#i feel like the thing with zagreus' many deaths on the surface can be described like diavolo's death loop

[fallowfrog]

happy birthday grimace!!

[underworldreaderinserts]

I've been waiting for some Zagreus love, so thank you for existing! Can I ask for general dating headcannons for Zagreus please? Thank you for your time!

Oh, my! I’m so happy to have had such a warm welcoming! Thank you for being one of the first to send in a request to my blog. I’m very happy to know that the fandom is just as excited as I am to publish my content♡ And of course you may have Zagreus dating headcanons, hun♡ Thank you for being so patient with me, and I hope you like what I’ve supplied! (I really hope I gave what you were looking for. I don’t mind rewriting the request if it isn’t!) -- Ryan

Note: Since these are going to be general dating headcanons for our beloved Zagreus, I think I’ll keep them generic, and close to classical storyline Zag, and if anyone’s curious about how he’d be in another setting or a different AU, just throw me the request♡

✧ When you get into your relationship with Zagreus, it takes a while for the word to spread through the domain.

     ✧ To me, Zagreus comes off as the type of person that doesn’t necessarily go out of his way to announce he’s in a relationship, but that doesn’t mean he won’t sing his partner’s praises.

          ✧ Not that he would hide you from his father, of course (He’s far from being ashamed to call you his partner).

               ✧ But he would absolutely delay your formal introduction to his father, seeing as they’re not... on the best of terms, at the moment (and using you as blackmail or leverage to get the upper hand is definitely something that Zagreus would expect Hades to do).

✧ Of course, Nyx is the first to know.

     ✧ Zagreus had spent many of his nights (days?) back from his failed escape attempts at the House of Hades talking with her. Recounting his fights, updating his progress. Describe how his relationships with each of the Infernal Arms was progressing. And, ruminate on each one of the people here who cares about him.

          ✧ At some point -- and Nyx could probably tell you when that was -- his conversations went from his goal to make it to the surface, to more trivial things, like hopes, and dreams. It hadn’t surprised Nyx, as she had keenly noticed the time he’d spent with her grew shorter and shorter, and the course he followed to talk to her after each return delayed more and more.

               ✧ Whether he told her point blank, or she had the intuition enough, Nyx just knew. It wasn’t hard for her to see, what with the way he was around you. At this point, she had already known it was you who had captivated young Zagreus’s heart.

✧ Yes-- Zagreus found himself spending more and more time with you. Looking for you as soon as he pulled himself out of the Pool of Styx. 

     ✧ He’d loved the way your eyes lit up as he’d regale the tales of all the challenges he’d faced on his way out of here.

          ✧ He’d lose hours -- days, even, if he could -- talking to you, and listening to your praise, your concern, and your encouragement. He drank deeply of your being, and he found it even sweeter than the Gods’ ambrosia.

✧ Although he was trying to make his way out, at every attempt he made, he’d always bring something back for you. Though he noticed death only takes his Obol, and his family’s blessings, not any of the treasures he’d find along the way.

     ✧ Zagreus, bless his soul, was rather sheltered in the department of “what are appropriate gifts to give your partner.” Aphrodite would remind him of those bottles of nectar he’d had stored -- and better yet the ambrosia! -- But Zagreus was a bit more earnest (and certainly less smooth!) than that.

          ✧ He’d bring back the broken chain of a Wringer’s cuff, or a chipped staff from a Witch. Maybe a broken crystal off the Doomstone, or an arrow shot by a Strongbow. Junk that he’d pick up along the way, but they all had one thing in common; the thought of you that passed his mind when he’d take down that adversary.

               ✧ Hypnos dealt him heavy judgement, watching Zagreus hand over these broken pieces of his enemies to you, and would mention it before he’d leave the Pool of Styx -- that there were much better gifts to give than such distasteful trinkets.

                    ✧ But each time Zagreus presented these spoils of victory to you, the excitement and endearment that you’d feel would cause your soul to glow. And that, to him, was worth more than any of the treasures that he could break out of his father’s domain.

✧ It’s safe to say that dating Zagreus would mean a mother figure in Nyx, a few Chthonic brothers, a pile of enemies as gifts, and late, late nights in the lounge, cuddled on the extravagant loveseats as Zagreus would narrate his travels through the Underworld, holding you close against him.

Even if he couldn’t make it to the surface just yet, he had a little bit of paradise, right here, in his arms for the night.

[xb-squaredx]

Please Don’t Sleep on Hades

2020’s…been a real year, huh? At a time when in-person gatherings aren’t much of a thing and people have to stay in, video games are suddenly a pretty attractive option. That said, few games have really grabbed me this year; in a roundabout way, 2020’s been a year of reruns, as I go through a lot of games I’ve already played or games that are just yesterday’s news (but new to me!). However, in the nick of time, the folks at Supergiant Games delivered unto us their latest title, Hades. While they’ve been working on this game for years, with it hitting Early Access on Steam back in 2018, the full version of Hades finally hit Steam, the Epic Game Store and made the leap to consoles with the Switch, which is where I picked it up. It has been a WHILE since I’ve had a game grab me so strongly so early on, and I’ve been hearing this game’s praises for years now already, so allow me to happily state why I think Hades is worthy of the hype and is a fantastic game I’d easily recommend!

DADDY ISSUES

OK, so first things first…you don’t actually play as Hades in this game, but rather his son Zagreus. Ol’ Zag has had it with his father, and tries to literally fight his way out of hell to reach the surface, and no matter what his old man puts in his way, Zagreus (and the player) will meet the challenge. And probably die, but hey, that’s OK! In the underworld, death is more of an inconvenience than anything else, so after taking a moment to dust himself off, Zagreus will head out for another attempt. For as long as it takes.

Hades is a rogue-like, meaning it’s a game based around randomization and adaptation. On any given “run” of the game, the level layouts, enemies present and the variety of power-ups Zagreus can find will be left to chance, with the player challenged to amass the best build they can to eventually break out of hell and reach the human world and if you die…start from scratch. That said, Hades is among the ever-growing sub-genre of rogue-lites, in that there IS some permanent progression, which takes a bit of a sting out of dying, but more on that later. Now, most games of this type aren’t really big on story. They have a premise that’s little more than an excuse to play. Splunkey wants you to explore a cave, The Binding of Isaac sees you escaping a basement and in Enter the Gungeon you uh…e-enter the gun—you get the point! But what separates Hades from most rogue-likes/lites is that there actually IS a very interesting story that unfolds as you play.

There’s more to Zag’s desire to get to the surface than just getting away from his father, though their strained relationship certainly doesn’t help matters, and over the course of your many, MANY escape attempts, players learn of the rather screwed-up nature of Zagreus’ family of deities, though any mythology nut could tell you to expect that. Hades has an incredibly charismatic cast, superb voice acting across the board, and some real sharp writing that really got me wanting to meet anyone and everyone and learn more about this world. You’re likely to run into Hypnos first, who always has a “tip” ready for you when you meet your end to a given enemy or hazard, or the fabled hero Achilles, who acts as a mentor to Zagreus. There’s Dusa, the adorably frazzled flying gorgon head who acts as the House of Hades’ maid, and of course…Megaera, of the Furies.

She serves as the first proper boss in the game, and will be a pretty sizable challenge for most players, but as you eventually overcome her again and again, she and Zagreus end up attempting to reconnect with each other, and her recurring fights become an excuse to flirt and test each other. I may as well say too that it’s easy to fall in love with the characters in this game because…I-I mean, just look at them! This game is a bisexual’s paradise, that’s all I’ll say.

A bit of a fun fact, but Zagreus’ voice actor, Darren Korb, is also a composer at Supergiant, so he’s a man of many talents, since Hades has a killer score. From the laid-back tunes at the House of Hades where you can unwind and recharge after a botched run, to the pulse-pounding boss theme, there’s some GREAT music on display here. And that’s before you meet Orpheus and Eurydice, two characters with amazing singing voices that, if you play your cards right, might start singing together. The game’s visuals, meanwhile, aren’t a slouch either. While the level layouts are randomized, everything manages to look well-crafted, each region of the underworld having their own distinct look and feel. The fiery pits of Asphodel end up juxtaposing well with the paradise that is Elysium. Now, character models are generally less-detailed since the camera stays zoomed out to give players a good view of the action, but the portraits for the various characters more than make up for it with their distinct, detailed designs. A-And I’m not just saying that because everyone’s hot! Now, admittedly you might take a look at Zag and think he’s nothing but an edgelord and the game itself might be taking itself too seriously, but in reality, Hades strikes a pretty good balance, and definitely carries a sense of humor. Characters love to snark at each other, the various Shades chilling in the House of Hades’ lounge have some funny conversations you can listen in on and all told, the game only gets serious when appropriate. Really, I have no real complaints with the game on a presentation level; it’s all aces so far, and thankfully the game-y part follows suit!

LIVE.DIE. REPEAT.

Hades is best described as a dungeon-crawler. You have an isometric view as you move about, avoiding hazards and fighting off enemies as you climb each chamber on your way to the surface. Defeat every enemy in a chamber and get a reward. Sounds simple enough until you factor in all of the various permutations of events; Hades aims to make sure no two runs are alike, with different enemies, power-ups and challenges awaiting you. All of this is doled out slowly, as with each subsequent playthrough you begin to have more of the game unraveled. First and foremost, Zagreus can gain various Boons from the other Olympian Gods, who are sympathetic to his plight and lend him some power if he makes contact with them. Each God has their own twist on the abilities they grant Zagreus. They can all increase his stats in some way, or affect either his dash ability or his Cast, a projectile attack. For Zeus, naturally, all of Zagreus’ moves will gain an electric effect, whereas Artemis focuses more on upping Zag’s critical hit chance. Dionysus, the God of Wine, grants you the “hangover” status effect, allowing your attacks to uh…make enemies drunk? Sure! You’ll be given a random selection of three Boons to pick from, of varying rarities. Over the course of a run, you might try to nab as many Boons from the same God as possible, or vary it up and see which abilities synchronize together. At times, you might even be granted a Duo Boon, where two Gods decide to combine their power for a special ability that plays to both of their strengths. Still, at other times, you might be forced into a Trial of the Gods, where you must choose one God’s Boon over the other, with the snubbed God lashing out afterwards. Hey, just because they’re Gods, doesn’t mean they’re nice. Of course, you’ve also got a variety of health and weapon upgrades too. In fact, let’s gush about the weapons for a second, shall we?

At the time of writing, Hades has six weapons to play with. You start with a sword, which is the all-rounder of the set, but as you gain keys to unlock more weapons, you can start to really experiment. The bow and rail cannon serve as ranged options with different approaches, while the spear is the melee weapon with the best range at the cost of pure power. The shield grants you absolute defense at the cost of range, while the gauntlets let you unleash your fisticuffs on underworld scum, though leave you with limited ranged attacks. Each weapon has specific Boons and weapon upgrades you can find as well, some of which can radically alter how a weapon works. The rail cannon, for example, fires a lot faster than the bow, but this is balanced by needing to manually reload…unless you get a weapon upgrade that gives you unlimited ammo with the only catch being that you can only do burst fire. Adding to this, players eventually unlock hidden Aspects of weapons, morphing them into different forms which can also influence their moveset. Change the shield to the Aspect of Zeus, and when you throw your shield Captain America style, it stays out and continually spins, dealing tons of damage over time and effectively forcing enemies to get sliced to bits if they want to get near you. I didn’t expect this game to have half this many weapons or to have them balanced so well. Really, just like anything else, weapons are another tool you can poke and prod and experiment with until you get a truly killer collection of Boons and upgrades that let you just demolish anything in your way. It’s very satisfying when you finally clear a run with a great build…though depending on the RNG, you WILL get some crummy builds, but that’s the nature of the rogue-like!

It’s likely that a bad build (or really, just getting hit with a new boss or enemy you aren’t prepared for) will lead to a death, but as already established, death isn’t really that much of an inconvenience in the underworld. Zagreus just spawns back at home and is free to immediately try to escape again, but this brief reprieve lets you chat up whoever happens to be around, give them gifts, advance some side-quests, pet your dog Cerberus and practice with weapons and such before you’re ready to go at it again. It’s after a run that you also get to spend a lot of the spoils of your escape attempts. While you lose Boons and weapon upgrades and the like upon death, there’s a LOT of various items you keep with you that have plenty of uses. Darkness shards are used for permanent skills that can be applied to Zagreus, like Death’s Defiance, which grants Zagreus another life upon dying, which can eventually be upgraded to give him THREE extra lives, just as an example. Precious gems can be used to fund a variety of cosmetic changes to the House of Hades. Just because Zagreus doesn’t want to live there anymore, doesn’t mean he can’t at least make it look good! Nectar can be gifted to other characters to improve your relationships with them, with bottles of Ambrosia being required later on, while special keys can be used to unlock weapons, more upgrades for your Darkness shards, or just used as a secondary currency for trade. There’s really a LOT of different items to mess around with, though admittedly if you’re the type to want to max out EVERYTHING you’ll be in it for the long haul, as there is not only a LOT of stuff to upgrade and purchase, but the random nature of things means rewards are never a guarantee. Though it’s worth noting the game’s totally beatable without going nuts with completion. Which I guess leads me to the biggest compliment I can give this game: even after “beating” it, I still can’t stop playing, and there’s plenty of reason to keep going.

REPLAYS AND REWARDS

So, full disclosure, I’ve gotten Zagreus to the surface. Several times, actually. But I haven’t quite “beaten” the game yet. In fact, at the risk of sounding pretentious, it is as if the true game begins after you’ve beaten it once. Without getting into specifics, let’s just say the game gives you a very good in-story reason to keep playing, and you won’t reach credits without several completed runs under your belt. And even then, there’s still stuff to do. I’m almost 30 hours into Hades and I’ve barely scratched the surface honestly. Every major character has their own sidequest you can undergo, but it can be slow goings when it comes to advancing them. Trying out all the weapons and boons and different combinations will easily take dozens of hours to fully experience, though the game has a handy in-game list of what you’ve done and haven’t done, as well as in-game achievements with tangible rewards that will spur you on. I was admittedly surprised at how dense of a game Hades can be. A successful run will likely take you somewhere between a half-hour to an hour, which is pretty devious. Just long enough to stay engaging throughout, and short enough that I can keep convincing myself that I have time for “one more run” and then suddenly several hours have gone by. Strangest thing.

Something that’s become a bit of a staple of Supergiant’s work is customizable difficulty, various modifiers you can flip on to make the game harder if you so desire, which in Hades takes the form of the Pact of Punishment. After a successful run, you can turn on a given pact to spice things up for subsequent runs. Maybe enemies do a bit more damage, or you give yourself a super strict time limit to clear a run. You can give enemies armor that makes them sturdier, or jack up the in-game shop’s prices. You can even be forced to give up Boons in order to advance past certain doors! Probably the most impressive Pact is Extreme Measures, which ends up greatly affecting the boss fights in the game…trust me when I say you won’t be ready for them the first time you flip that on. Activating a given pact increases a “heat gauge” that, should it reach a given level, will end up granting you various special items to help with fully upgrading and unlocking stuff. Of course, with each successful run completed with a given Pact activated, you’ll have to raise the heat more and more in order to keep getting these upgrade materials so be prepared. You can also still gain these materials (albeit at a much slower rate) playing through the game normally though, and there’s really no penalty for choosing NOT to activate a given pact. On the flip side of things, there’s also a God Mode you can toggle on that makes Zagreus a little stronger with each death, which can help those that want to see more of the story but are struggling with the game. Have your God Cake and eat it too!

All and all, this game just delivers on every level and I’ve been devouring it since release whenever I have a spare minute. You can see that Supergiant is taking all the lessons they learned from each previous game and combined it to make what is easily their best game yet. I don’t throw around words like “masterpiece” lightly, but Hades is just such a slam dunk that I’m sorely tempted to call it just that. I mean, if you hate rogue-likes, I’m not sure if Hades will really push you over the edge admittedly? You get way more rewards retained after death than just about any other rogue-like I’ve played, but if you’re the type that hates having to constantly adapt and not being able to memorize what’s coming, I can see this not working for you. But for me at least, I’ve had an absolute blast with the game and the only issue I really have with it is a small nitpick at best. When it comes to getting to know various characters, you can talk to them and give them Nectar or Ambrosia as a gift right? But what happens if they don’t show up on a given run? Or what if they DO show up, but they’re locked into a conversation with someone else? That means you can’t really advance anything with them until a given dice roll pities you. MEGAERA I THINK YOU’RE COOL, PLEASE JUST TALK TO M—oh sorry, don’t know where that came from… So yeah, that’s the nittiest of picks.

I adore this game’s cast, the voice work and music is excellent to the ear, the combat is engaging, the gameplay loop is addicting…need I say more? I mean, I’ve said almost 3000 words, but to really sum it up…I highly recommend Hades and I hope you don’t pass it up if you’re even remotely interested. You can find it on Steam, the Epic store and Switch as of right now, and I don’t think you could go wrong with any version.

Blood and darkness await you.

-B

[seeker-n-rico]

| Expectations vs Reality |

A trail of wreath petals burning into wisps of smoke. The clap of feet on the marble tile. Venomous promises of retaliation rumbling throughout the house.

Just the beginning of another day of Zagreus’ insufferable antics. 

However, today was off. The normally, annoyingly punctual prince was nowhere to be found in the ruins of Tartarus’ temples. What was left of the desecrated structures showed tales of old, the age of the titans, left to rot like a festering wound. The contents of the walls constantly shifted, supposedly reacting to every new trespasser. They served as reminders of what the gods had to fight for, of what they still feared, and Megaera wanted nothing more to do with this cursed place. 

Where the hell are you?

(Read the rest of the fic below!)

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Even as the Fury left, she could still feel the temple’s presence clawing at her back. Whether it was the ghosts of titans seeking revenge or her faithfulness to Lord Hades pulling her, she was unsure. But, what was certain, was that that foolish bastard didn’t want to spend a moment more in the underworld kingdom. That he knew how much that place uneased her. How she sometimes welcomed his steel against her better judgement just to let the River Styx take her away from that place. Zagreus knew better than to keep her waiting.

Closing the gates behind her, Megaera stalked Tartarus. Chasing off any shades that would even consider crossing her path with a glare that said, “I can do worse than what Zeus did to Prometheus, Sisyphus, and Tantalus combined.” Despite their surrender, the presence of the damned souls only helped to feed Meg’s anxieties. Although difficult to imagine with his usual, lax attitude, Zagreus cut down his foes with the precision that could only come from Achilles’ teachings. While Meg was trained to protect the House of Hades, she was still just a mere torturer who knew only of her place and that was to serve the whip. If Zagreus had truly been there, the shades would’ve been reduced to shadows already, swallowed by the darkness.

Lost in her thoughts, the fury almost didn’t notice how the spirits trembled and disappeared from sight as she continued her search. Almost. Scanning the room, Meg could not see or sense anyone’s presence. She knew of only two gods that could make them react that way, Lord Hades and…

“Than?” Meg softly spoke, treading carefully into the unfamiliar territory. 

“I wish.”

That was not Thanatos. Meg swerved towards the voice, weapon at the ready. Immediately, her whip clanged to the floor as her eyes widened at her discovery. 

“Zag?! You… Than… Is he?” So many questions began pouring out of Meg’s mouth as she tried to make sense of what she saw. 

There, propped up against a pillar, Zagreus glanced up at her, eyebrows knit with worry. In his lap, death incarnate was curled into a ball, passed out. Decades’ worth of stress and ageing haunted Thanatos’ face. His pale complexion looked an even more sickly shade of white. The only sign of life within Thanatos was the sweat that dotted his feverish brow and the stuttering rise and fall of his chest as he took each new, raspy breath. A mindless fool might’ve assumed Zagreus had laid a corpse across his body. But Meg was wise, and the saddest truth was that this was not the first time she has seen this. Nor is it the prince’s. 

The two silently stared at each other, trying to find the faults within their negligence. How could they have been so blind to this? Resigned, Meg joined Zagreus on the floor, shielding the both of them with her wing. It felt like the only thing she was capable of doing. The house was not made of healers nor love. It was a cold, unforgiving place, even to the honored occupants within its thresholds. Her entire immortal life was spent learning the cruelties of men and how to deal it in kind. Despite this, nothing compared to the burden that Thanatos carried. It was a curse that even the king of the underworld was forced to respect. 

To say that Thanatos was simply loyal to his duties failed to describe how far he was willing to prove his devotion. It was a topic that Megaera tried to avoid talking about. There was no changing Than’s mind when it comes to his service to the house. After all, what was she supposed to say? Stop collecting mortal souls and allow the world to fall into chaos? Even Zagreus’ sweet, charismatic charm could do nothing to stop Thanatos. The two long ago agreed to keep an eye on Than, but death remains elusive, even to his friends. 

After exchanging more silent questions and attempting to make Thanatos comfortable, it was Zagreus’ voice that crackled through the still air.

“Hypnos told me. It’s funny, I know. But, the two of them are still brothers and well, sleep being his thing and all…” 

Zagreus took a deep breath and exhaled. The fury waited quietly as the normally chatty prince considered his thoughts for once. 

“Ever since we were young, he would sneak into my room just to sleep,” Zagreus continued. “He was never good about remembering to take care of himself, but it was the one place where no one would look for him. Especially my father. I didn’t think anything of it when I left the house, but Dusa, bless her, was cleaning my room. I didn’t think… I didn’t know Than had been so desperate I would have-”

“He followed you,” Meg interrupted, clicking things into place. “Than knew he was going to collapse and there’s no one out here from the house to see him like this. He can’t afford to let people see him like this… It would put the house at risk...” She rubbed her eyes and hissed, “He had been stuck in the mortal realm for days cleaning up the gods’ idiotic war! How was I so foolish not to notice?!”

Zagreus reached over and took Meg’s hand into his own, gently rubbing circles into her palm with his thumb. “We’ll figure this out, Meg.” He sighed, then smirked at her. “Of course, we’ll only do something after we’ve let the vultures peck Than’s eyes out for causing all of this undue stress, right?”

Megaera had to chuckle at that. It was an awful attempt at humor, but it got them to smile at least for a little bit. She pulled the two closer to her, silently praying that some of her strength be given to Thanatos. The three of them weren’t going anywhere any time soon, not until Thanatos was awake, and that could be days from now. But, despite the circumstances, Meg was thankful to be together. Zagreus will escape to the surface and never come back. Thanatos… Thanatos could come and go however he pleases and maybe he will follow the foolish prince and break his chains for good. Even if it meant fighting each other, dying horribly, and continuing to struggle like this… Selfishly, Megaera didn’t want it to end. Not now.