#while Jess may not have contributed much but she’s at least making an effort

[theevilcactus]

if they vote Jess out instead of Jelinsky I’m gonna be so fucking annoyed y’all have no idea

[mmikmmik2]

I think some of my previous posts may have put too much of the blame for violence against denizens on Simon, or overemphasized how important it was to make that distinction, but overall I do think he was more of a driving force there than Grace.

I have two arguments for why this doesn't make Grace too heroic. First, even if one of them were completely responsible for coming up with all of the bad parts of the Apex, the other one was still like "yeah that sounds awesome!!!" and happily went along with it, with no criticism and lots of encouragement. Grace has some culpability for everything bad Simon brought to the Apex; Simon has some culpability for everything bad Grace brought to the Apex. However much either of them contributed to the Apex's beliefs and practices that are violent towards denizens, both of them shared those beliefs and acted on those practices. They're both murderers.

Second, Grace clearly seems to me to be the driving force behind her and Simon's efforts to manipulate and brainwash the kids in the Apex and trick them into staying on the train forever, instead of just explaining about the True Conductor and how high numbers are good (i.e. the things Grace really did believe were true, based on an honest mistake) and the truth about exit doors and letting the kids make informed decisions about what to do next. Personally I think the harm she did there is underrated by fandom. Look at her in Mall Car. There is no way Jesse is better off on the dangerous Saw train than safe at home with his family he loves and misses. Grace didn't care. She tried to prey on a scared kid's emotional weaknesses and vulnerability to make him stay on the crappy train forever and betray his real friend who genuinely loves him and wants to help him, just so she could add one more kid to her crowd of toadies. She didn't think that's what she was doing, but that's what that was. It's despicable.

As for why I think Simon is more responsible for the violence against denizens... (1) his military thing (2) his emotional investment in violence against denizens - how he looks directly at them (and sometimes verbally mocks and dehumanizes them) as he's doing them harm, while Grace treats hurting them during raids more like another small component of the Look At Me, I'm So Great Show Starring Grace Monroe (3) Grace taking point on the occasions they do play along with denizens and her greater patience with train puzzles (4) this dialogue

Simon: I know you told me to loosen up, but we do have Apex procedures for something like this. Grace: Okay. Whaddaya got? Simon: When encountering a null that cannot be overwhelmed with force, nor avoided in its entirety, the null in question must be incapacitated. Grace: Hmmm. Now who could have written that one? Simon: (laughs) You know I don't like to take credit for things.

I mean, Grace is probably referring to the very formal phrasing, and I'm sure the rules are a formalization of the things they were already doing rather than the direct source of their SOP's, but it seems significant to me that the show took a moment to have them explicitly say that Simon wrote rules about how the Apex are supposed to deal with denizens.

We know that Grace at least contributed to the idea of wheeling denizens, the writing in Mall Car associates her with the idea, and it ties in well with what I said above about possibly her worst contribution the Apex being their recruiting practices, because wheeling denizens is associated with the attempts to recruit Jesse and Hazel and probably other recruitment that didn't occur onscreen.

Dream Hazel's dialogue at the start of New Apex seems really strange to me if Grace was more prominent than Simon in coming up with the wheeling idea, though.

Hazel: You killed Tuba! You killed Tuba! Grace: No, it was Simon! Hazel: He didn't come up with the idea to wheel denizens on his own! It's your fault she's gone!

Everything else Hazel says in this scene is so direct and so accusatory. She flat out says "You tried to control me!", she flat out says "You killed Tuba!", she flat out says "It's your fault she's gone!" I don't get why she would be vague and indirect about how Grace contributed to the wheeling idea if it were genuinely more on Grace than Simon. I mean, I guess maybe it's supposed to be bitterly sardonic? But nothing else in this scene is written like that. Everything else is 100% straight up Dream Hazel or Dream Grace hurling very direct accusations at Grace and assigning her the greatest possible culpability. I dunno, jeez, maybe Grace herself doesn't remember at this point. It's not like she knew how much it would affect her life when the idea first came up.

Ultimately all of this is really subjective and based on individual interpretation of very scant and ambiguous evidence. I would say there's probably some wrong answers haha (not your argument, you're making a reasonable case here), but not really any right answers.

[maddie-grove]

Bi-Monthly Reading Round-Up: May/June

PLAYLIST

“How Do You Do” by Mouth and MacNeal (Once Ghosted, Twice Shy)

“Up the Wolves” by the Mountain Goats (Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey)

“The Daughters” by Little Big Town (Lady Rogue)

“9 to 5″ by Dolly Parton (Lady Notorious)

“Let the Little Girl Dance” by Billy Bland (What a Wallflower Wants)

“Poison Arrow” by ABC (Give Me Your Hand)

“Marie-Jeanne” by Joe Dassin (Never Mind)

“Mississippi” by the Dixie Chicks (An Unconditional Freedom)

“Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind (Bad News)

“Honky Cat” by Elton John (Simple Jess)

“A Weekend in the Country” from A Little Night Music (Some Hope)

“Picture Book” by the Kinks (Mother’s Milk)

“A Place in the Sun” by Stevie Wonder (At Last)

“She’s in Love with the Boy” by Trisha Yearwood (A Dance with Danger)

“Little Hollywood Girl” by the Everly Brothers (Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes's Hollywood)

BEST OF THE BI-MONTH

An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole (2019): Daniel Cumberland, a free black man from New England, had his faith in justice and certainty in the world shattered when he was abducted and sold into slavery. Now rescued, he does what he can as a spy for the pro-Union Loyal League, but he has a lot of rage and trauma that nobody knows what to do with, least of all himself. Then a new spy joins the organization: Janeta Sanchez, a mixed-race Cuban-Floridian lady pulled in too many directions by her white Confederate family and now in desperate straits. Once again, Alyssa Cole has produced a book that’s not only a compelling romance but a fascinating historical novel. Daniel and Janeta are both complex, involving characters with a great dynamic, plus Cole provides a great perspective on less-discussed aspects of the Civil War. 

WORST OF THE BI-MONTH

Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole (2019): Likotsi Adele, personal assistant to the prince of Thesolo, came to New York City a year ago for work and had what was supposed to be a casual affair with Fabiola, a gorgeous fledgling fashion designer. Just when her feelings were getting involved, though, Fabiola cut things off with no explanation. Now back in NYC on vacation, Likotsi runs into Fabiola, who proposes that they go on a date for old time’s sake. Although it’s technically the worst of the month, this novella is by no means bad; on the contrary, it’s very cute and sweet, with a pretty sexy love scene near the end. It just suffers from common romance novella pitfalls, mainly a dearth of conflict and some pacing problems.

REST OF THE BI-MONTH

Never Mind (1992), Bad News (1992), Some Hope (1994), Mother’s Milk (2005), and At Last (2011) by Edward St. Aubyn: Across five novellas, Patrick Melrose, son of an aristocratic non-practicing doctor and a charity-minded heiress, struggles with the legacy of his father’s sadistic abuse and his mother’s elaborately cultivated helplessness to intervene. The series follows him from early childhood (Never Mind) to drug-addled early adulthood (Bad News, Some Hope) to slightly more functional middle age (Mother’s Milk, At Last). I’ve never read such enjoyable fiction about the boredom and exhaustion of dealing with trauma and addiction, but St. Aubyn manages it with sharp characterization, whistling-in-the-dark humor, and a great sense of setting. I didn’t like all the novellas equally--Bad News has too many scenes about doing large amounts of heroin for my personal taste, and Some Hope sometimes loses track of its many characters--but, taken together, they’re magnificent.

Seduction: Sex, Lies, and Stardom in Howard Hughes’s Hollywood by Karina Longworth (2018): Using the life and career of billionaire/producer/aviator/womanizer Howard Hughes, Longworth (the podcast host of You Must Remember This) looks at Hollywood from the silent era to the waning days of the studio system. I love You Must Remember This, and this book exhibits all the strengths of the podcasts: the compelling style, the evenhanded consideration of evidence from multiple sources, and the use of film analysis to examine what was happening in the culture at the time. Longworth’s portrait of Hughes is also refreshingly non-sensational; he comes across as a juvenile reactionary with a little vision, too much money, and some pitiable mental health problems, rather than a genius or a boogeyman. 

Simple Jess by Pamela Morsi (1996): Althea Winsloe, an Ozark widow in the early twentieth century, is determined to remain unmarried and look after her three-year-old son by herself, despite the disapproval of her close-knit community. Still needing help on her farm, she hires Jesse Best, regarded as “simple” because of a cognitive disability stemming from a childhood brain injury. As they work together, Althea realizes that Jesse has depths that few people bother to see. I was a little concerned when I began this romance; the hero has serious, life-altering issues with mental processing, which I thought might create a troubling power dynamic between him and the heroine. Instead, Morsi contributes something really valuable by showing how society ignores the autonomy and complexity of people with disabilities. She also does a great job of showing how a close-knit community can be both claustrophobic and supportive. Finally, I enjoyed the journey of a gay side character (the song’s for him!).

Lady Notorious by Theresa Romain (2019): When George, Lord Northbrook, discovers that his father is part of a tontine whose members have started dying at an alarmingly fast rate, he enlists the help of Cassandra Benton, an unofficial Bow Street Runner, to investigate the possible murders while pretending to be his scandalous cousin. Already friends, they grow attracted to each other during this charade, but they come from different worlds and each have a complicated family thing going on. This is a thoroughly likable romance with a fun plot; I especially enjoyed how George’s efforts to care for his emotionally distant parents mirrored Cassandra’s struggles to let go of her codependent relationship with her twin brother.

Don’t You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey by Margaret Peterson Haddix (1996): Fifteen-year-old Tish Bonner doesn’t have much time for school; with an absent father, a troubled mother, and an eight-year-old brother she feels responsible for, she’s too busy trying to hold things together at home. When her father makes an unwelcome return, though, she finds an outlet in the journal assigned by a nice young English teacher who promises not to read entries marked DO NOT READ. I first read this YA novel in middle school, and it struck me as particularly unvarnished, both then and as an adult. Teens in horrible situations are common in the genre, but Tish’s matter-of-fact presentation the day-to-day of dealing with sexual harassment at work and total parental abandonment at home really brings out the utter bleakness. I love Tish, whose ultimate acceptance of her inability to handle everything alone is as brave as her desperate efforts to keep everything together.

Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott (2018): Kit Owens, a talented chemist from humble beginnings, is shocked when former classmate Diane Fleming comes to work in her lab. Although Diane was the one who inspired her to reach beyond community college, she also burdened Kit with a horrible secret...and now they’re in competition to work on a prestigious new grant. I love Megan Abbott as a writer; she has a very sensory-based way of describing things that makes everything palpable. While I didn’t love this book as much as The Fever, it has a delightfully twisted plot and female characters who are “bad” in a realistic (or, at least, a humanely portrayed) way. I did probably like Diane more than I was supposed to; like Lady Audley before her, she should maybe go to jail but she’s still awesome.

A Dance with Danger by Jeannie Lin (2015): In Tang Dynasty China, Jin-mei, daughter of a magistrate, finds herself in a compromising position with Yang, her father’s old associate and sworn enemy of a local warlord. Their mutual attraction makes the ensuing wedding a more pleasant fate than either expected, but Yang disappears mysteriously before the marriage can be consummated. Heartbroken and very suspicious, Jin-mei refuses to give him up for dead. This is a fun adventure-romance with a wonderfully spooky atmosphere, although the ending is a little rushed.

Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain (2018): After her sub-par art-dealer husband apparently committed suicide, Lady Isabel Morrow grew close to and had a fling with Officer Callum Jenks, a Bow Street Runner. Now she’s discovered that her husband sold his customers forged works, and she needs to (awkwardly) enlist Callum’s help in replacing them with the real ones. This is a solid Regency romance, mostly thanks to the fun burglary plot. Isabel and Callum’s relationship, while perfectly pleasant, is rather static; they obviously like and respect each other, but just need a little time to reconcile themselves to the not-onerous-to-them social costs of a cross-class marriage. There’s also a real bummer of a development involving a minor character at the end. I’m not averse to bummers, but it felt out of place here.

What a Wallflower Wants by Maya Rodale (2014): Stranded at a strange inn after a failed elopement attempt, secretly traumatized spinster Penelope Payton finds a friend in the striking Lord Castleton...but is he who he says he is? Absolutely not, but he’s pretty cool regardless. This is a sweet, heartfelt Regency romance with endearing leads and great messages, but it’s pretty sloppily written, and that detracted from my enjoyment somewhat.

[survivormagictreehouse]

Episode #5 “I have nothing else to lose at this point” -Jay

-Did I even make a confessional last round??? AHH. Okay so I’m excited with our swap and I think we have a strong tribe but I’m REALLY sad (and not surprised) about Austin leaving. I think that I am on a very strong tribe and I can’t wait to see what happens with it going forward!  Like I can’t bad talk anyone, I like them all. 

-Can we talk about how proud I am of myself for remembering enough information to tell Cindi while she was answering questions? LOL, I had never been so nervous in my entire life so I'm really good that we pulled out a win!  Ali and Collin did such a good job retaining and relaying information.  It is nice to have another day off and I'm really curious to see what Ali decides to do and what the next challenge will be... I don't want this tribe to be broken up yet.   If I do end up swapping I really want to end up on a tribe with Chips.  We played in a game recently AGAINST one another and I'm dying to work with him, like actually work with him so oddly enough, I'm really hoping that he isn't going anywhere! I feel like they will probably go after Timmy or Jay. Right now the person on my tribe I feel like I can talk with the easiest about the game is Ali, he is probably my number one and I feel like I can tell him stuff without it getting passed around the entire tribe.  Do I completely trust him?? NO.  But I do trust him the most haha.  

-I SURVIVED AHHHHHH I GET TO STAY!!!!!!!!! Fuck that was so close and I feel so bad for throwing Austin under the bus but hey, I needed to stay in this game and keep my relationships strong. Plus, voting for Timmy would have looked really shitty to him, after the whole alliance thing. Anyways....Birch is here now! I love them sm and I really look forward to getting to work with them again. As far as I can tell, my best bet of staying is a group of me, Timmy, Zach, Birch and probably Chips. Chips and Zach were so helpful to me this whole day, reassuring me and giving me the information I needed to stay safe. I also called with Timmy just now and we're gonna be sticking together since it's our best option. Its really been a big turn from feeling comfortable in the tribe to fighting to stay, but I'm gonna stay fighting and hopefully make it out of this swap alive.

-I'm trying so fucking hard to stay in this game but right now it feels like a lost cause. Zach sold me out so badly last night and it feels like it's been impossible to recover. I'm trying to get me, Timmy, chips, and birch to all vote Zach but it's feeling less and less like it's actually happening and more like they're just saying it to keep me comfortable. No one is really responding to me anymore and it just feels like this is the end. The only little bit of hope I have is apparently Timmy has heard it's gonna be Birch instead? Seems like a long shot, I don't really want to see them leave, and I'm not gonna push for it. Birch is an indespencible ally and I will go to rocks for them if i have to. I have nothing else to lose at this point.

https://youtu.be/cYEa3LQE6N4

-Going into tonight's tribal, I think I'll be safe and have the votes of Timmy, Jess, Gavin, and Keegan. However, I feel like either Gavin and Keegan could flip (though unlikely) OR an idol could be used on Jay. I guess we shall see though. See y'all on the other side :)

-okay so the og annie tribe lost their marbles and got a 4-3-1? which well. in other news, i died in my other game and mr BODHI on this tribe got me out... very interesting. i was originally gonna punish him and get him out. and i still might. im unsure. he would deserve it tho he is so wishywashy that its infuriating. rn dream alliance is cindi/vi/ruthie/rachael (aka feminism + ali). bodhi was the best to vote for me on a game level and him needless treating me like crap makes that much easier.

-okay hello... so in a crazy plot twist... we won the storytime? i was really proud of my own contribution to the challenge, i passed on a LOTTA info to collin and he did so so good passing it, ruthie SNAPPED when she was so nervous and cindi brought it home. my game has been pretty smooth sailing, two easy votes and now im chilling on the most wholesome tribe ever. should i probably be throwing these challenges to save jay/timmy/austin... maybe... but am i going to... no. im not risking my game life when i see my entire current tribe as long term allies. ideal scenario is that group implodes and sets us up to pick up the pieces at merge... maybe? but also i think we are swapping again before merge, so just adding another challenge with the shakespeare challenge delays me getting jumped by the conglomerate of generic men, birch and jess. my closest ally right now is definitely ruthie, i LOVE ME SOME RUTHIE. vi, cindi, collin, timmy and rachael i also trust to some extent. bodhi i literally would get an indescribable seretonin rush from voting out... i would LOVE the opportunity to jump him in this game. am over that man. but im vibing having fun! still have an idol! and living my BEST life ha. im sorry my confessionals have been underwhelming but my game experience has been pretty smooth sailing so far ha.

-Spill the tea! *It's 1:11AM and I still miss Gavin.

-It's 8:59 PM and I still miss Gavin. prayer circle for Gavin <3

https://youtu.be/JSmJThHF-tU

So I did something. I am not allied with 5/7 people on my tribe. I have the "3 Canadians, oh and the 2 American Hosts" Alliance of me, Jess and Keegan. I am not quite as Loyal to that alliance as I am my new one. But I still don't want to vote them out. If I HAD to I would but i want to keep them. I really like both of them. I just made the "The Jolly Crew" Alliance which is Me, Jay, Timmy Z and Zach. I love this alliance. I vibe really well with Timmy and Jay. I am a little more iffy on Zach but he is really cool! I stan everyone! I guess out of the 2 people left I would prefer to vote out chips? He tends to be kinda inactive and I talk to him the least. IDK I'll go with the numbers, and my alliance.  

Another round, another immunity win. I’m just living life and am happy with how this game is going. Don’t really have to do much but making sure it won’t be me if we eventually do go to tribal.

We lost the challenge despite my best efforts. I think we’re voting Jay

I wish i had something of substance to say but this tribe refuses to go to tribal :/ i've found spots where TWO idols were in the past i think??? lions -> straight ahead -> ask for a tour, and vikings -> small boat -> get on the small boat

Soooooo... we lost the challenge again an' I got kidnapped by the gentlemen o' fortune. love that there fer me! then, to me surprise, right off o' the bat, jay threw me name out. so 'e be essentially dead to me now an' I expect 'im to be leavin' tonight. his blood ‘ill be on me hook after tonight. luckily fer me, I went around an' started spreadin' that there I 'ad 'eard 'e been sayin' me name—and 'e 'ad apparently only said it to zach. so now, the votes be between zach an' jay... an' I could not be 'appier as me name be off o' the table as farrr as I know. so bless to the sky to that there. I be expectin' jay to set sail tonight, but who knows. there been a lot o' talk o' 'im or birch 'avin' an idol or some kind o' advantage (which I believe birch may 'ave something), but I don’t think I be playin' me idol unless I catch wind o' somethin' strange 'appenin'... but me fingers be crossed an' I be goin' to 'ope fer the best.

2nd win and Ali is chucked to the tree house. Gotta do a music video

So the Annie curse strikes again............ wooo. This vote is a bit of a mess but honestly this all works out for me. Jay going ensures that I have Chips/Birch's loyalties moving forward and honestly the more OG Annie people that go the better. I hate the whole tribe lines situation but honestly I'm kind of stuck in it and I think I'm stuck in it for the long haul or at least for now. Zach going ensures I can climb the social rankings of the OG JACK tribe but it also might make me land on the bottom and it would be such a gamble. Do I trust Zach? no. Do I think everything Birch/Jay are saying about Zach is completely true..mhm BUT I need him just for a bit longer at this point. Also if Jay didn't say Gavin's name I probably would risk it and vote out Zach but at this point I can't not vote out someone who is saying my number 1's name... I want another swap because I'm bored of talking to the same people and I need to form some new bonds before merge. 

With me getting one vote last time, I really wanted to secure my spot within my team and was able to talk with Zach and Jess into making an alliance chat with us and Keegan/Gavin. Hopefully jay goes tonight but I’m not to sure. In the challenge bitch was terrible. We are a bit nervous they got an advantage or idol on exile which is why we are telling everyone the vote is birch tonight. Guess we will see how tonight goes

I'm doing lots of house stuff today but I hear there's a mess to be had with Jay versus Zach. I want to vote Zach because he has been acting head honcho but also... dont care too much. Im going to try to force a tie then get blindsided out of the game. Hype energy!

.

.

.

The Round 5 Cast Assessment will be combined with Round 6 (on the next episode)

[solarbird]

don't you feel better - at least, for now?

Old Soldiers, Chapter 4: "don't you feel better - at least, for now"

My computer is acting very badly today (the trackpad has gone off) so the formatting of this header is a little strange, but be aware that the rating on this story has been revised upwards, and that this chapter is NSFW. Be also aware that while I have not been setting archive warnings on the AO3 version of this, I categorically do not write non-con or underage.

[AO3 link]

Venom lay curled up against Widowmaker, her head on her lover's shoulder, eyes closed. "So glad you're home, love."

Amélie looked down to her lover's hair, sated, for the moment, but not finished, and she tipped her head forward, nuzzling at that spiky hair she knew so well. "I am too, cherie."

She rolled over, rolling Lena over as well, straddling over her wife. Lena squeaked a little in protest - "Aw, I was comfortable!" - but quieted as Amélie brought herself down atop the younger woman, kissing her, gently, holding herself up with one arm as the fingertips of her other hand brushed slowly along her lover's left torso and breast, Lena's body lighting up with blues as her wife's fingers danced along their ways.

Venom gasped a little, returning the kiss, reaching up around Amélie's head and to pull her closer, but Widowmaker pulled back and slid down, tracing down Lena's neck and chest and stomach with her tongue, down to her mons and then further, light following her touch, then head down between her lover's legs, hands now around her hips and thighs, Venom's back arched and Amé pushed her lover back down - can't have you if you flex away from me - Lena's hands weaving through Amélie's hair as she moaned.

Venom wanted, or part of her wanted, to quip about being even more comfortable now, but couldn't, the words lost, the thought lost to what her beautiful blue spider was doing with her amazing blue tongue, until she came, again, shaking with the release, moaning, gasping out, "How do you do that?!" and her spider smiled openly and wide, saying, "You have to be French."

Lena laughed and grabbed a pillow and bopped Amélie with it, crying, "Vive la France!" as her lover rolled away, giggling, this being the only kind of time and the only kind of place where the assassin might openly giggle, alone with her beloved and as safe as she ever might possibly be, warm in her nest with the woman she loved more than anything and anyone else in the world. No rifle, no guns, no mines, no chain - well, not that kind of chain - nothing but each other to hold and adore.

"Y'know," Lena said, as they cuddled back up together. "At some point, we have to get up and get back to the real world."

"I know," said her Amélie. "And it will not be so pleasant as this. But don't you feel better, at least, for now?"

"Yeh," smiled the younger assassin, sleepily. "You?"

"Oh yes," said the senior assassin, again kissing her partner's head. "Much better."

[the next day]

"I think it is important we allow them to take their best shot," said the Widowmaker, sliding the last chair off the wall and into place around the table. They had set up the teleconferencing gear in the practice gym's meeting annex, and were awaiting everyone else's virtual arrivals. "Politically important," she emphasised. The new Overwatch effort may not have been her idea, and she might still consider it dubious over the long term, but she was determined not to contribute to its failure.

The younger assassin did not growl and did not snarl, but the anger that flashed across her face might make someone think she had. Damn, she thought immediately, No. Get a lid on it, Venom! She brought more of the web online, forcing herself to calm. She smiled.

Amélie shook her head. "Please, Lena, don't. Be angry, do not lock this down so far."

Lena looked placidly at her lover, and blinked. "Won't do any good to yell at you, love. And I don't want to ruin last night."

"This is not better. Yell at me," said the older assassin, encouraging her lover with gestures of her hands. "Scream, if you must. We have never had lies, and I do not want to start now - not over someone like him."

Venom lifted the web a little, felt the rage surge, and bit her lip 'till it passed. Careful, she thought. A bit at a time. Another step, and then a third, and then she did in fact scream, drew her pistols, and jinked out to the gym floor, firing as many clips as she could, utterly destroying the "Morrison" practice bot they'd set up earlier, punching at its components hard enough to send machine parts flying across the room.

She hunched atop the remains, panting, and crying. "That's... why."

Amélie walked over, slowly, carefully. "And controlling it directly, as you have been, is fine - in the field. But it is not fine, here. Please. It is safe. Talk to me." She put her hand on the back of Lena's neck, and rubbed the muscles gently.

Venom hung her head, and, slowly, replied, "Nothin' to say that I haven't already. I hate him so much."

"I know. Say it anyway."

"I hate him. Not just for the Slipstream. Not just for that. For everything else, too." The younger assassin flipped over, lying on her back, shoving robot bits aside and staring up from the floor, as her wife sat down next to her, running her hands through her hair. "It's like, it wasn't enough to abandon me after the explosion. It's like, he had to destroy..." She paused.

"Go on," encouraged the spider.

"He had to destroy everybody else, too. It had to be him, or it couldn't be anybody, didn't it? Half of Overwatch died in that fight - I knew those people, we were friends. Hell, I dated a couple of 'em... there'd been this redhead, a flight mechanic named Emily..." She shook her head, no, trying to clear the memory away. "And then Winston was exiled, and Mei abandoned in Antarctica..." Her face went sharp and angry. "Didja know, when he brought on Hana Song, she was fifteen? Fifteen. He made her into a child soldier and nobody even questioned it."

"He hardly had to persuade her," the spider noted.

"Yeh, but he had a responsibility not to. And he did anyway."

The blue assassin agreed, "This life is no place for children," as Sombra's ready light flashed. "It looks like everyone is signing in," she said, as Jesse McCree, Geanna Mariani, and Akande Ogundimu's ready lights followed the first.

"Wow," Lena said, sitting up, wiping the tears away. "Everyone's right on time."

"Jack always had a way of focusing everyone's attention," said the spider. "I am not surprised that this time will be no different. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Venom said, her head clearer, web completely lifted and still in control of herself. The violence had helped, at least for now, as it usually did. "I think so." She sat next to Widowmaker, holding her wife's hand under the table, and both their displays and cameras lit up. She looked over at McCree's image, and, muting her microphone, asked Amélie, "...is Jesse in his bedroom?"

"It is a small safehouse," the spider replied, with some amusement.

"Yeh, but... isn't that Shimada's bow in the corner?"

The spider discreetly checked, and nodded, just a little. "I think so." She smirked. "That is not what I meant by recruitment."

Venom, who had once been Tracer, and who had once been recruited, stifled a giggle. "The hell it's not."

"Quiet, you foolish girl," the spider said, struggling not to laugh. "Decorum. We have work to do."

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

How the 'x' became a sign of female solidarity in the age of harassment

One letter of the alphabet has more currency than all the others combined. That letter is "x". 

Unlike in mathematics, the value of "x" is known in the era of internet messaging. That "x" is most often used to convey a kiss when affixed to the end of a text, DM, or email. 

And in an era when women are met with hostility and vitriol on the internet, this tiny, inconsequential letter can be used to communicate solidarity and support during particularly dark times.

There was a time when I thought the addition of an "x" from strangers and professional acquaintances slightly disingenuous. Those days are gone, though. After a bout of deeply vicious online harassment, I realised kindness on the internet was something that's in all too short a supply. This profoundly isolating experience made me completely change my mind about how I felt about receiving "digital kisses" from strangers online. 

SEE ALSO: Twitter cliques might feel like high school, but their existence is tied to our human nature

Last September, I endured a two-day stint of particularly aggressive harassment on Twitter after I wrote an article arguing that women and LGBTQ people shouldn't be the punchlines of political jokes. Seems like a pretty reasonable point to make, right? Well, apparently not. I ended up on the receiving end of insults from a group of free-speech defenders who decided I needed to be put in my place. As well as hurling a lot of nasty abuse at me, these trolls went through my recent tweets and personal essays I'd written about my love life. They mocked the fact that a recent Hinge match had stood me up for date, and they told me I should change careers and find something I'm actually good at. According to one troll, it's "unsurprising" that I got stood up because my dates must look me up and "realise what a childish nightmare" I'd be to date. Um, OK?

For two days straight, I lived in a state of heart-racing anxiety, constantly checking my phone to try to stem the torrent of abuse. Incidentally, this bout of trolling kicked off on my best friend's 30th birthday, which basically meant I ended up sitting in the corner of a sticky dance floor in a Clapham nightclub at midnight, trawling through my mentions to make sure everything was under control. Even though I was in a crowded room full of people, I have never felt more alone in my whole life. When friends realised what was going on, they swooped into my DMs to express their support and solidarity. They sent heart emoji and "digital kisses". It doesn't sound like much, but when you've been up against a barrage of vitriol, it was profoundly touching.

Since that incident, I've paid closer attention to women's tweets about harassment and abuse. In the mentions, you'll always find the same thing: scores of other women responding with messages of love and support — usually signed off with a kiss or a heart emoji. 

Dr Mariann Hardey — professor in marketing at Durham University Business School, whose research focuses on how women share their stories of chronic pain on Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit — says the "x" has become "a way of showing advocacy and support from an anonymous internet stranger" — particularly among women. 

"The advocacy of the kiss is a really interesting new cultural form," Hardey tells me. "It's that extension of kindness in reaching out and the expectation of nothing in return." She's noticed that the bicep emoji is also a popular "show of strength" when people are sharing stories that are personal, sensitive, and traumatic. 

Hardey says that an "x" can also be used in isolation without any further words to communicate support. "Just an "x" as a reply as a response is acceptable, you don't have to have an extra narrative explaining what you meant," she adds. "In those contexts I've never read it as something that's overtly sexual or flirtatious — it's definitely like a digital hug in solidarity."

Last week was one marked by extreme misogynistic vitriol aimed at UK Labour MP Jess Phillips. UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin "joked" in a YouTube video that he might rape Phillips. "There's been an awful lot of talk about whether I would or wouldn't rape Jess Phillips," Benjamin said on his YouTube channel Sargon of Akkad on April 26. "I've been in a lot of trouble for my hardline stance of not even raping her. I suppose with enough pressure I might cave. But let's be honest, nobody's got that much beer." 

Guess what I am finding hard is the awakening to an even bigger audience of the "would we or wouldn't we rape Jess Phillips" because of legitimising of the perpetrator. I've dealt with it in drips for nearly 4 years and just deleted or blocked. It's like a torrent at the moment

— Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) May 5, 2019

The abuse didn't end there. Phillips also tweeted a screenshot of Twitter's response to her reporting someone who said she needed "a good fucking to sort out" her teeth, which Twitter said was not in violation of its rules against abuse. To add insult to injury, Phillips was accosted in the street by a man as she left parliament, who asked why Benjamin isn't allowed to joke about raping her before yelling, "I pay your wages."

Just leaving Westminster and and man ran down the street along side me asking me about why Carl Benjamin shouldn't be able to joke about my rape. Shouting "I pay your wages".

— Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) May 7, 2019

Phillips told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme that she "cried in the street" after hearing Benjamin's video. Misogynist invective is something Phillips has been dealing with since becoming an MP in 2015. In 2018, she spoke out about receiving 600 rape threats in one night and said she'd "stopped counting" the number of abusive messages she's received.

One thing that was really heartening to see in the midst of this barrage of misogyny was the messages of solidarity in response to Phillips' tweets. I could see scores of women responding to her tweets with kind, supportive words, often signed off with one "x" or more. 

I'm so sorry you have to deal with this rancid shit, Jess. For what's its worth. you are ace. x

— Sarah Phelps (@PhelpsieSarah) May 3, 2019

I am so sorry you have to deal with this filth, and that those who make these threats go unregulated and unpunished. Sending love and solidarity xx

— Sue Perkins (@sueperkins) May 5, 2019

💪 we’ve got your back xx

— Caroline Criado Perez (@CCriadoPerez) May 5, 2019

Women are harassed on Twitter every 30 seconds, per a major 2018 study by Amnesty International. One of the main problems standing in the way of fully tackling this problem is social media companies' — particularly Twitter's — inaction in the face of widespread misogynistic abuse. In the report, Amnesty International’s senior advisor for tactical research, Milena Marin, said: "Twitter’s failure to crack down on this problem means it is contributing to the silencing of already marginalised voices." 

"Twitter is a place where racism, misogyny and homophobia are allowed to flourish basically unchecked," Marin continued. 

It might not seem like much, but showing your support to someone who's having a really rough time can go a long way. 

It’s an absolute disgrace that you’re having to deal with this Jess. Sending love xx

— Rosalind Sack (@Ros_Sack) May 5, 2019

These people are absolute garbage. And those who say “just ignore them” drive me almost as nuts. I’m sorry this is happening AGAIN. We are all behind you. Xx

— Sali Hughes (@salihughes) May 5, 2019

This is absolutely grotesque. Jess I’m so sorry you are feeling tired and low. The sisterhood stands with you. Courage X

— Sophie Walker (@SophieRunning) May 3, 2019

While social media companies are often slow to respond to rife online abuse and hostility, the very least we bystanders can do in times like these is express our solidarity and support — whether that means DMing a person to say that you're sorry to see what's happening and that they don't deserve it, or simply tweeting a heart emoji at someone. 

Solidarity Jess. It’s disgusting x

— Tracy Ann Oberman (@TracyAnnO) May 5, 2019

We live in an age where often it feels the default response online is to drag, cancel, and publicly shame. But, what's the opposite of that? Silence?

It's all too easy to stay quiet when our friends, acquaintances, and colleagues are being vilified. It's the speaking up and letting them know they're supported and loved that takes effort and courage. 

Besides, you never know, your message might arrive when the person needs it the most. 

Be kind out there. xx

WATCH: 82 women walked this year's Cannes red carpet in protest, calling for gender equality in the film industry

[puckish-saint]

hiya~ just passing by and thinking about reaper76 (no reader insert) and their pretended marriage au 😏 whatcha' thinking 'bout that love? p.s. just wanted to tell you that your writing always bring smile on my face, the way you have with words captivated me from your first posts and i don't think i will ever forget your style (just really love your humour the jokes in it work every time) (although i find your blog only when you started writing overwatch fics i wish i found you sooner)

(my jokes work, thank god. You have no idea how long I’ve been chewing on that one, waiting for someone to tell me if my attempts at humour land. This really made my day Also Fake Marriage, yes pleas.Because just, hnnngh. Gabe more or less reluctantly teaming up with Overwatch after it turns out he’s been set up/lots of misunderstandings/shenanigans. But he and Jack have been drifting apart for so long and even though both technically know they’ve been played out against each other, knowing it and acting accordingly are two very different things. They fight, they argue, they can’t stand being in the same room and it’s worse because both remember they used to be inseparable.So, shit happens and they have to pretend to love each other. They have to dig deep under all the baggage to find that affection they used to hold for each other, and what’s scary is that it’s easy.The first morning Gabriel shovels six spoon fulls of sugar into his coffee cup, hesitates, then just upends the whole damn sugar bowl into his coffee, Jack doesn’t have a problem hugging him from behind and kissing him good morning.And when Jack loses horribly at some video game because he’s too busy admiring the scenery (”look at those trees, Gabe, they’re all handcrafted. Every one of them. Look at the trees.” “Will you please look at the giant venomous spider instead?”) Gabriel laughs like he hasn’t in ages.

I will go down with that trope tbh, and because I have no restraint, I wrote just under 2k words which may or may not be the beginning of a multichapter fic I’ll be putting on AO3.

Gibraltar base in low energy mode creeps out everyone. The lights are low, turning longhallways into twilight suffused tunnels with no end in sight, entireportions of the base void of life and activity. Only the dormitoriesand kitchens still have full power, a warm haven surrounded bymonsters in the dead of night. Everyone deals with the creepiness intheir own way. Lena drives her accelerator to its limits, skipping inand out the darkness as fast as she can. Mei asks a friend toaccompany her, whereas Hanzo plain refuses to go.

Lúcio talks.

“I’m here one time and theymake me go to the damn locker rooms to get some trivial shit nobodycares about,” he mutters under his breath, chasing away theoppressive silence. “First time in months we see each other and Ibrought them all souvenirs, but they’re all like, oh Lu-lu can youdo us a huge favour and get this random shit from our demon cellar,and if you get eaten do we get your skates?”

He turns a corner and comes face toface with a demon. Black holes where the eyes should be, a being ofpure darkness melds from the shadows to take his soul. Lúcio’scomplaints stick in his throat, hiding just like he wants to be. Theshadow seems to stare right through him. Then it moves.

“Gabe! Puta merda, you scaredthe crap out of me.”

Gabriel chuckles deeply and the grimreaper hunting for his innocent soul becomes the latest addition totheir ragtag bunch of misfits. They fall in step together, Lúciomuch more at ease now that he has someone tall and strong to protecthim from Overwatch’s version of a haunted house.

“Wimp,” he says good-natured.“We’re needed in the conference room. Something came up.”

“What, now?”

“No, the next Saint Patrick’s day.”

In the beginning Gabriel’s sarcasmput him off, but by now Lúcio has learned to appreciate it. Theyspend more time together than most anyone on base, seeing as hismusic is what’s slowly but surely healing Gabriel of his specialproblem.

“Your skin hurt again?” he asks,gesturing to the mask he wears again. Lately he can go mostly gowithout, but every now and then the degeneration flares up again andforces him to protect himself. Gabriel shrugs.

“It’s nothing compared to what itused to be like.” he says.

“Still. I can write you something tohelp, okay?”Gabriel argues only a little and by the time theyenter the conference room he has convinced him. Half the team hasgathered, including Fareeha through video conference from Cairo.

“... spotted them twice coming in,but they have an alternate route for leaving. I’m on it right now.”

“Good work, Amari.” Winston turnsto face the team. “We have eyes on Vishkar’s top suppliers. Idon’t need to tell you this op could make or break our effortsagainst them. Yes, Lúcio, you’ll be on the team to take them in.”

Lúcio has barely opened his mouth andnow grins, leaning back as they watch the low-res pictures Fareehamanaged to take of the couple they’ve been after for months.Vishkar’s increasingly unsavoury activities rely almost completelyon these two people, elusive as they are efficient, supplying Vishkarwith everything from stolen technology to weapons. Whatever thecorporation needs, they can get it. And now Overwatch knows wherethey are.

“We need to send in a strike-team,”Jack says once they’ve gone over the bullet points. “And quick. Idon’t suppose we can get Miss Song on such short notice, but withmyself, Lena and Fareeha we can move quickly enough to evade a drawnout fight. Lúcio should stay back until we’re well into it. Ifthey spot him before-”“Hey,” Gabriel barks. “Who died andmade you boss?”

“I don’t see you contributinganything of value.” Jack shoots back with just as much venom.

“You wouldn’t let anyone get a wordin edgewise, golden boy.”“You act like I’ve beenmonologuing for hours, it figures you have to make up something to beupset about-”“You don’t even hear yourself speak, doyou?”“Guys? Stop fighting.”

Both Jack and Gabriel fall silent underLena’s soft but firm rebuke. They won’t look at each other, sitwith crossed arms through the rest of the briefing. Two teams will goin, one lead by Fareeha closing in on their targets, the other leadby Reinhardt blocking off their escape. Winston reminds them to atleast try and bring them in alive for interrogation.

A few hours later the team sets out.

A few hours after that, a furious duetof Amaris relays the mission to Winston.They’re speaking over eachother, curse the sky green and look one wrong word away from becomingphysically violent.

“-completely disregarded theplan-”“-charged in there like madmen, fighting each other,like they didn’t even see all those damn turrets-”“-Reinhardtkept shouting at them to listen but they were too busy with theirpissing contest-”“-had to double back and bail them out, TeamB got pinned down by drones-”“-targets almost got away, if ithadn’t been for my daughter, we’d be back to zero-”

“-can’t work with those two, theycompromised the mission, the team, themselves-”“-likechildren in a playground, no professionalism-”“Alright,alright!” Winston interrupts holding up his hands to protecthimself from the Amari wrath. He doesn’t want to know what Jack andGabriel had to hear before they called. “I’ll talk to them. Inthe meantime, what about our targets?”

The targets are secure and brought tothe base and surprisingly accommodating. They have no loyalty forVishkar and eagerly share everything they know in return for a deal.Jack and Gabriel are taken off the mission roster for the time being,although both had to be persuaded to stay at all, ready to walk outafter this latest fiasco that proved to them trying to work togetherafter everything that happened is a moot exercise.

“We used to joke they could read eachother’s minds,” Reinhardt says while they wait for Winston andAna to finish up with the intel they gathered from their targets.“You have never seen closer friends.”

Lúcio looks up from his tablet to giveReinhardt a look of pure doubt.

“Hard to imagine, I know” Jessesays, smoking despite everyone’s subtle and not so subtle-nods tothe no-smoking rule. “But it’s true. Took the UN almost twodecades to push them apart, and that’s sayin’ somethin’...”

Lena makes to answer but is interruptedby the arrival of Winston, followed by Ana and, surprisingly, Jackand Gabriel.

“Thought we were benched.” Jackvoices everyone’s thoughts.

“Something came up,” Ana repliescurtly and loads their info up on the main screen. “We got ourtargets just in time. They were ready to retire and Vishkar promisedthem new identities and a safe home.”

“If Vishkar made them disappear, we’dnever have found them,” Lúcio says and then whistles when Anabrings up a picture. “That what I think it is?”

“Jannat, Vishkar’s top-secret gatedcommunity. It’s their magnum opus, located an hour’s drive fromUtopaea. The families of their top executives and scientists all livethere. It’s also where they keep all their records.”

“So what?” Jesse says. “We’regonna wire them and let them go?”

“Better,” Ana shows a grin that’sall teeth and even though she hasn’t so much as glanced at Jack andGabriel, they both swallow, knowing whatever she has planned, they’llbe the butt of the joke. “Our targets were extremely careful. Noteven Vishkar knows who they are. They have a vague description of twomales in their fifties or sixties, one of which is black or latino,which puts us in the prime position of being able to send two of ouragents in their stead.”“Fuck that.” Gabriel says, wellaware of who’s going to end up playing the part. Jack at leasttries to be a bit more subtle about it.

“Reyes and I aren’t exactlynobodies. They’ll recognise us.”

“They’ll recognise your faces, butit won’t matter. We can fool their DNA sensors.”

“Still, they might getsuspicious.”“It’s a risk we’re going to have to take.This is our only chance to get into Jannat and we don’t have thetime to hold castings.”

Jack knows when he lost a fight, butGabriel keeps arguing. He damn near flips the tables when Winstonwon’t be persuaded to use someone else, gets into a shouting matchwith Ana that lasts for hours. Mission prep lasts a little under aday and when it’s done and their identities forged, they have todrag him kicking and screaming onto the plane, less metaphoricallythan anyone would prefer.

“He’ll get us killed,” Gabrielspits while Lúcio walks him through the last few points. “He didit before.”

Jack tenses but says nothing, sittingat the opposite end of the aircraft and pretending to read the news.

“It’s going to go fine,” Lúciosays cheerfully. “Mister Jack’s got you. Now listen, because asfar as we know there’s a sort of quarantine and we won’t be ableto talk for at least a month. I’ve built you a miniature version ofmy sonic tech and packed every song I ever wrote on that. Nothingwill go wrong with our treatment plan, but if it does something onthere will help you, okay?”“Yeah, yeah, fine.” Gabrielswats at him, cheeks hot with embarrassment at being mothered bysomeone half a foot shorter and almost three decades younger thanhim.

And then it’s just them and Lena inthe cockpit, flying them to their destination. In less than an hourthey’ll be Sam and Steve Carter, married for thirty two years,criminals for slightly longer. They’ll have to kiss and hug and saystupid corny shit and for all that Gabriel wants to forcefully ejecthimself from the plane, he knows they can’t blow this one. The endof Vishkar for good lies just within their reach. If he fucks this upbecause he couldn’t play nice he’ll never be able to look Lúcioin the eye again. The kid was the only one who accepted him with openarms after the whole mess with Mercy and the UN was over. When evenReinhardt and Ana kept their distance, it was Lúcio who sat with himfor breakfast, who included him, who went up to him in all his 5’3’’glory and asked to spar because even Jesse wouldn’t. He can’tfuck this up.

They step into the sweltering Indianheat arm in arm and gritting their teeth.

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

E3 is a wondrous time of year when publishers and developers go all out to win your attention and get the world excited for their upcoming lineup of games and products. With so much news, trailers, and announcements, it's tough to narrow down our picks of Best of E3 Awards to only 20. These are these are the most exciting games coming out of the show according to GameSpot's editors, and the ones we can't wait to play more of.

Every game and product in this gallery shares in the glory of our Best of E3 award, but there is one big rule for inclusion: it must be playable at the show. This means that anything that was simply teased or was only shown as a trailer isn't eligible.

Our awards represent our absolute favorite things at E3 2018, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of other exciting new stuff. If you want to catch up on things you might've missed, you can read our press conference wrap-ups for Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and EA; as well as our list of all the new games announced at E3.

But what were your favorite moments from this year's E3? And what games are you most looking forward to? Discuss it in the comments below!

Anthem

BioWare's first new IP in 10 years is coming early next year, and it's a big departure from what BioWare is known for. It's an always-online, action-adventure shooter that has no romance options and limited branching dialogue choices. It may be different, but it stands tall on its own merits based on what we've seen and played at E3. One of its most unique and compelling elements is its flight mechanics. You basically become Iron Man and fly around with an exosuit powered by jets in your feet. Doing so gives the world an impressive sense of scale. When you zoom through the air from one objective to the next, you can't help but wonder what lies below that you'll want to go back and explore on foot. It absolutely bears a resemblance to Destiny in terms of look and feel, but I don't see that as a bad thing. (And not to mention, producer Mark Darrah told GameSpot that Anthem started development before Destiny came out). BioWare's Mass Effect: Andromeda might have been a miss with critics, but I am hoping for the best from Anthem and the early signs show Anthem is on the right path. -- Eddie Makuch, Editor

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey is evolving the long-running franchise into a fully realized RPG by adding branching dialogue, choices within quests, and consequences that show up throughout the story. By going to Ancient Greece, Ubisoft continues the trend of using history as a backdrop to tell its stories; Spartans and Athenians are at war during 431 BC in the midst of the Peloponnesian War. However, players have a bit more say in how that plays out. You can have philosophical conversations with Socrates and challenge his school of thought, but also take side quests from him. And how that particular quest concludes will have ramifications for the mainline course of leading a rebellion. And that’s just a small piece of a much larger game.

Ancient Greece is expansive, which makes for one of the largest Assassin’s Creed settings. That also means a ton of seafaring adventures. Ship combat comes back in big way, similar to Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and you’ll be able to recruit people and build a crew as you destroy enemy ships with fire arrow barrages, waves of javelins, or full-speed naval rams.

Hand-to-hand combat bears a lot of similarities to Assassin’s Creed Origins, but Odyssey layers on a few more elements. Players will have a number of skills at their disposal like a shield rip, healing ability, and a multi-arrow shot. But nothing comes close to the iconic Spartan kick. Giving enemies the boot will comically send them flying backward; it’s ideal for launching them off ships or off the side of a cliff.

While we had Jacob and Evie in Syndicate as a dynamic duo, Odyssey will have you choose either a male or female version of the same main character; Alexios or Kassandra. It’s just one of the elements in a number of changes for the franchise, and Odyssey is better for it. -- Michael Higham, Associate Editor

Battlefield V

Battlefield V does a great job of making me feel like I matter again in the midst of large scale battles. I have a long history with the Battlefield franchise and one of my biggest issues has always been feeling like cannon fodder; gains made often evaporated through the sheer number of enemy players. Battlefield V aims to tackle this challenge through automated squads and rewarding players who stick together. With a squad, I matter. I can revive teammates, build fortifications, gain good spawn position, and avoid running out of far more scarce ammo. Staying with a squad means making progress, and that's a feeling I've rarely gotten from my times spent playing with groups in the series' most recent entries.

Other new systems are at play to keep matches exciting. The Grand Operations map Port Of Narvik has an active parachute drop where I could decide when to jump out of an aircraft that could be shot down by the enemy team. On the ground, new animations and contextual callouts gave my teammates more personality and charm. These additions really shine when given room to breathe on large maps.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Battlefield V shows off next. The focus on rewarding players for sticking with squads has the potential to bring meaning and a sense of contribution to players who otherwise might get lost in large scale warfare. If developer DICE keep this up, Battlefield V might just be the best Battlefield game to come out in years. -- Aaron Sampson, Video Producer

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

Treyarch is back in business this year with Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and I am very excited about it. One of the most exciting new additions to the mix seems to be Blackout, which is battle royale with a Call-of-Duty spin. We haven't seen it in action yet, and it remains to be seen how Call of Duty's fast-pace translates to the more strategic battle royale genre, but it is an exciting proposition all the same to see it happen. Another thing I am excited about is the new Zombies mode. After all, Treyarch created the fan-favourite mode, and every effort they have put forth so far has been better than the last--and this year appears to be no different. Then there is traditional multiplayer, which returns to the fast-paced, exosuit-enabled frenetic action that was missing in Call of Duty: WWII. And Nuketown is coming back, which is always exciting. There is no traditional campaign this year, and that will understandably upset some fans, but Treyarch is promising some story content from the game's solo missions that focus on each Specialist character. -- Eddie Makuch, Editor

Control

Control is a game that's very difficult to describe in detail, but that's part of the reason why it's so impressive. Not unlike a twisted film from David Lynch, Control freely defies logic and consistency in favor of dreamlike and occasionally nightmarish sequences that toy with your understanding of the world and the characters suffering within it. You won't understand it at first, and that's precisely the point.

Jesse, the lead character who is both possessed by and in control of supernatural powers, seems to take it all in stride. She's trapped in a massive compound that changes shape and identity from one room to the next, all the while under threat from corrupted humans at various stages of transformation. Jesse's telekinetic powers allow her to manipulate objects in her surroundings, using desks to attack enemies, or clusters of smaller objects to form a protective shield. She's also got a shape-shifting gun that we only got a taste of, but Remedy promised it's central to character customization as Jesse's mission progresses.

Whether it's the otherworldly manifestations or Jesse's impressive moves in combat, Control looks simply incredible in motion. Remedy has proved that it can craft shockingly mysterious worlds in Alan Wake, and Quantum Break was a showcase for the dev team's ability to mix super powers and shooting mechanics. Remedy is combining its strengths for Control, and the result so far looks like it may shape up to be their most impressive game yet. -- Peter Brown, Senior Reviews Editor

Cyberpunk 2077

The gameplay demo for Cyberpunk 2077 is completely overwhelming. There's a moment when you leave main character V's apartment and enter a lift. It has a clear glass door, and as you descend the stacks of small flats become a freeway filled with speeding cars, and then down to the seedy underbelly of the city. It happens completely seamlessly, without a loading screen, and drives home perhaps to most impactful thing about CD Projekt Red's new game: you are insignificant--at least to start with.

The world of Cyberpunk doesn't feel like a video game city where a story will happen to you, it's feels like a place that has always existed, and your story is just one of thousands happening at the same time. You're not the sole focus, the special one. The game isn't explaining its systems to you, telling you who everyone is and what everything means, it just is. The onus is on you to look at it, learn about it, and understand it. And that is what V aims to do as he or she takes on jobs to pay off debts and work her way into the upper echelons of society. There's plenty to say about Cyberpunk 2077's gameplay too--the fluid combat that allows you to dash around to gain the positional advantage, the exotic weapons that you can use to ricochet bullets or file through walls. The ability to hack people from a distance and turn off their guns, or be hacked so that all your secrets are laid bare and conversations become a lie detector test--but, honestly, I just can't get over the world and the storytelling opportunities it has in store for us. -- Tamoor Hussain, Editor

Dying Light 2

The original Dying Light made some clever choices in how it presented an open-world survival game. Focusing on undercover agent Kyle Crane's exploits in a ruined tropical city where the infected have taken over, the story took many turns--showing that there were worse dangers in the town aside from the hordes of zombies. In the years since it's release, the developers at Techland gradually fleshed out the scale of the game, adding in new multiplayer modes, DLC episodes, and updates that made Dying Light into something more. And after years of quiet development, the developers have finally unveiled the true sequel that looks to expand on the core systems, while telling a far more involved and dynamic story.

I had the chance to see a behind closed doors demo of the game, and the new approach to the game's storytelling looks to be a real standout. Taking place in the "modern dark age," a setting where technology is minimal, most areas are lawless, and firearms are in short supply--the new setting offers a greater focus on making important decisions, while staying one step ahead of bandits and the undead. With Chris Avellone, writer of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 2 working on the main story, there's many key moments where your choices will make some drastic changes to one of the last cities in Europe. With a greater level of freedom for traversing the open-world, along with depth in the game's core combat system, Dying Light 2 is poised to be a stellar follow-up to one of 2015's most exciting games. -- Alessandro Fillari, Editor

The Elder Scrolls Blades

The Elder Scrolls: Blades has distilled the essence of the franchise and has allowed it to live in your pocket. While it might not boast the huge world of Skyrim, Morrowind, or Oblivion, the dungeons are satisfying to explore, its inhabitants thrilling to slaughter, and loot rewarding to plunder. While combat is quite basic, it’ll still take some practice to master. Striking enemies is done by pressing your thumb against the screen; the more accurate the thumb press the better chance you have for a critical hit. Once you spend enough time with the game, you’ll get the timing down for combos and to deal more damage. There are also abilities like a shield bash and block and magic spells like an ice blizzards and a lightning bolt, which were available during the demo. But as with any Elder Scrolls game, plenty of other abilities and weapons will be at your disposal.

We saw an underground dungeon and a more open forest area during our playthrough, and these environments are surprisingly well rendered for a small screen. While we didn’t get any time with the town-building aspect that was mentioned during the game’s initial reveal, we’re hopeful that it’ll allow us to build the Tamriel town we envision. We’d expect The Elder Scrolls: Blades to expend every percentage of battery life left on our phones. -- David Jewitt, Video Producer

Forza Horizon 4

Launched in 2012, the Forza Horizon sub-series has become immensely popular for its more arcade-style approach to racing games. The latest entry, Forza Horizon 4, launches in October and represents the "biggest paradigm shift" for the franchise to date, Playground Games says. Set in Britain, the online-focused game adds a big new feature in the form of seasons. This is a big deal because as each season unfolds, the game changes with different road conditions and tailored new content. It's a cool idea, and one I'm excited to see play out when the game launches. Also new for the sequel is the ability to re-wind time and pause in online matches, while the Xbox One X edition will have a 60 FPS option for players looking for the slickest experience. There are more than 450 cars in the game, so you can be pretty sure that it will have something you're interested in. There are also really, really gorgeous skymaps thanks to Playground spending a year capturing the night sky throughout all four seasons. When you look up at the sky in the game you'll want to just stop and stare. You can pick up Forza Horizon 4 this October for Xbox One and PC (and there is cross-play!). -- Eddie Makuch, Editor

Ghost of Tsushima

The characters in Ghost of Tsushima fight with a deadly stillness, only moving when they need to attack or parry. There’s never a wasted motion. Their silent duels are displayed against a gorgeous backdrop of falling leaves to create a beautifully juxtaposed silent foreground and emotive background. Ghost of Tsushima perfectly captures the same aesthetic of the old Japanese samurai films of the past.

I love Ghost of Tsushima’s commitment to historical accuracy. Although the story is fictional, the Mongolian invasion of the island of Tsushima actually happened. The samurai were really wiped out, and the Japanese natives were at the mercy of an unbeatable threat. You can tell that Sucker Punch did their homework.

Although I could just stare at Ghost of Tsushima’s gorgeous backdrops for hours, the game truly excels in its combat. The protagonist, Jin, is the last of the samurai. Faced against impossible odds, he needs to adopt a non-traditional strategy of subterfuge and assassination. The Mongolians refer to him as “a ghost,” and this directly translates into the combat.

Jin is deadly with the katana and disposes of threats quickly and efficiently. He’s a one man army who can silently stalk his target as easily as he can engage in a three on one duel. I love watching Jin stoically stand among a group of men who want him dead, before the quick flick and flash of his blade signals the loss of an enemy’s limb. Those fights are some of the most intense moments of combat I’ve ever seen. -- Jordan Ramee, Associate Editor

Kingdom Hearts III

For many fans, the Kingdom Hearts series is about being transported into iconic fantasy fairytale worlds and adventuring with beloved characters that feel more like old friends. My experience of playing Kingdom Hearts III after a 13 year wait is perhaps the most perfect encapsulation of that. In the time since the last mainline entry in the series I've grown older and more cynical, but the moment I heard the first few delicate notes of Dearly Beloved at the title screen, I became a teenager again. I suddenly remembered just how much I loved the series, and cared about the characters. Sure, older me knows that the story is mostly nonsense, but the joy I got from running around with Buzz, Woody, and the rest of the Toy Story gang completely pushed that aside. Kingdom Hearts 3 played almost the same as previous entries in the series, the camera is slightly wonky and the dialogue is awkward at times, but I just can't bring myself to get caught up on that, especially when wielding a Keyblade again is able to unlock the child at heart. -- Tamoor Hussain, Editor

The Last of Us Part II

Based on what we know so far, The Last of Us Part II seems especially brutal. But now that we've finally seen gameplay, we have a better understanding of the context of that violence, and that's one of the most intriguing aspects of Naughty Dog's highly anticipated sequel.

A lot of the combat in the section shown during Sony's press conference looks almost scripted--Ellie cinematically dodges melee strikes and gunfire, and she pulls an arrow out of her shoulder after a particularly harrowing run past some archers. But according to the game's co-directors, Anthony Newman and Kurt Margenau, those moments are entirely in your control. Dodging is an active part of combat with a variety of animations depending on the type of threat, and dealing with arrows is a separate mechanic from healing with its own considerations and status effects.

All of this adds depth to combat that says a lot about who Ellie has become. Her transformation after the events of the first game is heavily hinted at in her movements; her strikes seem to have an immense amount of anger behind them, and her defenses reveal a person who is not only desperate to survive but hardened by having to fight. It remains to be seen exactly how combat works and how Ellie has evolved as a character, but this is a great start. -- Kallie Plagge, Associate Editor

Resident Evil 2 Remake

Resident Evil 2's upcoming remake rides a fine line between new and old. While it triggers nostalgic memories with its familiar characters and locales, it instantly makes you uneasy with its new rendition of events and mechanics from the classic survival-horror game.

All throughout my plodding trek across the RPD, I rarely felt a sense of safety. An area would be recreated exactly as I remembered it, but then the game would completely mess with my expectations. The empowering over-the-shoulder shooting featured in latter games has changed to make shots harder to line up. A deeper focus on exploration with more freedom overall to explore and discover secrets offered a welcome change of pace, but at the same time, the absence of the series' iconic door loading screens created a more seamless, yet hostile environment than the original.

I walked away pleasantly surprised from my time with Resident Evil 2 remake. As a massive fan of the original, I had reservations. But after playing it, I can't wait to jump back in. There's something so special about the way it takes advantage of your knowledge of Resident Evil 2, pleasing you with its faithful renditions of well-known locations, while at the same time terrifying you with everything it does differently. This persisted all throughout my experience with the game, and I can't wait to see all the changes it makes once it finally releases early next year. -- Matt Espineli, Associate Editor

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the latest game from Dark Souls and Bloodborne developer From Software. As you might imagine, given the studio's track record, it's a tough action-RPG. The developer insists Sekiro is not part of the Soulsborne series, but it still appears to be in the same vein.

This time round, the studio is exploring 16th century Japan, and you play as a one-armed ninja. Well, sort-of one-armed; your left arm is cut off by the game's main enemy, and you replace it with a customizable prosthetic. This can be equipped with add-ons such as a ranged Shuriken, or a Firecracker than can blind enemies and scare those who are frightened of fire, and a Loaded Axe to deal heavy damage. Of course, you also carry a sword: Miyazaki, the game's director, says he wanted the theme of Sekiro to be "a clashing of swords," and this is reflected in the game's combat. Your sword, which you hold in your able hand, is used to both injure your enemies and reduce their posture. Reduce their posture enough, and you can deal a deadly finishing move.

Of course, they can do the same to you, but should you fall, Shadows Die Twice has a handy solution: bring yourself back to life. You can resurrect in Sekiro, and this can be used to your advantage by letting enemies walk away before you come back to life and strike them down from behind.

Sekiro is to be published by Activision, and it's coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC in early 2019. For more on the upcoming action title, check out our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice gameplay impressions. -- Oscar Dayus, Staffwriter

Spider-Man

Spider-Man may well be one of the world’s most beloved superheroes, but video games haven’t done right by the wallcrawler in some time. After a smashing success with Spider-Man 2, paired with one of the best superhero films of its era, the character languished with a steady stream of high-concept but middling adaptations. With Insomniac’s Spider-Man, the character has come back swinging. While Insomniac’s take on the venerable character is unmistakably familiar, it’s the little touches that make this latest iteration really stand out.

This Spidey is a master of improvisation, thanks to a mixture of Arkham-like combat mechanics and environmental hazards that are easy to grab at a moment’s notice. The feeling of speed and momentum as he swings around New York City is unmatched by any previous Spider-Man game, taking him to new and dizzying heights. And visually, the character designs stand out as unique takes on classic characters, from Spider-Man’s own duds embossed with a white emblem to the believably DIY take on Shocker that remains respectful of the source material.

All of this combines to make the character feel fresh again. It’s been a long time since I’ve whiled away the hours simply patrolling the city, swinging and looking for citizens to save, and just generally being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Now I can’t wait to step into his boots. -- Steve Watts, Newswriter

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

By this point, you generally know what to expect from a new Super Smash Bros. game. Each installment in the series has built upon its predecessors incrementally, introducing a few new characters and stages, refining the underlying mechanics, and ramping up the fan service. And while all of this applies to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Switch as well, the game still manages to surprise and delight like few other fighters thanks to its sheer breadth of content and snappy combat.

True to its name, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is far and away the most feature-rich entry in the series to date, boasting a staggering number of stages, characters, and items. The roster in particular is massive; not only does it feature every character to have ever appeared in the series, but many of them have received dramatic overhauls, so even recurring fighters such as Ganondorf are as exciting to use as newcomers like Ridley.

But what makes Ultimate such an engrossing fighter and one of the best games we got to play at E3 2018 is that it fully embraces competitive play. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS made strides in this regard, but Ultimate doubles down by increasing the pace of its gameplay. The controls remain as accessible as ever, only now combat feels much speedier, resulting in even more exciting and intense battles. The game also places a stronger emphasis on skillful play by introducing directional air dodges and other advanced techniques. Like the best fighting games, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is easy to pick up but endlessly satisfying to master, making it one of my most anticipated releases of the year. -- Kevin Knezevic, Associate News Editor

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

The recent Tomb Raider games have focused heavily on fleshing Lara Croft's backstory, while making her overcome brutal and overwhelming challenges. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which aims to be the darkest game of the series, the adventurer will have to put a stop to the Mayan apocalypse in Central America. But while fighting off the forces of Trinity and other ancient threats lurking in the hidden tombs over the course of her journey, she'll begin to question whether her influence in the region is making matters worse.

I had the chance to play Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the game's reveal last April, and while it feels very similar to the past titles, the darker tone and story gives it a far more interesting flavor. Much like Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow focuses on giving players more freedom in how they'll the explore the environment, which will have the largest setting the series has seen yet. To go along with the darker tone, Croft will utilize a number of new skills and stealth moves to take out the heavily mobiled PMC forces that have invaded the land. It'll be interesting to see how far Lara Croft is pushed to her limits in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. And if our small hands-on time was any indication, the conclusion to the Tomb Raider origin trilogy will definitely leave a lasting impression on the character. -- Alessandro Fillari, Editor

Skull & Bones

The backbone of Skull & Bones has taken all the best bits of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and added a level of breadth to create a fully-fledged pirate experience. Like the water ships sail upon, it both has shallow parts and a deep end. To beginners or wannabe sailors, there’s enjoyment in taking the helm of a number of ships that have their own unique characteristics like speed, strength weapons, and abilities. For the hardened admirals amongst us, there are gameplay elements that would even test the heartiest of sailors. For example, learning to cut the wind so your ship can make the most out of speed and maneuverability as well as learning how to effectively disguise your ship to hide from AI and sneak up on ships in the horizon.

If you’re looking for an authentic pirate experience, Skull & Bones is as close as you can get. Crews will shout and yell in response to commands, and during quieter moments they’ll sing the sea shanties you love from the Black Flag, but they’ve been dialed up to 11. And all of this happens on beautifully rendered oceans dotted with islands and detailed historical vessels for you to cannon, board, plunder, and sink. -- David Jewitt, Video Producer

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

As with the original Destiny, the first Division improved greatly over time. Creating a shared world shooter with long-term progression that's meant to interest players indefinitely is no easy task. The Division 2 looks to be continuing that by introducing eight-player raids and DLC expansions that are free for all players (at least for the first year of the game).

In going hands-on with the game, it immediately struck me that its shooting mechanics have been enhanced significantly. While there remains a dissonance with the way human enemies can absorb numerous bullets, there's now a level of precision and tightness to the controls that was lacking in the original Division. Seamlessly moving between cover points feels better than ever, and the endgame specializations' special abilities--such as a crossbow that fires explosive bolts--are fun to use, even if they aren't as impactful as Destiny's Supers.

The improvements to the moment-to-moment action are welcome, but what's most encouraging is what Ubisoft is saying about The Division 2's endgame. Things like the aforementioned raids could present the sort of high-end, challenging activity that keeps players occupied after finish the main story. The company seems generally aware of the need to deeply invest in what players are expected to spend their time doing in the endgame, and that's encouraging. If it's able to pull that off and offer an interesting evolution of its PvP Dark Zone--something it isn't talking about yet for Division 2--Ubisoft might just manage to realize the vision it has for the franchise. -- Chris Pereira, News Editor

Xbox Adaptive Controller

The Xbox Adaptive Controller is an important piece of hardware. Not only does it allow people of all kinds of disabilities to play games, it also shows that Microsoft is willing to invest in catering to that audience.

The controller acts as an interface between Xbox One and any number of third-party controllers. This means those with disabilities can use whichever device best suits their needs--be it a joystick, chewing device, motion controlled switch, or anything else. As long as it can communicate through USB or 3.5mm jack, the Adaptive Controller can see it. What's more, Microsoft says this will be forward-compatible with all future Xboxes, and it's even open to making it work with PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

The Xbox Adaptive Controller launches in September for $100 / £75 / AU $130.

-- Oscar Dayus, Staffwriter

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Inside The Impossible Job Of Writing “Avengers: Infinity War”

https://styleveryday.com/inside-the-impossible-job-of-writing-avengers-infinity-war/

Inside The Impossible Job Of Writing “Avengers: Infinity War”

The cast and crew of Avengers: Infinity War at the Los Angeles global premiere on April 23, 2018.

Jesse Grant / Getty Images

The notion that Avengers: Infinity War is the most ambitious crossover event in history has spawned an entire ecosystem of skeptical memes, but also, let’s face it, it’s completely true. With roughly 40 significant roles, pulling from storylines spanning 18 separate movies over the last 10 years, Infinity War is unlike any feature film ever attempted by Hollywood.

At the front lines of that effort: screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. The duo — who cut their teeth on franchise filmmaking with three of the Chronicles of Narnia movies — started working at Marvel Studios in 2008. They’ve written all three Captain America movies, as well as 2013’s Thor: The Dark World, and they helped create the spinoff series Agent Carter for ABC. Which is to say, they’ve been as steeped in the world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as just about anyone short of studio chief Kevin Feige.

For what has been billed as the concluding chapter of this iteration of the MCU, Markus and McFeely were tasked with writing two films: Infinity War, opening in theaters now, and an untitled sequel due to open a year from now, both chronicling the collision between the disparate superheroes within the MCU and the designs of cosmic supervillain Thanos (Josh Brolin) to wipe out half of all life in the universe by collecting the six all-powerful Infinity Stones.

To date, the effort has consumed nearly two years of Markus and McFeely’s lives: four months developing the key story beats at the end of 2015, five months writing each screenplay, and then another year rewriting the scripts as the films entered parallel production throughout 2017.

“It was unwieldy,” McFeely told BuzzFeed News, with perfect understatement. “We started shooting before [2018 Marvel films] Black Panther and Ant-Man and the Wasp, and they both finished shooting before we were done.”

Thanos (Josh Brolin) in Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel Studios

The center of the film, by necessity, was Thanos. “He set the story,” said Markus. “He’s the driver. Once we figured out what he was doing and what he wanted to do, everyone else, we just figured out how they slotted into either trying to stop [him] or not.” But while sorting out how to thread that ginormous purple-faced needle, Markus and McFeely also had great fun playing with all the characters in the MCU — quite literally.

While working on the script, the pair holed up inside a vast conference room in Marvel Studios headquarters, one entire wall of which was filled with baseball cards featuring every character within the MCU. Then the screenwriters shuffled them around to figure out who should be matched up with whom. “We knew we didn’t want 25 people in a room, 25 people in a room, 25 people in a room,” said McFeely. “We thought smaller stories that weave together. They’re all pretty simple, because it’s about somebody’s coming for your stuff. But by weaving them together, it will feel complex.”

Handling the classic Avengers — Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) — was second nature for the duo. The bigger challenge was incorporating the characters who’d remained largely on the fringes of the MCU before now. Here’s how they did it.

Opening three months after Black Panther started as a potential curse, and then became a massive blessing.

Marvel Studios

Of the many hurdles facing Markus and McFeely, one of the most daunting was the knowledge that their film would be coming out just months after Black Panther — and yet given the enormous size of both films, they had to start their writing process before Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole began writing Black Panther.

“We’re writing a story that has a substantial action sequence that takes place in Wakanda, but we know that three months earlier, [Black Panther is] probably going to have an action sequence that’s going to take place in Wakanda,” said McFeely. “We thought, Are we repeating ourselves? Are they any other options? There were none better than what we had for the story. So we went with it.”

A battle scene in Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War.

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Markus and McFeely said while they did speak with Coogler and Cole, their main conduit for intel on Black Panther was executive producer Nate Moore, who’d worked with the screenwriters on the previous two Captain America films. “We would ask permission: Is this ridiculous or cool?” said McFeely.

Of course, the world now knows that Black Panther was nothing less than a historic phenomenon. “We felt a little smart and lucky,” said McFeely with a laugh. “It feels pretty cool that people are excited about [seeing Wakanda again], as opposed to, Oh god, we’ve got to go to this place again.”

That was especially true of their decision to give the Black Panther character of Shuri (Letitia Wright) a crucial role in the film’s third act. “We didn’t know that Shuri was going to become a beloved national treasure,” said McFeely. “But we knew that she played an integral part, and we could use her.”

One big moment in Black Panther connected deeply with the core theme of Infinity War.

Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther.

Marvel Studios

At the end of Black Panther (spoiler alert for a movie literally everyone has seen), the titular hero T’Challa decides to reveal to the world his country’s true nature as the most technologically advanced society in the world, after defeating Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who wanted to do just that (but with bombs). “I’ve never seen the hero change his mind even after defeating the villain,” said McFeely, in awe. “It’s fascinating.”

T’Challa’s decision also has massive, and ominous, repercussions in Infinity War — it’s one of the reasons Markus and McFeely chose to set the film’s final act in Wakanda.

“One of the themes of the movie is the cost of your own heroism,” said McFeely. “What are you willing to do to get what you want, and given how you behave, what are the consequences? Bad things are now going to happen because you’ve chosen to be a hero to the world, and not just a country.”

The Black Panther cast contributed one of the film’s most chill-inducing moments.

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Arguably the most effective piece of marketing in the massive promotional blitz for Infinity War has been the TV ad (which you can view above) in which T’Challa leads the Wakandan forces in a war chant against Thanos’s mounting horde. And it was all the actors’ idea.

“Yeah, we did not write any chants,” said McFeely. “[The actors] showed up on set and said, ‘We do this thing,’ and he goes, ‘Yibambe!’ And everybody went, ‘Holy crap!’ My hair stood on end. ‘Do that!’ It was really like Wakanda came to the movie.”

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Given their extensive experience within the MCU — including introducing T’Challa in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War — there were only two major franchises whose title characters Markus and McFeely had not yet written for: the Guardians of the Galaxy — Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax (Dave Bautista), Rocket (Bradley Cooper), Groot (Vin Diesel), and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) — and Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).

For the Guardians’ particular style of snipe-y, snappy banter, Markus and McFeely consulted with two-time Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn, and they also relied on the actors’ considerable improvisational skills. “Those actors know their characters really well,” said McFeely.

“In some ways, they were the ones we were most excited about bringing into it. It spices things up,” added Markus. “That tone is closer to real life than Iron Man talking to Captain America. That doesn’t happen that often, but people are sniping at each other in my house all the time! So that was reasonably easy to sink into.”

Writing for the Guardians wasn’t just a joke parade, though. The connection between Gamora and her sister Nebula (Karen Gillan), and their adoptive father Thanos, also lent their scenes crucial dramatic weight. “Even though [the Guardians] may be the lightest and in some ways jokiest pie slice of the MCU, they’re also the closest to this nightmare that’s about to happen,” said Markus.

As for Doctor Strange, Markus and McFeely decided to pair him up with Tony Stark, despite how counterintuitive it might have seemed at first — and their inspiration was a classic NBC sitcom. “Two egotistical guys with goatees — is that overkill?” said Markus. “It made us think about, well, on Frasier, they had an uptight guy, and the instinct would be to make his brother, like, a truck driver. Look, it’s a crazy odd couple! But they made [his brother] even more uptight, and it worked fine. So that was our inspiration.”

There wasn’t much time for character development.

From left: Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr., Dave Bautista, Chris Pratt, and Pom Klementieff in Avengers: Infinity War.

Marvel Studios

Those familiar with Peter Quill’s story from the Guardians films know that the character was born on Earth, only to be whisked away from his home planet as a child, never (yet) to return. In Infinity War, Peter will meet the first humans from Earth he’s seen since that day (at least, that we know of), but don’t count on him to savor the opportunity to wax nostalgic about home.

“This is driven by a very propulsive, time-sensitive plot,” said Markus. “So we didn’t have that much time for people to sit back and go, like, ‘Are there still Dairy Queens?’”

“We would love to tell the four-hour story of every plot strand coming together, and echoes from six movies ago,” added McFeely.

“As much material as there was on the side that you could have done, this giant purple guy is coming,” continued Markus. “So there was never that much available real estate to fill up with this stuff.”

Balancing characters between both Avengers movies was key.

Don Cheadle, Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson in Avengers: Infinity War.

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Indeed, given the vast amount of story to cover, and characters to include, in Infinity War, Markus and McFeely are acutely aware that many fans will end up feeling frustrated by how little their favorite MCU characters made it into the film. But while they were both loath to discuss any spoilers for Infinity War, they did quite tellingly emphasize that the movie is one half of a larger story.

“[Characters] don’t have the same amount [of screentime] in each movie,” said Markus. “They only get as much as the story demands for them. You might feel, I could’ve used 15% more Captain America there, but, like, you’d be riffing as opposed to telling a story. So I think over the span of two movies, everyone gets exactly the amount of screentime they need and deserve.”

Added McFeely, “You may walk away from movie one and go, Well, I could’ve used more of the character. Odds are, you’ll get a lot of that character in the next movie.”

Keeping secrets is surprisingly easy when you’re the screenwriters.

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely at the Los Angeles global premiere for Avengers: Infinity War.

Jesse Grant / Getty Images

Despite literally being the first people to know of many of the most critical plot and character developments in Infinity War and its sequel, Markus and McFeely said they have weathered almost no difficulty keeping those secrets to themselves.

“No one asks us crap,” McFeely said with a laugh. “No one knows who we are! We’re completely invisible.”

“Everyone I see at work knows the answer, so they’re not asking me,” added Markus with a weary smile. “And everyone I see at home does not give a damn. So it’s like, ‘Hey, I know something about Thanos!’ ‘Uh-huh. That’s great.’”