#just a little sidequest series

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

Choices - a TMA x Malevolent crossover series, taking place in the Dark World

The Dark World can be very dangerous. One dark night, hiding from predatory crows, Jon and Martin—and John and Arthur—have an important talk.

A Malevolent x TMA crossover. Part of the Just a Little Sidequest series.

Okay, I've started a new AU, and it's thanks to @captaincravatthecapricious. We are now following the adventures of John, Arthur, Jon, and Martin in the Dark World as they try not to be tormented by The Horrors… and try to find Faroe. Yes, this is Jasper's fault. Enjoy.

AO3

QPR John & Arthur.

This is taking place in the Dark World, so understand, they are all dead - but they are also together, and that's what matters.

You don't have to see anybody die.

--------------------

“Hey, Jon?” Martin’s voice was quiet, though that was likely pointless; the pecking thrushcrows on the roof definitely knew they were there. 

“Yes?” said Jon; his eyes (all of them) moved constantly, studying what dug relentlessly at their dwelling, what made the nightmare sounds.

Martin shifted. He knew it was silly to hide under the blanket; it wouldn’t stop even a normal crow from pecking him, never mind one of these things. It still felt better.  “We need to eat. We can be injured. I got a sunburn, preparing the place for these birds. I… I’m sorry. I know you’re busy.”

“It’s all right, Martin.” Jon’s voice was doubled, deepened, echoing the way it did when he was keeping an eye (ha-ha) on too much. “Ask your question.”

Martin shifted again. He thought Jon was lovely like this (so esoteric, so removed) and suspected it meant he was a little messed up in the head, but that was the least of his worries. “Those birds could kill us.”

“Strip the flesh from us,” Jon corrected, no emotion in his voices now. “Stain their beaks with our blood. Steal whatever they can peel off our forms and fly away to make gristly nests.”

Martin had heard all this before. Jon had been very clear when he’d gotten his vision, shouting instructions across the Chasm. It still turned his stomach. “Then what’s the difference between life and death, anyway, if we can just die again?”

Jon came back into himself. He turned toward Martin, extra eyes closing, green glow fading, and all the strange, inhuman polish disappeared as he turned toward his love.

Then it was just Jon. His softness, his gentle eyes, all for Martin. “We can’t die again,” he said. “We can be reduced to shredded veins like spaghetti in this place, but we can’t die again. There’s no escape. That’s the difference.”

Martin touched Jon’s cheek, swallowing hard. The birds banged on the roof and the walls, almost as if trying to make such sound as to panic their prey into running. “So we can suffer?”

“We can suffer. But we don’t have to.”

“Are there safe places in this Dark World?” said Martin.

“Yes. But so far away, Martin. So far. It’s going to take us months to get there when we finally decide to leave.”

Martin sighed, cheeks puffing out. “So it’s about staying healthy until we can go.”

“Yes. Preparing. It’s why sometimes I insist on legal tender instead of goods when we’re bartering.”

“Do we age?”

“Only if we believe we should,” said Jon.

Martin swallowed. “I don’t know how to not do that?”

“I’ll do it for you.” Jon drew him near. He was the smaller man, slight, significantly lighter; but that didn’t matter now. “I won’t let any harm come to you.”

“Forever is a long time,” Martin said.

“When you’re done here, we’ll go elsewhere. All the worlds end here; all their histories and peoples, arts and sciences and foods. We will never run out of things to see. I just want to be sure….”

“Sure of what?”

The beaks were like cruel rain all around them, startling, uneven. 

“I want to be sure we have… options. That they can’t separate us, or force us into some… eternal menial job, or worse.”

“So all of that sounds horrible,” Martin said softly. “What you’re saying is you want to lean into this god thing that Kayne guy keeps telling you you are.”

Jon fell silent.

Martin kissed him. “I don’t care, you know. Whatever weirdness is going on. It’s you I love, and you are very much still you.”

“Warts and all?” Jon’s smile was weak.

“Warts and all.” Martin’s smile faded. “Do you think he’s right?”

Jon sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t see myself. Apparently causing the apocalypse, killing your maker, and then dying by your lover’s hand isn’t the usual method of obtaining, but I seem to have hit some kind of metaphysical lottery.”

Some angry thrushcrow banged the boards nailed around their windows. Martin jumped. “Lucky us.”

“We are. We’re together. We have a leg up, thanks to whatever is going on. We’re going to be all right.”

“What about our neighbors?”

Tha answer came at once. “So will they. Whatever that John is… he’s growing. From what they’ve said, I don’t think he could do that back on Earth; it was too separated from magical folderol. But here? He’s absorbing it like… like…” Jon hesitated. “The… Hulk and gamma radiation?”

Martin laughed. “Gods, I love you. I accept your ridiculous analogy.”

Jon harrumphed. “It wasn’t that terrible. anyway. It’s only a matter of time before he’s back to full godhood—and whatever he is is significantly more impressive than whatever I am.”

“I disagree.” Another kiss. “John can go hang.”

They both chuckled, a sweet sound under the cawing like frustrated screams. “Be nice.”

“Never again,” said Martin loftily, then sobered. “And Arthur?”

Jon laughed softly. “I almost pity anything that might come after him once John’s come into himself.” He sighed a little. “That will be such a sight to see.”

“Sounds like we need to stick near them so you can.”

“I’d like to.” Jon snuggled closer.

“So would I.” Martin didn’t know how he’d do this without Jon. He also knew he wouldn’t have to. “I know this, though: I see all I really need right now.”

Jon wrapped around him. They shared air, and quiet kisses, and eventually fell asleep to the sound of rhythmic, futile pecking on the roof.

#

Arthur lay in their bed, windows boarded, room secure, but the pecking and cawing of the thrushcrows on the roof pinged at his nerves, making him tense as one of those boards.

It was still wrong, hearing the things the Archivist had described, and not even being able to peek. It was still unfair, that whatever death meant gave him back the strength of his youth, but not his sight.

“Hey, John?” Arthur’s voice was tight.

What? said John, whose attention was split, who gripped Arthur’s sleep-shirt in a tight fist as though to keep him from being carried away. 

Arthur’s jaw clenched. He knew he’d only see the ceiling of this bedroom in this tiny, two-story house, and not the crows that wanted to eat them—but he still resented the darkness tonight. “Did you know about these things last time you were here?”

Yes. John always had a particular tone about the Dark World from before they’d met. It was so grim. 

“Did you hide from them?”

No. They got me. Along with so many other things. 

“Got you?” said Arthur, voice jumping an octave.

The thrushcrows’ calls and sharp attacks grew wilder, briefly like a hailstorm, and Arthur gasped.

You’re all right. They can’t get in. They can’t get you.  John’s hand left the shirt and gripped Arthur’s hand, tight.

“What did they do to you?”

Exactly what the Archivist said. Strip your flesh. Leave you shrieking and wishing you could die.

“You went through all of that,” whispered Arthur. 

That was the least of it. You’d heal then and… it would start again. Like I told you—we can’t die again. 

Arthur swallows. “You had a body.”

Of… some kind. I’m sorry, Arthur—I’ve forgotten. I don’t remember how to do that, or even if I can anymore.

“I don’t care.” Arthur placed his hand over John’s. “I’ve got one for both of us. However it works.”

We���re responsible for however it works, but I don’t remember how to change that.

“You remembered how to taste through my tongue, but not how to give my eyes back.” Low.

Yes.

He wasn’t trying to blame Kayne anymore. They both knew this was somehow because of Arthur. Because of something in his head or heart. Their physical forms were created from their own perception.

But thinking of that made him think of Kayne’s final offer.

The last thing Arthur heard before being killed.

There, there, don’t cry! It’s almost over.

No! No! I’m not ready!

Shhhh-shh-shh. You’ve entertained me, Artie. I’m inclined to give you a choice. You don’t want to throw that away.

(John, shouting, but Arthur couldn’t make out what he said.)

Wh… what choice?

Arthur had never faced anything as inevitable as Kayne. So cruel. That choice…

We’ll find her someday, Arthur, John said, because he knew by now that’s where Arthur went when quiet.

Arthur swallowed repeatedly; the pecking and glass-sharp calls of thrushcrows pierced him the way Kayne’s fingers had in the end, in that final, dying moment. “I don’t regret my choice.” But he did.

Yes, you do. 

Yes, he did. “No, I don’t. Fuck you.”

He made you choose between us. I…. I can never pay you back for what you did for me. Now, John’s voice was tight. We will find her. I know what this cost you.

“No, you fucking don’t,” Arthur snapped between clenched teeth.

The thrushcrows responded to his anger. Their cries rose, maybe summoning more birds, maybe just performing nightmare-multiplication, hunger splitting in two, and the banging—roof, doors, boarded windows— grew.

John did not tell him to calm down. So that was good.

Arthur gripped John’s wrist and could not keep in one single sob.

We’ll find her. We’ll figure out how to do it.

“She could be getting eaten by fucking birds. ”

No. No. Remember the wording of his choice. She’s not.

Oh, Arthur remembered.

It’s simple! I mean, you’re bleeding the fuck out, so we’re gonna keep it simple. (Those fingers dug in.) Either I drop you at one end of the Dark World, and you’ll be in a better place, and in spitting distance of Faroe… but John gets dropped at the other end, alone. In an even worse place than the first time.

(Arthur makes a sound. It might have been a sob. He knew where this was going.)

OR… I drop you together. In still a pretty bad place , but… together. Just really fucking far away from her.

Kayne, please!

Shhhh-shh-shh. The way you dealt with Larson’s kid? Fucking delicious. The way you handled Epiales’ bastard? Gods, I couldn’t have predicted any of it. You get this one choice. Thank me, Arthur.

(Arthur sobbed.)

Thank. Me.

(John shouting, words smeared.)

(Could he even live with himself if he chose—)

Waiting, Artie. Do not spurn my favor.

(Hardest words) Th… thank… (words like bricks and vomit and regret) Thank you.

Good boy. Now, choose.

And Arthur had chosen.

Those fingers in his chest—they’d hurt. So much. They didn’t hurt anymore, but even here, he could feel those new scars, five indents over his heart.

Arthur. She’s at the other side. She’s where there are cities and systems in place to handle children who died.

That makes it both better and worse. Arthur chokes another sob, but his anger is dimmed.

We keep working. We figure out your sight, and my strength, and what we can do. We prepare ourselves so we can make this journey. Then, we will fucking find your girl.

Arthur pressed John’s hand to his lips. He was shaking.

Outside, the thrushcrows suddenly flew away, enormous wings slapping the air, caws dropped in favor of eerie, airborne silence.

They spotted some poor fuck, said John. We should be safe now.

“I’d rather wait until Jon—the Archivist—says all-clear.”

Me, too. Besides, it’s like… fuck-o-clock in the morning.

Arthur snorted. “That an official time?”

Clocks don’t lie.

They had no clocks. Arthur laughed weakly. He was still leaking a little from the eyes, but he believed John. 

They’d find her. Somehow. Some way.

John stroked his hair. Go to sleep. I’ll keep watch.

“I know you will.” And Arthur slept.

---------

NOTES:

Epiales was the Greek god of nightmares. Wild guess who that might be referencing.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Ngl it's weird finishing the Knuckles tv show and going to tumblr about it only for people (even who I consider bigger name fans) who also watched the entire show to claim that it "confirmed Knuckles Wachowski"

Like

I'm sorry

Did you somehow miss the part in the last episode where Knuckles had a whole montage of hanging with the Whipple family and Wade and saying "home" or something?

[rivilu]

see i'm not even opposed to the concept of canon/trickster Ellu surviving but the thing is in order for it to happen there would need to be a second vulnerable conversation regarding his side of things. where he couldn't lie his way out of it either. So basically he's fucked

[himejoshiangels]

Duke Thomas fic rec list

I've scowered every tag relating to him, combed thru the 'duke centric tag' at least 8 times, this is what ive come back with, at least my personal faves

necessary reminders - duke pov, outsider pov, and some social media following duke as he gets used to his day job as a vigilante. flows really well, has a good balance of sad and happy, and gets dukes character rlly well

that which you cannot bear - THIS FIC WILL BREAK YYOU duke is kidnapped and its only down from there!! this is like, one of the first duke fics I read and it's still labeled as such in my mind. its well based, sooo cohesive plot wise, and stays completely in character w all its characters, especially duke, while exploring such an interesting facet of him > his tendency to self-isolate, insistence on being independent, and his stubbornness. sooo much good angst just incredible stuff while also staying hopeful and grounded. ALSO duke is an intelligent badass throughout the fic which is an important detail 2 me

signal, n. a divine act - same author as the last one, absolutely insane concepts are explored and its just so well written srsly it's like poetry. digs into some of dukes ideologies so well. if u like holy imagery??? kind of but not rlly?? ig you'll love this

this whole series is just so fucking incredible but something about my bodies made of crushed little stars I don't fucking know it messed w my brain chemistry, I've recced it b 4 bcs it made me cry but read the whole series, it's all duke centric and just so good. Saki writes bruce and duke in a way that fizzes u up w emotion and focuses on such unique facets of dukes character/dynamics and sleep well my little sunshine is soo cute and fun and soft >when earth finds the stars - bonus presignal duke and jason fic, balances being incredibly fun with a realistic zoom in on duke before we are robin. he's quippy and witty and always at the edge of his rope

not mutually exclusive - tired of bruce being kinda shoved into the role of dukes capital F father when that's not quite what their dynamic is? Then this is the fic for you!! Just good duke and Bruce interactions overall, it's sad and hilarious with just incredible dialogue and peak Bruce and Duke interactions

signals and symptoms - a classic sickfic and like one of my fave bruce bonding fic ever ever EVERRR!! really introspective abt dukes character and just so well done

even exchanges - some of u are gonna hate me for reccing an incomplete fic and esp one that doesn't look like it's gonna be finished anytime soon but even exchanges is so formative to my duke characterizationalong with portraying such a fascinating dynamic w him and his new family. it delves into his messy and angsty experiences pre-becoming the signal and is overall written like several subsequent punches to the stomach. promise ur gonna bitch and moan about this fic as much as I do

scientific method - extremely cute fic, watch Duke bond w the bats and slowly get more comfortable with them over time as they all tru to figure out what the fuck this guys powers are. Really fun dynamic wise, the dialogue is crafty and captures the familiarity between the characters. Really realistic about day to day vigilante life and how genius the bats truly are. really slice of life fluffy shit w some bonus sciencey stuff

turn my voice human torch remind people what I’m fantastic for - truly a classic, Duke invites cass to slam poetry night. short n sweet I LOVE BUMBLEBATS RAHHHHHH

tradition - pure duke n bruce ice cream fluff

meal prep - real sad angst one shot ft. alfred

occupational health and safety violations - duke pov reverse robins but it's way out of order

write about flowers (at a time like this) - duke and dick fic where they meet pre we are robin. yes I just found this one yesterday yes I'm absolutely obsessed. it characterizes him so well and understands his thought process and motives and UGHH just tune in yall

sidequest: the viper pit - WE ARE ROBIN DND JUMANJI

signals of fear and hope - duke centric reverse robins, caters TTOME specifically it's so fire

and now here are fics that arent duke centric but he's in it and in character/well written and now forced into the back of the room aka some of my general faves that feature duke

gotham aviary - the batman fic where he just adopts a bunch of em truly adorable like the cutest thing you'll read

I walk the streets at night (with monsters in my mind) - dragon fic, absolutely goated 10/10

fight, flight - cass centric but duke plays a big role, they mean everything to me

[markantonys]

While I still don't think the show has done enough to show why the world despises and fears male channelers (since it really should've been embedded into the world building, so far we only know that the Aes Sedai hate and fear them) and it does kinda lessen the impact of the narrative that none of the EF5 had at least an initial gut reaction to Rand being able to channel. I do wonder how they're gonna handle that topic moving forward, cause it kinda has to be addressed now that Rand is actively channeling. I could see it being expanded more deeply as Rand's madness progresses/tie it into his arc.

the show has made it ABUNDANTLY clear that Male Channelers Are Considered Bad News By All. it IS embedded into the worldbuilding. was the king saying that logain's gone mad and trying to kill him not enough for you? was the people of tar valon jeering and throwing fruit at him not enough for you? was rand and mat saying "hey if i'm a male channeler please kill me" not enough for you? was rand's terror the second he realized selene saw him channel not enough for you? was selene's act of how a normal person would react to finding out her boyfriend can channel not enough for you? was his heartbroken yet unsurprised reaction to her rejection not enough for you? was the whole backstory of a male channeler causing the apocalypse not enough for you? do you think that show-onlys are completely incapable of putting all these pieces together along with aes sedai treatment of male channelers and coming to the conclusion that male channelers are probably not very popular with most people and it's going to be very tough for rand that he is one?

literally what else should they have done that would make sense within the very small world and very early story of the first 2 seasons/3 books that they didn't already do? shown emond's fielders sitting around the dinner table talking about how much they hate and fear male channelers when none of them has ever met one and thus it's not relevant to their lives? wasted time doing a whole sidequest for rand in s2 where his abilities are discovered by some Average Citizens and they react badly? shit all over show!mat's characterization and given him a negative reaction to rand in s2 that would not make sense for his current show headspace, just for the sake of furthering rand's randpain? i'm sick of the rand stans who act like rand is the only character who matters and mat's characterization should be sacrificed just so we can go "oh poor rand uwu even his own best friend is mean to him". portraying mat in 2x06 as the sort of person who bullies and kicks his best friend while he's down would've been beneficial because......? what is so wrong with the show making the ef5 feel like mutually loyal friends instead of "rand is the best and most loyal friend in the world but the rest are little shits who abandon him as soon as the going gets tough"? seeing as in the books, mat continues to be an extremely loyal friend to rand throughout the series but most readers are too stupid to see through his unreliable narration and realize he doesn't mean it when he says that rand channeling is like him eating babies, i'm not surprised the show decided to simplify things in order to convey the true heart of mat's character (loyal and caring friend to rand) in a more obvious manner.

and i guarantee you that no show-only is going "oh, it's only aes sedai who have a problem with male channelers, everyone else thinks they're cool". that's not happening. show-onlys are not stupid, and they understand that male channelers are considered bad news by all; or maybe they haven't thought much yet about how male channelers are viewed by the average public, but in future seasons once we see rand getting shit from the average public, they are not going to be surprised or confused or go "but i thought it was only aes sedai who had a problem with them and everyone else thinks they're cool?", they're going to go "oh, well we've seen how much aes sedai hate them, so it makes sense that everyone else does too". stop. think for 2 seconds about "have i actually seen a large number* of show-onlys misunderstanding X and/or do i think it's plausible that a large number of show-onlys would be likely to misunderstand X, or do show-onlys have enough context clues to figure out X for themselves or to be unsurprised when X is expanded on and made more explicit in future seasons and i'm working myself up into a state over a non-issue?"

*there are always going to be a handful of people incapable of critical thinking who willfully misunderstand what the show is showing us, just like there are readers like that with the books, hence unless a LARGE number of general-population show-onlys are misunderstanding X, as opposed to just 20 idiots on twitter, i do not consider it a failure by the show in portraying X.

[plum-pitt]

Holy shit. I just realized i’ve never even yapped about my headcanons for the rise guys. This is a criminal offense on my part! Must be rectified immediately!!

Disclaimer: Don’t think there’s a lot of hot takes here, but feel free to disagree and talk about your own interpretations if you’d like!! Headcanon is fun and i love discussing it. it’s all fictional and since the text doesn’t give us much concrete shit on these topics we’re all free to make our own, equally valid readings of it. :3

Leo- Transmasc He/Him, gay as fuck who here could’ve guessed, ADHD haver, definitely smokes weed. Fluent in spanish from watching telenovellas as a child. Wants to be a flirty whore/aff so fucking bad but whenever he sees someone he’s legitimately attracted to any charisma he might’ve had gets thrown out the window and into a woodchipper in favor of helpless stuttering. His portalling mishaps early in the series have led him to silly sidequests all over the world that he just,,,, doesn’t really talk about. This won’t come up until they’ll end up in some random ass place and find out just how well travelled and connected he actually is. He’s also got a job at Hueso’s for fun and extra cash to fund his addiction to pot and ordering stupid shit he doesn’t need online. He’s a server, wears rollerskates to “move faster” on the job, just ends up running into shit more often than not. Great with the kids tho, performs little sleight of hand magic tricks and tells jokes to make them happy, never had a fussy kid he couldn’t calm down in a snap. Calls himself Hueso’s nephew and nepotism hire, ignoring the fact that he’s actually a decently competent and well liked employee outside of the several skating related accidents. Shell was cracked badly in the invasion, when they sealed it up, he asked Mikey to paint the healed cracks gold, mimicking the japanese practice of Kintsugi.

Mikey- Definitely queer but not into labels ;3 He/Him is what he defaults to, but any pronouns work for them. Semi fluent in italian, don’t ask me why, just feels right, let chef boy speak italian dammit. One of those mfs on instagram who insists on posting pictures of the food he makes, except his actually looks good and not painfully mediocre so they get a pass. Has been tagging walls in hard to reach spots all over the city for years at this point, after Raph confronted her abt it, fearing that he’d get caught someday, he told him that he’d stop. Yeah, that was a lie he kept doing it, just sneakier now. Makes money off of art commissions, still broke as hell tho cuz he spends it all on bougie ass ingredients and art supplies. Post canon definitely delved more into mystics and spirituality, trains with draxum but also took up meditation in his free time. Fucks with weed and the occasional psychedelic when working on art, says it helps get the creative juices flowing. Considering asking donnie to forge some documents for him so he can attend college online and earn a psych degree. His speech patterns flip on a dime between vague, wise fortune cookie therapist man and typical gen-z slang so abruptly it gives anyone not already familiar with him total whiplash.

Donnie- NonBinary They/He Bisexual but i can’t decide if they’re the kind that can’t stop pulling or can’t pull to save his life. Fluent in several languages, ASL, French, Russian, Japanese. Actually one of their few acedemic endeavors that he doesn’t typically show off and gloat about, makes it all the scarier when his siblings hear him muttering vaguely threatening sounding shit in russian when shit doesn’t go their way. Has tried most substances for “research purposes”, ultimately decided he doesn’t like the feeling of their big ol brain being hindered under the influence, this has a few exceptions tho, mainly when it’s with Leo. Has John Bishops IP address and threatens to drop it on 4chan to “see what happens” every time he tries messing with their family or stopping him from “borrowing” material resources from the US government. Almost considered bs-ing his way into college before they used a cloaking broach to shadow april at school for like 2 days. It was there they learned that the education system fucking sucks and he probably knows more than most professors about his topics of interest anyway. Does freelance work for cash, as far as their brothers know they’re not building and selling anything dangerous (which is code for probably arming both sides in a far away military conflict with deathrays). Spends his free time cyber bullying children on roblox and twitter, and caring for their greenhouse of plants that all have names. (yes he grows weed. his GeniusGrown™️ zaza is known far and wide for its consistently excellent quality. and no, Leo does not get a family discount. Mikey does tho.)

Raph- Someone please send the big man some help😭 he/him(?) Definitely queer in some way shape or form but refuses to confront any identity crisis because he’s just so busy keeping his dumb ass siblings outta shit. Tried weed once and will never touch a substance again, makes his anxiety spike real bad when he doesn’t feel in full control of himself. Runs around with Cassandra and sometimes Jr to do vigilante justice on the side of he and his siblings’ usual patrols. Living garbage disposal and i mean that quite literally. He has and will eat anything, rocks, toys, silverware, sometimes on accident, sometimes on a dare, and sometimes just because he wants to. He grew up gnawing on the legs of furniture, rusty sewer pipes, really any nonliving thing that he could fit his choppers around (unlike donnie who just bit any living creature within a 5 mile radius of his location). Since the invasion made Leo step up as leader Raph has been able to step back a little bit and not have everything in a chokehold, he has a mini crisis about his place in the family and his sense of identity without being a leader. Tries to hide how much it’s affecting him but ofc, living with mikey, this does not last and his ass FINALLY gets chucked (very lovingly) into therapy. Loves to knit, definitely in some kind of old lady facebook group centered around it (he has so much nursing home gossip floating around in his brain hehe)

Alright that’s all for the teetlez. lmk if yall wanna hear about my thoughts on the rest of the main cast, or some of the side cast! Can’t promise i’ll have this much to say on all of em but i’ve definitely got thoughts lol. I might even make a post diving into different character dynamics. idk tho, my fingies are tired typing all that shit😭

Anyway i hope u enjoyed my ramblings, have a lovely day :3

[dailydemonspotlight]

Fionn Mac Cumhaill - Day 56

Race: Genma

Alignment: Light-Neutral

June 17th, 2024

Can you believe it guys? SMT V: Vengeance, just a... wait, it already came out? Damn, this joke doesn't work. Still, today we delve deeper into the hallowed hallows of Irish stories, examining a certain hero that has only one rival in terms of his popularity, which says a lot, given that rival is none other than Cu Chulainn; a legendary hunter-warrior who led the powerful army of warriors known as the Fianna, Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Infamous within the series for having one of the toughest boss fights in SMT V, Fionn actually is one of the most popular (and prominent) legendary figures in Irish folklore, and I'm frankly surprised it took this long for him to show up in the series.

Most of these Irish stories come in the forms of appearing in books called cycles- for one, the Ulster Cycle covers the exploits of Cú Chullain and Queen Medb, but in the case of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, one need not look further than another one of these books, that being the Fenian Cycle. The reasoning for this common naming scheme has actually been lost to time, so that's fun, but at least some people try to offer explanations. One that I enjoy actually comes from a Reddit post that purports that it may be because these tales 'cycle' around a certain character, like how the Fenian cycles around Fionn, or the Ulster cycles around Cú. That aside, though, these tales are notable from place to place for both providing context on Irish history itself as well as being great stand-alone stories in-and-of themselves.

One of these stories in the Fenian Cycle is entitled "The Boyhood Deeds of Fionn," originating as a fractured manuscript called Laud 610: folio 118Rb-121Va, though translations and added-on segments from other stories likely connected have led to the commonly accepted translation. Originally, Laud 610 was the only thing we had to work off of for Fionn Mac Cumhaill, a 14th century manuscript written in I believe Gaelic? The most recent translation we have to work off of, made up of translations, transliterations, and added-on segments, appears in a book written by Joseph Falaky Nagy called "The Wisdom of the Outlaw: Boyhood Deeds of Finn in Gaelic Narrative Tradition." In the story, it goes over the, well, exploits of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, starting with what else but his birth.

In the tale, it begins with the death of Fionn's father, Cumhall, who was the leader of the Fianna, a word used to effectively mean a band of hunter-warriors. Killed by his mortal enemy, Goll mac Morna, his unborn son and his wife Muirne were waiting for him, but upon Muirne learning of his death, she sent her son away as soon as he was born, fearing for his safety. This son's name was Demne, and whom he ended up with, a druiddess named Bodhmall, gave him the surname of Máel, his name effectively meaning "Stalwart shorthair druid." Bodhmall and her gal-pal Liath Luachra end up raising Demne to be a strong warrior, accompanying him on his myriad adventures, within one of which he gains his name, Fionn. After eating a salmon. We'll get to that. Given that he was just a kid, he had no real reason to be much of a fantastic warrior as of yet. However, the fates had different plans.

One day, while out hunting with a band of the Fianna, he'd come across a nice place to go fishing. While still known as Denme, aka being very young, he'd come across what was effectively a video game sidequest- a poet named Finnegas had spent years fishing in a nearby river to catch the mythical Salmon of Wisdom, as he had gotten a prophecy years back that he would eventually eat the salmon and gain all the world's wisdom. However, he had very poor luck. Denme, recognizing the frustration of the struggle, offered to help in going fishing. After a little while, the poet finally caught it! Recognizing the metaphorical good luck charm in Denme now by his side, he'd let the kid cook it.

While cooking the salmon, however, Fionn accidentally burned his thumb, to which he instinctively stuck it in his mouth... incidentally blessing himself with all the world's knowledge. Likely astonished by how dumb this kid was, Finnegas would give up, letting him have the entire rest of the salmon, now meaning that he could have access to the entire world's repository of knowledge... as long as he sucked his thumb. Yeahhh. Hilariously, this ability went on to be known as the "Thumb of Knowledge." I gotta wonder how Fionn felt when he got older and still had to do such an embarrassing ritual to access his strength.

As Fionn began to grow older, he grew accustomed to working under the services of many kingdoms, but when he'd mention his father's name- Cumhall- they'd send him away out of fear that they couldn't fight off his enemies. As it'd turn out, Cumhall was a massive fan of making foes, and was also a piece of work, to say the least, having abducted his wife and forced her to marry. Yikes. Thankfully, Fionn was far from his father in spirit, as shown when in future myths he ended up forgiving and even teaming up with Goll mac Morna. This story also ties into the Fomorians, but I'll leave you to look into that further yourself.

Several more myths surround Fionn, but this DDS is growing long, so I'll let you read them yourself. Trust me, they're a blast. A personal favorite of mine is that he never truly died- instead, he sealed himself into a cave to return when Ireland was at it's most dire moment. Given Irish history, I dread to think about what could happen next for Fionn to return (joke shamefully stolen from OSP's fantastic video on Fionn mac Cumhaill.) It's speculated that the reasoning for Fionn's biting of his thumb to access his pool of knowledge is actually connected to a belief in Fionn possibly being based on a real figure as well, though who this historical figure is is unknown- as the theory goes, he might've had a habit of biting his thumb while deep in thought. While this hypothesis has been offered time and time again, it's hard to pin down who exactly Fionn might have been.

In SMT, Fionn's design is honestly one of my favorite in the series, combining so many aspects of his character- his badass hunter-warrior look, druidic influences, his great blade, all the way down to one of his thumbs being covered in salmon-colored scales. I haven't played SMT V, unfortunately, but he appears as a rather infamous boss in the game with an utterly bumping theme, almost feeling like an anime character's theme track, which is very fitting, given Fionn's exploits. I can't wait to see this guy when I finally get my hands on Vengeance.

[thisisnotthenerd]

i will have more thoughts when it’s not the middle of the night and i’m not coming off of a concert

but

i really enjoyed the finale. not just the bad kids being really effective in combat, but the way ankarna’s domain was incorporated, and the things they chose to do after the fact. the bad kids are in a good place right now.

the fact that it was deeply silly both aligns with and contrasts with previous fantasy high adventures. normally, the finale is utterly high stakes and feels like an insurmountable challenge—this time, the intrepid heroes and the bad kids both lean a little further into the absurd because they’re skilled enough to do so, in-game and above the table.

they resurrected most of the rat grinders and maybe aren’t friends with them, but at the very least not enemies. they struck them down in battle, but what does that mean in a world where resurrection is commonplace? i loved their final interaction with mary ann. they have the same opportunity for growth that other redeemed npcs have had—they just have to take it.

in terms of a potential senior year, there are a couple of threads to follow up on: kalina and the rise of bacarath (unlikely; the goddesses are chasing her down, they’ve already dealt with her once and doing it again is overkill. maybe a slapstick routine of catching her at some point, but not the main plot), arianwen abernant (adaine and aelwyn can handle her. she’s in sylvaire—if they need divine intercession in the domain they can access it easily), chungledown bim (he’s fabian’s nemesis; doesn’t qualify for a series villain, and honestly? the bad kids could handle him. he’s a nightmare, but there’s only so much one insane warlock and his flock of pelicans can do in initiative), and of course, arthur aguefort.

i wouldn’t be surprised if this is where they left it for a while. the time between sophomore year and junior year really allowed us (the fans) the space to enjoy these characters and find depths in them beyond what’s on screen. plus, with every season we leave the bad kids more settled in who they are and what they want, though there’s always potential for chaos.

i would personally enjoy more spyre side quests, and maybe the collision of the spyre parties in varying combinations. an easy one is having aabria as the connection point between the seven and the buccaneer buddies (simultaneously myrtle and antiope; she’s a gm—she could handle it. ooh maybe a spyre sidequest with her at the helm.)

[getvalentined]

More Pokémon Holy/Meteor stuff. Nero's little profile isn't here because I have a whole picture of him on the same vein as Vincent's that I'd like to finish eventually. I am missing a handful of characters that would be in the "game," most notably the title's Professor (for which I am still torn between two options and may never settle) as well as Grimoire and Veld, who are both in the story but not technically integral to the main storyline(s).

There's a lot more than this bouncing around in my head but it's a lot so I'll stop with these and the notes below unless people are interested in something specific not covered here. (If so, drop me an ask and I'll happily answer! I love talking about my needlessly complicated crossover AUs, but they are so needlessly complicated that I don't generally just infodump about them.)

Other notes under the cut!

Cloud is the player character; the starting age for a Pokémon Journey in the Midgar region is 14, and he was 16 at the time of the accident, making him 21 during the main story. The storyline reflects this, as Cloud is much older than a standard protag for this series, but he's been out of the world recovering for long enough that he's still got a unique sort of naïveté. (Tifa would probably be the female protag but Cloud is the default here sorry.)

Sephiroth is the main "rival" in Pokémon Meteor, Genesis is the "rival" in Pokémon Holy, although they both appear in both titles and serve the same overall function for the narrative. They are not antagonists.

The Legendary for Meteor is "Jenosynthe," a reference to Jenova Synthesis; Holy has "Omegaia," which is a reference to Omega and to Gaia/Minerva. They have particular connections to Sephiroth and Genesis respectively, and Grimoire's contribution to the plot allows the player to obtain the other title's Legendary post-game.

The Midgar region is the only one to have "Variant" gyms, which focus on regional variants rather than a specific type. This is a new, secondary path with badges that can be mixed and matched with standard type-based gyms to reach the required number of badges to take on the League.

Other gym leaders: Kunsel (Psychic, he battles blindfolded), Reno and Rude (Electric), Yuffie (Hisuian variant), Rosso (Fighting*), Sonon (undecided on his gym but he's here), Weiss (Ground, because I love a stupid reference), and Chadley (secret unlockable Shiny variant gym, only accessible if you beat all the other gyms on both paths, bestows the Shiny charm), as well as others. *Veld's gym used to be Fighting-type but Tseng converted it when he took over following Veld's retirement, allowing Rosso to move out of her previous position with the League and set up a new one.

Other members of Team Helletic: Azul, Rayleigh, Gillian and Angeal (the "multi-generational multi-battle"), Sebastian and Essai (who are under the control of Something), and Shears, as well as others. Hollander was a member until the incident five years ago, which is implied to have led to his death.

Other important NPCs: Cid (the fast travel guy, may work with the Professor), Barret (runs the Pokémon breeding center), Cait Sith (a navi system that shows up through a specific set of sidequests and is revealed to be Reeve's at the end), Shelke (appears in the same sidequests as Cait Sith), Dio (runs a facility for fast EV training), and Johnny (nobody knows why he's here but he sure is), as well as others.

[late-to-the-magnus-archives]

The Bribe: A Brief Crack-Fic Interlude

A week ago, one @captaincravatthecapricious, artist extraordinaire, began enjoying this crazy little crossover fic in which Tim Stoker is inhabited by the King in Yellow.

In this fic, Arthur and John are dead, together in the Dark World.

Jasper offered an art bribe to find out how they're doing.

This is the result of that bribe. You can't blame Kayne for taking them up on it. NOTE: it's not a naked pic, but I'd still classify it as NSFW because it'd be REAL hard to explain.

SO HEY! This has taken on a life of its own. AU series is here: Just a Little Sidequest.

AO3

NOTES: - QPR John & Arthur. - This is taking place in the Dark World but I promise it is NOT BAD - You don't have to see anybody die - Did I make another AU? MAYBE. Shut up. - REMINDER: there is a pic in here with shibari (because of this chapter). No one is naked, but it might be a little hard to explain for anyone reading over your shoulder

------------

There would be sunlight today! Fantastic. Jon knew it would only last about four hours (the Dark Season was always weird in the land of the dead), so he slid out of bed early to go pull back the tarps.

Damnably early. One would think leaving an office job behind forever would free one from the need to rise at unnatural hours, but no. The Dark World just had to be cranky about seasons.

He pulled back the tarps (waving good morning to the spiders) and cranked open the roof over the plants that needed a bit more protection from the elements. He went back inside and carried various potted varieties out, settling them on the porch where he knew they’d get the most sun. Crops readied for precious light, his thoughts wandered to his neighbors. 

They were fun, if weird; sharing a body made their arguments wild and their resolutions tender. Not that Jon particularly wanted to know these things, but they were pretty loud about both, and he couldn’t not know.

At any rate, they'd appreciate being told about the upcoming sun. Jon left Martin a note saying where he'd gone, then wandered toward the Chasm.

Jon didn’t know what the Chasm was, and that was weird.

Kayne said in time, he would know, and he’d “miss his days of innocence,” and that was terrifying.

It was a gap, a canyon, immediately black as though it ate daylight. Jagged edged, it lay between his homestead and the Lester one, and it wasn’t quite narrow enough to get across, but it wasn’t big enough to prevent communication either.

They’d managed to set up a pulley and rope system to exchange goods. They’d also set up a communication system with bells and hooks. Jon was proud of what they’d done. 

Jon rang. He waited. It was damnably early, so he was content to ring it again.

“Being a good neighbor?” said Kayne right behind him.

Jon damn near stumbled into the Chasm. “What is wrong with yout? Go away!”

Kayne laughed. “You didn’t even try to zap me this morning! What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing! It isn’t normal to zap people, you absolute buffoon.”

Kayne smiled like a shark. “Not normal.” He pointed at Jon. “Not people.” He pointed at himself. “Also, you're not in bed, like a good baby god should be. Whatcha dooooooing?”

There was no point in lying to this… person. “There is sun coming in about an hour. They deserve to know.”

“You could just drop the knowledge into their heads.”

“You suggesting that makes it seem like a terrible idea.” An idea which Jon had not thought of before.

And now can’t stop thinking of. Could he do that? Was that a thing he could learn to do? Drop knowledge into people’s heads?

“Yup,” said Kayne.

That really likely meant he shouldn’t do it. “Well, what are you doing here? What do you want?”

“I can’t come visit my favorite Freak Neighborhood?” says Kayne. “A baby god and his human lover, a half-god and his human whatever, all planting crops and fending off pterodactyls and carving a life out of Death, and you think I don’t want to see what happens?”

“You’ve seen. Now leave.” And with the worst possible timing, the door across the way creaked open. They were coming. “Fuck,” said Jon, and tried to wave them off.

Arthur, of course, could not see that, but John could, and even from this distance, Jon could hear John’s bass rumble.

Arthur stopped. Looked spooked. Turned on his heel and went right back into the house.

Whew.

“Hey!” called Kayne. “I got a present for you! Don’t make me come over there!”

The squeaky door opened as reluctantly as anything had ever opened in all of creation.

“Give it to me. I’ll give it to them,” said Jon.

“You always get heroic at the worst moments,” Kayne observed. “No.”

Jon sighed.

“What does he want?” said Arthur, approaching. He’d gone full farmer today, with overalls and shit-stomping boots, and he’d picked up a pitchfork on the way in.

Or, no. John had, and held it in front of them like a ward. What do you want? he echoed.

“Ooh, ooh, Jon first!” said Kayne, bouncing on his toes. “He’s got actual business (which he shouldn’t even know because it’s future but hey he is a nascent god and nobody knows what the rules are for him yet) and I’ve only got entertainment.” He flapped a piece of paper.

Jon’s face went red.

Arthur could hear the paper, and he frowned.

It’s the Archivist, said John unnecessarily. And Kayne.

“I know it’s Kayne, you whacko,” muttered Arthur.

He’s got a piece of paper in his hand, but I can’t quite tell what he—

“It’s a bribe,” said Kayne, and poked Jon hard enough to nearly knock him over. “Go on, go first, so I can go, go oooon.”

“A bribe for what?” No answer forthcame, and Jon sighed. “Sorry about this. Didn’t expect him."

“Does anybody?” said Arthur.

Kayne thought that was hilarious.

They all ignored him. “Sun," said Jon. "We’re getting real, clear sun for about four hours, starting in forty-five minutes."

"Oh!" Arthur brightened like the sun himself. His scars stood out against his reddened skin, but they fit him; the beard he’d grown, salt and pepper, just added to the look. He was a handsome man who’d been through it, a poet’s soul with don’t-fuck-with-me heart. 

Jon liked him immensely.

“Well,” said Arthur. “Thank you. We might finally be able to get that rhubarb to grow.”

Don’t know why you’re so set on rhubarb, muttered John.

“Have you had rhubarb?”

Pause. No.

“Well, it makes delicious pies.”

“I have sixteen trusted variations on that recipe using what you have in your pantry, whenever you’re ready,” said Jon.

Arthur had long since accepted the Archivist's weirdness. “See? It’s going to be delicious.”

Hmph, said John, who, here, tasted what Arthur did, but still didn’t trust his taste, or at least, made a show of not trusting it.

Jon thought that was just manipulation to get Arthur to eat more. He couldn’t disapprove. Martin did similar games with him.

“Ugh. Gross. Yuck!” Kayne spit into the chasm. “What is wrong with all of you? What is this, The Archers: The Boring Years?   Why would you—” From the chasm, Kayne’s spit hit something that screamed and exploded.

Jon, Arthur, and John all startled pretty badly.

“Oh, gods,” said Jon, gripping his head.. “What was that? Why was it climbing?”

What? What was it? What did you see? John demanded, not at all meaning ordinary sight.

“Some… pale and bloodless thing, on all fours but like it was forced to bend that way, not born, and it was clawing up the rock with a horrible, blackened dry tongue scraping between is knobby hands, eyes burned out, just holes, and it was naked and leaving a trail of I don’t know what behind it—“

“—the boring years,” said Kayne again. “Where’s the drama?”

“You okay?” said Arthur. He couldn’t reach him; the Chasm was too big (though Martin had ambitious plans for a bridge), but he still reached out.

“I… I’m okay.” Jon couldn’t get it out of his head. “I… it’s dead, now.”

This crazy place, John muttered.

“—without an inch of proper conflict,” Kayne kept going. “And here, I get bribed by someone you don’t know for a glimpse of afterlife shenanigans, and you had to go ruin by being neighborly! They wanted a divorce! Everybody loves a divorce!”

“What are you talking about?” said Jon. “Who?”

“Oh captain, my captain!” Kayne said, and saluted the sky.

“What?” said Jon, completely lost.

Arthur went a different direction. “Art?” he said, as though the word were another spit-bomb.

What is that?

“Part of it’s me!” said Kayne brightly, and for one horrible, dizzying second, was in both places at once.

He didn’t split. He simply was on both sides, pressing a piece of paper into both men’s hands.

“Wha… Tim? ” Jon blurted.

It… it’s Kayne? And some guy? John blurted.

“What guy? What?” said Arthur.

Wh… you… the… John had lost his ability to speak. 

“Right? Phenomenal.” Kayne sighed dramatically. “Pure fantasy, of course, never going to happen now, but I think it would have been delightful, don’t you?”

“Tim’s alive?” whispered Jon, then saddened. “Oh… oh, I see. I understand.”

It’s, uh. John clears his metaphorical throat. He’s, uh. There’s, uh. Um.

“Out with it,” Arthur snapped.

Some guy tied up and half-naked and sticking his tongue out while Kayne sort of looms over him with an even longer tongue and there’s blood all over him and he’s clawing the other guy’s abdomen and they both look really turned on.

Arthur’s jaw fell open.

“Well, that was worth it,” said Kayne, looking back and forth between shocked reactions.

“It’s what?” said Arthur.

Jon swallowed. “He’s all right. I can see that.”

“Ooh, not your timeline? But sure. He is. Sort of. Not really? No, not really. But he’s alive, and that’s a plus, right?” said Kayne.

“Why are we… he gave us a nudie photo?” Arthur blurted.

No! No, it’s… tasteful, I guess? I mean, there’s blood everywhere, and they both look really into it, and Kayne’s fully dressed, and the other guy’s got nipples, and—

“Stop, stop, what the fuck,” said Arthur.

Jon shook himself. He'd encountered alternate timelines through other people’s minds, but this was new. Though he had no connection to it, it kept trying to fill him, to take him away, to distract him from the here and now.

He could know this new world, and he didn't even have to be there.

No. He had work to do. He had Martin to love. It could wait. “Um. You’d better get going. The sun…”

“Right. Sure.” Arthur clearly did not know what to do with the picture.

“It’s a present,” warned Kayne in a sing-song tone.

Arthur made a face. “Right. We’ll take good care of it. I guess.”

John was apparently still looking at it. You’d look better than this guy tied up, he declared.

“Okay, enough of that,” said Arthur, hiding the paper by his side. “We have things to do. Thanks, Jon. Strawberries ready in a few more days, I think.”

“Good,” said Jon, still feeling slightly out-of-body. “Oh—and we should have that bacon soon, too. Martin thinks it’s nearly ready.”

Arthur actually licked his lips. “Bacon! I can already taste it.”

Kayne flapped his hand. “Go on, go on! Take your present and go do your… menial… things, whatever the shit, I don’t care. Ugh. Divorceless freaks. You’re welcome!’

He’s a freak, said John with dire appreciation as Arthur turned away.

“Why did you do this?” said Jon as Arthur headed into his own garden to do what needed to be done.

“Because it was funny? To see what you’d do. To see what they’d do! To see if I could get those two to think sexually about each other?”

“They don’t. They’re platonic.”

“Yeah, I know, that’s why it would be funny. I’m pretty sure someone would cry. Besides, they loooove each other.”

Why did that feel like a threat? Jon’s jaw clenched. “Yes, they do.”

“They looooooooooooooove each other.”

“Will you… go away?”

“Zap me and I will. Go on, go on, you want to do it, go on.”

Jon was too distracted by the other Tim, who… who could be happy. Who had a chance to be happy, and to live, if only—

Arthur laughed at something John said across the way. They had a running conversation going among the string beans.

Their happiness made Jon smile. Then thoughts of the thing in the Chasm took that smile away. What the hell had that been?

“Oh, think of it like a Blue Jay.”

“An egg-thief?” Jon knew.

“Mm-hmm.”

An egg-thief. And he, a nascent god. “For… it was coming for me?” Jon felt pale.

“Mm-hmm.”

He wasn’t the only vulnerable god around here. “Is John safe?”

“For now. He hasn’t grown enough to get on their radar—yet.”

So that was another thing they’d have to deal with in time. As if occasional dinosaurs, or wizard cowboys, or Hollywood-style Mongolian hordes, or desperate demons trying to steal from their farmsteads (or steal one of them ) wasn’t enough. There’d been a bunch of weird white men in 1950s roadsters last week, swinging clubs.

They’d handle it. “We’ll beat that, too,” said Jon, grim.

Kayne bounced. “Zap me! Come on, I went to all the trouble of taking a bribe, and letting you know Timmy exists, and bringing a whole new timeline to your attention, and you’re not even mad ?”

And Jon suddenly knew this Tim was in danger… because of Kayne.

Because. Of. Kayne.

“Leave him alone!” he snarled, and—

It happened.

Whatever it was.

However it worked.

Jon still couldn’t control it, but it sure as hell was a thing. To something less than Kayne, less than he was, it would have been terrible: an explosion, a dissemination, a forced dissection of all he was into pieces and melt and death.

But this was Kayne. His pieces (every last one of them too much to contemplate ) stretched apart like taffy and snapped back together in an instant.

He laughed. Clapped. “Nice! Nice, nice, nice!”

“You okay over there?” called Arthur.

“Fine! He’s just being an ass! Do your thing!” Jon called back, and then was startled to find Kayne so close to him they almost touched. Jon gasped, tripped over his own feet, and fell backwards.

Kayne caught him, right in his face, madness and megastructures swirling in his eyes.  “Do you know how many new gods there are?” 

Jon refused to answer. But he knew. 

One.

“Do you know how incredibly fucked up you are?” said Kayne.

Jon refused to answer. But he knew.

Incredibly.

“As if I could leave this alone,” said Kayne, and dropped him.

Jon hit the ground, said oof, was incredibly annoyed that a supposed god could get the wind knocked out of him, and looked up to find Kayne gone.

Jon still had the picture.

Tim. It was his Tim in every way, but alive. And… well, tied up in shibari, for some reason.

It was so good to see Tim’s face again, no matter his shenanigans, and Jon wiped away a couple of tears. Honestly, it was a damned good picture. Even Tim’s tattoos were clear; there was joy in his eyes, a defiant, wicked sparkle. It was Tim, through and through.

And Kayne was there too, but whatever.

Jon wasn’t sure if it was actually a sexy picture. He lacked the radar for that kind of thing, but Martin would tell him.

And probably yell.

That was okay. Jon would yell with him.

That other timeline loomed. Jon refused to look.

It was enough to know about this place. Where they were. How the Dark World worked. Enough to know they were happy, had carved out a home, had neighbors who had done the same, and—in Jon’s opinion—deserved the happiness they’d tilled and grown and harvested.

It was John laughing this time across the Chasm, his deep and guttural joy that always sounded evil, but wasn’t. 

Like hell was Jon letting some baby god eater come after them.

Jon knew Martin was awake. Martin had also started coffee (which they’d traded dearly for, and had been worth every bean). 

Good. He’d need caffeine to deal with all of this.

Jon waved one more time at his neighbors (and John waved back, then told Arthur all about it in more words than necessary), and headed back home, image in hand, and admitted—at least to himself—that he was grateful for it.

----------

Notes:

Bribe successful.

[limayde]

16. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

What a POLARIZING experience this was. Really high highs, very low lows. Overall I think I enjoyed my time with the game more than I disliked it, but this is absolutely a one and done experience. I don't think I ever want to play it again fghgfghj

The first thing that jumped out to me was the story—it's better than any of the more recent Zelda titles that have released in the last ten years (I'm looking at you TotK). The characters are so fun and expressive, and it even gave us the best version of Link and Zelda's situationship. They are SO cute in this game, that even as a raging lesbian I can appreciate them. It also gave us Byrne—he kicks ass.

I hear a lot of people complain about them but I never had much issue with the touch controls. They were responsive and the enemies are just slow enough to get around the bit of discrepancy you'd have as opposed to having button controls. I think we need more games with silly controls, that's kind of a lost art, and it brings charm to a game.

The pan flute was fun at first, it was just a silly little instrument that you blow into the microphone to use, but then I got to the fire sanctuary. That. That right there. That's the reason I will never play this game again. The fire and sand sanctuary songs are SO finicky, it took me HOURS to complete both. Everywhere else it's fine! The first three sanctuaries? Not a problem. Using it in the overworld? Not a problem. Just. Those last two sanctuaries make my blood BOIL.

Train's fine. I didn't really see much issue with it aside from the stupid one-hit kill demon trains. (Especially that last area, jesus christ why are they FASTER than you?) But oh my god it is impossible to upgrade your train in this game? I got three parts. THREE. I DIDN'T EVEN COMPLETE A WHOLE SET. You don't even unlock the ability to customize your train until you unlock the water realm so I just didn't think you could do it! Also you don't unlock fast travel until way too late. Like it's appreciated but they're so out of the way and come in so late that I basically never got to use it.

That's another thing, this game is so backloaded with sidequests, that I did like three before making it to endgame. Once I realized that you were basically forced to marathon all the sidequests in one go if you wanted to 100% it, I lost interest. It's all bunnies and ferrying people around anyway so who cares, I'd probably just get another pearl necklace for my troubles.

I do like that you can wear the conductor's outfit tho.

Anyway this game is definitely fun and worthwhile if you're a Zelda fan—especially since it comes packaged in with Zelda's most important role in the whole series. Seriously Nintendo, why can't we play as her yet? Why is she always being sidelined as a damsel in distress? Her name is in the fucking title for god's sake.

[ceejaykayess]

SMTV:V Vengeance Route Minor Late Game Spoilers (and some minor Creation True Neutral spoilers)

I've been playing SMTV:V for the last month and finally got to put it down yesterday finishing all six routes after initially only wanting to do the True Neutral ending then grab both (or just one depending on how satisfied I felt) Vengeance endings. I liked it enough that I'm honestly kinda sick of it.

But a certain series of conversations in Taito with a certain character pushed me to make a post to push out a message to the sea of souls.

To start, let's bring up the original release of SMTV in 2021. Now, while plenty of people praised the gameplay, the game's story was near universally reviled, or at best ignored. The biggest symptom of this was the lacking, if not outright shitty, characterisation of our cast. The player was, ultimately, left with no real reason to care about any of these chumps on a personal basis outside of maybe Tao and Aogami (and Ichiro, but his shit went wack super hard so it kinda evened out), and could only really care about them in terms of what they think the game wanted from them. Comparatively, the demons in the game got much more of a spotlight, being almost entirely who you got sidequests from, as well as who you interact with the most, not even in a gameplay sense but in a cutscene one too. Bumping into Fionn over the course of the story was cool, and him eventually accepting you as his king was a nice conclusion. Amanozako, annoying she may be, turned out to, at least conceptually, be pretty interesting in her relationship to the protagonist. Plenty of the demons you met had strong personalities that, when combined with their gameplay styles, left a strong impression on the player, and made them more important to (You) as a person than the "main characters".

So, along comes the True Neutral ending of the game, the closest to a "definitive" ending in terms of gameplay experience, with the secret final boss showing off his chops as probably the hardest non-superboss. And in this ending, you... create a world for humanity alone. Which means you... get rid of all of the gods and demons plaguing your world, made more or less certain by absorbing the secret final boss' Knowledge. The gods and demons you've spent upwards of 50 hours running around for, fighting with, fusing, studying, refining, even just watching.

Even your partner, Aogami, who's the only reason you're still alive.

And people were... not exactly hot on it. Generally people thought all the endings weren't great, and none of them actually felt like they fit their supposed alignment, with Neutral and Chaos seeming mixed in their placement and Law being the most tame it's ever been since the franchise's inception, if the wiki didn't lie to me. Made for great angsty fanfiction at least, but... not exactly a lot to go around.

Now, this brings me to the alignment rep for Neutrality, Shohei Yakumo, and his Life, Nuwa. Nuwa herself wasn't too much of a character, as much as she was a couple pretty good lines and an attempted line of communication between you and Yakumo. Yakumo is the real star of the show here, and... what a star he was.

I don't think anybody liked this guy. Hell, I'm not sure anyone likes this guy even after Vengeance's addendums. He shows up, starts shit, accomplished nothing we actually see or that actually matters, then dies. In the Neutral routes, he dies to fucking Ichiro and Abdiel, like fuck off. His plan, with Nuwa, is to destroy the Throne of Creation, which will make it impossible for a new God to remake the world or rule over humanity (in this way at least, allegedly, but no secret final boss so maybe actually). When we attempt it, we get the Neutral ending, generally accepted as the worst ending, and even to me actively read like the bad ending to the story. The protagonist even has the same evil little smile on his face as when he uses Profaned Land.

Of course, when you fulfill certain conditions (read: have certain fusion recipes visibly unlocked in the World of Shadows) Nuwa will stroll up to you at some point and tell you that the original plan was to make a world for humanity alone, but that they didn't go with it for... some reason. That's the True Neutral ending. Out of universe, a boggling decision to make, and in-universe, one that actively tears at out protagonist's heart.

This leads me to the point of the post: In Vengeance route, we are given, implicitly, the reason why Yakumo and Nuwa did not approach the Throne with the idea of using it to make a world just for humans. It is because, in spite of Yakumo being the victims of demons, his parents slaughtered by a man whose will was weak enough to be possessed by them and resenting demons, as a teenager demons were the only friends he really had. Between him and a fellow in Jouin that tells us about his files, we know he often spoke with things nobody else saw and called them his friends, said that he was never really alone. He is described actively as a contradiction. Demons took everything from him. Demons were all he had. He hates demons. He loves demons. He wants to create a world without demons. He can't bring himself to follow through on that ideal and settles for a much shittier compromise: ultimately keeping the status quo and making sure nobody can really change it. Neutral is the bad end; it's the White Ending of SMTV.

But, don't you think all of that sounds a little familiar? Lost things precious to him because of demons, yet in a sense has demons as his closest companions. Wanting to make a world for humanity alone, yet crushed by the weight of erasing those he holds dear. A contradictory person, when you look at him all up.

Hey wait, that's just our protagonist.

That's right, I think they accidentally made Yakumo a strong mirror to the protagonist, as reflected metatextually by the True Neutral route. It is in this way, then, that I find it striking that the Vengeance route, the one praised for making the characters actual characters, and where you can actually say the MC became friends with his classmates and alignment reps, is the route where you can't choose to abandon demons. (Saying that, I have seen some people compare Vengeance Law to True Neutral in removing all demons, I'm not sure about that actually but I dunno) Instead, it's in the Creation route, where you don't make particularly deep bonds at all with your fellow humans, where demons are those most important, most interesting to you, that you can choose to destroy them.

And all of that made me think of Yakumo as incredibly interesting, actually. Nuwa said, in the diverging cutscene between Neutral and True Neutral, that maybe we could do what they (Nuwa and Yakumo) couldn't. In 2021, that would be read as finishing the fight they lost. But now, it reads like this: "You and Yakumo are incredibly similar people. But Yakumo can't pull the trigger on his ideals. I know you can, though. You won't betray yourself." Which is wild to say to a 17 year old God who probably has a history of flip-flopping on who he thinks is right at any given moment, but hey.

[eclipsecrowned]

anyway since it needs to be said:

i do not acknowledge any tvc books beyond the core trilogy regarding my own muses. nothing past q0td holds any power over these buffoons. l*stat never had any of these weird little sidequests in the 2000s like becoming mortal or going to hell or getting involced in m*yfair drama. daniel did not go 'crazy' and have to be pawned off on the worst character in the series. there might be nods in certain narratives to later lore, but it will rarely if ever resemble what we are given in later books outright.

specifically, my l*stat is still being a celebrity to humanity and a pest to the supernatural world. daniel is in the best therapy the can get to handle a hereditary mental illness and still runs the island.

if anyone else wants to incorporate later lore regarding their own muses, that is fine by me. i can adapt. i can either make middle ground or just throw caution to the wind to interact with others. i just explicitly won't write my lads' main verses as in any way resembling whatever anne was doing after the 80s.

i'm not even saying people have to dislike the books. they just do nothing for me and take the characters in some weird directions. i don't want to have to unsnarl anne's weird phase, so i'm not going to. sword of damocles. prune the garden and retain what to me makes sense and is worth exploring.

if this in any way upsets you then i don't know what to tell you, because that is not my problem, and your asks trying to 'checkmate, atheists' me will be deleted <3

[the-phoenix-heart]

Right. so uh. The final season of TUA dropped

I don't know how to feel.

(All the Spoilers Ahead)

Like halfway through this season I would have said it's not what I would've done, but I liked it. I enjoyed it. I thought it was iconic. Maybe a bit of an overuse of the Babyshark song, but you know, not that bad.

But like after that I think I started to hate the season when I realized things weren't going to be explained.

Like there is good about the season don't get me wrong. It was funny. The acting was stellar. I don't hate the ending in principle (I'll get to it later). I don't hate most of the ideas in principle. But it's the little things that keep piling up and piling up.

Like we're at the end of the series and I still don't understand marigold or durango. SO much stuff went unexplained. Why was Jennifer in a squid? Why was she in Moldova in the original timeline? Does she have powers herself or is she just a person until she touches one of the marigolds? Are there 43 durango babies like there were 43 marigold babies? Presumably she was the only one because she was the only one Reggie was protecting, but in that case WHY was she the only one. And that's just all the questions I have about Jennifer. Not even getting into her role in the story.

Because yeah, as a character she's pretty much nothing. She's vaguely empowered. She's vaguely interesting. She vaguely something. I'm not against her as a character. That scene where her and Ben are watching The Blob in different rooms is moving and great foreshadowing in hindsight. But that aside she's just a plot device to help destroy the world this time around. After her and Ben have sex she's just there to be in pain because of the virus. At least we known Ben. I can believe Sparrow Ben and hers connection, even if I'm so glad their romance was mostly just a horny world ending virus. Seriously the moment Ben started talking to her in the diner I got love interest red flags and was so uninterested.

Sparrow Ben by the way is a draaaaag on this season. Look, it was probably the right decision to let Original Ben move on, even if I think Klaus should have been involved with it. But it means when season 3 happened they trapped themselves to Sparrow Ben, who is not as interesting a character as Original Ben and also has less of a connection to the original Hargreeves siblings. Like I get why Luther or Klaus are trying to spend time with Ben, but the rest? I don't. Which is why I guess he's so disconnected from them this season, and doesn't get the big ending moment with them (times like this I wish they had kept Ghost Ben around).

But of course at least Ben has things to do this season. Imagine being someone as useless as Luther? Luther spends the season being a himbo, not at all the leader he used to be, and a repository of sex jokes and sconce jokes. And we REALLY aren't looking at his issues??? He's living in the condemned remains of his childhood home and also the place where he fell in love with Sloane, and we're not going to talk about that???

And then there's Klaus...Klaus, Klaus, Klaus. It's tradition that Klaus kicks off a personal sidequest/subplot every season, but by GOD this was the worst one. Like, it's funny, in a dark sort of way, but it's also so POINTLESS. We really wasted precious time in this six episode season on Klaus being kidnapped by his former drug dealer, working as a medium for one customer who is looking to find her ex's money he hid, getting Kill Billed, and then getting rescued. WHY?! Why was Alison the only one who cared? Why didn't Abigail at least say something like, "Where's Klaus? I've been wanting to see him."

And he was so close to really finally getting his this season. His introduction this series showed that more than anyone he was effected by the loss of his powers-ie. being terrified of the world and falling back into his old habits so he's very careful about everything. He also gets to be Claire's fun uncle this season! And then after he is forced to get his powers back he is rightfully pissed and in a state of distress and it's really working. And then it's just...a funny sideplot I guess?

The sideplot's purpose I suppose is to properly redeem Allison after last season, showing she'll still do anything for her family, and I'm sorry but that was the WORST way to do it. Allison and Klaus have always been close with each other in every season, and only now are they saying it's kind of unhealthy. And ultimately it doesn't matter since it's just a footnote in the last episode. Like, this season treats her so weird. For someone who was pushing the plot along last season she really doesn't have much to do this season other than her relationship with Klaus. They don't even really address the whole Allison created another world for us thing, or how much she screwed them over last season (And I am NOT an Allison hater okay. I loved her arc last season. I just also think that they should acknowledge it more in this season). The six year time skip really is doing so much work to ignore the events of last season.

And then there's Viktor. Who is both doing a lot this season and coming out looking like he's doing nothing. He's just kinda there for a few episodes, they imply he has commitment issues and then do nothing with that (I guess it's just meant to point out how awful this new timeline is?), and up until the flashback with him asking to go on the mission and being turned down, as well as the mission with Reginald I kinda kept forgetting he was there. Which is not something you want to do for your actor who gets top billing and is arguably the most important character in the series.

But of course he isn't the most important character this season. Which means it is finally time to talk about the clusterfuck in the room.

Let me just say, I kinda get what they were going for. Lila would be uncomfortable with being a housewife and would need an escape, and her and Five have been set up as connected since the second season so it's not impossible that she would try something with him, and it's not even that creepy from a Watsonian point of view because he's in his sixties and by the time they do anything he's in the body of a 24 year old at least; and from Five's point of view he is an incredibly lonely guy who has no real purpose in life anymore and is still a man out of time so it's not impossible that he might look at Lila as a person for that connection he's been missing since Dolores and yet-

My body STILL cringes at the sight of them.

Like, what should have happened logically is they kiss and then the two recoil in revulsion and talk about how much of a mistake that once and how gross it is. And yet the season tries to string us along with this awful love triangle.

And let's be clear it is not awful for Five. You can call it character assassination for him, personally I don't agree with that, but the framing makes it out that Five is in tragic love with her. Like they could have had a happy life together in that cottagecore universe, but OH the trappings of their universe kept them from it. Five ends the season as the most important character who has the answers and has to tragically give them.

I don't hate the diner with all the other Fives. I don't hate him traversing the multiverse for answers. I don't hate Five in this season, even if it is out of character for him to abandon a mission like that (He spent 50 years in the apocalypse trying to get home he wouldn't give up after SIX). I do hate what it does to Diego and Lila's characters.

It makes sense for Lila to be uncomfortable with suburban life. It also makes sense that Diego is uncomfortable with suburban life. At the same time it makes NO sense. Honestly the roles should be reversed, Diego should be putting all his time into being a full time parent and Lila should have the money making job, that makes more sense for their characters. Diego may be obsessed with heroism, but he also is obsessed with the ideals of family and taking care of them, it doesn't make sense for Diego to be so distant from them. Hell in the end LILA is the one with the big family moments, Diego doesn't even say goodbye to them I think. Diego's character is warped to fit this love triangle subplot they concocted and it REAKS. I HATE it. To make Five look like a viable option they have to make Diego this weird deadbeat-ish out of shape dad which makes NO SENSE.

And Lila is so hard done by the subplot because it controls her motivations. Why would Lila of all people choose to be a stay at home mom? I like that she's still disguising herself and doing her own thing on the sly, but she could do that even if she had a job. She's still a fun character, and I like that they played up her loyalties. I like the scene at the end where she almost dooms the world to stay with her family, but of course FIVE has to talk her down from that decision not her HUSBAND. Because her connection with Five is somehow more important than her connection with Diego that has been built up after three seasons.

And that's not to say anything about the small details that ruin this season for me. In no particular order-

The absence of Ray was the first major red flag for me. I guess he might've been unable to play the role this season so they just wrote him out of the show or they didn't know how to write him into it so they just said he ran out on Allison and Claire. Either way I hate it. Ray was such a good character in season 2 and I know this timeline is supposed to be kinda shitty, but that is doing Ray as a character so dirty, and Allison as well seeing as Allison and him were married and happy in season 2.

The absence of SLOANE. Did Luther not go trying to find Sloane in this new world? Did he just give up? He keeps mentioning her so why didn't he DO anything. Why didn't Sparrow Ben try to find his siblings???

I shouldn't still be mad about the absence of Dave, but I in fact am. His absence in season 3 was already conspicuous (the timeline had already changed with Dave enlisting earlier than expected and Klaus not being with him in Vietnam, who's to say he couldn't have still been alive in that timeline?) but the fact that he's not in this timeline either is so fucking sad for Klaus. Maybe him and Dave were soulmates, maybe they weren't, but the show sure treated it like they were. I know that the ending of the show is meant to be tragic, but we couldn't have THIS?

Seeing as Lila's family is alive in this timeline, why do none of the Hargreeveses have their biological families?

And let's talk about that ending shall we? Again, I get what they were going for. The ultimate sacrifice together as a family. The idea that they were so dangerous their existence was parasitic to the universe. The idea that after death they're still there as a couple of marigolds. It's sweet.

It's also FUCKING STUPID.

I might've been happy with the ending if Gene and Jean had been included being happy. I might've been happy with the ending if Eudora was there. I might've been happy if Dave or Harlan were there. As it stands none of them were there so that ending is already terrible to me, but it means I have no problem ripping apart the fabric of the ending.

Firstly, any story that says there is only one timeline is boring. Any story that says there is only one timeline and that timeline is normal is worse than boring, it's just plain stupid.

The idea that the Hargreeves are destined for an eternal tormenting cycle of destroying and saving the world is, at best, deeply nihilistic. I think it fails to understand that the end of the world could probably be avoided with therapy. But if we really take that as the gosphel then here is a bright idea, how about you spread all of them out across the timeline so they can't come together and end the universe? Then you still get a sacrifice without that horrible one timeline outcome.

That's another thing that makes no sense. So what, the way to make the one true timeline is that in one timeline Lila, Five, Diego, Luther, Klaus, Viktor, and Allison have to sacrifice themselves Cleanseiffer and that fixes everything? When there are countless alternate universes where they still have the marigold?

The refusal to acknowledge all 43 marigold children has always been a thorn in my side, but I really felt it this season. This would've been the perfect time to include all of them. Hell, maybe use the subway system and the other Five's to send the message that they need to give up their marigold. THAT would have been evocative.

Or, I dunno, don't kill everyone. Maybe if you're going to do the durango/marigold plot then maybe have a bunch of durango children to parallel the marigold children. Have them be their equal and opposites to really nail down that whole yin and yang thing you TRIED to give Jennifer and Ben. Just something, god, anything rather than what you gave us.

[smash-64]

2023 Game of the Year Countdown #1 The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie Nintendo Switch, 2023

For a fourth time since 2018, a Trails game takes my #1 for the year.

Breaking from tradition, this Trails game has no sidequests. It has a very linear story, although technically there are three linear stories and you can jump from one to another for most of the game. In many respects, this is the “Trails in the Sky the 3rd” for the Cold Steel series. Not only is the story more linear, but we get redemption arcs from past villains, and we also get an absolutely disgusting amount of playable characters. Chrono Cross has 45 playable characters, and people often say that’s too many. Well…Reverie has 50. And each of them gets at least a little time in the spotlight. It’s fantastic for Trails fans, and I adored it. I put 150 hours into this game and I’m not sure I could have put less time into it.

Playing the game on Switch, there were definitely a few times the game chugged, so I can’t give the game a perfect 10. Many of the cutscenes in Crossbell City were bogged down by the sheer number of NPCs, and was noticeable to me, a person famously unconcerned with performance. I can see why people advocate for playing this on PC or PS4, but the portability of the Switch trumps all else in my mind. This is really the only downside I experienced with the game, although it did not affect my enjoyment at all.

Having three linear storylines to follow in any order you want is phenomenal. You can keep going with characters you love, and are never forced to stick with the ones you don’t for very long. And with having a linear story, the pace of the game is potentially sped up a little bit from the traditional Trails experience where sidequests can often lead to very long delays in the main story.

The story itself offers a ton. Obviously I can’t spoil a game that is the 10th in an interconnected, on-going series, but I’ll just say that once the main story is over…the postgame story is equally as interesting and gives fans a peek at some of the series-long questions and issues brought up in previous entries. 

Combat is fairly standard as far as the Cold Steel games go. I love Trails combat and this game tweaks little, as nothing was broken. It’s perhaps a little bit more difficult than CS3 or CS4, since the Break mechanic was pretty OP in those two games and it has been toned down slightly, but you can still take full advantage of it if you’re smart and plan well. I also like how some of the accessories drastically increase specific stats, so min/maxing is actually fun in this game. I was able to get Tita Russell’s attack and HP to absolutely absurd heights in this game. She is no longer baby; she wants power!

As previously stated, almost every single character gets their time in the spotlight. Some more than others, of course, but the fact that we get 50 playable characters, yet every one of them gets a chance to shine is a wonderful piece of work by the developers and writers. I’d say that perhaps Musse gets very little, but she had more than enough focus in CS3 and 4. Even Machias gets his own episode, and he is so often forgotten that even I forget about him at times.

Music is good as always when it comes to Falcom. I appreciate some of the battle tunes, like Elegant Prowess, and the game has its own unique sound that sets it apart from CS3 and 4. Maybe not to the same extent that Sky the 3rd sets itself apart from FC and SC, but the tracks unique to this game sound different enough that they are easy to pick out. There are dozens of returning tracks as well, since we revisit quite a few places from previous entries. 

My favorite character is Estelle Bright, and I was glad to see a focused effort to put her in the spotlight more often. She wasn’t in CS1-3, and played a more supporting role in 4 than anything else. Meanwhile, Lloyd and Rean ran the show. Estelle is not one of the main storylines in this game, but it’s nice to see her back with some of her famous one-liners.

Overall, I can’t really say enough about the game. It’s an amazing JRPG experience, but one that requires playing the 9 previous games in the series. Maybe that’s a daunting task to some, but the good thing about trying out a Trails game is that there is always another one to play afterward.

[livvyofthelake]

ok! sidequest from january complete! i am right now the world's biggest expert on the lightning thief and i will no longer be this person in three days when it all leaves my brain so let's get into it now. i reread the book (have not opened it since eighth grade, also i started it in january made it halfway through and this week had to go back to the beginning because i forgot it all), watched the show (ok. i watched 6 episodes as they came out and then didn't do anything until last week), and rewatched the movie with fresh eyes. and i have to say it's good i didn't finish this in january, that wasn't the right time for this... i was being kind of a hater then. or at least. i wasn't being a forgiver. this time around i feel like i was in the best place imaginable to devote my time to this franchise i ordinarily don't care about. like i was very forgiving and loving and viewing it with a lot of fondness... i didn't even do that back in april when i read the nico book damn. couldn't even extend the fondness to my favorite guy.... that's not even true i think my favorite guy in this franchise is annabeth i just used to think it was nico back in the day because i think after pjo i didn't consider her a real character due to her being so entrenched in the mythos of the series. idk. i was weird about picking favorite characters back then i never thought i could pick a main one. idk. let's not dwell on the trenches of ages 12-15. do not worry about how that line of thinking impacted my relationship with tsc we aren't getting into that weirdness rn

ok so now i'd like to go through everything about the lightning thief (yes, specifically only the lightning thief. i'm not reading the other ones and i'm not watching that second movie...) and talk about which version i liked best and the pros and cos of everything <3 stay tuned if you want to read a longgggg ass post! if not. well gtfo damn

if you can believe it i’m actually about to be a movie hater and a show apologist. i know like. how bad is my life rn that it’s come to this. anyway. let's get into it....

characters:

percy- i'm gonna say the best percy is book percy. i mean naturally he’d be best in the book it’s his book he’s the narrator and protagonist and we all loved him in middle school!! and i think the show version of him definitely stayed truer to a lot of what makes the book charming and loveable, but i also think the movie version kept much of the character’s spirit alive too, just in an older way. i do think his age plays a role in the character and while i don’t think aging everyone up for the movie was a BAD choice i definitely think it was an impactful choice that changed a lot about the nature of the story in many ways we can get into later if we remember

annabeth- show. by like. miles and leagues and lightyears. the way leah sava jeffries DEVOURED that role and left no crumbs is utterly insane. that girl is a future academy award winner. she’s a future egot even. if she wants to do theater. she’s like. a once in a lifetime talent and i really believe this. have you ever heard the ways she can devour the single word “yes”? if not you couldn’t possibly hope to understand how hard she slays. anyway i like show annabeth best because the show diverges from the book and movie’s single perspective and kind of opens it up as an ensemble narrative, so she gets her own scenes that aren’t being seen through percy’s eyes, which REALLY adds nuances and depth to her that she doesn’t always have in this franchise. i know she has povs in heroes of olympus i was there. i am currently talking specifically about the lightning thief though. and the thing about annabeth in the lightning thief is that she is weird... she's such a little weirdo.... she's stalking percy around camp because she wants so desperately for him to be the one that can take her on a quest and she wants sooo bad to go on a quest and prove herself.... the movie gave almost none of her freak tendencies it's a tragedy... the way that girl acted in the movie was NOT a proper display of the qualities that landed her in the timeless video..... and leah i look forward to seeing YOUR freak ass in the 2026 remade timeless video <3

grover- i’m gonna say movie because i think he’s funniest in the movie. but show is a close second because in the show he’s sooooo sweet and adorable and it makes you go awwww groverrrrr… and he has those big brown eyes and big smile and you’re just like ohhh he’s just a baby…. actually i think it’s a tie between movie and show because both of those qualities are equally important to the character

luke- show. there is something about jake abel’s performance in the movie that makes me want to punch him in the face soooo bad. and when i was rereading the book i sort of realized like. wait we actually are supposed to like this guy and sympathize with him without him being an annoying Popular Guy… and charlie bushnell’s performance in the show really gave that in a delightful way i didn’t appreciate when i tried watching the show before rereading the book. the show really does give you a sense of his conflict between really truly caring about the trio and his ultimate moves against them. i think letting annabeth be there at the Reveal that he framed percy for stealing the lightning bolt was a crazy decision that went HARD. like. she’s his sister… he would always be on her side… until he wasn’t…. it was crazy you had to be there i think

chiron- i’m gonna go with movie. because i think in the book he’s forgettable and in the show he’s forgettable (sorry but. i watched it two days ago and i don’t remember a single thing he did or said) and in the movie he was pierce brosnan. as a centaur. what if sam mamma mia was. a centaur….

medusa- i know they want me to love the show version. like ok yes she slayed she ate i enjoyed how they changed the story there it was kinda cool it kinda gave hansel and gretel in the witch’s house. but i HAVE to give it to uma thurman let’s all be fucking real here. also. percy pulling out his ipod touch as a mirror… well that’s cinema. unbeatable.

echidna- was not in the movie because the movie swaps out the st. louis arch for the nashville parthenon. but i am going with show. because that shit was Crazy. i’ll get into it in the Events section of the post

hades- book. the movie makes him The Villain for easy film storytelling reasons which kinda sucks but from a movie adaptation perspective makes sense but still kind of pisses me off. and in the show he felt insanely underwhelming idk

persephone- ONLY appears in the movie. and i’m including her here to complain about something very specific. the reason she was not there in the book or show. is because this story takes place in the weeks before THE SUMMER SOLSTICE. persephone. would not BE. in the UNDERWORLD. on the SUMMER. SOLSTICE. i never even realized this about the movie until this week i’m hardly a greek mythology expert ok i wasn’t thinking about it that much. but now that the book reminded me i’m like. now why did the movie include persephone. on the summer. solstice. like one of her most main things is that she would not be there. probably her most main thing actually. that’s crazy.... like who was on that. who did that....

poseidon- gonna go with. book. show version didn’t Give anything... he was legit just some guy. i think i feel this way about all the gods in the show. except maybe hermes because well crucially that WAS lin manuel miranda… and i don’t like him in the movie because a) that’s literally just owen grey’s anatomy my mortal enemy owen hunt. and b) the movie decided to portray the vibe as like. poseidon wanted to raise percy and stay with his mother but couldn’t? which. well no he did not actually. and trying to make percy this. One Exception to the idea of gods not caring about their kids and making sally the exception to gods not really long term loving the people they have children with. it’s just ridiculous to me. percy isn’t an exception because his dad loved him he’s an exception because his mom is awesome. and sally does not give a fuck that poseidon didn’t like. marry her or whatever. idk. i just don’t care for the way the movie handles that i never have

zeus- gives nothing to me in all versions. peace on earth.

last on the list but first in my heart. the one and only sally jackson- SHOW. by leaps and bounds. i can’t get too into it but she’s SO AWESOME in there… she’s SO COOL. she gave jocelyn fairchild in many ways… she taught percy about greek mythology because he would need to know this someday... she raised him to be ready for the storm....

events:

minotaur- show. this is so tied to how much i loved sally in the show. literally hold fast and brave the storm…. i'm gonna cry again

capture the flag- show. let’s be serious the movie’s version of it was dumb and FILLED with so many bad annabeth moments…. i watch her in the beginning of this movie and i go wow she would not say that! she wanted him on HER team…. she wouldn’t cut him with a sword… also. what i like about the show version is that AFTER they won was when annabeth just. shoved his ass in the water like um sorry has to be done! and it was real

starting the quest- show…. i loved when chiron was like i've assembled all these cool potential kids you could select :) and percy didn't even listen to their names he just said um i want annabeth please! but he wasn't that polite he straight up just said her name no fuss about it he said i want this freak on my team. and my bestie grover <3 and grover wasn't even like an option percy just wanted him on his quest soooo bad... because they're best friends btw if you haven't heard!

medusa- MOVIE. next

st. louis arch- show… the way annabeth volunteers to fight off the chimera and percy does that thing where he pretends to let her and hands her his sword but then uses the sword to pull himself into where she's standing and push her back into the stairs to get out... that was crazy stuff! also i loved the part about them going to the arch not just because annabeth was obsessed with architecture but because the arch was a temple to athena. like i think that gave such a cool opportunity to give annabeth some character moments and showcase her relationship with her mother, the way athena allowed the chimera to attack because she was mad at annabeth for letting percy send medusa's head to olympus... damn these gods are bad parents!

water park- SHOWWWWWW NO QUESTION. i never gave a fuck about the spider shit they did in the book that was all lame but the way they changed it for the show slayed the house downnnn omg.... percy getting trapped in that golden chair so annabeth can get ares' shield, instead of taking the shield back she tries to get him out until hephaestus himself comes out and tries to make her give up...and then her speech to him was sooo excellent it was so ANNABETH it was so thesis statement on her and percy's dynamic it was so good.... "it isn't how it should be! it isn't! eat or be eaten, power and glory and nothing else matters! ares is that way, zeus is that way, my mother is that way.... he isn't that way..." she doesn't want to do this quest the gods way! she wants to save her friends! god guys it was so fucking good....

lotus casino- just going with book here. underdog pick i know. i just don’t want to involve myself in the discourse that WAS happening in january. i was there on tiktok it was annoying as hell i’m removing myself from the narrative. i will say that in a sense, levitating by dua lipa is kind of the poker face of our time. in a sense.

underworld- book. we are at a point in this post where i don't care enough to really write a paragraph on the parts that don't interest me as much. so. yeah

the pearls- ok. the thing the movie did with the pearls was make them the whole plot. they went to medusa’s place and the nashville parthenon and the lotus casino to get the pearls to escape the underworld. but the whole deal with the movie is that there wasn’t a Quest like the books they were going rogue to save percy’s mom. so why did they never question that they were looking for three pearls to ultimately get four people out of the underworld? like. come on guys you’re not this stupid… and in the book and show the pearls were given to percy by that water lady. but in the show she gave him 4 and then they lost one which i thought was stupid like couldn’t we have just done it how it happened in the book where he was only given three and had to leave his mom behind trusting that once he found hades helm he’d let her go? anyway. whatever. book

fight with ares- pretty much all the same. only notable difference between the book and the show is that the book leaned way more into the “percy is a fugitive” thing than the show ever did so the fight had spectators in the book. which worked for the book but i do think in the show would have gotten too complicated in many ways

olympus- book. actually idk. all versions are kinda the same deal who cares

luke betrayal- show! in the book he just takes percy out to the forest and sets a monster scorpion on him… lame! in the show he pulls out a sword and fights him himself… which i decided was better than the movie ONLY because i liked show luke better than movie luke. but the final fight in the movie is sick too

ending- i think. they are equally good. the movie doesn’t conclude at the end of summer like the others so it’s ending is more. not ambiguous. but like. less conclusive? the movie ends after they return the lightning bolt not at the end of the summer so it never has the part where percy has to decide to stay at camp or live with his mom. but the movie does lowkey imply he's staying at camp. which is crazy i mean he loves his mom.... anyway. it's still a good movie ending. between the book and the show there's not much difference actually.

in conclusion, i don't have a favorite but i will say i'm probably not gonna read the book again while i might rewatch the show. and i have already seen the movie many times. so if you wanna evaluate based on that metric there it is. i don't have an opinion on which is the Best because adaptations are complicated and these are three different mediums. i think it's a great middle grade book, a good 2010 ass movie, and a sort of middling tv show. i know i favored the show for a lot of things up there but ultimately it's just not a great tv show. it's a streaming service original that gave the author of the book and his most annoying and rabid fans too much say in the adaptation process. it's a really faithful adaptation. and we got a bunch of really good tiktok edits out of it. but is it a good television show? no.... i mean if you want to feel like you're watching the book it's good for that but it you want to watch a great tv show it's not the vibe. you understand!

i'll leave you with this sick edit for right now <3