Title: The World As It Appears To Be
Author: Benedict_SC
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Drama
Status: Complete
Fandom: Overwatch
Pairings: Minor and basically irrelevant, so hidden in spoiler.

Spoiler

Angela/Athena

Summary:

Magic is real. Angela Ziegler has a messiah complex. Angela Ziegler is one of the most powerful people in the entire world. Her friend the talking moon gorilla is very worried about her. Let's, uh... let's see where that goes!

Link: Ao3

This is by the same author who wrote CORDYCEPS, a psychological horror original-fic.

I neither play Overwatch nor do I know much about the fandom in general, so I can't judge the way it handles the source material.

From my perspective, the characters are distinct, the plot is interesting, and the author has a knack for humor. The one thing that I suspect may put some people off is that the author employs the narrative technique of "taking seriously" the source material, including in situations where this would naively lead to absurd results. Thankfully the author doesn't have an axe to grind, so most of those conflicts are handled in ways which manage to both stay true to the source material (from my limited understanding) without bashing the reader over the head with how clever the author is for noticing these deficiencies and deigning to correct them.

Fun story with a plausible ending which you probably won't see coming. 4.5/5

 

Spoiler: Changed my mind.

So, my relationship with Overwatch fics has been weird. I don't really like Overwatch as a game. I find it boring and tiring to both play and watch. Because of this, I tend to stay away from most Overwatch media, in whatever form it takes.

My dislike of Overwatch's gameplay often makes me forget that the characters are actually very interesting- some of them at least, and history and relationships between them are a lot more interesting than the action the game offers. My dislike of Overwatch will make me avoid Overwatch FF until I don't.

Mercy is one of those characters seen more often than not, due to, I assume, to her morally gray actions based on mostly good intentions. There's a lot to play with there. Do I believe that the various presentations I've seen in fanfiction are true to the canon story Blizzard has made? No. But, the base for it is there. There's just enough setup to make the possibilities interesting and give writers to something to work with while not limiting them too rigidly.


Now, as to the fic itself. It starts very strongly. The first few chapters are its strongest point, I would say. I liked Winston's perspective and portrayal as the bumbling, insecure scientist as he comes to the horrific realization and takes action.

Unfortunately, once that "arc" had run its course, the follow ups failed to grip me as intensely. In fact, the more I read the less interested I became, until I tabbed out one time and haven't gotten the urge to tab back in since.

I'll give it a 3/5, because it has some very good character voices and starts off very strongly.

Can't edit so posting again.

So, my rating has dropped to 2/5 after reading quite a bit further through a sleepless night of trying to fix my sleeping pattern. Well over half-way through and this fic has devolved from interesting exploration to straight up author fiat and AU-hamfisting of their headcanon/theories, particularly in regards to Athena. I'm quite sure that @T3t was aware of this and tried to deflect attention by claiming that the Mercy/Athena pairing is 'minor and basically irrelevant'.

It's neither of those things. It's actually one of the things the whole fic revolves around. And Athena, for those who might not remember, is canonically an AI. The leaps the author makes to explain that pairing and make it half-way presentable are ... alarming. And weird.

And quite ruinous to the overall fic, as it takes over from everything else.

Also, cue major character bashing out of the blue. So much for strong character voices. Literally introducing a major character just to bash the shit out of him. Yeah no.

This fic is shit. Don't read it. 1/5