frightening. Someone cared. About him. About his feelings. Someone was looking past his behaviour to find out why. Because they cared.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I know,” you replied.

You knew.

Tendou felt like doing something. He felt like he was on top of the world, or falling off it. He needed to do something insane. ”Hey, Y/N. Can you shave my hair for me?”

You cleared your throat, the beginning of a smirk on your lips. “All of it?”

He curled his lips up a bit, fixing you with half-lidded eyes that normally had so much confidence, but tonight it was clear to you that they had a desire for anything. “All of it. The Tendou Satori before you shall be no more. Oh, and I don’t want to see until we’re done.”

You smiled. “Got it. ‘Kay, meet you back here in fifteen minutes.”

He paused to look you right in the eyes with a dead serious expression you rarely saw. “Thank you.”

You nodded, leaving the room to prepare.

—

It took longer than either of you anticipated, and yet, somehow, not long enough. Tendou didn’t exactly have short hair to begin with, and, you thought to yourself, it was a shame that the first time you’d get to really run your hands through it would be to cut it all off. It was soft. Fluffy. Made you sort of want to giggle, despite the remaining feeling at the back of your mind that everything was not alright and right now the two of you should be talking about whatever was going on with him, not returning to your usual late night antics.

Tendou was thinking much the same thing, that having you run your hands through his hair was something he’d miss even if it had only happened once. He tried not to think about why the feeling made his heart speed up. It’d probably ruin everything if he let himself worry about it.

“Are you sure?” you’d said, poising the scissors. “It’ll take awhile to grow back.”

“I don’t intend to grow it back any time soon,” he’d replied. “I wanna be a new Tendou, you know?”

“Right. One new Tendou, coming right up.”

As he heard the scissors clip and the weight leaving his head, he took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me you got kicked out of a class?”

You froze. “Oh. How’d you find out about that?”

“It’s not important.”

You hesitated, and then quietly continued. “I didn’t want to disappoint you, I guess.”

He started to shake his head, and you put your hand on top to remind him not to. “No, you couldn’t. Please, you couldn’t disappoint me if you accidentally slept with the King of France.”

“What does that even mean?”

“Dunno. But why did you get kicked out in the first place?”

A half-smile was in your voice. “He didn’t like my creativity.”

Tendou paused at this.

That’s really what was beautiful about you. You didn’t waste time doing things right when you could do them differently, when you could discover something. You should have been the one doing to a foreign country for school. You were taking out the razor now, plugging it in. “Hey, are you going by a tutorial or anything?”

“Nope.”

He smiled. “Sick. That’s my Y/N.”

He heard a buzzing sound in response, and pressure on his head. And then you did it, you shaved off his hair. It took several minutes for you to be satisfied with your work, and when you finally turned it off you both soaked in the silence.

“So, what happened, Satori?” you finally asked.

“Got failed ‘cause he said I was a freak.”

“You mean the teacher that—”

“Yeah.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine. I’ve been called a freak plenty of times before. I’m different, and all that. I was even the ‘Guess Monster’ on my volleyball team. Blocker.”

“You’ve mentioned that. I didn’t realize the nickname was …”

“It’s not me anymore, though. I’m new Tendou.”

“You’re… hey, pass me the mirror off of the table, ‘kay?”

Tendou picked it up and held it so that he could see his front reflection. He instantly smiled. He looked weird and it felt great. He should have done this long ago.

He caught your eye in the mirror. The two of you stared at each other for a few seconds, and then you raised another mirror so that he could see the back of his head. It wasn’t perfectly even. There were some parts it was more closely cut than others, and you’d missed a small area by his neck.

But it was perfect.

“Thanks,” he told you. “This was great. I’m glad you agreed to do this for me.”

“No problem, Tendou,” you replied, smiling. You realized that he couldn’t see your smile, the mirror in his hands facing your mirror. You reached over his back to adjust his mirror so that he could see your face. There, you stopped, your face hooked over his shoulder.

It was nice to be close to him like this, you thought.

It was nice to have you close to him like this, he thought.

He reached up and took your hand from the mirror into his own, not doing much more than holding it gently. It was smaller than his long, slender fingers. Your hand was absolutely beautiful.

He was scared of messing things up. So afraid. But it was late at night and at this very moment, he was fearless, lifting the back of your hand to his lips. You didn’t move, watching for a second, before wrapping your other arm loosely around him and turning your face into his neck. You stayed like that, hugging from behind as he sat, frozen facing forward. Around you, rather unglamorously, was his hair.

You stood straight again and softly apologized — in Japanese. It almost made Tendou wonder whether you’d been thinking in Japanese while you’d been close to him like that — it almost made him wonder whether you were trying in every way you could to relate and think like him. It almost made him wonder whether you wanted to understand every piece of him the way he did you.

The two of you cleaned up, getting a kick out of the mess. It hadn’t been a part of your plans for this evening, but then, as he observed, when did the two of you ever make plans that you’d actually follow through with?

This seemed to apply to his plans to leave a few minutes later, grabbing his stuff and apologizing again for what he’d said earlier that night. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m sorry I said that. I didn’t mean any of it, you know that, right?”

You chuckled. “Well, I am a bit of a freak. But what’s the use in going through life without being a bit of a freak, right?”

He agreed, feeling his chest swell. You had to be his soulmate, he thought absentmindedly, if you saw life that way. “Okay, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, my chocolatier-barber friend.”

“Wait, Satori,” you said, reaching out to him before he stepped out your door. “I just wanted to … I don’t exactly know what that teacher told you, or any of the details truly about what you’ve been through in your childhood, but I want you to know that I don’t think you’re a monster. I think you’re a really great guy, you know? Me, I’m definitely a little insane, but you’re just… you, you know? I love you for that.”

Tendou’s eyes flashed into yours, trying to understand what you meant by that.

“I meant, I love… I—”

Ten times as strong, the fearless urge overtook him, and he reached his hands for your arms, gently moving the tips of his fingers up as his eyes flickered from your mouth to your eyes, and to your mouth again. “Love, like, it would be okay with you if I kissed you?”

“If—”

“May I?”

“Yes.”

He pressed his lips to yours softly, his fingertips on your arms sending chills all over you. He kissed you gently, moving his lips against yours as if he could barely believe you were truly there and he didn’t want to mess it up.

Your hands found their way to his jaw, then his neck, and the back of his head. It felt weird, but fantastic. You found yourself giggling against him, and he pressed his forehead against yours, laughing too. “So then. New Tendou? Yay or nay?”

You reached up with one hand to his jaw, tilting his face this way and that as if inspecting it. He smiled endlessly at you. You were so beautiful. He was entirely yours in this moment, and he didn’t mind it a bit.

“I say…. drumroll please…” You rolled your tongue, giving him a knowing look. “The former.”

“Hehe, Y/N, did I ever tell you that chocolate is my favourite taste in the world?”

“Oh yeah?”

“Second to you, of course,” he finished with a dramatic gesture and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

You snorted. “Oh, we’re doing this, hm?”

“You think you can beat me at bad pickup lines?”

“Oh yeah. Try me.”

“You know what, Y/N?” he said. “I just might. I just might.”

AN: i don't know what this was. it was midnight. i'm tired. pls ignore how nothing makes sense and how the plot does not exist

NAVIGATION

#angelwalker's virtues #tendou x reader #haikyuu x imagines #tendou fluff #tendou angst #tendo x reader #tendo x you #haikyuu x you #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu angst #hq x you #hq x reader #hq fluff #hq angst #hq tendou x reader #tendou imagine #tendo fanfiction #tendou fanfic #satorinixi #i literally posted this last night but then i realized it was 1am and nobody was going to read it #so #have this #majkNjkawmlka

[dappercritter]

Godzilla vs Kong: Brutally Honest Thoughts

(Took me long enough, eh? Depending on home video releases be like that.)

So first things first, I have a confession to make: I spoiled the movie before I watched it. I was impatient and they had only announced an HBO Max premiere in the states and a theatrical run in Canada at the time. Afterward, I got heads-up from a friend and immersed myself in the opinions of those lucky enough to see it early. I’m just saying that I have some preconceived opinions that I’m sticking to.

That said, Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be more fun than I expected! But you already knew that. Everyone did. The two kings of movie monsters had their rematch and this time it was with glorious Hollywood SFX powering it this time.

The human story was fun but it’s clear they stopped trying at this point. Team Kong stole my heart, especially Jia. Team Godzilla (although the Conspiracy Crew would be a more fitting term since they spend more time chasing down mysteries than trying to back or understand Godzilla) was more fun than I expected and their dynamic was surprisingly enjoyable. Bernie is actually kind of funny, it's nice to see Madison acting more assertive, and Josh was fine--he was the only sane man of the bunch but he was also the butt of the jokes. Still, all the hardcore conspiracy jokes got old fast and it feels off seeing the daughter of two scientists turn into an edgy conspiracy crackpot. Why not an edgy science major?

Team Apex are fun villains, especially Walter Simmons who's a great megalomaniacal CEO type, but Ren Serizawa is a joke. I like his actor's performance but he's just another footnote. Nobody bats an eye at his last name, although the only heroes he interacts with are Nathan Lind and he just misses Team Godzilla. He really could have just been any other villain, but instead, they had to sully Serizawa’s legacy further while robbing a good actor of some interesting material. (As is, it turns out he was just an egotistical jerk with daddy issues--an easy puzzle to solve on day one--after all...)

However, I still cannot and will not approve of the fact that somebody thought it would be a good idea to make the heroes of a sci-fi story into hardcore conspiracy theorists in this day and age. Likewise, I’m not a huge fan of how they essentially made the Hollow Earth into its own universe complete with a crazy portal and an environment with its own laws of physics, nor am I totally crazy about the huge leap in technology that was made between this and KOTM, or G’14 for that matter.

The monsters as awesome as they are, are the biggest mixed bag in the show.

Kong is at his best in ages, and while I am all for the new heroic warrior character that Legendary have crafted and I acknowledge that making him a worthy opponent for their god-tier Godzilla was going to be a hurdle, I think they did a splendid job. Seeing Kong using agility and acrobatics was a glorious sight to behold, and something about Kong becoming a tool-user and weapon wielder just feels right. It’s a far better demonstration of Kong as a “thinking animal” (*wink, wink*).

I’m much less thrilled about their treatment of his greatest opponent ever. After everything they’ve done to build up Godzilla as the incredible force of neutral good fighting to maintain balance and all the build up to ancient rivalry debating back to a great Titan war--even going as far as putting his name in front Kong’s this time!-- they’ve reduced Godzilla back to glorified bully for Kong. He only gets the minimum amount of sympathy from the cast of his movie before they go off to deal with the conspiracy plot or focus on Kong and the Hollow Earth. Worse still, he is somehow more powerful and more aggressive than ever for a good chunk of the movie which leads to an outcome I’m sorry to say we all saw coming. Somehow, I suspect that the reason behind this was how Wingard cited Godzilla vs. Mothra, vs. Destoryah, and Shin-Godzilla as influences for the monsters scale and story, which while cool and all, are all movies where he was played up as a mostly stoic antagonist rather than a three-dimensional character like Kong. (Though ironically vs. Destoroyah and Shin did a better job of making Godzilla feel more sympathetic and in both of them he was a walking nuclear reactor meltdown.)

Due to the unfortunate time constraints of the three-way deal between Toho, WB, and Universal at the time this was in production, Kong was unable to secure a proper sequel that could develop his skillset like Godzilla’s did. Nevermind the fact the filmmakers completely surrendered to the “nothing matters but the monsters” mentality that a chunk of the fanbase has been spouting since this universe unofficially kicked off almost 10 years ago. (Sidenote: Oh god, I’m turning in an old fart already.) As a result, the movie trips over itself trying to set up Godzilla and Kong’s rivalry as well as building up Kong as a worthy opponent to Godzilla while expanding on their shared lore, and as a result countless plot points set up in in the previous movie and tie-in movie are thrown out the window. I’m sorry to say but in spite of all hopes and illusions of grandeur, it’s safe to this damn thing is a Kong movie with Godzilla as the bad guy.

...at least until HE shows up. Yup, Mechagodzilla. The biggest spoiled twist of the centuries steals the show so the movie can pull a Dawn of Justice. But! It does it much better than the fractured DCEU’s most controversial entry ever could. Mechagodzilla’s inclusion gets a decent amount of build up thanks to Team Godzilla/the Conspiracy Crew, and when he shows up, does he make an impression! At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about his inclusion or his design, but I’ve come to like this one. He’s basically a kaiju terminator built in Godzilla’s image made purely out of heavy machinery piloted by the best Ghidorah head. It’s a jarring change of pace compared to previous MechaG’s but it grows on you after a while. With the abundance of weaponry stuffed into him, he feels like a fitting update of the original killing machine, and even if his inclusion feels like an easy way out of the big showdown, it’s fun to see him played as a literal colossal heel for the kings to team up against. Not to mention he looks shockingly good with those red highlights. However, one still can’t help but wonder how and why he was made in this universe, or how he feels like pure heavy machinery one minute and then an extra-large Ultron unit the next.

As for the the big throwdowns we’ve all been waiting for... well, we’re still in the mixed bag deparment. While the fights are all exciting and excellently choreographed, and benefit from some more eclectic lighting and cinematograph, I’m sorry to say that as far as the rematch of the century goes they dropped the ball on this one.

Don’t get me wrong, the fights are all great in their own ways, but there’s a drastic change in the feeling of weight and power with the monsters. Godzilla, Kong, and even Mechagodzilla all feel strangely floaty in most of their fights. One moments they feel like true behemoths shaking the very earth with every movement and then it’s like they’re in Godzilla Unleashed, running, jumping, and throwing each other around with speed that feels that almost makes you wonder if the Hollow Earth’s gravity inversion stuff is leaking out into the world. While it’s all perfectly cool, you can’t help but wonder how Kong is able to leap between aircraft carriers and buildings, when Godzilla got the ability to blow a hole through the Earth itself, or how a colossal machine is able to move so nimbly or why it has to be flashing blue all the time.

It’s fascinating and fun but you just can’t help but wonder how we got from almost posthuman disaster and war movies exploring how we’re at the mercy of the ancient almost mythical forces beyond our comprehension, we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Bayformers meets Jurassic World levels of Hollywood absurdity where anything and everything can and will happen in the name of getting to the monster fights. Although I can’t say I’m surprised given the director’s take on Death Note made some questionable choices with it’s take on the infamous cast while still coming up with some genuinely inspired choices. Still, all things considered we could have gotten worse compared to ther cinematic universes made by WB and Universal.

As for some misc. thoughts to close up this rambling mess:

-The soundtrack is fantastic. A great continuation of the feel of Skull Island’s mixtape with some truly wonderful picks. Special mention goes to the opening and ending songs, and they GOT AN ELVIS PRESLEY SONG IN HERE! YES!!! The three kings of pop culture together at last!

-While this movie didn’t need to be any more overstuffed, it would have been nice if the rest of the Titans didn’t disappear entirely from this movie. I get that Godzilla: Dominion already explained what happened to them all more or less, but it really is a missed oppurtunity that we never got to see another Titan war. Or Rodan attacking Kong to avenge his pterosaur bretheren from days long past. Speaking of which...

-“Save Mothra” jokes be damned, Mothra would have been a welcome gues star, not just to help break up the big fight, but to show off Godzilla’s softer, more protective side. And yes, I want more Mothzilla. Shut up, we deserve it.

-Boy, Monarch sure does a whole lot of nothing up-top, huh?

-The cinematography is a great update but there’s a little too much neon lighting, especially in the Apex HQ and the Hollow Earth throne room. It feels like they’re trying just a little too hard to sell the more futuristic, Hollywood sci-fi feel.

-The score is... great but not that great. Of course, I’ve always had mixed feelings about Tom Holkenburg (AKA Junkie XL)’s music. I liked Kong’s themes, but they REALLY dropped the ball with Godzilla’s theme. Mechagodzilla’s works really well as long you ignore that it’s just Godzilla’s theme in this movie with an ominious choir added in.

-The new Hollow Earth creatures are all perfectly fine. Actually, I thought they were another highlight! Especially the Warbats, Hellhawks, and Doug the Titanus Foetodon Man.

-I want to do a release the extended cut campaign but I don’t think any of us have the energy for that s**t anymore.

#godzilla vs kong #gvk spoilers #godzilla vs kong spoilers #godzilla vs kong 2021 #godzilla vs kong review #monsterverse #godzilla #king kong #kong #mechagodzilla #warner bros #legendary pictures #legendary godzilla #legendary kong #ramblings of the critter #the dapper critter #kaiju #monster movies #movie monsters #monsters #mothzilla for life

[celiabowens]

Book recommendations, Literary Fiction edition(?)

A companion to this post (which should be updated, at some point lol)

Short Story Collections: 

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield: grotesque and disquieting collection about women and their experience in society, how they view and perceive their own body and desires. Pretty strong mythic, magical realism, body horror elements in here.

The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks: fascinating collection in which Sacks reminishes some particularly odd stories of patients who had to cope with bizarre neurological disorders.

Home Remedies by Xuan Juliana Wang: a collection focused on the Chinese millennial experience. Stories about love and loss, family, immigration and the uncertainty of the future. (also there’s an extremely beautiful short story about a pair of Chinese divers that broke me forever!!!)

Bestiary: The Selected Stories by Julio Cortázar: unforgettable selection of short stories that mix surreal elements to everyday life and apparently ordinary events. Would also recommend All Fires the Fire by the same author.

Novels:

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang: one of the biggest debuts of 2020, it follows two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era. An adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration, this is one of my favorites 2020 reads so yeah, I’d really push it in anyone’s hands to be honest.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: historical fiction inspired by the last days of a young woman accused of murder in Iceland in the 1820s. A quite bleak, but beautiful novel (the prose is stunning).

The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave: historical fiction novel set in Norway in the 17th century, following the lives of a group of women in a village that recently (barely) survived a storm that killed all of the island’s men. 

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead: the 2020 winner of the Pulitzer Prize. The book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist (side note, I’ve been recommended The Underground Railroad by Whitehead as well, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. If you’re looking for something quite peculiar, if a bit less refined when compared to The Nickel Boys, The Intuitionist is a quite odd pulpy noir set in an alternate NY about...elevator inspectors *and racism*). 

The Leavers by Lisa Ko: haunting book about identity and immigration as the main character is apparently abandoned by his own mother (an undocumented Chinese immigrant) during his childhood. Mainly a story about living in between places and constantly feeling out of place. 

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa: when everyone would probably recommend Murakami (not much against Murakami besides his descriptions of women and their boobs), I suggest checking out some of Ogawa’s books. The recently translated The Memory Police, published in Japan in the mid 90s, is an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories slowly disappear. Would also really recommend The Housekeeper and The Professor, a really short novel about a housekeeper hired to clean and cook for a math professor who suffered an injury that causes him to remember new things for only 80 minutes. 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong: Ocean Vuong’s debut novel, following a son writing a letter to his illiterate mother. The book seems quite polarising due to Vuong’s writing style (his poetry background is really quite clear and the book doesn’t really follow a regular narrative, rather than portrays events and memories in brief flashes), but I loved it and I’d really just recommend going into it without knowing much? It’s a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and more.

Exist West by Mohsin Hamid: this book was fairly popular when it came out (in 2017 I believe) and was often incorrectly marketed as magical realism. Hamid’s book is a brief and quietly brutal journey with a few fantastical elements, following a couple trying to escape their city in the middle of war, as they hear about peculiar doors that can whisk people far away. The doors are, of course, a quite effective metaphor for the immigrant experience and the book does a great job at portraying the main characters’ relationship. 

Family Trust by Kathy Wang: this has a really low rating on goodreads which...wow i hate that. Family Trust is a literary family saga/drama about a Chinese-American family residing in the Silicon Valley. It’s often been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, but I believe it to be more on the literary side and definitely less lighthearted. 

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee: historical family saga (one of my favorites tbh, I’m absolutely biased, but this book deserved more hype) set in Korea and Japan throughout the 20th century, following four generations of a Korean family. While I wasn’t the biggest fan of the prose, the book has really great characterisation and absolutely fascinating characters. (I’d suggest checking out eventual TW first, in this case). 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: another recent read, The Silence of the Girls, while not faultless, is a pretty good retelling of The Iliad, narrated through Briseis’ perspective. The prose can feel a bit too modern at times, but it provides the reader with some really strong quotes and descriptions. 

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng: and also Little Fires Everywhere by the same author, to be honest. If you’re looking for really really good family dramas, with great explorations of rather complex and nuanced relationships? You should just check out her stuff. Vibrant characters, good writing, and some superb portrayal of longing here. 

Nutshell by Ian McEwan: i’m starting with this one only to grab your attention (if you’ve even reached this part lol, congrats), but McEwan’s one of my favorite authors and I’d recommend almost everything I’ve read by him? Nutshell, specifically, is a really odd and fun retelling of Hamlet...told from the pov of an unborn baby. But really, I’d also recommend Atonement (of course), The Children Act, Amsterdam? All good stuff. 

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles: I’ve read this book this summer and, while I’m still unsatisfied with the ending, I’d thoroughly recommend this? The novel follows Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A singular novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life. 

Human Acts by Han Kang: from the bestselling author of The Vegetarian (which honestly, I thoroughly despised lol), Human Acts focuses on the South Korean Gwangju uprising. It’s a really odd (and at times grotesque) experimental novel (one chapter is narrated from the pov of one of the bodies if I remember correctly), so one really has to be in the mood for it, but it’s a really unique experience, worth a chance.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: sort of a really chunky historical adventure novel following two artists in 1940s/1950s NY, who create a superhero and use him to wage a one man war on the Nazis. A bit slow in places (the pace can be uneven at times and the book is quite long), but an enjoyable novel that does a pretty good job when it comes to exploring rather classic themes of American contemporary fiction: the American dream and the figure of the artist (I think there’s a particularly interesting focus on how the artists navigates the corporate world and its rules) and their creative process.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: this is a pretty classic rec, the book really got a lot of hype when it came out? It’s a dystopian-ish novel set after civilisation’s collapse, following a post-apocalyptic troupe (of Shakespearean actors). It’s a really odd, but surprisingly quiet book. Not sure if a pandemic is exactly the right time to read it, but I thoroughly recommend it. 

The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng: I feel like this book is extremely complex to summarise to be honest. In short, it’s a book set in Malaya at the end of the 1940s, following a woman who, after surviving Japanese wartime camps, spends her life prosecuting war criminals. But truthfully this book is about conflicts and contradictions and in particular about remembering and forgetting. Lovely prose. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt: and also The Goldfinch. I’m sure no one really needs me to introduce Donna Tartt?

The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton: quite cerebral mystery set in New Zealand in 1866. Honestly you have to be a patient reader who enjoys novels with a pretty complex structure to like this, but if you’re into this sort of challenging read...go for it? It’s a book of interlocking stories (with 10+ pov and main characters) with a really fascinating structure based on astrological charts, which provide insight to the main characters’ traits and personality as the mystery unfolds.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham: ok...do not watch the movie first. The Hours is an incredibly difficult novel to describe to be honest: it begins by recalling the last moments of Virginia Woolf’s life, as she’s writing Mrs. Dalloway. The book focuses on three separate narratives, each one following a specific character throughout a single day of their own life. Goes without saying that I’d suggest being familiar with Mrs. Dalloway itself first though.

An Artists of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro: not one of Ishiguro’s most famous works (most start reading his work with Never Let Me Go or The Remains of the Day), but probably my favorite out of those I’ve read so far. The novel follows  Masuji Ono, an artist who put his work in service of imperialist propaganda throughout WWII. Basically a reflection and an account of the artist’s life as he deals with the culpability of his previous actions. 

Stoner by John Williams: I feel like this is an odd book to recommend, because I don’t think someone can truly get the hype unless they read it themselves. Stoner is a pretty straight-forward book, following the ordinary life of an even more ordinary man. And yet it’s so compelling and never dull in its exploration of the characters’ lives and personalities. Also, I’ve just finished Augustus by the same author, which is an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Really liked it. 

Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien: back to integenerational family sagas (because I love those, in case it wasn’t clear lol), Do Not Say We Have Nothing follows a young woman who suddenly rediscovers her family’s fractured past. The novel focuses on two successive generations of a Chinese family through China’s 20th century history. While not every character got the type of development they deserved, the author does a good job when it comes to gradually recreating the family’s complex and nuanced history. 

There’s probably more but I doubt anyone’s going to reach the end or anything so. There’s that lol.

#book recs #book rec #litblr #2020 reads #all the typos are my own LOL #also i didnt put here philip roth or auster #but tbh #i dont think anyone needs me to rec them???

[phantomnostalgist]

Ethan Freeman Phantom interview

An interview with Ethan Freeman from about 1994 or 1995, printed in “Beneath the Mask” #8 (which I haven’t found my print copy of yet, but the interview was reproduced on our old POTO fan site). 

Also of note about Ethan: at the time he was one of the two youngest actors to have played the Phantom - he and Anthony Warlow were both 28 or 29 when first cast in the role.

Are there any differences between London and Vienna - if so, what are they? The general tone of the production in Vienna was slightly more Operetta-like, probably due to the language, the sound of the translation and style of acting of some of the players. The tempo was also at some points quite different depending on who was conducting, and would undoubtedly feel strange to me now. The audience tended to be less tuned in to the humorous moments in the show in general, and some scenes like "Managers I & II" for example, simply run better and are more clever in English.

How did you get the role? I got the role of the Phantom after auditioning for Hal Prince and Gillian Lynne and the Viennese producer and musical staff. They appeared very excited about the audition. I'd sung "Music of the Night" which they praised in a friendly manner (Hal is always positive and encouraging), and they sent me off to learn the segment from the Final Lair "Order your fine horses... This is the choice. This is the point of no return!" When I came back the next day to do it (the Phantom candidates appeared by then to have been reduced to three) Hal said "OK Ethan I want you to scare me!" So I did the section with as much power and venom as I could muster (Id never seen the show - I think Id heard the record once or twice...) and after it was done, Hal just said "Great. You scared me!" and that was that really. Later that day they explained to Alexander Goebel and me what they would like and would we be willing to share, obviously with Alex, who was very well known, being the dominant of the two. So we split 5/2 which frequently ended up being 4/3 as the run went along.

How did you research the character? I read the novel finally, all the way through. Ruth Hale, my partner in "Cats" at the time, later to premiere as Mme Giry in the Hamburg production, gave me a copy as a present. I'd seen several of the films over the years so I knew there wasn't much to be mined from those - although Lon Chaney Snr did display some magnificent body language, and I've nicked at least one dramatic gesture from him. Principally though, I had several long meetings with Hal in New York to talk about the role and show. He instructed me to go watch Michael a few times then come back and talk some more. Crawford was magnificent, at the peak of his vocal power and still fairly fresh in the role and I was moved and impressed as I have not been since by a Phantom. (Though Dave Willetts, I must say, also made a huge impression the first time I saw him, for his power and well-delineated psychotic behaviour.) At first I thought boy, you've got your work cut out for you on all fronts. So, I would say my "research" of the role was principally based on my own discussions with Hal and also largely on my own thoughts and feelings. Obviously most of the physical manifestations of the role, make-up, costume, blocking, etc were predetermined so there wasn't much scope for change. To be honest, I feel some of the Phantoms I've seen tend, in an effort to be different, to stray from the basic line of the drama and weaken themselves as a result. Michael's acting was extreme, yet very clear and economical at the same time, and I also try to offer the audience a complicated and ambiguous character going through clear, unambiguous moments of his life - otherwise it's so easy for the audience not to "get" everything that's there - or to "get" things that aren't intended to be there at all.

How do you feel on stage? So varied in thought and feeling that I can't really give a concise answer. I feel quite differently now to how I felt 600 odd shows ago. I used to have to concentrate on staying concentrated - now it just happens. I know what to achieve and just try to let it happen. I'd say I'm both in and out of Erik at the same time and he in me.

Do you think it's based on a true story ie. did the Phantom exist? I doubt it - I haven't read this newer novel "Phantom" yet and don't intend to until I finish playing the part. However I've been to the Palais Garnier and in all senses of the word it is a 'phantastic' theatre, one which easily conjures up many stirring images - beautifully represented in the Phantom designs, I'd say!

What do you think of Erik? I wish he'd let me have a little more time to myself! Oh, I don't know. He's a sad, bitter, brilliant man. He has a great brain and can be a real bastard. I find him easy to understand - he's motivated by a terrible profound loneliness and has been forced to create his own universe which has its own laws. Anyone who has known some kind of loneliness or feeling of apartness when they were children or growing up can tune in to this crucial aspect of the Man, which is his great mythical attraction. He is so powerful, awesome, in control and yet so hurt and vulnerable. He must epitomise great beauty and great ugliness at war with each other, reason and insanity, God/Satan, Id/Ego battling it out. In the end, he learns about sacrifice, shows mercy and is redeemed by love - a great, archetypal Romantic drama - another reason why the story has always been so popular. I can't stand it when I see Erik played as a "nutter". Yes, he goes "crazy" a few times, but in general he is not insane in the pathological sense. I feel if he is played as a schizophrenic or a psychopath, the romantic ideal of the story is dashed, because both of those conditions would indicate a "determination" that makes any hope of redemption impossible, and would break with the "Romantic" style. He is very melancholy, angry, egocentric, neurotic perhaps, and goes off into rages of frustrated sexuality, but he is not insane. And I'll kill anyone who thinks otherwise!

What do you think happens to him at the end? That's our little secret! I think the different fan magazines have probably spent pages on that so I don't see I need to contribute. He goes!

Why do you think the show is so appealing? Some lovely songs, great orchestrations, a nice mixture of melodrama and light comedy, some stunning sets and a lot of good theatrical magic: and on the thematic side, many of the things I've mentioned before, which I suppose you could define as the archetypal Beauty and the Beast scenario which, if honestly portrayed, can tug the heartstrings of even the most urbane Japanese businessman.

What is your favourite role of those you've played? Obviously Phantom is the supreme role in my repertoire to date. I did however, really enjoy my stints in other Lloyd Webber shows as well. Che in "Evita" was very cool to play and Gus/Growltiger, while exceedingly 'uncool' thanks to the heavy knitted costumes, was a joy to play, despite being totally knackering, and one that I was surely born to do. I really enjoyed doing Hajj, the Poet in "Kismet" with the BBC Radio 2 last year, working with the composers, and would love to have the chance to do that again on stage someday.

What role would you like to play? I'd quite hope to have a go at Sweeney Todd somewhere down the line and would still like to play the Celebrant in "Bernstein's Mass" at some point. (I've nearly done that a couple of times.) Add to that a heap of great operatic roles I'd love to do but probably never will and whatever new, unknown roles lie lurking up ahead. We'll wait and see!

End note from me - Ethan’s wrong about schizophrenia, but hey, this interview was 25 years ago and actors can’t be expected to be experts on mental illness. But I really love this interview, the depth he goes into, and how his sense of humour comes through too.

#the phantom of the opera #phantom of the opera #ethan freeman #classic phantoms #poto #poto legends #phantom legends

[internutter]

Challenge #02922-G365: Danger in Ignorance

It is the modern era. Faerie folk and other such beings are considered nothing but old stories. But, sometimes, stories are real. She was born with the gift to see the supernatural for who they were even if they hid amongst the normal modern world. She could understand their languages no matter how old or obscure it was. And read their words. From the most ancient to the most modern. And yet, as she grew older, she learned this was something handed down from mother to daughter for generations. An ability now quite rare as most of those that once had those gifts were often destroyed or otherwise came to harm long before they could bear children. Her family being one of the last. -- Anon Guest

There are places where a certain kind of person can glimpse into the Mythical. Some call them crazy. Some presume they're on drugs. In recent centuries past, they called them witch and killed them without mercy. Those with more than a modicum of sense learned to pay lip service to the dominant way of thought, and whisper to their gifted young to not talk about that with anyone who wasn't safe.

Of course I won't tell you how to find them. There's still people who will kill them for what they do. As for what they do? They stop incursions. They solve problems. They keep the peace. There are, after all, other worlds that others can't see. Without those who can glympse, the world would be utter chaos. Well. More utter chaos than what's normal for these days.

You wouldn't expect to find a fae infestation in Bumblefudge[1], Kansas. Melanie blamed those "cutesy" fairy doors people added into their gardens for the "aesthetic". Some people just weren't careful about who they invited. Since this was an especially dry region, they had put it into a rock garden with some succulents. A blessed rock garden, for criminy's sake! All you needed was the capstones and you had a standing circle! Right on the ley lines, too. Urgh. Karens were so gosh-darn fudging moronic sometimes.

[Be sure to visit internutter (dot) org for a link to the rest of this story, and details on how to support this artist. Or visit peakd (dot) com (slash at) internutter for the stories at their freshest]

#instant story #just add prompt #faerie tales #urban magic #willful ignorance

[ruubesz-draws]

I REVEAL RODAN’S MATE: QUETZALCOATL!!!

She is a “feathered serpent” titan. She is kind, strong and looks calm, however, she actually has a really carefree, fun-loving attitude. She loves and cares deeply for Rodan. When angered, she will not hesitate to unleash her wrath and will show no mercy (unlike Mothra). Otherwise, she’s someone who’s really fun to hang out with, like that one crazy friend we all have.

Basically, this Quetzacoatl is the one from the animated Godzilla series but I just changed her design to look a bit more like the actual mythical creature from The Aztec and Mayan mythology. Hope you guys give her as much love as the other titans!

And sadly, it wasn’t Biollante as you all expected haha

#Godzilla #Godzilla King of the Monsters #rodan #quetzalcoatl #titanus quetzalcoatl #gijinka version #lmao not biollante guys #it was fun #rodan's mate finally revealed! #yay #she was fun to draw #my art #do not repost

[mysteryprof]

@obicoconobi replied to your post “I’m gonna fucking HOPE that the leaked skin list didn’t list all the...”

i thought the exact same thing when i saw that leak, it's Anniversary they can go little crazy :,D, though "and more" probably meant they will bring some old skins back... there is also a rumour about pink mercy skin (though unlikely i think)

I’ve been hearin’ rumours about Pink Mercy comin’ back for the past couple months now so it’s hard to say for sure though it’d be really nice if the charity came back ; 0;

I read an article recently that said they’re gonna be adding a new Category for cosmetics: Mythical. Don’t know how true that is, but I’d imagine it’s gonna be ones that have one time limited availability you can’t get anymore

I wonder if their ‘and more’ might also mean bringing back the old Atlantic vs Pacific skins like the Genji/Tracer and Lucio/Mercy, or if it means more legendaries since the first anniversary had 11.... 

#either way I'm really excited and my Hanzo brainrot is READY #obicoconobi #Percy replies

[thechroniclesofdaraliss]

100 Mutants & Masterminds Session Ideas (Part IV)

It’s been a while since the last list. The chaos of living one life as a civilian and the other as a vigilante is always a balancing act. But here we are, another 100 ideas for all your superhero adventures! Whether you defend a small neighborhood or the entire planet, there should be something here for everyone. If you like what I do, please like, comment, or reblog. So let’s grab our massively overpriced vehicles and take call all our partners in crime-fighting, and take to the skies for another day of heroism!

You investigate a series of robberies and discover that the party behind it is a matriarchal clan where crime is the family business.

B-rank heroes are trying to take on your enemies so they get status. But in the end, they’re endangering more lives than they’re saving.

Prominent meta-humans are being sent invitations to play a game on an island where their skills will be tested. They must complete the objectives, and get the highest score to win. The catch? Some of the objectives involve killing other participants.

Someone is orchestrating tragedy for heroes, knowing that they will become powerful meta-humans. But what does this person have in mind for them once they reach their full potential?

A catatonic billionaire uses everything in his power to find a body suitable for his devious mind. This includes his money, technology, and criminal connections.

A series of magical books have been stolen, each one belonging to one of the foremost sorcerers in Earth’s history. But when put together, they will unlock a codex that will either unleash an evil creature, or bind it again for another 10,000 years.

A foreboding alien ship is hovering over the world’s largest cities, but does not destroy them. Instead, it’s sucking energy out of them. You must stop it before it leaves the world in darkness.

A villain is terrorizing the city by infusing common items with poisonous substances. He challenges you to crack the code and save the city.

A team of heroes calls for your help in taking down a mutual enemy.

A league of villains forms to take down your team.

Disaster strikes (bridge collapse, burning building, etc) and you have no way of getting your super suit in time. You must find a way to save the civilians without blowing your cover.

A new set of meta-humans hit the streets and are using their unusual abilities to reek havoc. No particle accelerator explosions or toxic waste disasters have been recorded, so you need to find out how these powers originated, and how they are being transferred.

A city-wide cryogenic freezing has occurred. With everyone motionless, the villains will be able to judge the wicked and preserve the innocent. Everyone is at their mercy, except your team.

A monstrous being has emerged, but they don’t seem capable of harming anything. The government insists on recollecting it, but it fears what will happen when it is brought back. You must aid in this beings capture or escape. Both will prove difficult.

A new power source has emerged that can imbue people with life and power beyond measure. The only downside is that they are written out of existence.

A meta-human has the power of cellular regeneration. While he hoped to use it for healing, the villains want to use it to form weapons, making the cells take in an infinite number of forms.

Someone has replicated the event granting you superpowers, and is trying to take your place. They will stop at nothing until you’re replaced, dead, or otherwise incapable of resuming your duty as a hero.

An alien crash—lands on your planet and requests your help in reassembling it’s spacecraft. It says it must escape its intergalactic pursuers, but refuses to tell you why. You must either turn the alien in to humans, turn it in to its pursuers, or help it escape.

After saving children from a natural disaster, you unleash a mythical creature that is hell bent on destruction.

A cannibal is on the loose in your city, and for every person he feeds off of, the more enhanced his powers become.

Someone has perfected the genetic code in a plant (or animal) species. With it, they will be able to cause infertility and systematically cause extinction of crops, species, perhaps even humanity!

A criminal empire is growing too fast to fight the old-fashioned way. So instead of a fight in the streets, you have to go undercover to take down their biggest operations.

When one of your teammates falls ill, and conventional medicine fails, you will have to use unconventional methods to cure them. You will have to shrink yourself to cellular size and take down the illness at its source.

Terrorists have demanded that the heroes reveal their secret identities to the world, or they will kill ten innocent people every week.

A legendary hacker has died, claiming that he has developed a universal hack, codenamed “Skeleton Key.” Whoever finds it first gets to keep it, and the clues are all throughout your city to find it.

A hero goes to great lengths to remove their powers. Their continued existence as a full-time hero is destroying their relationships. But the supposed cure is a trap to kill them.

The mob’s greatest hitman turns out to be a child. After saving him/her from a disaster, it turns out they had planned the whole thing to bring you in.

A mysterious new gang surfaces at the same time a new a mayoral prospect arrives in the city. Is the whole thing a coincidence, or a devious scheme?

The ancient Gods are holding a conference in your city. They plan to decide whether or not to finally unleash the apocalypse. Until they make a decision, they will pit you against some of the most vicious and powerful creatures ever made.

A villain has designs on demolishing the entire civilized world so humanity will die out and natural order will be restored. Only the strong will survive as the wilderness dominates the landscape, and mutants become gods.

A mysterious entity lands in your city. But when you investigate, it’s a humanoid Figure with no memory of who they are or where they come from. You must find out why, and if they’re a threat.

A man has gained superpowers, and elects to take revenge on the people that tormented him in high school, and ultimately killed his family. Subdue this mutant and either teach him to use his powers for good, or turn him in.

Explosives have been placed on every entrance and exit to your city. Nothing goes in, and nothing goes out. This is the perfect opportunity for the villain behind it to declare himself supreme ruler of the metropolis.

One of your most prominent villains has recently gained a massive inheritance. You’re convinced they’ll use it for crime, but their actual usage surprises you. They clean up the streets (so they can take it over later).

The promising new brain-training clinic is actually a twisted experiment to drive people crazy. By overloading the mind, it’s possible that psychic abilities will be unlocked. While this does work in some, it’s disastrous for others.

Someone is rewriting the memories of the people they capture. Rebels are suddenly obedient, children forget their homes, and heroes are becoming villains. Find the pattern, and discover a lead back to who is altering these people’s minds.

A reclusive aristocrat has called for the help of your team. A terrible curse has been placed on him for as far back as he can remember, and it is now spiraling out of control. All born from an artifact owned by his family for generations. He’s tried to destroy it, but it’s only harmed him in response. Discover what this malevolent force is, and vanquish it.

People are going missing across the city. Only it’s not regular missing persons, they vanish out of thin air.

Mutants have gathered from all over the world to discuss their rights as mutants when most have treated them as monsters and outcasts. Many call for the destruction of humans, but some hold out hope. That is, until a riot ensues and kills five mutants in cold blood.

An omega-level mutant has flown across the sky of a major city and declared war on humanity. He calls for all his fellow mutants to either stand by him or perish. While this may be localized to once city, his ambition led carry to other cities. Perhaps your own.

A natural disaster has forced all of your city’s civilians into safety shelters. Once they’re inside, the villain will infuse the shelter air vents with cyanide. His enemy, be it the populace, or a group within it, will perish.

A band of young and powerful meta-humans are tearing up America as they leave every town they cross scared, robbed, or destroyed. One of their members is picked up by your team, and he wants to stop them. He knows their weaknesses, but it will still require a team on par with them to win.

A villain has been terrorizing the world for centuries, yet his presence has always remained hidden. But now that his operations been stopped by you again, he will reveal himself and accept the challenge of killing you. A ruthless criminal mastermind who has replaced his body with soulless machinery.

Aliens invade your planet, only their arrival is not malicious in nature. They are stopping here because their armada has been demolished, and they were look for reinforcements to take down a far greater evil. And since your planet is rich with meta-humans, you are the perfect allies.

A shape-changing entity has arrived in your world that will achieve invincibility when it collects all nine artifacts it is hunting for.

An entity has entered the dream world, and is trapping all of the world’s children into experiencing the perfect dream. One they don’t want to wake up from. He hopes to harness the collective unconscious of humanity’s children and become all-powerful.

A maniac obsessed with immortality is taking people off the street and using them in an experiment to extend human lifespans. You try to stop him, but those that survive insist on helping him.

Your latest trophy from crime fighting is a bug to discover your team’s secret lair. With this information, the villain who was put away will have his second in command attack you when you’re at your most vulnerable.

A massive fortune is left behind by a man who enjoys playing sadistic games. His last will and testament is that his entire fortune goes to whoever finds it. You must use your team’s resources and find the money before your enemies do. With so much on the line, all of your enemies could be in the running!

A corrupt cop is tormenting meta-humans no matter what their affiliations. His status under the law makes him untouchable by criminals, and he intimidates his colleagues into submission. You must bring him to justice when the law and underworld won’t touch him.

A new kind of competition has emerged for meta-humans: Hero Olympics. Complete with obstacle courses, team battles, and all manner of organized heroics, it’s the perfect place to exhibit your skills. It’s also ample opportunity to commit a crime.

The next holy war has been confirmed. Only this time, it’s the “Holy Knights” of Humanity against all meta-humans.

The mastermind behind all the city’s crimes has declared war on your team. He has demolished your headquarters, and or a price on your head that’s so high, civilians are gunning for you.

A villain is collecting a vast assortment of arcane relics, each with a different ability. Once all of them are gathered, he believes he will become the supreme ruler of the cosmos. But really, he will become the lapdog to the creator of the relics.

A terrible tragedy (war zone, act of terrorism, outbreak of a deadly disease) has been looped by an unknown entity. If you are to escape this nightmarish scenario, you’ll have to prevent it from happening in the first place.

You have been captured by your enemies. They have you in their clutches, and are about to unmask you when you and your team manage to escape. But as you try and leave, you discover you’re in the headquarters of your enemies. Its labyrinthine design keeps you trapped in a sadistic game of cat and mouse.

An anarchist at the head of an underground organization has called out for the elimination of heroes, only he doesn’t want to take their lives, he wants to take away their powers...permanently.

A zealot of an ancient religion has gained the power to convene with spirits. After communicating with them, he has concluded that if the earth is on the brink of destruction, he will be able to merge with a cosmic being responsible for the formation of the universe.

A powerful elemental villain is planning to make the entrain the entire city with their element (perpetual heat wave, relentless blizzard, carnivorous jungle, etc). With such an intense source of energy, they will be able to expand their influence exponentially across the country, perhaps the world.

An unconventional mob war hits the streets. A mob boss has been killed by his second in command, in the hopes of usurping his seat of power. But shortly after this, his spirit emerged and becomes the leader of a whole new underworld. The living and dead of your city engage ins turf war, and you have to stop it before civilians get caught in the crossfire.

The latest exhibit in a museum has been stolen. You track down the thief, and discover that they are of alien origin. They claim that this artifact was “entrusted” to humanity, but is actually a pocket dimensional prison, containing some of the universe’s most vicious intergalactic criminals. It is scheduled to release them all to conquer earth, a planet seen as low-priority. Survivors will be given a full pardon of their crimes as well, free to rule earth as a sovereign nation once it’s been conquered.

The Earth is drawing alien objects into its gravitational pull, and shattering them to form rings on par with Saturn.

A group of tech-savvy teens are using special effects technology to rob people as they pass through the woods, and they gradually expand their racket into the city. But as you advance on their “territory” they reveal a few tricks to put meta-humans in their place.

You intercept a drug den, only to find that the Lotus Eaters have lulled its inhabitants into a state of bliss. You must find a way to save the drugged humans from their trance.

A hidden civilization has intercepted your team. They hope to use them as their guardians in exchange for protection from the surface world. The catch is that you can never return to your home. Find a way to escape.

A cult of corrupt magic users plans to use human sacrifices to resurrect an ancient entity. Only when he is finally revived, his intentions differ with that of the people who summoned him.

Someone is removing select organs from a handful of human targets. Some believe it to be a serial killer collecting trophies, but you’re certain there’s more to it. Someone trying to replicate human beings, replacement parts, or an attempt to save a loved one.

A child approached your team, intent on finding a long-lost parent. When a picture of them is shown, you recognize them as one of the most powerful heroes of your time. You must find out who this child is, how they don’t know their identity already, and how to help them.

The city has become host to a massive array of holograms. When a registered hero touches one, it provides a set of holograms to challenge your skills. Is it a corporation’s challenge, a tech-wizard’s prank, or a distraction for a heist?

A sentient collection of antimatter beings possessing animals, objects, and people to fight humanity. They are revealed to be planet-consuming entities that fester like bacteria in the wounds they create on the planet’s surface. Their end goal is to encapsulate the whole planet in their festering influence until they form a massive new entity the size of earth.

Heroes have gathered in secret to discuss disturbing movements of an old villain’s movements. But this is impossible, as this villain died fifty years ago.

A creature has been captured by the villains, and they plan to use it to steal buildings by tunneling beneath the city.

A school for superheroes is being developed, and the heroes and politicians of your city are backing its development. However, many of its students need guidance, experience, and protection. Perhaps you can supply all three.

A nomadic biker gang has declared war on heroes. They are armed with anti-mutant weaponry, and seem to have limitless funding. You suspect there’s more at work, but you must defeat them first.

A band of heroes have gone rogue and are fighting against the law. Their leader has fallen off the radar, while his partners reek havoc. You are tasked with discovering why they went off on their own, and bringing them in by any means necessary.

One of your most formidable villains has recruited a meta-human child that lost his family as a result of one of your heroic exploits. The child has no way of coping with what he’s lost, and so the villain “guides” him to get revenge on you.

A villain has kidnapped the world’s foremost scientific minds to rebuild the earth from scratch. He plans on gathering all the world’s species, and preserving them in a spaceship while releasing a nerve gas throughout the planet. Once the dust settled, the world will be his for the remaking.

An Elder evil is released when it is thawed from any icy prison in the arctic. Most think it means to destroy the earth, but it’s really looking to reclaim something it lost.

Children are going missing every night and there is no sign of a struggle in their homes.

A hero plans to marry his love interest, only to have the villain come in and threaten to destroy the chapel if she doesn’t marry him instead.

A prophecy of doom looms over your city, and soon plagues begin to demolish the metropolis. Is it a supernatural force at work, or a mad scientist scaring everyone away?

A series of doors open to different parts of the world, each leading to a great evil to overcome (monster, criminal operation, etc). Is this the work of a hero trying to vanquish evil, or a villain trying to eliminate the competition?

You discover a strange life form that’s a hybrid of nature and technology. The purpose of this anomaly is unknown to you, but it seems intent on breaking out of its container and mingle with the soil.

Meta-humans are disappearing all over the city. Some from home, some from prison. You attempt to track them down, but it seems they’re being rescued and sent through a program called the Railroad to freedom from human society.

Meta-humans are being sent to labor at a camp while their families are forced to live under the tyrannical rule of the mastermind behind the abductions and his meta-human enforcers.

A scientist attempts to revive his deceased wife using a combination of black magic and scientific formula. But what he brings back is one of the deadliest foes your team has ever faced.

The latest milestone in military technology is anti-mutant battle-suits to be worn by soldiers. Little for their buyers know that they are meant to kill heroes as well as villains.

The team is placed in a hunting ground where they are being sought out by a hunter of legendary reputation. If you manage to kill or capture your pursuer before he does so to you, you will be free to leave.

A hero has fallen to the side of villainy. You must decide whether to turn them back to the die of good, or turn them into the law.

Someone is trying to combine the genetic code of mythical creatures (vampires and werewolves, hydras and dragons, elves and humans). But that’s end results prove to be more volatile than expected.

A villain has unlocked his psychic powers to such a degree that he can carve out his own little piece of the world and gather inhabitants for his world by rendering them comatose in reality.

A group of vampires are attempting to resurrect their elders to lead them into a new age. You must decide whether to let the coven live, and escape authorities, or to destroy their chances at starting new and causing more destruction.

A member of the villain’s ranks has defected, but has requested sanctuary for him and his family. If you pull it off, he will give you the rest of your enemies on a silver platter.

A paranoid mob boss has put up a fortress in the middle of your city, with entire buildings bought off and filled with armed guards and assassins. You must find a way to bring him to justice before his aircraft arrives on the roof and takes him out of the Justice System forever.

Villains are gathering from all over the world at a castle in one of the wildest and least-known portions of the world. You must go there and find out what they’re planning. If you can take them on and beat them in combat, that’s just a bonus.

You enter a Necromancer’s tomb only to find that it has been carved in the bowels of the earth to stretch for miles. Complete with undead guards, dark magic traps, and the ability to turn fallen heroes into recruits for defense.

A behemoth has been loosed in the city. Find a way to subdue it without causing the civilians and city more harm.

Spoof heroes and villains begin cropping up like weeds. While some see their exploits as comedic, it’s encouraging others to take to the hero and villain life without realizing the consequences.

A group of crazed killers have had their minds transferred to robotic bodies. They are able to strike at humans without need of food, water, or rest. All they have to do for the mastermind in turn is to kill targets he chooses first.

An “Underworld Gate” has opened above your city. This occurs once every 100 years, and always marks the site of a massacre, disaster, or genocide. You must find a way to close the gate and save everyone residing in your city.

#the chronicles of daraliss #Mutants and Masterminds #superheroes #rpg #100 ideas #100 session ideas

[7-wonders]

As Above, So Below Ch. 17

Summary: Your average, mundane life as a college student is flipped upside down when the man you thought you knew as your next-door neighbor turns out to be the God of the dead. When Michael lures you down to Hell, everything that you thought you knew about the world is proven wrong.

Word Count: 4387

A/N: Wow, this chapter was incredibly hard to write, and I think that’s because this story’s starting to come to an end. I’m sad, but happy that this has been so well-received. Feedback is always appreciated, and I would love it if you liked and reblogged if you enjoyed!

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6| Chapter 7| Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17: Running Out of Time

A child’s imagination is endless, made up of numerous worlds crafted from nothing more than their minds. As a child, you would spend hours upon hours with other neighborhood children, playing as pirates, astronauts, cowboys and cowgirls, time travellers, and royalty. Bike helmets would serve as protection from the lack of oxygen in outer space, fallen branches acted as swords and pistols, daisy chains were crowns, and blankets were capes. These fairy tales, however, were just that: tales, imaginary scenarios that children dreamt up. At least, they were just tales until you fell down a Hellmouth with the God of the Dead. Five-year-old you, if she could see you right at this moment, would be absolutely green with envy.

Zoe, Madison, and Desa dress you, as they have so many times before, but it’s a silent affair this time. The tension in the room is thick and lingering, everybody on edge about the events soon to transpire. The three women are already dressed, and you assume the reason that it’s taking so long for them to get you dressed is a way to get rid of some nerves: by nitpicking about every aspect of your outfit, it allows them to visualize their stress.

The dress that they’ve decided on is off-the-shoulder and accentuates your curves before flowing like a ball gown down the rest of your body. It’s made of some sort of crushed velvet, although the material feels a lot more luxurious than the velvet that you’re used to. What takes some getting used to is the color, a deep burgundy that is darker than anything that you’ve worn since you first arrived in the Underworld. You can’t say that you hate it, mainly because it makes you look elegant in a way that you’ve never looked before. Lighter shades of red lick up the hem of the dress, making it look like you’re trailing flames.

Your makeup’s been done to perfection, but you wouldn’t expect anything else when Madison’s in charge. A silver necklace accented with rubies drips down your neck, and Zoe’s tongue pokes out of her mouth in concentration as she attaches matching ruby earrings to your earlobes. Reaching up to twist the silver ring with a cloudy gray pearl that sits on your index finger, you realize that your hands are shaking.

“Hey,” Madison calls to get your attention, “stop shaking or else you are going to end up sounding like a windchime with your necklace clanking around.” It’s a lame attempt to get you to smile, and the most you can force out is a halfhearted chuckle.

“I’ll try my hardest.”

“Whatever happens, (Y/N), we’re doing this together. Luckily for you, I don’t tolerate losing, so our only option is to win.”

“Ladies, it is time.” A knock sounds a second before the door opens, Thanatos peeking his head in.

“Are you ready?” Desa asks.

“Nope, but that doesn’t really matter since we’re doing this.” You blink away a sudden rush of tears when you smile at Desa for what may be the last time, taking a deep breath and nodding. “Now or never, then.”

Even from outside of the Grand Hall, you can still tell that the regality of this affair is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. Just seeing the procession ahead of you of demons, mythical beings, and gods is insanely intimidating. Although you and Michael have gone through how the coronation will go, and what to say and do, you’re still worried that you’ll mess up. Before you can have any more time to worry, however, the large doors open and the orchestral music swells.

Every person, or creature, stands the moment you enter. In this moment, you wish more than ever that Michael was by your side. Madison would absolutely berate you in this moment if she could, the sight of you trying to avoid shaking like a leaf as you walk down the aisle presumably rage-inducing. Everybody’s eyes are glued to you, the train of your dress trailing behind you. It honestly feels like a wedding, and you’re extremely thankful that you’re not actually marrying, or becoming queen, today. You love Michael, but the thought of anything as extravagant as what you’re experiencing right now is nauseating.

Michael stands on a raised altar, wearing his finest black uniform and a red cape with ornate attachments. A sword is sheathed at his side, the bejeweled hilt resting just above his hip. That beautiful black crown, adorned with red rubies, sits perched atop his golden curls; Michael’s ethereally intimidating, and you can see how his quiet demeanor is enough to rule over all of the dead. You smile shakily when you reach him, but he doesn’t break his stern face as he holds out a hand for you to grasp. He helps you sink to your knees, handmaidens fixing your dress behind you.

“Sirs and Madams, I present to you (Y/N) (Y/L/N), your undoubted Queen. Wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?” Cassius, a high-ranking demon, has agreed to act as the master of ceremonies for today’s fake coronation and begins the proceedings. The crowd all affirms that they are willing, and Cassius turns to stand next to Michael and face you.

“Will you, (Y/N) (Y/L/N), solemnly promise and swear to govern the peoples of the Underworld, and all of its domains, by the respective laws and customs?” Michael looks down at you and asks. Your hands rest in your lap, fingers twisting and turning nervously as you nod.

“I solemnly promise so to do,” you recite with a shaking voice.

“Will you to your power cause law and justice, in mercy, to be executed in all your judgments?”

“I will.”

“Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of the Underworld and preserve its legacy?”

“I will.”

The handmaidens walk forward at this cue and place a shimmering gold cape that drapes over your shoulders. Michael’s handed a small bowl with an ‘anointing oil’ inside of it. Due to the fact that this is a fake coronation, the oil is actually just water mixed with some lavender extract. Dipping his thumb into the ‘oil,’ he draws a symbol on your forehead while proclaiming something in Latin. You briefly realize that you’re going to have to learn Latin soon enough, a daunting task that you’ll push to the side for now as Michael takes your crown from the pedestal it sits upon.

Zoe had told you that there would be a special crown designed for the event, but you didn’t realize just how beautiful it would be. Delicate silver filigree connects the silver leaves to the base of the crown, creating a tiara that childhood you would have gone absolutely crazy for. Your favorite part, however, is the small flowers crafted out of the black onyx that Michael’s so fond of, small rubies dotting the center of each one. Although this isn’t an actual coronation, you’d be honored to wear a crown as beautiful and as regal as this one.

You hold your breath as the crown is placed on top of your head, sure that Satan’s going to tear the roof off of the building. Based on what you’re expecting, it’s anticlimactic when you’re crowned and nothing happens. Michael, to the outside eye, doesn’t look concerned, but you can see the confusion on his face. Where’s the uproar, the screaming? Nobody was planning on this to actually go off without a hitch. Michael proceeds as if nothing unexpected has happened, taking your hands and pulling you up to your feet.

“Queen (Y/N), ruler of the Underworld. Long may she reign.” Michael formally presents you to the crowd of people, who all stand in recognition.

“Long may she reign,” they repeat before cheering.

“Oh yes, long may she reign,” a mocking voice sounds above the cheering, sending the attendees into silence. A man steps into the aisle, calmly approaching the altar that you and Michael stand on. He’s tall, his unruly black hair somehow manages to look like he styled it that way, and his hazel eyes seem to flicker and crackle with sparks. Guards stand at attention, ready to protect you if the need arises, but a mere flick of the man’s hand sends the guards falling to the ground in a heap. “My son, are you really so naive as to believe that I would not find out about this secret coronation of yours?”

Michael steps ahead, putting a protective arm in front of your body. It’s at this moment that you realize two things: One, that Satan was able to assume a human form in order to sneak into the coronation. While this is frightening, the second thing that you realize assures you that the plan is not completely derailed, and this is that Satan doesn’t realize that this is a fake coronation. He thinks that you’ve just been legitimately crowned queen, which means that Michael’s assumption about his father’s impulsiveness proves correct.

“Oh, I’m not naive at all. In fact, I like to believe that I planned this perfectly. You are, after all, our honored guest this afternoon.” Satan quirks an eyebrow, scoffing at Michael’s vague statement.

“Pardon my bluntness, but what exactly are you getting at?”

“He’s saying that we’ve got you right where we want you, dumbass,” Madison speaks up from amongst the crowd, self-assured voice ringing loud and clear. Satan slowly looks over his shoulder, smiling a smile that, you realize with a pang in your chest, is the exact same feral grin that you’ve seen multiple times on Michael.

“The Goddess of Witchcraft. I was wondering when you would grace us with your presence,” Satan sarcastically retorts. “Let us stop with these games, Michael. You know what I want, and you know that I can and will get it with whatever means necessary.” You hold back a shudder when he turns those cold eyes towards you; if there was ever a time to describe someone as having eyes filled with hellfire, it would be now.

“Then you should also know, Father, that I don’t cater to the whims of those below me.”

“‘Below’ you?” Satan’s impulsiveness strikes once again as he steps closer, standing on the bottom step of the altar while pointing a long finger at Michael. “I created you, boy, and you would do well to remember that.”

“Madison?” Michael calls, the goddess fluidly raising a hand in the air. You watch with bated breath as she draws out the tension before closing her hand into a fist. Like a mirage, the crowd of spectators shimmer before disappearing into thin air. The once-full Grand Hall is now deserted, save for you, Madison, Zoe, Michael, Thanatos, and Satan.

“A clever parlor trick, but I do not see how this factors into your grand plan.”

“It’s simply a way to avoid collateral damage,” Michael smirks.

When Satan goes to question Michael again, his face is frozen in an open-mouthed, angry expression. You’re momentarily confused until you glance over and see Madison and Zoe working together to keep him frozen to his spot.

“The spell won’t keep him like this for too long; we need to transmute now, or else we’ll lose our chance,” Zoe commands in a rare show of dominance. Michael clasps one of your hands as you form a circle around Satan, Zoe grabbing onto your other hand to connect the chain of magic. Once everyone has a hold on someone else’s hand, Madison nods.

“I’m going to release him from his bonds. The second I let go, we need to transmute.” You nod, nerves being overtaken by the desire to defeat this man who, for all intents and purposes, has attempted to make your life a living hell. “Now!”

Even with everyone’s powers being combined, the toll that it takes on your mortal body to help move the Devil through time and space is extremely noticeable. You’re panting, chest heaving as if you’ve just ran a marathon. Your overheated body, however, quickly becomes chilled when the eternal winter air of Cocytus freezes your nerve endings. The sleeveless coronation gown does little to protect you from the elements, and you clench your jaw to keep your teeth from chattering. Satan stumbles forward as he suddenly regains control of his body, synapses trying to catch up to the reflexes that were delayed while he was under Madison’s control. Madison, Zoe, and Thanatos go to work at discreetly heating up the thick layer of ice that lays beneath Satan’s feet, while you and Michael start to distract him.

“I admire your desire to move this little battle of yours to the edge of your domain in an attempt to minimize casualties, Michael. However, this will make it quite difficult for your subjects to recover your bodies after I am done with you five.” Although Satan’s got his eyes locked on Michael’s, shivers still wrack down your spine from the intensity of it all.

“You’ve always been far too cocky for your own good, Father,” Michael says.

“And you have always been too churlish. My problem, though, does not lie with you.”

Satan steps towards you slowly, hair barely rustling even with the icy wind whipping across the flat landscape. Michael attempts to put himself in front of you, offering his body as your shield, but you place your hand on his shoulder to stop him. No words are exchanged between you, but the look in your eyes says it all. You need to do this, need to keep the Devil occupied with the misguided hope that he could take his ‘enemy’ out easily. The ice is too thick for just Madison, Zoe, and Thanatos to melt, and he would figure out the plan immediately if you were to start helping. It needs to be you that captures his attention.

“Look, I never wanted any of this in the first place. You know that I wasn’t originally brought here of my own volition, right?” Your eyes shift quickly from Satan to his son, letting the golden-haired god know to start helping the others.

“I figured as much upon seeing how you reacted to your first few days in the Underworld. Indeed, I had hoped that you would find your way back Above without my intervention. After all, I have never been one for getting my hands dirty. But once you attended that ball with Michael, I knew that I needed to make an appearance in order to…spur everyone into saving the life of their sweet, innocent little human pet,” Satan mocks with a wide grin. “Imagine my surprise and delight when the Underworld attempted to expel you itself.”

“So you didn’t know that the Underworld was slowly killing me?” It’s a dumb question to ask, but it masks the subtle cracking of the ice as the structure starts to weaken.

“I did not, but it certainly worked to my advantage. That is, until you decided to attempt the test of the Seven Wonders with the expectation that, if you passed, your title of Supreme Witch would allow you more time in the Underworld.”

“And now I’m here,” you mutter, flexing your frozen fingers to keep from shaking with nerves. Your life has been full of fears being faced in recent months, but nothing you’ve seen so far compares to the fear you feel from being in front of the embodiment of the antithesis of good.

“And now you are here,” Satan agrees. “I must admit, (Y/N), I admire your fiery tenacity. Your dedication to those that you care about is one of the few positive human traits that I shall miss upon my destruction of humanity.”

“Who says you’ll even get the chance to destroy humanity?” Satan laughs loudly, spreading his arms as if to prove a point.

“How can any of you expect to defeat me, when I have already won? All of the magic in the universe would not be able to kill me; your attempts, while noble, have proven fruitless. And now, you all must die.”

When your lungs start burning for air, it takes your brain a moment to realize what’s happening. It’s ironic that the lack of oxygen is preventing you from registering that your airway is obviously being cut off, and it’s only when you see Satan’s hand flexing at his side that your mind makes the connection that it’s his powers that are suffocating you. A loud gasping noise is the only sound you can make as your hands come up to your throat, fingers clawing at the invisible hands that have you in a vice like grip. He laughs as he lifts his hand, the invisible hand holding you captive forcing your body up in the air. Michael’s attention is drawn away from his task when he senses your distress, and you have to furiously shake your head to let him know that you’ve got things under control.

Black spots dance across your vision as you hold your own hand out, trying to summon the large chunk of ice that you can see laying thirty feet away. You’re pleased to know that, even on the verge of losing consciousness, your powers still remain as potent as they have been since you finished your last wonder. The frozen mass wobbles before propelling forwards, smacking against Satan’s skull before he can comprehend the giant ice ball flying straight at him. It doesn’t knock him out, but it does knock him down and jar his concentration, releasing you from his grasp.

The burning in your lungs is even worse as you hurriedly breathe heavy gasps of air, body trying to make up for the lack of oxygen it’s experienced. You’re on your hands and knees, coughing while you try to blink your vision back into place. The three Satans that keep weaving in and out of your eyesight are slow to get up, and you’re already back on your feet by the time he manages to crawl to his knees.

“It truly is a shame that, after all the trouble your friends went through to save their precious human, you will die at my hand.” Satan morphs from his human body to the being that you first saw him as, with a coal-black body that moves as if it’s made of smoke, raised etchings decorating his ‘skin.’ Those burning embers that constitute his eyes are somehow less terrifying than his piercing human gaze, but they still burn down upon you.

Satan’s transformation into his original form, which he sees as his final show of power before he kills you once and for all, works to your advantage. The ice, slowly yet surely cracking beneath him the entire time, now starts to rupture loudly from the combination of the weakening structure and the sudden extra weight standing on top of it. Satan yells when he looks down to see what’s happening underneath him, stepping back to escape the danger. When you combine your power with theirs, it is the missing link that is needed to fully melt the ice underneath him. A tremendous breaking sound rings through the air, the ice finally giving way to the freezing waters that flow below.

His claws scrabble across the ice as his lower half is submerged, but even Satan is no match to the freezing shock to the nervous system that falling through ice provides. The fire in his eyes is extinguished as he bobs up and down in the water, slowly sinking down into the depths of Cocytus. You watch with bated breath as the once-great creature is reduced to nothing more than a block of ice, his outstretched hand being the last part of him that you see. You all look at each other in disbelief, trying to find the words to accurately describe how you’re feeling.

“Did…did we do it?” Zoe asks, hands on her hips as she tries to gather her breath.

“I think so,” Thanatos replies, peering into the rushing, dark water for any sign of life.

Michael smiles at you, and you start to make your way towards him from across the ice. His face, however, quickly turns into a look of alarm when you hear cracking from under your feet. Whether the ice was overheated from the combination of your powers or Satan’s weight had more of an effect on the surface than any of you realized, it doesn’t matter in this moment.

“Run!” A chorus of voices start screaming, three sets of eyes and one set of empty eye sockets watching as you stumble through the snow to try and get to safety. Ice, unfortunately, is much faster than you. You can barely form a scream before the ice breaks beneath you, plunging you into the freezing waters.

Inadvertently gasping at the shock of suddenly being in the coldest water you’ve ever felt, your lungs become flooded with the water. Everytime your body tries to cough it up, you inhale more. Your arms and legs thrash around you as you try to remember how to swim, but the panic and the shock make it impossible to even think. You don’t even know which way is up, the water so disorienting that every direction seems to be the same.

Up above, Madison screams after you disappear. Michael surges forward, forgetting the apparent danger that comes with unstable ice. He starts to kick at the snow, uncovering the ice to try and see if he can find your body. Zoe looks into the hole where you fell through, tracking the current that moves the water, and your body, downstream.

“The current’s this way!” She yells, gaining the attention of the three others who are furiously kicking snow out of the way.

“Michael, breathe,” Madison touches his shoulders to make him focus on her. “Pinpoint her life force, use your powers.”

Michael nods, hands raking through his hair while he tries to find you. When he does locate your spirit, he runs along the direction of the current, falling to his knees and clearing the snow away from the ice. He starts to pound his fists against the ice, desperately trying to break through before he loses his chance.

It’s funny, you dimly think, how this dying experience is so much different than your last. When you were dying of the fever, your body killing itself as a response to being in the Underworld, you were terrified. You didn’t want to die, and the disorienting blur of events frightened your already-scared self. Now, though, you’re calm. Maybe you’re already dead? After the panic subsided, the only thing left was a serene sense of peace. The current that you’re drifting along with is comforting, wrapping around you like a thick blanket and completely enveloping you.

The last thing that you think about is Michael, but that’s not too surprising. You imagine his smile and how he was never able to understand your millennial jokes. You can almost feel his hands clutching yours, surprisingly warm considering he’s the God of the Dead. You wish you had more time with him, imagining all of the things that you would be able to do if you weren’t going to die in this water. Sure, you would have had to find some way to remain in the Underworld that was more permanent than being the Supreme, but you could handle anything as long as Michael was at your side. “I’m sorry, Michael,” you think.

“Get back!” Madison waits for Thanatos to drag Michael away before muttering an explosion spell. There’s no way that Michael would have been able to smash his way through the thick ice, and his bloodied fists would only become worse if she allowed him to continue his futile pursuit. The spell helps to make some progress, but Madison has to repeat the spell two more times before the ice breaks away and exposes the water.

Michael crawls to the jagged lip of broken ice, jeweled hand reaching into the freezing water to try and fish you out. He searches through the water, your body bumping into him right as he was starting to consider jumping in himself. You’re dead weight, and Michael has to wrap both of his arms around you to drag you back up onto the ice. Your lips are a sickening blue, and Michael panics when he can’t find your pulse.

CPR isn’t something he’s too familiar with, but he knows enough about the process to start pumping at your chest and administering compressions. Zoe clutches onto Madison, tears freezing as they make tracks down her cheeks. Thanatos, so used to being the one to help, can do nothing but watch as Michael tries to resuscitate you. Michael pinches your nose shut and tilts your chin back, breathing into your mouth before starting compressions again. When you cough up buckets of water, chest heaving as your lungs get rid of the water while simultaneously attempting to breathe normally again, Michael sobs. When your eyes blink open and you look around, everybody, even Madison, sobs.

“Hi, darling,” Michael mumbles, rubbing his thumb against your cheek. You smile weakly, Michael stopping you as you try to speak through your coughing. “Shh, it’s okay. You don’t need to say anything.”

Although he tells you not to speak, there’s a million things that you want to say. How grateful you are for being saved, the happiness you feel at Satan being gone, the excitement at what comes next, how tired you are after coming back to life, and especially how cold you are. Michael doesn’t need to hear you say it out loud though, smiling as he hears your inner monologue. He stands with you in his arms, carrying you off of the death trap of a frozen lake so that he can transmute with you and get you warmed up before you go into shock, Madison, Zoe, and Thanatos staying behind to freeze the river back over again to fully trap Satan and his consciousness. There’s a million things that you want to say, but now you have all the time in the world to say it.

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