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ghouljams · 9 months

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Witch does some magic, Fae!Price remembers why witches are so dangerous

this is a longer one(1.4k words), dealing with a lot of spell work, and mostly OC stuff.

One of your friends is laying on your kitchen table. Arms folded to cushion their head, half asleep as you scrub their back with salt. You already washed the table down, chalked your largest circle on the floor, made sure your herbs were prepped. You really don’t know why you keep doing this to yourself. You let your eyes wander to look out your back door, peaking across your garden to your back gate.

“I can come back if you’re waiting on someone,” You friend mumbles, you shake your head. You grab a washcloth and dip it in the copper bowl of new moon water to rinse the salt off their back.

“You’re fine, I want to get this done today.” They hum, sitting up enough to finish their last swallow of tea before passing you the mug.

“You’re always so serious about this.”

“You pay me to be serious about it.” You step out of the circle to put their drained mug in the sink and finish your own. Hyssop tea isn’t your favorite but better safe than sorry. You grab another copper bowl and a small sachet from your cupboard. Another hum from your friend. “Where’d you get the baby ginger?” You ask, removing the small humanoid root from its sachet and placing it in the new bowl.

“Trade secret,” You try not to think too hard about it. There are a lot of things about your friend you try not to think too hard about. “Figure that should be enough to mix a few sessions worth of ash.”

You nod, casting another glance out your back door. You need it open for the sun, for the tie to summer to keep the room warm, but you also need your garden free of distractions. You twist open the jars you’d pulled. Morning Glory, Comfrey, Angelica, Marjoram, Ginger, fuck what are you missing?

“Ruda.” Your friend tells you, their eyes closed peacefully.

“You hate Ruda.” You leave the circle again to grab the herb. It feels like you’ve got everything but the kitchen sink in this bowl.

“The dragon’s blood will cover it,” You pause, at the edge of the circle, stomach twisting, “I can smell it.” Your fingers tighten on your jar, you hate when they do this, talk to you like they know what you’re thinking. Especially when they know better. You step over the chalk circle and deposit a few pieces of ruda in the bowl. You’re quick to strike a match and light the mixture, letting it burn down as you center yourself.

The sound of the wind rustling through the trees, the light herbal small of your garden, the warmth of summer, you do your best to keep your focus on the earth. Stable. Grounded. Your herbs crackle as they burn, the smoke finding its way out your back door, hardly bothering to be contained by your circle. Your house is silent, your fingers are warm and buzzing with potential.

Everything is easier after this, or faster. Magic always seems faster once you set it free to run. You mix the herbal ash with a little alcohol and some chips of dragon’s blood resin to make ink. You clean your needles and set your intention. You trace the patterns already on your friend’s skin and find the breaks that need to be mended, and snap on some gloves.

You poke new lines of honeycomb across their shoulder. Dip your needle in the ink and fix the pentacle on their spine, the salt, the concentric circles. Hyssop, lavender, parsley, you sink comfortably into your work tattooing herbs and wards. You mind is clear, present and gone at the same time. It’s comfortable here. Your friend sleeps as you work, not even twitching as you wipe at the ink.

You don’t think of it as what it is. Blood magic. Magic you shouldn’t be doing, wouldn’t be doing if it was anyone but them. Magic made just for this singular person, just for their needs. You mumble to yourself as you work, watching the pentacles turn, the sword glint. The honeycomb drips onto the lavender making you wipe at it to check that your lines are all connected. It’s complicated magic, a spell you’ve been weaving and maintaining for years. You trace your fingers around the unbroken ring at the center, the dark abyssal black that fills it. The sink.

You pull back and inspect your work, roll your shoulders, check the time. You pat your friend’s shoulder to wake them up before spraying the fresh tattoo with green soap. They groan and stretch out over your table.

“Feels like a fucking rock on my back.” They grumble. You hum, cleaning your work station to give them room to sit up.

“Gotta charge it, that’s what the sun’s for.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the drill.” You help them up, careful to avoid breaking the circle or knocking over any of your herbs. They wave you off as they exit your house to your garden, sinking onto the little stool you’d set out. You hover close by, just to be sure they don’t faint. It’s happened before. You glance at the gate when they do, feeling your stomach flip when you catch sight of Price watching you.

Your friend waves you off, shooing you towards your distraction. It’s good you didn’t notice him sooner, it might have broken your concentration. The last thing you need is for a spell this intricate to backfire.

“You have a client,” Price nods at your friend, you don’t bother looking back at them, sure they’re enjoying the sun.

“You haven’t been around in a while,” You counter. Wincing a little at yourself. Truth for a truth. Though one is more an embarrassing acknowledgement that you noticed his absence. Price smiles at that before covering his mouth, trying to spare a little of your pride.

“Did you miss me?”

“No.” You say quickly. He nods, it’s cute the way you lie to him. “Did you need something?”

“Just wanted to check up on you,” He tells you, you raise a brow, clearly not buying it. The “and” that should follow that statement hangs in the air between you. He’s not impolite enough to impose himself on your hospitality when you have another guest. Especially not when you’re working.

It’s strange though, if he hadn’t seen you bringing your client out, he might not have noticed them at all. They look human, but.

But they don’t smell like anything. They don’t have any presence at all. You smell like burnt herbs, ink, residual magic falls off of you and threads through his. It’s terribly distracting. You’re always distracting. Enough to keep his attention off of whatever is in your garden.

“Well, here I am. No need to drop by just to see me.” Price respectfully begs to differ. He has every reason to see you. Your sincerity in the statement doesn’t go unnoticed.

“I thought you didn’t deal with creditors.” Price leans away from the threshold as you turn to talk to your client. He hadn’t even registered their presence.

“Go wait in the house if you’re all charged,” You tell them quietly. Charged. Price knows that term, what were you charging? The whole person? Your client shrugs and turns back towards the house.

Price’s stomach rolls, and he has to stop himself from taking a step back. Fae trap. The blossoming tattoo on their back hums and moves, alive with captured and contained magic. A seal on the client’s presence, a ward, a living hex breaker, all wild fed magic channeled through your spell work. Not human, just disguised as one. He can feel the hooks spinning off of them now that he knows what to look for. The fae itself doesn’t seem too dangerous, but the spell on their back...

You look up at him so innocently. Sweet as can be, waiting for him to take his eyes off your retreating client. “It’s good, right?” You ask, and he knows exactly what you’re asking. Knows that you know exactly what you’ve created.

You laugh, and wave your hand, “Not a chance, too much upkeep. I’d burn through the ink faster than they do.”

“Bloody hell,” Price swears, unsure what else to say to dislodge the knot his stomach has twisted itself into, "So you let a hunter in but not me?

"Hunters are stupid," you look over your shoulder towards the house, "think with their stomachs, easier to guard against. You on the other hand..." You look back at him, it's clearly a compliment, not one you're willing to say aloud, but he'll take it.

“You don’t have one of those on you, do you?” Price asks, a mixture of pride and apprehension rising in his throat.

#oc: witch #warning do not do blood magic at home or on anyone else #this is a closed course with professionals #woah who is that walking (actual) bombshell?#Price doesnt stick around long since Witch has to finish with her friend #but hes also happy to get the hell out of there #captain john price #john price x reader #fae!Price #i was like do i wanna post this its a lot of OC work? but then i remembered its my blog and i can do what i want #also because this friend is important and i feel like they need a little preview #stupid hunters: ghost and König and lowkey Soap

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doctorofmagic · 4 days

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Blood Hunt #1 25 Copy Cover by Kael Ngu.

#doctor strange #stephen strange #blade #eric brooks #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #thor odinson #captain marvel #carol danvers #sam wilson #captain america #hunter's moon #yehya badr #tigra #greer nelson #kael ngu #marvel comics

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savzo · 1 year

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I just wanted to draw Willow. Hunter is just a bonus lol

#the owl house fanart #huntlow #willow park #toh s3 #flyer derby #the captain #plant witch #the owl house #the owl post #toh hunter #hunter noceda #hes in love #slay girlboss #clover toh #toh palismen #hunter x willow

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f4nd0mlife · 4 months

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Blood Hunt #1 variant cover by Kael Ngu

#blade #eric brooks #doctor strange #stephen strange #hunter's moon #yehya badr #tigra #greer nelson #thor #scarlet witch #wanda maximoff #captain marvel #carol danvers #captain america #sam wilson #blood hunt #marvel #marvel comics #variant cover

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haliaiii · 5 months

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Oc posting 5: Juno

#I know ur not supposed to have a favorite child #but like #I loveee drawing him he’s super fun #little background info #he’s another bounty hunter like Sam and Val #he’s also a ‘witch’#meaning he can manipulate shadows and stuff #he’s able to do slight telekinesis and teleportation #why can he do that?#we’ll long story short one of his ancestors was a genetically modified human being #this was 500 years ago during the previous era pre cataclysm #there were certain people who were selected for an experiment #kinda like captain America in a sense?#they got superserumed and developed a bit of psychic abilities #not many survived post cataclysm #but the ones who did had families and continued the bloodline #Juno didn’t originally have these powers #but they were awakened after a bargain with a higher power to get revenge after his entire town was massacred #he now looks for the demon with red eyes and red tattoos that killed his family and wears the skin of his brother #so yeah while he does have cool psychic powers kinda #he can’t use them often because every time he does it drains his life force #another fun fact he uses dual pistols like Sam but is actually a way better shooter #(part of that is he can manipulate the bullet using its shadow but even without it he’s scarily accurate)#he can only teleport short distances tho #my art #sketch #oc #retrograde #original character #anyway i've rambled enough

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everysongineverykey · 1 year

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i love you azura books i love you luz's nerdiness given prominence throughout the show i love you "luzura" i love you amity and luz bonding over a "cringe" book series i love you lumity azura/hecate cosplay i love you young queer couple cosplaying as a queer couple that really inspired them as kids and helped bring them together i love you beautiful tribute to the power of representation in media as shown via a latina girl adoring and being heavily influenced by a book series starring a latina witch who she can see herself in i love you varied and beautiful discussions of representation in a show with heaps and heaps of just that :')

in the same vein, i love you cosmic frontier i love you chief engineer o'bailey-hunter parallels i love you gus captain avery cosplay i love you gus helping hunter confront his identity as a grimwalker by introducing him to a series with a character he can see himself in i love you star trek deep space nine reference i love you black boy cosplaying as a black space captain i love you camila connecting with luz using her own nerdy childhood obsession i love you power of stories and, again, representation in media i love you the owl house's constant message that representation matters i love you i love you💙💙💙💙

#the owl house #listen. i have SOOO many thoughts on the narrative weight of the azura books #and how it's a casual reminder of how important representation is. luz gets to see herself as a witch #fighting evil and saving the day #and this character also has a queer-coded relationship with her female rival #which undoubtedly helps luz as a young bi girl as well!!!#and also cosmic frontier like... it's a bit more of a joke but still #hunter finding comfort and solace in a character going through the same things as him. gus not forcing the grimwalker topic #and instead trying to help hunter come to terms with his identity in a gentler way. AND the captain of the ship in cosmic frontier is black #just like gus. i know rep probably isn't a problem in the boiling isles #since yknow. bigotry-free fantasy world and all #but it definitely is in the human realm! and it's good for gus to get what he can there. yknow?#also the reason i say it's a ds9 reference in particular is just cause i'm a stan. it's an educated guess.#point 1: it features a black captain called avery. ds9 has a black captain played by a man called avery.#point 2: it features a chief engineer called o'bailey. ds9's chief engineer is called o'brien. same kind of irish name.#point 3: it was written in the 90s like how ds9 aired in the 90s :]

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absencesrepetees · 3 months

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textless artwork for blood hunt #1 (jed mackay/pepe larraz, 2024)

#the avengers #blood hunt #pepe larraz #marte gracia #jed mackay #scarlet witch #moon knight #hunter’s moon #tigra #vision #thor #black panther #captain marvel #iron man #captain america #illustrations

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illyanarasputinfan · 7 months

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns (2022) Firaxis Games

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crimeronan · 11 months

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It also made me think about how Luz and Willow could possibly meet in this AU, Luz needed a strong plant witch to help her with palistrom wood and she was NOT asking Terra

this concept is so delightful and funny GOD. i imagine luz would be keeping her cards pretty close to her chest and might just tell willow that she's trying to repopulate the palistrom tree population (which is actually true as well. two birds one stone) but there's also such a shitpost concept in luz just being like. yeah i need it for him -> pointing at the scruff master. & willow is just like. ok. am i tripping. is this Not just a barely-adult man who is clearly burning the candle at both ends.

alternatively willow spends enough time working with palistrom wood to know the texture instinctively so at one point she has hunter hand her something while she's busy and brushes his arm with her fingers or whatever and is INSTANTANEOUSLY like

🤨🤨🤨

while luz is making frantic motions in the background like DONT SAY A WORD PLEASE I SWEAR TO-

#'luz. why is your captain a plant' 'I CAN EXPLAIN' 'ok' 'i cant come up with a good enough lie'#luz like 'maybe a plant witch can solve this problem better than a healer could' is so fucking funny like #it's good thinking she's probably even right. but imagining her trying to coordinate this without telling hunter OR willow the truth #has me in TEARS. girl please give up. love yourself. tell them about the horrors #toh #replies #princess luz au #toh fambly

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aprilqueen84 · 1 year

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All’s Fair In Love And Magic Prologue (Repost)

A/N: Hello! Here is the the prologue of my CS Supernatural story that I first posted back in October of 2021! OOF! I am reposting the chapters I have now in preparation for the next chapter. (which is already about 80% done) As always if you would like to be tagged, taken off the tag list or have changed your user name please let me know!

Tag List: @resident-of-storybrooke, @kmomof4, @jennjenn615, @pirateherokillian, @piinfeathers @enchanted-swans, @superchocovian, @deathbycaptainswan, @winterbaby89, @kingofmyheart14, @a-faekindagirl, @kymbersmith-90, @ekr032-blog-blog, @laschatzi, @teamhook, @ilovemesomekillianjones, @capswantrue, @bmbbcs4evr, @kday426, @tiganasummertree, @Ifh1226-linda, @meganhinsley, @xarandomdreamx, @jrob64, @hannahhook7744, @klynn-stormz, @yourebeautifuleverylilpiecelove, @therooksshiningknight, @earanemith, @snowbellewells, @motherkatereloyshipper, @emmythedaydreamer, @quirkykayleetam, @onceuponsomechaos, @goforlaunchcee , @hollyethecurious

Summary: When a horrible crime is committed and the evidence points to someone in Emma’s coven, Killian is sent to investigate. The two are instantly at odds, but when it looks like he was right, Emma suddenly finds herself and her young son in danger, she knows that there is only person she can go to for help. As the two work together to prevent war from breaking out in the supernatural world, they find themselves growing closer but evil lurks beyond every corner.

Prologue:

The only sound that could be heard through the darkness was the crunching of leaves as a cloaked figure hurried through the woods. They stopped to lean against a nearby tree to catch their breath, knowing that they had to keep going because their destination was close and then they’d be safe. A sudden gust of wind blew through the trees making them tighten the hood of their cloak as they continued forward.

When they reached a clearing, there stood before them an old abandoned building. “Thank the gods,” they said with a sigh of relief, and quickly ran up the stairs, stopping in front of a huge metal door. Bringing up their hand, they proceeded to knock a sequence on the door.

Stepping back they watched as symbols started to appear on the door as it began to glow. Suddenly, the door slowly opened to reveal a tall horned creature standing in the doorway. It looked down and contemplated them for a few seconds before moving aside to let them through the door. When they made it safely inside they looked around the room at all the various creatures that were there. Vampires, fairies, witches, and other supernatural beings who, under normal circumstances, would be enemies, but here in this safe haven they were all the same. Refugees.

Many were here because of different reasons, either by being exiled or abandoning their clans, but all were seeking protection, for that's what this place was… a sanctuary. A place where while within these walls nothing could harm any of them. The cloaked figure walked over to the window and peered into the darkness, looking for any sign that they had been followed. It hadn’t been easy, the decision to flee their clan, but they had to, it was a matter of life or death.

All of a sudden, they tensed. They could have sworn that they had seen movement through the treeline. It had only been for a split second, but when they did a double take it was gone. Shaking their head they stepped away from the window and went to sit in one of the empty chairs that was in the corner of the room. They were on edge, that was all, and it was causing them to jump at shadows. All they had to do was make it to the local Guard's community, then they'd truly be safe.

Settling back in the chair they began to feel the events of the night catch up with them. They fought to stay awake but could feel their eyes start to grow heavier and heavier and a second later they were asleep. They awoke to someone shaking them by the shoulders. Their eyes sprang open and they looked up to find a dark haired fairy standing over them.

"Hey. You okay?” The fairy asked. "You sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Disoriented they sat up slowly, trying to get their bearings. Looking around they see that quite a few pairs of eyes were on them. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bother anyone,” they said, standing up.

“That’s okay!” The fairy said. “It must have been some dream with the way you were calling out.”

They tried to recall what had happened in their dream but couldn’t really remember anything other than a feeling of dread. Before they could respond, they heard screaming coming from the other side of the room. They rushed over to the window where the commotion was coming from and what they saw froze them to the core.. Flames were climbing up the side of the building and smoke was starting to seep through the walls. This shouldn’t be happening, they thought, nothing is supposed to be able to penetrate these walls.

They looked around at the chaos that was unfolding. Everyone was running towards the entrance where the horned doorman was frantically trying to open the door, with no success, while others tried breaking the windows to no avail. Suddenly a terrible feeling washed through them as they turned back toward the window. They raised their hands up to the glass and closed their eyes in concentration. A few seconds later they let out a horrified gasp and their eyes sprang open. Dark magic. They could feel it’s inky blackness cocooning itself around the building.

At that moment they knew they were all trapped and that nobody would be getting out of here alive. As the smoke began to thicken and the fire started growing larger, movement from outside caught their attention. They peered through the window and saw a figure standing on the edge of the clearing. Their blood ran cold, they thought that they'd been careful and that nobody had followed them but they were wrong and now because of them, everyone was doomed. The noise around them had grown silent, no screaming or struggling could be heard and when they glanced behind them, they saw bodies littering the floor through the smoke.

Turning back to the window they saw the figure hold an object up and speak into it. Immense pain went through them, like their insides were being crushed, like someone had a vice grip around their heart. As their hands went to grasp at their chest, their eyes flew up to meet the figures. All they saw before they collapsed onto the floor and their life left them, was a wicked, evil smile.

#captain swan #cs fic #cs supernatural story #cs fanfic #emma swan #killian jones #David Nolan #mary margaret blanchard #regina mills #henry swan #witch emma #hunter killian

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comicwaren · 10 months

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This week on Marvel Comics (21st June 2023):

Avengers Vol. 9 #002

Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain #005 (Finale)

Bloodline: Daughter of Blade #005 (Finale)

Cult of Carnage: Misery #002

Edge of Spider-Verse Vol. 3 #003

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 7 #003

Hallows' Eve #004

Hellcat Vol. 2 #004

I Am Iron Man #004

Incredible Hulk Vol. 4 #001 (NEW!)

Miles Morales: Spider-Man Vol. 2 #007

New Mutants Lethal Legion #004

Scarlet Witch Annual #001 (One-shot)

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #035

Ultimate Invasion #001 (NEW!)

Venom Vol. 5 #021

X-Force Vol. 6 #041

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gengar-pixel-2 · 1 year

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Updated poptropica skins! Plus, A bonus Toontown Corperate clash skin. Good old prester virigil!

Anyway..

RAVEN WITH CLAWED FINGER TIPS SUPREMACY

#poptropica #ringmaster raven #myron van buren #captain crawfish #witch hunter #witch hunter ttcc #prester virgil #ponytown

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an-aussie-button-masher · 1 year

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Marvel’s Midnight Suns - the superhero strategy game I never knew I needed

I wasn’t sure I’d like playing Midnight Suns, as I’d never been interested in the whole “deck-building turn-based-strategy” schtick, but over 130 hours later I’m wishing I’d played it from day one. Developed by Firaxis Games (the team behind XCOM) and released in December 2022, Midnight Suns is the latest addition to the Marvel gaming library. An adaptation of the comics team known as the Midnight Sons, the game focuses on the lesser-seen mystical and supernatural side of Marvel. It’s also the first Marvel game that allows the player to create their own protagonist; dubbed The Hunter, this entirely original character serves as the player’s avatar throughout the game as they battle the evil demonic Lilith (who also happens to be the Hunter’s mother). As Lilith spreads her demonic influence across Earth, it’s up to the Midnight Suns, their allies in the Avengers, and the newly-resurrected Hunter to stop her at all costs.

GAMEPLAY The game wastes no time in throwing you into the action, teaching you the basic mechanics in a quick and intuitive way. As the game progresses, the sheer amount of different tricks and mechanics you’ll need to master might seem intimidating, but you’d be surprised at how quickly it becomes like second nature. With new heroes, cards, enemies, hazards and mission types constantly being introduced over time, the game feels fresh and engaging for the entire playthrough without outpacing the player. Between missions, the player controls the Hunter as you explore the Abbey, the makeshift home base of the Midnight Suns. Exploring the Abbey grounds and hanging out with the heroes is a “love it or hate it” situation; while some might feel it drags down the action, I personally love it as it fleshes out the characters and expands the lore of the game. The game will definitely take a strong PC to run at high settings - you might run into some strange visual bugs and the odd crash here and there, plus some framerate issues in the Abbey when the two-dozen or so heroes all hang out in the same place. I’ve experienced few, if any, performance issues within the actual missions, and the occasional bugs I’ve run into do nothing to dampen my enjoyment of the game.

WRITING The game’s writing is definitely its biggest strength. The characters are excellently written, with a good mix of humour and seriousness that fit perfectly with each characters’ distinct personality. The story campaign takes much longer than I expected but never felt like a drag, with plenty of exciting twists that caught me by surprise in the best way. While some of the voices can take a little getting used to, especially if you’re more acquainted with the film versions of the characters, the actual performances are top-notch. Every quote out of the characters’ mouths, from story cutscenes to dialogue interactions to even the random one-liners in the midst of combat are both written and voiced near-flawlessly; even generic HYDRA troopers get hilariously terrified as the heroes whittle their numbers down in battle. There’s also plenty of familiar voices in the game that long-time fans will be happy to hear again, like Yuri Lowenthal as Spider-Man and Steve Blum as Wolverine. The golden combination of top-tier voice acting, exciting writing and engaging gameplay is rare, but Midnight Suns has more than proven itself in those regards.

GRAPHICS & AUDIO While not quite as high-grade as the game’s other aspects, the overall graphical quality is still fairly good, save for a handful of lighting and texture bugs that keep cropping up. Some of the characters’ facial models are a tad off, especially if you aren’t playing at the highest possible graphics settings. However, the animations in combat and during cutscenes are superb; every single blow landed by either the heroes or villains has loads of impact to it with perfectly-paced slow-motion that really sells the sheer superhuman strength everyone seems to have. Virtually every card you play is accompanied by a unique animation with cinematic camera angles, turning the otherwise-straightforward card game into a grand blockbuster battle straight out of a movie. The music is often overpowered by all the explosive action sound effects of combat, but taking a moment to really listen to the soundtrack reveals just how awesome it actually is. The battle music is tense and exciting, the boss fight music is heavy and foreboding, and even the main menu soundtrack will get you pumped up before you even hit Continue Game.

ENJOYMENT Simply put, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is downright addicting. Not the “guilts the player for not logging in every day” kind of addicting, but the “game is just that fun” kind. I’m not even much for turn-based strategies or card games, having bought this game because I’m a Marvel fan and wanted to give it a go. I was pleasantly surprised by how fun I found the gameplay, and the story had me hooked from the beginning. There’s nothing more satisfying than getting just the right combo of cards to clear out the entire enemy team before they’ve even had their first turn; it turns out the Hulk is really powerful. Who knew? As I mentioned earlier, I personally loved the in-between-mission moments of hanging out with the other heroes in the Abbey, exploring the lore and worldbuilding of this particular Marvel universe. I’m really looking forward to the future of this game - there’s still more DLC planned, and I’m hopeful for plenty of extra heroes and missions. Fingers crossed for a sequel!

Reblogs and likes are appreciated, and thanks for reading!

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kyndaris · 7 months

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Mother Knows Best

For someone that plays video games as much as I do, you begin to pick up on a lot of common themes and tropes that are often used in the medium. What took me by surprise was facing Lilith in not one but two games in such quick succession. It's not often that I face the exact same antagonist. After all, both were demonic entities seeking the destruction of the world. Both were referred to as 'Mother' throughout the in-game dialogue and banter. And both had a connection to the playable character.

But while Lilith in Diablo IV gave birth to the Nephalem, the progenitor to humanity in the world of Sanctuary, she could only connect to the playable character due to a ritual involving her blood petals. Lilith in Marvel's Midnight Suns has a much more direct connection to the playable character, known only as The Hunter, as their birth mother. The other major difference here is that in Diablo IV, Lilith is trying to rule over Sanctuary while in Midnight Suns, Lilith serves as the agent of Chthon, a slumbering Elder God hoping to destroy the Earth and recreate it in its image.

Coincidences aside, Marvel's Midnight Suns was a game that I picked up in December last year and was one of the many tactical role-playing games I'd intended to get through before reaching the meat of the 2023 gaming experience. Alas, travelling and being bombarded left, right and centre with lengthy games distracted me from it until about 8 months later.

And when I finally booted up the game on my PlayStation 5, I found myself asking why I was indulging Firaxis's attempt to recreate what they had with XCOM but with a Marvel skin. What immediately struck me were the character models that I felt were less than stellar. Nor was I that impressed by the voice acting.

True, it was not like the game studio were going to bring back the actors of the MCU films to reprise their roles for the superheroes (or use their likeness), but I wanted something more than the somewhat janky character models that we received. In fact, I almost put down the controller, unsure if I wanted to continue with the game.

But persevere I did.

With time, I grew accustomed to the character models and the voice acting. After all, the cast is pretty stack with the likes of Yuri Lowenthal (reprising his role as Spider-Man from the Marvel's Spider-Man games), Erica Lindbeck, Courtney Taylor, Josh Keaton, Laura Bailey, Steve Blum, Darin de Paul and Matthew Mercer to name but a few.

Once I managed to get over that initial hump in the road, I started to enjoy the time I spent hanging out with a few of Earth's Mightiest Heroes and their more supernatural compatriots, the Midnight Suns.

Like many Firaxis games, Midnight Suns is a tactical/ strategy game. One that would have been better, in my personal opinion, as a handheld game. However, given that the playable characters are heroes with a multitude of abilities, Firaxis mixed up the traditional tactical/ strategy gameplay with the use of cards to denote special abilities and skills.

Gone were percentages detailing whether or not my character would hit the enemy. Gone, too, were Overwatch abilities that would allow my characters to attack an enemy as they dashed across the screen. Instead, Firaxis introduced a card deck system which was drawn up to a maximum of six at the end of each turn. Cards could comprise of attack, skill or heroic abilities. Many of them also included a variety of status effects to buff or debuff both allies or enemies, bringing with it another layer of strategy as most of these ended within a round of combat.

But the most important ones were those that refunded cardplay like the 'Quick' effect. Other cards allowed you to draw additional cards and these were important especially if you didn't have a good hand. Redraw too, was a resource that could be expended to power up abilities or to replace unwanted cards.

While it sounds complicated in theory, the gameplay of Midnight Suns was simple. You played three cards each turn (occasionally four) and tried to defeat the enemy as quickly as possible.

What was important to note was that while you were limited in the number of cards that could be played each round, your heroes could also deal damage via the environment. Unfortunately, to perhaps balance the use of environmental attacks, such actions were gated behind another resource: heroism (which were also used for heroic cards).

This meant that players had to carefully consider which cards to use when and where to maximise the damage on enemy Hydra agents and Lilin creatures and reach objectives for each mission.

Firaxis, though, are not content to simply sit on their strategy/tactical gameplay. Like many of their other games, Midnight Suns also included base management. Simpler than their incursions into the XCOM universe, Midnight Suns allowed players to research particular upgrades that could give their heroes an edge for their next battle against the forces of evil.

More importantly, though, Midnight Suns also allowed for team bonding. And as someone that wants to be friends with everyone, I spent many hours trying to boost my friendship levels with each and every hero that was recruited to the cause of stopping the rise of Chthon by giving them gifts or hanging out with them in an activity that they liked.

Heck, I was even looking up a Steam guide to know which dialogue options that each character preferred.

What was most unfortunate, though, was that there was no way to romance any of the superheroes. Why did Blade and Carol Danvers have to get together when I wanted both of them to myself as The Hunter?

Admittedly, I did think the romance between Caretaker and Agatha Harkness was great. The Hunter and their two mums. Who could ask for more except for some more lesbian representation in media please. True, some might argue that it did have a 'bury your gays' trope since Agatha is dead, but she comes back as a ghost and seems to be fine chilling around in the library. Something that Caretaker doesn't really take issue with after the Grey Seneschal ritual that binds Agatha a bit more to the land of the living (though still in spirit form).

Beyond that, I liked being able to explore the Abbey grounds and uncovering the secrets of the past, along with discovering new chests that could present me with another cosmetic for either The Hunter or the other heroes in my roster.

Still, what didn't make sense was that although the Abbey had a Forge and CENTRAL ops, a training yard and pool to lounge by, it had no kitchen or bathrooms. Given that Robbie Reyes had installed a TV to watch movies and play video games on, WHY WERE BASIC AMENITIES MISSING?

The fact that there was no kitchen also made it confusing when an upgrade to The Hunter's bedroom left a plate of bread and fruit on their bedside table.

Why? What? How?

From a plot standpoint, I felt like much of the conflict came from poor communication skills between Hunter, Sara (Caretaker) and your mother, Lilith. If Lilith could have explained her plan better, maybe she and the Hunter would have stood beside each other from the start instead of fighting against each other.

Caretaker, too, needed to learn to trust the wards under her charge instead of holding grudges.

But without these factors, of course, there would be no central conflict. Which, in turn, wouldn't have brought all of America's Mightiest Heroes (with the occasional Transian witch and Russian mutant) along for the journey. It wouldn't have allowed me to simply chat with these characters and watch them grow. Nor would it present me with an intriguing plot to drive me ever onwards to the end.

And that's another thing that I take issue with. The fact that a majority of Marvel's heroes are Caucasian. True, we have Robbie Reyes's Ghostrider, Eric Brooks and Nico Minoru showing off minority representation but almost all of the other heroes are blue-eyed Caucasians!

And they're all American. Or, at the very least, live in America. With most of the missions revolving around New York and the American South-West with only the final act in the fictional European country of Transia.

Now, this isn't an issue with the game, of course, but rather the state of affairs when it comes to superheroes in general. Yes, I know that there are heroes and villains from all over the world but the vast majority of them are Americans. Which, in all honesty, is likely to stem from the fact that a vast majority of comic book writers are American. And consequently, they write from an America-centric viewpoint.

But I've noticed that in many of the games I play, America also serves as the be-all and end-all for settings as well. Take Horizon: Zero Dawn and its sequel Horizon: Forbidden West. Or even The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, Days Gone, Saints Row and a myriad of other games.

In any case, Marvel's Might Suns was an interesting take on a mishmash of genres that worked well with its superhero aesthetic. While I feel like it might have been better if they could increase the cardplay usage or the damage the heroes dealt for certain (we are talking about superheroes here, not foot soldiers), I enjoyed trying to figure out how best to place my heroes to deal with the enemies before me so I could put an end to Lilith's plans.

Soon, I'll tackle Fire Emblem: Engage. I promise. Just a few short games and it's the long haul for me.

I swear it won't be for too much longer!

And then I can tackle all the other triple-A video games that released in 2023...

#video games #marvel #midnight suns #caretaker x agatha #loved captain marvel in this game #the hunter x scarlet witch #I know it was meant to draw away suspicion but I would have shipped it

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