Thank you to u/mehakarin69 for the following additions:

• Killer Sans as a separate character
• Axetale Sans + Aliza (as well as their skins.)
• Last Genocide Sans as a separate character from Dusttale Sans
• Dust Sans' new base design
• The Fanon Sans taunt
• Dustbelief Papyrus as his own character
• Most of the new stages
• The Axetale Flowey skin
• The Othertale characters
• Underfell Chara
• Changes to the plot
• Lore clarifications

​
Characters

• Undertale:
  • Frisk
    • Base design: Whatever skin color looks closest to the game sprite. Closed eyes with really thick eyelashes. Short, brown, slightly messy hair. Black/Navy Blue shorts. Black socks. They have the manly bandana wrapped around their forehead, a bandage on their cheek, the tough glove, ballet shoes, and the heart locket. In addition to using the bandana in their attack animations as a mid-range attack, they also use the stick and throw their various consumable items.
    • Classic (Changes their model to an exact translation of their sprite to a 3d model. Expression is completely unchanging, with three rectangles representing eyes, nose, and mouth. Boots go all the way up the legs. No visible separation between pants and sweater.)
    • Lightner (Hypothetical Lightner Frisk design.)
    • Tenacity (Red scarf and blue jacket over their normal clothes. Gives Frisk a new intro and outro animation.)
    • Overtale (Goat Frisk.)
    • Overtale Nuvex version (Tanuki Frisk.)
    • Shifty (They have Mettaton’s haircut)
    • Prince (Underkeep boy version.)
    • Princess (Underkeep girl version.)
    • Zombie [Obtainable during Halloween event] (Green skin, tattered clothes, and eyeball hanging out of one socket.)
  • Chara
    • Base design: Chara’s design is a pretty faithful recreation, though they also have the locket around their neck.
    • Ghost (Transparent with a red filter and glow.)
    • Scary face (Completely black eyes and distorted smile that drips black fluid.)
    • Lightner (Hypothetical Lightner Chara design.)
    • Overtale (Goat Chara)
    • Underfell (Black overalls with a red heart on the front pouch.)
    • Prince (Underkeep boy version.)
    • Princess (Underkeep girl version.)
    • Vampire [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Pale skin, fangs, black cape with red interior, dark green button-down suit, long black dress skirt.)
    • Dark Elf [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (Dark green cape and hood with yellow highlights, pointy ears, dark green light armor.)
  • Toriel
    • Teacher (Toriel in the teacher outfit she wears in the Pacifist ending and in Deltarune.)
    • Underswap (Crown and cape.)
    • Story Shift (Armor she wears in the Story Shift AU)
    • Overtale (Human Toriel)
    • Monarch (Underkeep dress)
  • Sans
    • No Jacket (Self-explanatory.)
    • White Slippers (Self-explanatory.)
    • Yellow Eye (His eye will turn yellow instead of blue in his attack animations.)
    • Overtale (Human Sans.)
    • Story Shift (King Attire from Story Shift AU)
    • Fancy Bones (Underkeep Sans outfit.)
    • Fanon (Sans wearing a white wig. Includes a special taunt where he pulls a blue glowstick out of his shorts.)
  • Papyrus
    • Cool Dude (Wearing his cool dude outfit.)
    • Scarf (Long, red scarf instead of a cape)
    • Jogboy suit (The clothes he wore in the Alphys date scene.)
    • Story Shift (Caretaker of the ruins outfit from Story Shift AU.)
    • Sir Papyrus (Underkeep Papyrus outfit.)
    • Santa Papyrus [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (Papyrus wears a Santa outfit and fake beard. His projectile attacks are now presents instead of bones, and he says “NYOHOHO!” instead of “NYEHEHE!”)
  • Undyne
    • Armor (Wearing her Royal Guard Armor)
    • Date Clothes (Dressed in the suit she wore during the Alphys Date Scene.)
    • Deltarune (Cop with no eyepatch.)
    • Overtale (Human Undyne)
    • Baroness (Underkeep dress.)
    • Android [Beat Story Shift Undyne in campaign] (Undyne’s Story Shift design.)
    • Creature from the Black Lagoon [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Gillman face, fins on arms, large hands, webbed fingers, digitigrade feet, webbed toes.)
  • Alphys
    • Date dress (Dress she wears during the date.)
    • Teacher (Clothes she wears in Deltarune.)
    • Overtale (Human Alphys)
    • Lotus (Underkeep dress.)
    • Ghost Costume [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Sheet over her with eye holes.)
  • Mettaton
    • News Anchor (Standard-looking news reporter clothes.)
    • Queen (Dressed similarly to Queen from Deltarune.)
    • One True Love (The dress he wears in his song “Oh! One True Love”)
    • Gothaton (Gothic clothing on Mettaton)
    • Overtale (Human Mettaton)
    • King Mettaton (Underkeep suit.)
    • Love Letter [Obtainable during Valentine's event.] (Red where black normally is, heart buckles on his shoes, heart-shaped halo, angel hair wings when in Neo mode, slightly pink hue to the grey parts, lighter pink on pink parts.)
  • Muffet
    • Buffet (Buffet is a blonde baker spider who appears in the fan comic “Cafe Frisk.”)
    • Underswap (Wearing her attire from Underswap.)
    • Royal Baker (Underkeep dress.)
  • Asgore
    • Mr.Dad Guy (Wearing Mr.Dad Guy sweater.)
    • Gardener (Wearing his clothes from the Pacifist route ending and Deltarune.)
    • Caretaker Asgore (Based on his outfit from Underswap)
    • Dr.Asgore (Based on his outfit from Story Shift)
    • Great Knight (Underkeep armor.)
  • Flowey
    • Starbucks Employee (Based on a Shenanigoons joke, which I felt should be there given how this idea came to be.)
    • Cyclops (Flowey in Horrortale.)
    • Boogie (Flowey in Story Shift.)
    • Wilted (Flowey in Underfell.)
    • Void (Gaster Flowey from Fatal Error.)
    • Robot (Flowey in Understeam.)
    • Infected (Flowey in Axetale.)
  • Asriel [Complete Story Mode]
    • Throwback (Normal clothes in God of Hyperdeath form.)
    • Boyband Asriel (Based off a piece of Concept Art of Asriel with boyband hair.)
    • Gardener (Clothes from his Mafiatale design.)
  • Genocide Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Base design: Similar to normal Frisk, but with dust covering their hands, cheek, and sweater. They also have different accessories equipped. They use the real knife and empty gun in battle animations, and they wear the stained apron and the cowboy hat.
    • Classic (Same as Frisk’s Classic skin but with dust on their cheeks, hands, and sweater.)
    • fAnOn Vs CaNoN (Pink cheeks and open, red eyes.)
    • Happy Halloween [obtainable during Halloween event] (They now wear a Michael Myers costume.)
  • W.D. Gaster [Complete Story Mode on Nightmare mode.]
    • {REDACTED} (The Redacted sprite.)
    • Retsag Gnid Gniw (Upside down Gaster sprite fully realized.)
    • Everyman (The Everyman sprite from one of the Amalgamate battles.)
    • Memory Heads (Cluster of memory heads.)
  • Temmie Armor [Unlock every Frisk in the game]
    • Design: An Ironman-style suit of armor covered in Temmie's face and painted with the color scheme of Temmie’s sweater.
  • Burgerpants [$10,000,000.00 DLC (or 110% completion reward. One of the two.)]
    • Underworld (He looks the same except has a bruise on his arm which he got from bumping into a doorframe.)
    • TS!Underswap (Grillby’s branded delivery boy outfit.)
    • Burger-ley (Outfit swap with Berdly.)
  • Toby Fox [Get the Annoying Dog easter egg with every Undertale character including Burgerpants.] {WARNING: This character is insanely unfair to fight against. Use only if you do not value friendship or the structural integrity of your jaw and nose.}
• Deltarune
  • Kris [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form. Uses a giant pencil instead of a sword.)
    • Classic (Change skin color to match their sprite.)
    • The 13th [Avalable during Halloween event.] (Kris wearing a Jason Vorhees Costume.)
  • Susie [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form. Still has her axe.)
    • Punk (Black leather jacket with white undershirt and spiked wristbands.)
    • Evil Queen (Dressed like Bowsette.)
    • Containment Breach [Available during Halloween event.] (Torn-up clothes, green scales, sharp, bloody teeth, bone spikes jutting out of her back, and black hair going down to the tip of her tail.)
  • Ralsei [100% Completion reward]
    • Ralsei Dreemurr (Ralsei in Asriel’s clothes.)
  • Lancer [100% Completion reward]
    • Prince of Mischief (Bowser Jr. Scarf.)
  • Jevil [100% Completion reward]
    • Digital Circus (Swapped color palette with Pomni from The Amazing Digital Circus.)
  • Noelle [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form.)
    • Noelle the Red-Nosed Reindeer [Available during Christmas event.] (Gingerbread pattern dress and red, glowing nose.)
  • Berdly [100% completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form.)
    • Right out of High School (Outfit swap with Burgerpants.)
  • Queen [100% completion reward]
    • Metta-Queen (Outfit swap with Mettaton.)
  • Spamton [100% completion reward]
    • [BIGGEST] shot (Sparkling golden suit with dollar sign sunglasses and wads of cash jutting out of his pockets. Money particle effects appear whenever he moves, and one of his special moves is replaced with him dropping a palette of money on you.)
    • You Can (Not) [GET A REFUND] (Outfit based on Asuna’s plug suit from Evangelion.)
• Underswap
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign]
    • Rad Dude (Underswap version of the cool dude outfit.)
    • Christmas sweater [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (The sweater he wears in the Christmas Party comic.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign]
    • “THAT’S MY ATTACK!” (Change the orange parts of his design to blue.)
  • Chara [Beat them in campaign]
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Creepy (Frisk’s eyes and mouth are sewn shut.)
    • A true nightmare [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Wearing a Freddy Kreuger costume.)
  • Napstabot [Win 10 battles as Mettaton]
    • T.S. Underswap (Napstabot in T.S. Underswap.)
• Underfell
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Flowerfell [Die to every Papyrus as Underfell Frisk] (Flowerfell Frisk’s design instead of Underfell Frisk’s. Similar moves, but their voice lines are different and their finisher cards are major scenes from Flowerfell.)
    • Collar (Red turtleneck and spiked collar around their neck with a gold chain hanging off of it.)
    • Blue and Pink (Sweater with pink, blue, and black stripes.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign]
    • Flowerfell [Die to every Papyrus as Underfell Frisk] (Flowerfell Sans’ design instead of Underfell Sans’. Same changes as Flowerfell Frisk.)
    • No Jacket (Self Explanatory.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Scarf (Wearing a scarf instead of a cape.)
    • Bad Dude (Underfell date attire.)
  • Toriel [Beat her in campaign.]
  • Underfell Asgore [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Casual (Underfell version of the pacifist ending clothes.)
  • Chara [Beat them in campaign.]
• Horrortale:
  • Aliza [Win the Betty boss fight on Insanity mode.]
    • Monster Disguise (Her disguise she wears in the comic.)
    • Horrortale Frisk? [Obtainable during Halloween event] (Aliza dressed as Frisk.)
    • Cannibal (Bloody teeth and bulging, bloodshot eyes.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Pink Jacket (Another tribute to Lythero.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Before the fall (Undyne from the intro of the Horrortale fangame, with a normal-looking eyepatch and crown, and splatters of blood across her face.)
  • Toriel [Beat her in campaign.]
• Glitchtale:
  • Chara [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Season 1 (The season 1 design.)
    • Total Hatred (Completely black with red eyes and mouth.)
    • Frisk [Beat him in campaign.] (Swap Chara for Frisk.)
  • Betty [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Amber [Beat campaign using only Betty] (Betty in her original form)
    • Hatred (Completely black with pink eyes and mouth.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Fear (Two pink eyes instead of two blue eyes.)
  • Jessica [50% completion reward.]
    • Original (Jessica’s first outfit design before the updated design.)
    • Hatred (Black eyes with blue pupils and black fluid leaking from eyes and mouth.)
    • Overtale (Skeleton Jessica.)
  • Gaster [Beat the first Error Sans boss fight.]
    • Void (Gaster’s form in the void.)
    • Original (Gaster’s season 1 design.)
• Story Shift
  • Chara [Beat them in campaign.]
    • Facing Demons (SS!Chara wearing SS!Asriel’s scarf.)
    • Reboot (Reboot Story Shift Chara design.)
    • FellShift (FellShift Chara design.)
    • Mask (Wearing a black mask with eyes and a mouth drawn on in red marker.)
    • Swap (SwapShift Frisk instead of Story Shift Chara)
    • Sweetheart [Obtainable during Valentine’s day event.] (Pink hoodie with cat ears and tail, and chocolate heart constantly in their mouth. No mouth animations.)
  • Asriel [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Classic (Wearing Undertale Asriel’s clothes.)
  • Mettacrit [Beat him in campaign.]
• Littletale
  • Littletale Frisk [Beat campaign on Unlooseable mode.]
    • Worker Elf [Obtainable during Christmas event] (Wearing a green elf costume.)
  • Littletale Sans [Beat campaign on Unlooseable mode.]
    • Elf on the Shelf [Obtainable during Christmas event] (Wearing a red elf costume.)
• Outertale
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign.]
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Alphys [Beat her in campaign.]
  • Mettaton [Beat him in campaign.]
• Echotale
  • G!Sans [Beat twisted campaign.]
  • Echo!Frisk [Beat twisted campaign.]

(Note: Twisted campaign is an alternate version of the campaign mode with new battles and a second story that takes place alongside the main campaign. It’s also way harder. Sounds complicated, but there’s not a chance this game is ever getting made anyway, so it’s fine.)

• Underworld
  • Frisk [Beat twisted campaign.]
  • Sans [Beat him in twisted campaign.]
  • Alphys [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Muffet [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Toriel [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Asgore [Beat him in twisted campaign.]
• Katanatale
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign.]
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Samurai (Dressed in samurai armor and a samurai mask.)
    • Frenzy (Dressed like Guts from Berserk.)
    • Armored Frenzy (Dressed in the Berserker armor.)
  • Gaster [Beat the twisted campaign tutorial.]
• Othertale
  • Undyne (Beat her in twisted campaign.)
  • Color Sans (Beat twisted campaign on hard.)
  • Natacarat Jester (Beat twisted campaign on insanity mode.)
• Outworlders
  • Error Sans [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty.]
    • No Jacket (Self-explanatory)
    • Half-Error (halfway between Error and Geno.)
  • Geno Sans [Beat him in campaign mode.]
  • Fatal Error [Beat the true final boss (Insanity and up only).]
  • Dream Sans [Beat the Nightmare battle in campaign.]
    • Dream Papyrus (Based on a joke I sometimes make that Dream should have been a Papyrus. Replaces the model with a version of Papyrus that looks similar to Dream.)
    • The Mask (Wearing a Dream Minecraft costume.)
  • Nightmare Sans [Beat him in Dream’s campaign.]
    • Red (Dark red instead of dark green.)
  • Fresh [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty]
  • Punk Frisk [Appears as the final boss of Fresh’s campaign. Beat them to unlock them.]
    • Base Design: African American with a ponytail that they dyed orange, wearing “YOLO” sunglasses like Fresh. They wear a sleeveless denim jacket, and underneath that jacket, they have a light pink shirt with an evil clown face emblazoned on it in black. They have a friendship bracelet on their left wrist, plaid tights, a denim short skirt covered in buttons, and long, black combat boots with yellow laces. They also have black lipstick, a nose piercing, earrings, and a gold canine. They go by He/She/They, so to any artists reading this who may be interested in drawing this edgy nightmare of a character, go with whatever gender you prefer.
  • Ink Sans [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty.]
    • Star Sketcher (Based on one of Ink Sans’ alternate outfits)
    • Clean Brush (Based on one of Ink Sans’ alternate outfits)
  • Blueberror [Beat campaign mode on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
  • Core Frisk [Beat campaign mode on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
  • Paperjam [Beat twisted campaign on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
• Misc.
  • Disbelief Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Pumpkin King [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Disbelief Papyrus dresses as Jack Skellington.)
  • Dustbelief Papyrus [Beat him in twisted campaign.]
  • Dust Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Base Design: Purple jacket with gray slippers.
    • Battle Damaged (Torn clothes and cracked skull)
    • Something old (Blue jacket and pink slippers)
    • Something new-ish (Blue jacket and gray slippers)
  • Killer Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Zero Humans (Goku Black costume)
  • Last Genocide [Beat him in campaign.] (Finisher is Last Genocide phase 4.)
    • STAND PROUD (Dressed in Jotaro Kujo cosplay. Spirit Papyrus is dressed like Star Platinum.)
  • Last Breath Sans [Beat campaign on Insanity mode using only different versions of Sans.]
  • Reaper Sans [Enter the Konami code during the Error Sans fight and then beat the hardest battle in the game.]
  • X-Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • X-Chara (Swaps Sans for Chara and changes some attack animations.)
  • Sixbones [Beat them in twisted campaign.]
  • StorySwap Chara [Beat Sixbones on insanity mode.]
  • Seraphim [Beat him in Error Sans’ campaign on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
  • Axe Sans and Aliza [Beat them in twisted campaign.]
    • Beaten Down (Sans and Aliza’s outfits are damaged, and Aliza’s eye is covered with bandages.)
    • Axesanity (Sans is even more damaged than in the Beaten Down skin, and Aliza’s hood is popped and covered in dust. Aliza’s Red Butterfly attack is replaced with a Black Butterfly.)
    • Wedding Bells [Obtainable during valentine’s event.] (Sans in a suit and Aliza in priest garb. Aliza’s Red Butterfly attack is outlined with Axe Frisk’s spirit.)
  • Red [75% completion reward]
  • Papyrus.exe
  • Deigamer & Chara [Beat twisted campaign on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]

Stages

• Undertale
  • Ruins
  • Snowdin
  • Waterfall
  • Hotland
  • The Core
  • Judgement hall
  • Throne Room
  • The Barrier
  • Mt. Ebott
• Undertale Yellow
  • Steamworks
  • Dunes
• Horrortale
  • Withered Ruins
  • Grillby’s
  • The Capital
  • Red Snowdin
• Misc
  • Schizophrenia (Dust Sans’ mind)
  • The Void
  • Omega timeline
  • Xtale

Feel free to suggest whatever characters or costumes you want to see added to this roster. My only rule for suggestions is I’m not allowing anything from Alphatale or Godverse.
Next time I post about this game concept, I will be going into detail on the controls and mechanics of the game.

This is a guide to farming dragoncash, which will henceforth be abbreviated as DC. I previously posted a this on how to exploit primary elements being added to epic habitats, which makes dragons previously only able to be stored in low-capacity primary habitats viable for DC farming, but it has occurred to me that this reference is likely unsuitable for players still in the early game. This version aims to correct this by including return on investment (ROI), non-maximised thresholds and intermediary dragons. Its focus will be on habitats without a limit, but users are encouraged to use limit habitats according to their tastes.
In addition to the standard boosts, weather generators provide a stackable +2% boost, albeit at a cost of gems. They will only be considered if using one or two is enough to push a dragon into the next earning threshold. There exists glitches to increase the effective size of islands, but this will also not be considered.
A cost of 25 DC per food will be used in calculating the cost of leveling a dragon. This is a somewhat conservative estimate of the most efficient crop to farm with a food/hour rate capable of keeping up with cloning of DC farming dragons, but actual cost will vary depending on gifts/greenhouses/quests and usage of mystic dragons.

Notes on DC Rounding

There is a difference between the earning rate shown in-game and what is actually earned by a dragon. Past a certain point, the value will be rounded up even though the display doesn't show this. For instance, a Lv-17 Iden dragon with three boosts is stated to earn 1,209 DC/min, but will actually earn 1,500 DC/min.
900 to 999 is rounded to 1,000
1,000 to 1,199 is rounded to 1,200
1,200 to 1,499 is rounded to 1,500
1,500 to 1,999 is rounded to 2,000
2,000 to 2,999 is rounded to 3,000
The consequences of this is that feeding to max level will not always deliver results. A Lv-20 Iden dragon with three boosts is stated to earn 1,414 DC/min, but since this is still within the 1,200 to 1,499 rounding bracket, there is no benefit to going higher than Lv-17. In the boosted earning section, the minimum level to attain the maximum earning bracket will be displayed for varying boost numbers.

Ideal Boosted Earners

Tien: Best Overall
Elements: Earth, Air, Metal and Light
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular, 45,000,000 on colossal
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on colossal

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts	Regular: 6,303 - Colossal: 18,909	Regular: 48.0 - Colossal: 144.0	Capacity: 5.2 hours - ROI: 91.2 days
1,500/min at Lv-15 w/ two boosts	Regular: 407 - Colossal: 1,222	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 3.9 days
2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts	Regular: 6,303 - Colossal: 18,909	Regular: 96.0 - Colossal: 288.0	Capacity: 2.6 hours - ROI: 45.6 days
2,000/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 801 - Colossal: 2,403	Regular: 96.0 - Colossal: 288.0	Capacity: 2.6 hours - ROI: 5.8 days
3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts	Regular: 6,303 -Colossal: 18,909	Regular: 144.0 - Colossal: 432.0	Capacity: 1.9 hours - ROI: 30.4 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Setup Costs (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts	Regular: 5,924 - Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 45.0 - Colossal: 125.0	Capacity: 5.8 hours - ROI: 91.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-15 w/ two boosts	Regular: 395 - Colossal: 1,097	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.7 hours - ROI: 4.12 days
2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts	Regular: 5,924 - Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 90.0 - Colossal: 250.0	Capacity: 2.9 hours - ROI: 45.7 days
2,000/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 763 - Colossal: 2,122	Regular: 90.0 - Colossal: 250.0	Capacity: 2.9 hours - ROI: 5.9 days
3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts	Regular: 5,924 -Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 135.0 - Colossal: 375.0	Capacity: 1.9 hours - ROI: 30.5 days

Event: Anniversary
Breeding Combo: Any two dragons containing the Earth, Air, Metal and Light elements
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Relatively high breeding odds (2.5%)
• Extremely high earning rate
• Works in unboosted farms
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Breeding window is limited
• Low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Early-game players should consider using the Lv-15 w/ two boosts and Lv-16 w/ three boosts options then later transferring to a more ideal configuration.
• Unless there is no other farm making use of a boost type, four boosts are not recommended as the difference between 2,000 DC/min and 3,000 DC/min is negligible compared to the utility of having an entirely separate DC farm with its own storage capacity.

-
Nacre: High Earner
Elements: Cold, Water, Light and Dark
Habitat:

• Snowflake (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Snowflake (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Snowflake: 12,000,000 DC on regular, 36,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Snowflake: 13,500,000 DC on regular, 37,500,000 on gargantuan

Using Snowflake:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts	Regular: 6,300 - Colossal: 18,900	Regular: 48.0 - Colossal: 144.0	Capacity: 4.2 hours - ROI: 91.1 days
1,500/min at Lv-15 w/ two boosts	Regular: 404 - Colossal: 1,213	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 2.8 hours - ROI: 3.9 days
2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts	Regular: 6,300 - Colossal: 18,900	Regular: 96.0 - Colossal: 288.0	Capacity: 2.1 hours - ROI: 45.6 days
2,000/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 798 - Colossal: 2,394	Regular: 96.0 - Colossal: 288.0	Capacity: 2.1 hours - ROI: 5.8 days
3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts	Regular: 6,300 -Colossal: 18,900	Regular: 144.0 - Colossal: 432.0	Capacity: 1.4 hours - ROI: 30.4 days

Using Large Snowflake:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Setup Costs (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts	Regular: 5,924 - Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 45.0 - Colossal: 125.0	Capacity: 5.0 hours - ROI: 91.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-15 w/ two boosts	Regular: 395 - Colossal: 1,097	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.7 hours - ROI: 4.1 days
2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts	Regular: 5,924 - Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 90.0 - Colossal: 250.0	Capacity: 2.5 hours - ROI: 45.7 days
2,000/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 763 - Colossal: 2,122	Regular: 90.0 - Colossal: 250.0	Capacity: 2.5 hours - ROI: 5.9 days
3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts	Regular: 5,924 -Colossal: 16,456	Regular: 135.0 - Colossal: 375.0	Capacity: 1.7 hours - ROI: 30.5 days

Event: Anniversary
Breeding Combo: Any two dragons containing the Cold, Water, Light and Dark elements
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Relatively high breeding odds (2.5%)
• Extremely high earning rate
• Works in unboosted farms
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Breeding window is limited
• Low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Early-game players should consider using the Lv-15 w/ two boosts and Lv-16 w/ three boosts options then later transferring to a more ideal configuration.
• Unless there is no other farm making use of a boost type, four boosts are not recommended as the difference between 2,000 DC/min and 3,000 DC/min is negligible compared to the utility of having an entirely separate DC farm with its own storage capacity.

-
Iden: Balanced Earner
Elements: Plant, Air, Dark and Dream
Habitat:

• Dream (18 on regular, 63 on gargantuan
• Large Dream (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Monolith (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Dream: 22,500,000 DC on regular, 78,750,000 on gargantuan
• Large Dream: 18,000,000 DC on regular, 54,000,000 on gargantuan
• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular, 45,000,000 on colossal
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on gargantuan

Using Dream:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 2,079 - Colossal: 7,276	Regular: 54.0 - Colossal: 189.0	Capacity: 6.9 hours - ROI: 26.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts + one generator	Regular: 10,341 - Colossal: 36,194	Regular: 54.0 - Colossal: 189.0	Capacity: 6.9 hours - ROI: 133.0 days

Using Large Dream:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 3,372 - Colossal: 10,116	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 4.2 hours - ROI: 32.5 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts + one generator	Regular: 14,388 - Colossal: 43,164	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 4.2 hours - ROI: 138.7 days

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,524 - Colossal: 4,572	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 14.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts + one generator	Regular: 12,099 - Colossal: 36,298	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 116.7 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,501 - Colossal: 4,169	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 15.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts + one generator	Regular: 11,828 - Colossal: 32,856	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 121.7 days

Event: Halloween
Breeding Combo: Charlatan and Nightbloom
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats if Monolith/Large Monolith used
• High DC storage capacity if Dream/Large Dream used
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Can be bought with event currency

Disadvantages:

• Low DC storage capacity if Monolith/Large Monolith used
• Expensive habitats if Dream/Large Dream used
• Relatively low breeding odds (2.0%)
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• Achieving a return on investment with dream habitats only takes an additional twenty days, after which the farm will have a permanent storage capacity increase. Large Dream Habitats are a good option for balancing storage, earning and habitat limit.
• Early-game players should consider using the Lv-17 w/ three boosts option then later transferring to Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator, leaving a boost available to create a Niamh farm.
• The addition of plant and earth elements to Monolith habitats means there are several alternatives to using Iden, albeit without the superior storage capabilities of Dream habitats. Some players might prefer to expand farms more attainable in the early game rather than invest in Iden for marginally superior qualities.

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Yarr: High Capacity Earner
Elements: Water and Treasure
Habitat:

• Treasure (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Treasure (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)
• Giant Treasure (7 on regular, 24 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Treasure: 12,000,000 DC on regular, 36,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Treasure: 18,000,000 DC on regular, 50,000,000 on gargantuan
• Giant Treasure: 24,500,000 DC on regular, 84,000,000 on gargantuan

Using Treasure:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost	Regular: 4,752 - Colossal: 14,256	Regular: 43.2 - Colossal: 129.6	Capacity: 4.6 hours - ROI: 76.4 days

Using Large Treasure:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost	Regular: 11,016 - Colossal: 30,600	Regular: 43.2 - Colossal: 120.0	Capacity: 6.9 hours - ROI: 177.1 days

Using Giant Treasure:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions) (N/I gems):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost	Regular: 7,343 - Colossal: 26,225	Regular: 42.0 - Colossal: 144.0	Capacity: 9.7 hours - ROI: 126.5 days

Event: Summer
Breeding Combo: Loot and Platinum
Advantages:

• Giant habitat available
• Habitats can be bought with event currency
• High DC storage capacity
• Can be bought with event currency
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.75%)

Disadvantages:

• Expensive habitats if not bought with event currency
• Difficult breeding combo
• Giant habitat costs gems if not bought with event currency
• Large startup capital required

Notes:

• The motivation behind using Yarr dragons is that they can be included in treasure habitats, which have a very large DC capacity. This makes them especially ideal for players who don't check the game regularly.
• This farm type is generally unsuitable for early game players due to the price of habitats, long return on investment and large amount of food needed to reach parity with other options. Players should still strive to own at least two Yarr dragons in preparation for making a farm in the late game.

Additional Boosted Earners

The four previously mentioned dragons should be prioritised for space on gargantuan islands if players are going to put any boosted farm on one. As such, only calculations for regular islands will be considered in this section.
Niamh: Iden Supplementary Earner
Elements: Plant, Earth, Air, Light
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-16 w/ one boost	Regular: 801	Regular: 48.0	Capacity: 5.2 hours - ROI: 11.6 days
1,200/min at Lv-18 w/ one boost	Regular: 3,159	Regular: 57.6	Capacity: 4.3 hours - ROI: 38.1 days
1,500/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 801	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 7.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-18 w/ two boosts	Regular: 3,159	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 30.5 days
2,000/min at Lv-18 w/ three boosts	Regular: 3,159	Regular: 96.0	Capacity: 2.6 hours - ROI: 22.9 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-16 w/ one boost	Regular: 764	Regular: 45.0	Capacity: 5.8 hours - ROI: 11.8 days
1,200/min at Lv-18 w/ one boost	Regular: 2,975	Regular: 54.0	Capacity: 4.9 hours - ROI: 38.3 days
1,500/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 764	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 7.9 days
1,500/min at Lv-18 w/ two boosts	Regular: 2,975	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 30.6 days
2,000/min at Lv-18 w/ three boosts	Regular: 2,975	Regular: 90.0	Capacity: 2.9 hours - ROI: 23.0 days

Event: Spring
Breeding Combo: Meadow and any dragons containing the Earth and Air elements
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Can be bought with event currency
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Relatively low breeding odds (1.5%)
• Has boost conflicts
• Low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Niamh farms are good as both an intermediary earner and a final investment option if the player is willing to invest the extra food and gems needed to free up a boost from Iden. The ideal case is Lv-18 w/ one boost, but players should use more if they are not currently needed for other farms.

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Quaa: Complimentary Earner
Elements: Plant, Fire, Earth, Air
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-17 w/ one boost	Regular: 1,587	Regular: 48.0	Capacity: 5.2 hours - ROI: 23.0 days
1,200/min at Lv-16 w/ two boosts	Regular: 801	Regular: 57.6	Capacity: 4.3 hours - ROI: 9.7 days
1,200/min at Lv-20 w/ one boost	Regular: 12,603	Regular: 57.6	Capacity: 4.3 hours - ROI: 151.9 days
1,500/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 801	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 7.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts	Regular: 12,603	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 121.6 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,000/min at Lv-17 w/ one boost	Regular: 1,501	Regular: 45.0	Capacity: 5.8 hours - ROI: 23.2 days
1,200/min at Lv-16 w/ two boosts	Regular: 764	Regular: 54.0	Capacity: 4.9 hours - ROI: 9.8 days
1,200/min at Lv-20 w/ one boost	Regular: 11,828	Regular: 54.0	Capacity: 4.9 hours - ROI: 152.1 days
1,500/min at Lv-16 w/ three boosts	Regular: 764	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 7.9 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts	Regular: 11,828	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 121.7 days

Event: Spring
Breeding Combo: Kroki and Woodvine
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Can be bought with event currency
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.5%)

Disadvantages:

• Relatively low breeding odds (1.5%)
• Difficult breeding combo
• Has boost conflicts
• Low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Quaa farms are good as both an intermediary earner and a final investment option, being the only dragon capable of delivering superior results than an unboosted Tien farm with only the fire boost.
• Early-game players should consider using the Lv-16 w/ two boosts and Lv-16 w/ three boosts options then later transferring to a more ideal configuration.

Other Boosted Earners

Prior sections outline the most optimal usage of boosts, but players are encouraged to account for their personal tastes and circumstances. It should be noted that the lightning boost has been omitted as it cannot deliver superior stats than an unboosted Tien farm when paired with any remaining dragon. This section is to address dragons that, while sub-optimal, are of particular interest.
Prestige: Iden Alternative
Elements: Plant, Air, Dark and Moon
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)
• Giant Moon (7 on regular, 24 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular, 45,000,000 on colossal
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on gargantuan
• Giant Moon: 17,500,000 DC on regular, 60,000,000 on gargantuan

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,524 - Colossal: 4,572	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 14.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator	Regular: 12,099 - Colossal: 36,298	Regular: 72.0 - Colossal: 216.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 116.7 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,501 - Colossal: 4,169	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 15.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator	Regular: 11,828 - Colossal: 32,856	Regular: 67.5 - Colossal: 187.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 121.7 days

Using Giant Moon:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions) (N/I gems):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,146 - Colossal: 3,930	Regular: 52.5 - Colossal: 180.0	Capacity: 5.6 hours - ROI: 15.2 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator	Regular: 9,179 - Colossal: 31,470	Regular: 52.5 - Colossal: 180.0	Capacity: 5.6 hours - ROI: 121.4 days

Event: Magic
Breeding Combo: Psyche and Stella
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats if Monolith/Large Monolith used
• High DC storage capacity if Giant Moon used
• Fast return on investment options
• Low startup capital options
• Can be bought with event currency
• Habitats can be bought with event currency if Giant Moon used
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.75%)

Disadvantages:

• Expensive habitats if Giant Moon not bought with event currency
• Difficult breeding combo
• Giant Moon costs gems if not bought with event currency

Notes:

• If used on a gargantuan island with Giant Moon Habitats, the Prestige has a greater storage capacity than Iden. It will have a higher yield if players don't collect every 5.0 hours. Aside from this use case, an Iden farm on Large Dream Habitats will out perform a Prestige farm, but both are equivalent if players intend to use Large Monolith Habitats.
• Large Moon Habitats are not considered as they hold no advantage over Large Monolith Habitats.
• Early-game players should consider using the Lv-17 w/ three boosts option then later transferring to Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator, leaving a boost available to create a Niamh farm.

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Ocular: Antiquated Meta
Elements: Fire, Lightning, Metal, Olympus
Habitat:

• Large Olympus (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Large Olympus: 11,250,000 DC on regular

DC earning thresholds:

• 837/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost
• 1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts
• 1,500/min at Lv-19 w/ three boosts

Using Large Olympus:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
837/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost	Regular: 4,797	Regular: 30.1	Capacity: 6.2 hours - ROI: 110.7 days
1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts	Regular: 4,797	Regular: 43.2	Capacity: 4.3 hours - ROI: 77.1 days
1,500/min at Lv-19 w/ three boosts	Regular: 4,797	Regular: 54.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 61.7 days

Event: Halloween
Breeding Combo: Barbarous and Cyclops
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats if Large Olympus used
• Giant habitat available
• Can be bought with event currency

Disadvantages:

• Very low earning capacity for boosts required
• Cannot use generators
• Expensive habitats if Giant Olympus is used
• Relatively low breeding odds (2.0%)
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• It is not recommended to farm Ocular dragons. With the inclusion of earth and plant elements in the Monolith habitat, their role as one of the meta dragons has been thoroughly supplanted as players can create multiple farms of superior earning rates and DC storage with the boosts used.
• If players already have an Ocular farm, they should transfer the metal boost to a Tien farm and fire boost to a Quaa farm if they exist.
• The recommended element to boost is lightning if players intend to keep a preexisting Ocular farm.

Unboosted Farms

The inclusion of Tien and Nacre into epic habitats has made them the best choice for unboosted farms, but any epic dragons can serve as a source of DC for early game players, with rainbows being particularly profitable. Fae and Niamh dragons can also be considered as they are easier to obtain than Tien and Nacre. Since Large Monolith Habitats have greater capacity than Large Snowflake Habitats, the Tien dragon is a better unboosted earner than the Nacre.

Ideal Late-Game Setup

It is highly recommended that players utilise their elemental boosts for other boosted farms if they do not currently have the required dragon. For instance, the earth boost could be used in a Niamh farm if the player does not currently have a Tien dragon. The following is an example of one type of boost arrangement.
Gargantuan Islands:

• Lv-19 Tien farm w/ earth and metal boosts
• Lv-19 Nacre farm w/ cold and light boosts
• Lv-17 Iden farm w/ plant, air and dark boosts
• OR
• Lv-20 Iden farm w/ air and dark boosts + one generator

Regular Islands:

• Lv-19 Yarr farm w/ water boost (move to gargantuan if one becomes available)
• Lv-18 Niamh farm w/ plant boost (if generator used for Iden)
• Lv-20 Quaa farm w/ fire boost

For additional DC, the player can use unboosted Tien farms.

Intermediate Boosted Earners

Prior sections outline the most optimal usage of boosts, but early-game players might prefer to use other dragons until the ideal earners become available. Lv-17 will be considered a cap as early game players are unlikely to have the startup capital required for higher level farms. Furthermore, epic dragons will not be considered as leveling them higher than Lv-10 requires special buildings, which early game players are unlikely to have.
Focus will be given to dragons which can be put into Monolith habitats, as such an investment can be more easily recouped.

Dragon	Elements	Availability
Kotun	Earth, Cold, Air, Dark	Winter
Arcrider	Plant, Earth, Air, Light	Spring
Chomp	Plant, Fire, Earth, Dark	Stars
Chuck	Fire, Earth, Metal, Dark	Stars

Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular

Using Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,200/min at Lv-17 w/ two boosts	Regular: 1,524	Regular: 57.6	Capacity: 4.3 hours - ROI: 18.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,524	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 14.7 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator	Regular: 12,099	Regular: 72.0	Capacity: 3.5 hours - ROI: 116.7 days

Using Large Monolith:

DC Earning Thresholds:	Startup Capital (millions):	Earning Rate (thousands/min):	Time to Capacity and ROI (Ideal Collecting)
1,200/min at Lv-17 w/ two boosts	Regular: 1,501	Regular: 57.6	Capacity: 4.9 hours - ROI: 18.1 days
1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts	Regular: 1,501	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 15.4 days
1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator	Regular: 11,828	Regular: 67.5	Capacity: 3.9 hours - ROI: 121.7 days

Also worthy of consideration is the Etch dragon, which is permanent but only has two elements, limiting its earning rate to 1,200/min without generators. It being available once the player unlocks dark dragons makes it a very versatile boosted earner.
If players so desire, they can choose to expand these farms in the late game rather than Iden, sacrificing the marginal advantages of using Dream habitats in favour of drastically reduced capital investment. Each will perform identical to Iden in Monolith habitats with the exception of Etch, which can only have two boosts but can reach the 1500/min threshold with a generator.
Please inform me is there has been any errors in my calculations.

hi everyoneee my first post here! I will be going to cyclops rocks and I was wondering if I could wear an inflatable costume? I was thinking not because it probably takes up a lot of space in the crowd but it’s also harmless and on Halloween people wear Dino costumes like that so, lmk if you or a friend have ever worn an inflatable costume to red rocks and send pics!

Click here for the new version of this guide.

This is a guide to farming dragoncash, which will henceforth be abbreviated as DC. In recent months, various primary elements have been added to epic habitats, disrupting previous metas by making dragons which could previously only be stored in low-capacity primary habitats viable for DC farming. This guide aims to provide a reference including these changes. Its focus will be on habitats without a limit, but users are encouraged to use limit habitats according to their tastes.
In addition to the standard boosts, weather generators provide a stackable +2% boost, albeit at a cost of gems. They will only be considered if using one or two is enough to push a dragon into the next earning threshold. There exists glitches to increase the effective size of islands, but this will also not be considered.

Notes on DC Rounding

There is a difference between the earning rate shown in-game and what is actually earned by a dragon. Past a certain point, the value will be rounded up even though the display doesn't show this. For instance, a Lv-17 Iden dragon with three boosts is stated to earn 1,209 DC/min, but will actually earn 1,500 DC/min.
900 to 999 is rounded to 1,000
1,000 to 1,199 is rounded to 1,200
1,200 to 1,499 is rounded to 1,500
1,500 to 1,999 is rounded to 2,000
2,000 to 2,999 is rounded to 3,000
The consequences of this is that feeding to max level will not always deliver results. A Lv-20 Iden dragon with three boosts is stated to earn 1,414 DC/min, but since this is still within the 1,200 to 1,499 rounding bracket, there is no benefit to going higher than Lv-17. In the boosted earning section, the minimum level to attain the maximum earning bracket will be displayed for varying boost numbers.

Best Boosted Earners

Tien: Best Overall
Elements: Earth, Air, Metal and Light
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular, 45,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on gargantuan

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts
• 1,200/min at Lv-20 w/ zero boosts and one generator
• 2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts
• 3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,000/min w/ Monolith: 48,000/min on regular, 144,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 5.2 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Monolith: 57,600/min on regular, 172,800/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.3 hours
• At 2,000/min w/ Monolith: 96,000/min on regular, 288,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 2.6 hours
• At 3,000/min w/ Monolith: 144,000/min on regular, 432,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 1.7 hours
• At 1,000/min w/ Large Monolith: 45,000/min on regular, 125,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 5.8 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Monolith: 54,000/min on regular, 150,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.9 hours
• At 2,000/min w/ Large Monolith: 90,000/min on regular, 250,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 2.9 hours
• At 3,000/min w/ Large Monolith: 135,000/min on regular, 375,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 1.9 hours

Event: Anniversary
Breeding Combo: Any two dragons containing the Earth, Air, Metal and Light elements
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Relatively high breeding odds (2.5%)
• Extremely high earning rate
• Can work in unboosted farms too
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Breeding window is limited
• Relatively low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Using three boosts is not recommended, as it is insufficient for bringing the earning rate above the threshold required for rounding up to 3,000 DC/min unless at least six generators are used.
• It is recommended that players only use two boosts as the difference between 2,000 DC/min and 3,000 DC/min is negligible compared to the utility of having an entirely separate DC farm with its own storage capacity. Due to the relatively low storage capacity of a Tien farm, other farm types such as Iden will have a higher yield if players don't collect every 3.4 hours.
• The recommended elements to boost are earth and metal.

Nacre: High Earner
Elements: Cold, Water, Light and Dark
Habitat:

• Snowflake (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Snowflake (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Snowflake: 12,000,000 DC on regular, 36,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Snowflake: 13,500,000 DC on regular, 37,500,000 on gargantuan

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,000/min at Lv-19 w/ zero boosts
• 1,200/min at Lv-20 w/ zero boosts and one generator
• 2,000/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts
• 3,000/min at Lv-19 w/ four boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,000/min w/ Snowflake: 48,000/min on regular, 144,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.2 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Snowflake: 57,600/min on regular, 172,800/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 3.5 hours
• At 2,000/min w/ Snowflake: 96,000/min on regular, 288,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 2.1 hours
• At 3,000/min w/ Snowflake: 144,000/min on regular, 432,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 1.4 hours
• At 1,000/min w/ Large Snowflake: 45,000/min on regular, 125,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 5.0 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Snowflake: 54,000/min on regular, 150,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.2 hours
• At 2,000/min w/ Large Snowflake: 90,000/min on regular, 250,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 2.5 hours
• At 3,000/min w/ Large Snowflake: 135,000/min on regular, 375,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 1.7 hours

Event: Anniversary
Breeding Combo: Any two dragons containing the Cold, Water, Light and Dark elements
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats
• Relatively high breeding odds (2.5%)
• Extremely high earning rate
• Can work in unboosted farms too
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Breeding window is limited
• Relatively low DC storage capacity

Notes:

• Using three boosts is not recommended, as it is insufficient for bringing the earning rate above the threshold required for rounding up to 3,000 DC/min unless at least six generators are used.
• Using four boosts is not recommended as light is an element shared with Tien, which benefits more due its superior storage capacity. Furthermore, giving Tien four boosts also only sacrifices the earning potential of Iden, whereas doing so with Nacre sacrifices the potential of both Iden and Yarr.
• It is recommended that players only use two boosts as the difference between 2,000 DC/min and 3,000 DC/min is negligible compared to the utility of having an entirely separate DC farm with its own storage capacity. Due to the relatively low storage capacity of a Nacre farm, other farm types such as Iden will have a higher yield if players don't collect every 2.9 hours.
• The recommended elements to boost are cold and light.

Iden: Balanced Earner
Elements: Plant, Air, Dark and Dream
Habitat:

• Dream (18 on regular, 63 on gargantuan
• Large Dream (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Dream: 22,500,000 DC on regular, 78,750,000 on gargantuan
• Large Dream: 18,000,000 DC on regular, 54,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on gargantuan

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator
• 1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,500/min w/ Dream: 54,000/min on regular, 189,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 6.9 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Large Dream: 72,000/min on regular, 216,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.2 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Large Monolith: 67,500/min on regular, 187,500/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 3.9 hours

Event: Halloween
Breeding Combo: Charlatan and Nightbloom
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats if Large Monolith Habitat used
• Relatively high DC storage capacity if Large Dream Habitat used
• Can be bought with event currency
• Less food required to reach earning threshold if three boosts used

Disadvantages:

• Expensive habitats if Large Dream Habitat used
• Relatively low breeding odds (2.0%)
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• A good strategy could be to use three boosts at Lv-17 then later transition to two boosts and one generator at Lv-20 to create a Niamh farm.
• Monolith Habitats are not considered as they hold no advantage over Large Dream Habitats.

Yarr: High Capacity Earner
Elements: Water and Treasure
Habitat:

• Treasure (12 on regular, 36 on gargantuan)
• Large Treasure (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)
• Giant Treasure (7 on regular, 24 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Treasure: 12,000,000 DC on regular, 36,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Treasure: 18,000,000 DC on regular, 50,000,000 on gargantuan
• Giant Treasure: 24,500,000 DC on regular, 84,000,000 on gargantuan

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ one boost

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,200/min w/ Treasure: 43,200/min on regular, 129,600/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 4.6 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Treasure: 43,200/min on regular, 120,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 6.9 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Giant Treasure: 42,000/min on regular, 144,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 9.7 hours

Event: Summer
Breeding Combo: Loot and Platinum
Advantages:

• Very high DC capacity
• Can be bought with event currency
• Has a giant habitat
• Habitats can be bought with event currency
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.75%)

Disadvantages:

• Habitats are expensive if not bought with event currency
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• The primary motivation behind using Yarr dragons is that they can be included in treasure habitats, which have a very large DC capacity. This makes them especially ideal for players who don't check the game regularly.

Additional Boosted Earners

The four previously mentioned dragons should be prioritised for space on gargantuan islands if players are going to put any boosted farm on one. As such, only calculations for regular islands will be considered in this section.
Niamh: Iden Supplementary Earner
Elements: Plant, Earth, Air, Light
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,200/min at Lv-18 w/ one boost

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,200/min w/ Monolith: 57,600/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.3 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Monolith: 54,000/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.9 hours

Event: Spring
Breeding Combo: Meadow and any dragons containing the Earth and Air elements
Advantages:

• Can be bought with event currency
• Cheap habitats.
• Easy breeding combo

Disadvantages:

• Relatively low breeding odds (1.5%)
• Has boost conflicts

Notes:

• A Niamh farm is good for cases where players are willing to invest the extra food and gems needed to free up a boost from Iden.

Quaa: Complimentary Earner
Elements: Plant, Fire, Earth, Air
Habitat:

• Monolith (12 on regular)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Monolith: 15,000,000 DC on regular
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,200/min at Lv-20 w/ one boost
• 1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,200/min w/ Monolith: 57,600/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.3 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Monolith: 54,000/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.9 hour
• At 1,500/min w/ Monolith: 72,000/min on regular. Capacity reached in 3.5 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Large Monolith: 67,500/min on regular. Capacity reached in 3.9 hours

Event: Spring
Breeding Combo: Kroki and Woodvine
Advantages:

• Can be bought with event currency
• Cheap habitats.
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.5%)

Disadvantages:

• Difficult breeding combo
• Has boost conflicts

Notes:

• While a Quaa farm can also make use of freed boosts from an Iden farm to earn 1,500/min, it is more profitable to save that element for a Niamh farm to get two farms both earning 1,200/min.
• The recommended element to boost is fire.

Other Boosted Earners

Prior sections outline the most optimal usage of boosts, but players are encouraged to account for their personal tastes and circumstances. It should be noted that the lightning boost has been omitted as it cannot deliver superior stats than an unboosted Tien farm when paired with any remaining dragon. This section is to address dragons that, while sub-optimal, are of particular interest.
Prestige: Iden Alternative
Elements: Plant, Air, Dark and Moon
Habitat:

• Giant Moon (7 on regular, 24 on gargantuan)
• Large Monolith (9 on regular, 25 on gargantuan)

Habitat capacity:

• Giant Moon: 17,500,000 DC on regular, 60,000,000 on gargantuan
• Large Monolith: 15,750,000 DC on regular, 43,750,000 on gargantuan

DC earning thresholds:

• 1,500/min at Lv-20 w/ two boosts and one generator
• 1,500/min at Lv-17 w/ three boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 1,500/min w/ Giant Moon: 52,500/min on regular, 180,000/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 5.6 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Large Monolith: 67,500/min on regular, 187,500/min on gargantuan. Capacity reached in 3.9 hours

Event: Magic
Breeding Combo: Psyche and Stella
Advantages:

• Cheap habitats if Large Monolith Habitat used
• Relatively high DC storage capacity if Large Moon Habitat used
• Can be bought with event currency
• Less food required to reach earning threshold if three boosts used
• Giant Moon Habitats can be bought with event currency
• Relatively high breeding odds (3.75%)

Disadvantages:

• Giant Moon Habitats are expensive if not bought with event currency
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• If used on a gargantuan island with Giant Moon Habitats, the Prestige has a greater storage capacity than Iden. It will have a higher yield if players don't collect every 5.0 hours. Aside from this use case, an Iden farm on Large Dream Habitats will out perform a Prestige farm, but both are equivalent if players intend to use Large Monolith Habitats.
• Large Moon Habitats are not considered as they hold no advantage over Large Monolith Habitats.
• A good strategy could be to use three boosts at Lv-17 then later transition to two boosts and one generator at Lv-20 to create a Niamh farm.

Ocular: Antiquated Meta
Elements: Fire, Lightning, Metal, Olympus
Habitat:

• Large Olympus (9 on regular)
• Giant Olympus (7 on regular)

Habitat capacity:

• Large Olympus: 11,250,000 DC on regular
• Giant Olympus: 14,000,000 DC on regular

DC earning thresholds:

• 879/min at Lv-20 w/ one boost
• 1,200/min at Lv-19 w/ two boosts
• 1,500/min at Lv-19 w/ three boosts

Island DC/min and time to reach recommended habitat capacity:

• At 879/min w/ Large Olympus: 31,644/min on regular. Capacity reached in 5.9 hours
• At 879/min w/ Giant Olympus: 30,765/min on regular. Capacity reached in 7.6 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Large Olympus: 43,200/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.3 hours
• At 1,200/min w/ Giant Olympus: 42,000/min on regular. Capacity reached in 5.6 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Large Olympus: 54,000/min on regular. Capacity reached in 3.5 hours
• At 1,500/min w/ Giant Olympus: 52,500/min on regular. Capacity reached in 4.4 hours

Event: Halloween
Breeding Combo: Barbarous and Cyclops
Advantages:

• Can be bought with event currency
• Has a giant habitat
• Cheap habitats if Large Olympus is used

Disadvantages:

• Very low earning capacity for boosts required
• Cannot use generators
• Expensive habitats if Giant Olympus is used
• Relatively low breeding odds (2.0%)
• Difficult breeding combo

Notes:

• It is not recommended to farm Ocular dragons. With the inclusion of earth and plant elements in the Monolith habitat, their role as one of the meta dragons has been thoroughly supplanted, as players can create multiple farms of superior earning rates and DC storage with the boosts used by this one farm.
• If players already have an Ocular farm, they should transfer the metal boost to a Tien farm and fire boost to a Quaa farm if they exist.
• The recommended element to boost is lightning if players intend to keep a preexisting Ocular farm.

Unboosted Farms

The inclusion of Tien and Nacre into epic habitats has made them the best choice for unboosted farms, but any epic dragons can serve as a source of DC for early game players, with rainbows being particularly profitable. Fae and Niamh dragons can also be considered as they are easier to obtain than Tien and Nacre. Since Large Monolith Habitats have greater capacity than Large Snowflake Habitats, the Tien dragon is a better unboosted earner than the Nacre.
It should be noted that unboosted Lv-20 Tien and Lv-20 Nacre can be pushed into the 1200/min earning bracket with a single generator.

Best Setup Overall

It is highly recommended that players utilise their elemental boosts for other boosted farms if they do not currently have the required dragon. For instance, the earth boost could be used in a Niamh farm if the player does not currently have a Tien dragon.
Gargantuan Islands:

• Lv-19 Tien farm w/ earth and metal boosts
• Lv-19 Nacre farm w/ cold and light boosts
• Lv-17 Iden farm w/ plant, air and dark boosts
• OR
• Lv-20 Iden farm w/ two boosts + one generator

Regular Islands:

• Lv-19 Yarr farm w/ water boost (move to gargantuan if one becomes available)
• Lv-18 Niamh farm w/ one boost (if generator used for Iden)
• Lv-20 Quaa farm w/ fire boost

For additional DC, the player can use unboosted Tien farms.
Please inform me is there has been any errors in my calculations.

Session link: https://theravenscall.buzzsprout.com/2268025/14234667-aif-18-the-burnt-cottage
The Cyclops has been located. Performing experiments on people to make them "better," but is Clyde ready for the true horror of what they might find in this burned-down cabin in the woods?
The Raven's Call: Alone in Falkovnia is a heavily edited duet-D&D actual play podcast taking place in the domains of the Ravenloft campaign setting, DMed by Alex and joined by his wife, Mayling.
Content warning: Mayling has no "red lines," so you can expect anything from this podcast. We're hesitant to attempt to list out every content warning, in case we miss one. The podcast remains PG13 for most of its runtime, but occasionally dips into extreme horror. Listener discretion is advised.
Contact us: [theravenscallam@gmail.com](mailto:theravenscallam@gmail.com) Discord: https://discord.gg/Y7w9P55G Podcast: https://theravenscall.buzzsprout.com/ Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/TheRavensCall/
SOUND CREDITS (in order of appearance) Intro Theme: Dark Western by Diamond Tunes

• Afterlife by Alexander Nakarada
• Door - Stone Long 02 by SoundMorph
• Empire_Game_Settlement_UI_Wall_Crumbling_2_Rock_Stone_Debris_Destruction by Empire Game
• MAFX001 wind robin blackbird 01 by Mindful Audio
• SFX0014 Monsters vocalizations_Male V by Soundtrack Loops
• Mega Boss Fight by Alexander Nakarada
• Empire_Game_Warfare_Throwing_Dagger_Woosh_Knife_Weapon by Empire Game
• CHEMICAL ACID Sizzle, Burn, Short 02 by Articulated Sounds
• SFX0893 Ambience Low End Tension by Soundtrack Loops
• 119 Red fox_winter_scream_naural echo by Ivo Vicic
• Ancient_Dragon_Monster_Death_1_Dinosaur_Creature_Pain_Screech_Scream_Roar_Groan by Evolved Game Creatures
• Ancient_Dragon_Monster_Death_3_Dinosaur_Creature_Pain_Screech_Scream_Roar_Groan by Evolved Game Creatures
• Halloween Textures by Alexander Nakarada
• Ancient_Game_Magic_Wand_Cast_Poof by Ancient Game
• Ancient_Game_Magic_Transition_18_Dark by Ancient Game
• Ancient_Game_Magic_Sparkle_Hit_Spell by Ancient Game
• Designed Fire - Impacts - Large, ignition 03 by Gregor Quendel
• Empire_Game_Settlement_Alert_Wonder_Discovered_Heavenly_Choir_Shimmer_Shine_Bell_Tone by Empire Game
• Ancient_Game_Singing_Bowl_Healer_Tone_7 by Ancient Game
• Ancient_Game_Magic_Fear_Spell by Ancient Game
• Ancient_Game_Deep_Magic_Hit_with_Bass by Ancient Game
• Empire_Game_Ambience_Loop_Music_Sad_Loss_Minimal_Cm_103 by Empire Game
• Ancient_Game_Undead_Lands by Ancient Game
• One Bard Band by Alexander Nakarada
• Magic_Game_Spectral_RPG_Buff by Phantom Magic
• Ancient_Game_Magic_Whoosh_Spell_1 by Ancient Game
• Lurking Sloth by Alexander Nakarada
• Succubus by Alexander Nakarada
• Sl Halloween Sfx Big Door Slam by Soundtrack Loops
• 015_Foley_Footsteps_Asphalt_Boot_Walk_Fast_Run_Jog_Close by Tovusound

I was watching Lythero’s DBFZ videos recently and, through some random sequence of thoughts, I ended up coming up with the concept of a fighting game in the style of DBFZ starring several Undertale AUs. I'm gonna separate this post into sections. This will just be me discussing what characters are in the hypothetical game, their alternate costumes, if applicable, their unlock conditions, and, if needed, their base designs. It should be noted that some AU characters are alternate costumes instead of separate characters because they're similar enough to the main versions of characters that there's no need for the distinction. Also, each character is sorted into their AUs, so all the Undertale characters are in one section, all the Deltarune characters are in another, then Story Shift, and so on.
If this post does well, I might do a follow-up with an explanation of the hypothetical game’s mechanics and stages. I might even draw some concept art for it. I’m not going to bother making a plot for the hypothetical game’s campaign mode, because that would quickly spiral into an entire multi-chapter fanfiction. Also, again, just to make this clear, I don’t intend for this to be a game. It’s just a thought experiment of what an Undertale AU fighting game might look like.

• Undertale:
  • Frisk
    • Base design: Whatever skin color looks closest to the game sprite. Closed eyes with really thick eyelashes. Short, brown, slightly messy hair. Black/Navy Blue shorts. Black socks. They have the manly bandana wrapped around their forehead, a bandage on their cheek, the tough glove, ballet shoes, and the heart locket. In addition to using the bandana in their attack animations as a mid-range attack, they also use the stick and throw their various consumable items.
    • Classic (Changes their model to an exact translation of their sprite to a 3d model. Expression is completely unchanging, with three rectangles representing the eyes and mouth. Boots go all the way up to their knees. No visible separation between pants and sweater.)
    • Lightner (Hypothetical Lightner Frisk design.)
    • Tenacity (Red scarf and blue jacket over their normal clothes. Gives Frisk a new intro and outro animation.)
    • Overtale (Goat Frisk.)
    • Overtale Nuvex version (Tanuki Frisk.)
    • Shifty (They have Mettaton’s haircut)
    • Prince (Underkeep boy version.)
    • Princess (Underkeep girl version.)
    • Zombie [Obtainable during Halloween event] (Green skin, tattered clothes, and eyeball hanging out of one socket.)
  • Chara
    • Base design: Chara’s design is a pretty faithful recreation, though they also have the locket around their neck.
    • Ghost (Transparent with a red filter and glow.)
    • Scary face (Completely black eyes and distorted smile that drips black fluid.)
    • Lightner (Hypothetical Lightner Chara design.)
    • Overtale (Goat Chara)
    • Underfell (Black overalls with a red heart on the front pouch.)
    • Prince (Underkeep boy version.)
    • Princess (Underkeep girl version.)
    • Vampire [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Pale skin, fangs, black cape with red interior, dark green button-down suit, long black dress skirt.)
    • Dark Elf [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (Dark green cape and hood with yellow highlights, pointy ears, dark green light armor.)
  • Toriel
    • Teacher (Toriel in the teacher outfit she wears in the Pacifist ending and in Deltarune.)
    • Underswap (Crown and cape.)
    • Story Shift (Armor she wears in the Story Shift AU)
    • Overtale (Human Toriel)
    • Boyband Asriel (Based on a piece of Concept Art of Asriel with boyband hair.)
  • Sans
    • No Jacket (Self-explanatory.)
    • White Slippers (Self-explanatory.)
    • Yellow Eye (His eye will turn yellow instead of blue in his attack animations.)
    • Overtale (Human Sans.)
    • Story Shift (King Attire from Story Shift AU)
    • Fancy Bones (Underkeep Sans outfit.)
  • Papyrus
    • Cool Dude (Wearing his cool dude outfit.)
    • Scarf (Long, red scarf instead of a cape)
    • Jogboy suit (The clothes he wore in the Alphys date scene.)
    • Story Shift (Caretaker of the ruins outfit from Story Shift AU.)
    • Sir Papyrus (Underkeep Papyrus outfit.)
    • Santa Papyrus [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (Papyrus wears a Santa outfit and fake beard. His projectile attacks are now presents instead of bones, and he says “NYOHOHO!” instead of “NYEHEHE!”)
  • Undyne
    • Armor (Wearing her Royal Guard Armor)
    • Date Clothes (Dressed in the suit she wore during the Alphys Date Scene.)
    • Deltarune (Cop with no eyepatch.)
    • Overtale (Human Undyne)
    • Baroness (Underkeep dress.)
    • Android [Beat Story Shift Undyne in campaign] (Undyne’s Story Shift design.)
    • Creature from the Black Lagoon [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Gillman face, fins on arms, large hands, webbed fingers, digitigrade feet, webbed toes.)
  • Alphys
    • Date dress (Dress she wears during the date.)
    • Teacher (Clothes she wears in Deltarune.)
    • Overtale (Human Alphys)
    • Lotus (Underkeep dress.)
    • Ghost Costume [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Sheet over her with eye holes.)
  • Mettaton
    • News Anchor (Standard-looking news reporter clothes.)
    • Queen (Dressed similarly to Queen from Deltarune.)
    • One True Love (The dress he wears in his song “Oh! One True Love”)
    • Gothaton (Gothic clothing on Mettaton)
    • Overtale (Human Mettaton)
    • King Mettaton (Underkeep suit.)
    • Love Letter [Obtainable during Valentine's event.] (Red where black normally is, heart buckles on his shoes, heart-shaped halo, angel hair wings when in Neo mode, slightly pink hue to the grey parts, lighter pink on pink parts.)
  • Muffet
    • Buffet (Buffet is a blonde baker spider who appears in the fan comic “Cafe Frisk.”)
    • Underswap (Wearing her attire from Underswap.)
    • Royal Baker (Underkeep dress.)
  • Asgore
    • Mr.Dad Guy (Wearing Mr.Dad Guy sweater.)
    • Gardener (Wearing his clothes from the Pacifist route ending and Deltarune.)
    • Caretaker Asgore (Based on his outfit from Underswap)
    • Dr.Asgore (Based on his outfit from Story Shift)
    • Great Knight (Underkeep armor.)
  • Flowey
    • Starbucks Employee (Based on a Shenanigoons joke, which I felt should be there given how this idea came to be.)
    • Cyclops (Flowey in Horrortale.)
    • Boogie (Flowey in Story Shift.)
    • Wilted (Flowey in Underfell.)
    • Void (Gaster Flowey from Fatal Error. Ultimate attack, instead of Omega Flowey, is a giant, black mass with bones jutting out of it and an enormous Gaster Blaster for a head.)
    • Robot (Flowey in Understeam.)
  • Asriel [Complete Story Mode]
    • Throwback (Normal clothes in God of Hyperdeath form. In the victory pose, normal Asriel wears the Hyperdeath outfit.)
    • Boyband Asriel (Based off a piece of Concept Art of Asriel with boyband hair.)
    • Gardener (Clothes from his Mafiatale design.)
  • Genocide Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Base design: Similar to normal Frisk, but with dust covering their hands, cheek, and sweater. They also have different accessories equipped. They use the real knife and empty gun in battle animations, and they wear the stained apron and the cowboy hat.
    • Classic (Same as Frisk’s Classic skin but with dust on their cheeks, hands, and sweater.)
    • fAnOn Vs CaNoN (Pink cheeks and open, red eyes.)
    • Happy Halloween [obtainable during Halloween event] (They now wear a Michael Myers costume.)
  • W.D. Gaster [Complete Story Mode on Nightmare mode.]
    • {REDACTED} (The Redacted sprite.)
    • Retsag Gnid Gniw (Upside down Gaster sprite fully realized.)
    • Everyman (The Everyman sprite from one of the Amalgamate battles.)
    • Memory Heads (Cluster of memory heads.)
  • Temmie Armor [Unlock every Frisk in the game]
    • Design: An Ironman-style suit of armor covered in Temmie's face and painted with the color scheme of Temmie’s sweater.
  • Burgerpants [$10,000,000.00 DLC (or 110% completion reward. One of the two.)]
    • Underworld (He looks the same except has a bruise on his arm which he got from bumping into a doorframe.)
    • TS!Underswap (Grillby’s branded delivery boy outfit.)
    • Burger-ley (Outfit swap with Berdly.)
  • Toby Fox [Get the Annoying Dog easter egg with every Undertale character including Burgerpants.] {WARNING: This character is insanely unfair to fight against. Use only if you do not value friendship or the structural integrity of your jaw and nose.}
• Deltarune
  • Kris [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form. Uses a giant pencil instead of a sword.)
    • Classic (Change skin color to match their sprite.)
    • The 13th [Avalable during Halloween event.] (Kris wearing a Jason Vorhees Costume.)
  • Susie [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form. Still has her axe.)
    • Punk (Black leather jacket with white undershirt and spiked wristbands.)
    • Evil Queen (Dressed like Bowsette.)
    • Containment Breach [Available during Halloween event.] (Torn-up clothes, green scales, sharp, bloody teeth, bone spikes jutting out of her back, and black hair going down to the tip of her tail.)
  • Ralsei [100% Completion reward]
    • Ralsei Dreemurr (Ralsei in Asriel’s clothes.)
  • Lancer [100% Completion reward]
    • Prince of Mischief (Bowser Jr. Scarf.)
  • Jevil [100% Completion reward]
    • Digital Circus (Swapped color palette with Pomni from The Amazing Digital Circus.)
  • Noelle [100% Completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form.)
    • Noelle the Red-Nosed Reindeer [Available during Christmas event.] (Gingerbread pattern dress and red, glowing nose.)
  • Berdly [100% completion reward]
    • Civilian (Non-Lightner form.)
    • Right out of High School (Outfit swap with Burgerpants.)
  • Queen [100% completion reward]
    • Metta-Queen (Outfit swap with Mettaton.)
  • Spamton [100% completion reward]
    • [BIGGEST] shot (Sparkling golden suit with dollar sign sunglasses and wads of cash jutting out of his pockets. Money particle effects appear whenever he moves, and one of his special moves is replaced with him dropping a palette of money on you.)
    • You Can (Not) [GET A REFUND] (Outfit based on Asuna’s plug suit from Evangelion.)
• Underswap
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign]
    • Rad Dude (Underswap version of the cool dude outfit.)
    • Christmas sweater [Obtainable during Christmas event.] (The sweater he wears in the Christmas Party comic.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign]
    • “THAT’S MY ATTACK!” (Change the orange parts of his design to blue.)
  • Chara [Beat them in campaign]
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Creepy (Frisk’s eyes and mouth are sewn shut.)
    • A true nightmare [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Wearing a Freddy Kreuger costume.)
  • Napstabot [Win 10 battles as Mettaton]
    • T.S. Underswap (Napstabot in T.S. Underswap.)
• Underfell
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign]
    • Flowerfell [Die to every Papyrus as Underfell Frisk] (Flowerfell Frisk’s design instead of Underfell Frisk’s. Similar moves, but their voice lines are different and their finisher cards are major scenes from Flowerfell.)
    • Collar (Red turtleneck and spiked collar around their neck with a gold chain hanging off of it.)
    • Blue and Pink (Sweater with pink, blue, and black stripes.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign]
    • Flowerfell [Die to every Papyrus as Underfell Frisk] (Flowerfell Sans’ design instead of Underfell Sans’. Same changes as Flowerfell Frisk.)
    • No Jacket (Self Explanatory.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Scarf (Wearing a scarf instead of a cape.)
    • Bad Dude (Underfell date attire.)
  • Toriel [Beat her in campaign.]
  • Underfell Asgore [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Casual (Underfell version of the pacifist ending clothes.)
• Horrortale:
  • Aliza [Win the Betty boss fight on Insanity mode.]
    • Monster Disguise (Her disguise she wears in the comic.)
    • Horrortale Frisk? [Obtainable during Halloween event] (Aliza dressed as Frisk.)
    • Cannibal (Bloody teeth and bulging, bloodshot eyes.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Pink Jacket (Another tribute to Lythero.)
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Before the fall (Undyne from the intro of the Horrortale fangame, with a normal-looking eyepatch and crown, and splatters of blood across her face.)
  • Toriel [Beat her in campaign.]
• Glitchtale:
  • Chara [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Season 1 (The season 1 design.)
    • Total Hatred (Completely black with red eyes and mouth.)
    • Frisk [Beat him in campaign.] (Swap Chara for Frisk.)
  • Betty [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Amber [Beat campaign using only Betty] (Betty in her original form)
    • Hatred (Completely black with pink eyes and mouth.)
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Fear (Two pink eyes instead of two blue eyes.)
  • Jessica [50% completion reward.]
    • Original (Jessica’s first outfit design before the updated design.)
    • Hatred (Black eyes with blue pupils and black fluid leaking from eyes and mouth.)
    • Overtale (Skeleton Jessica.)
  • Gaster [Beat the first Error Sans boss fight.]
    • Void (Gaster’s form in the void.)
    • Original (Gaster’s season 1 design.)
• Story Shift
  • Chara [Beat them in campaign.]
    • Facing Demons (SS!Chara wearing SS!Asriel’s scarf.)
    • Reboot (Reboot Story Shift Chara design.)
    • FellShift (FellShift Chara design.)
    • Mask (Wearing a black mask with eyes and a mouth drawn on in red marker.)
    • Swap (SwapShift Frisk instead of Story Shift Chara)
    • Sweetheart [Obtainable during Valentine’s day event.] (Pink hoodie with cat ears and tail, and chocolate heart constantly in their mouth. No mouth animations.)
  • Asriel [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Classic (Wearing Undertale Asriel’s clothes.)
  • Mettacrit [Beat him in campaign.]
• Outertale
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign.]
  • Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Alphys [Beat her in campaign.]
  • Mettaton [Beat him in campaign.]
• Echotale
  • G!Sans [Beat twisted campaign.]
  • Echo!Frisk [Beat twisted campaign.]

(Note: Twisted campaign is an alternate version of the campaign mode with new battles and a second story that takes place alongside the main campaign. It’s also way harder. Sounds complicated, but there’s not a chance this game is ever getting made anyway, so it’s fine.)

• Underworld
  • Frisk [Beat twisted campaign.]
  • Sans [Beat him in twisted campaign.]
  • Alphys [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Muffet [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Toriel [Beat her in twisted campaign.]
  • Asgore [Beat him in twisted campaign.]
• Katanatale
  • Frisk [Beat them in campaign.]
  • Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
  • Undyne [Beat her in campaign.]
    • Samurai (Dressed in samurai armor and a samurai mask.)
    • Frenzy (Dressed like Guts from Berserk.)
    • Armored Frenzy (Dressed in the Berserker armor.)
  • Gaster [Beat the twisted campaign tutorial.]
• Outworlders
  • Error Sans [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty.]
    • No Jacket (Self-explanatory)
  • Geno Sans [Beat him in campaign mode.]
  • Fatal Error [Beat 20 raid bosses as Geno Sans.]
  • Dream Sans [Beat the Nightmare battle in campaign.]
    • Feel free to suggest whatever characters or costumes you want to see added to this roster. My only rule for suggestions is I’m not allowing anything from Alphatale or Godverse. I wanted to include Alphatale characters in the roster (particularly Error404 because I wanted to give him a William Afton skin), but I ended up not going with any of them because there was too much content for me to comb through in a story I just couldn’t bring myself to get invested in, so I decided to just scrap the idea entirely. I don’t mean for this to be a criticism of the AU as a whole though, I’m just saying that I can’t work with these guys. Godverse has a similar problem only amplified to an insane degree.
    • The Mask (Wearing a Dream Minecraft costume.)
  • Nightmare Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Red (Dark red instead of dark green.)
  • Fresh [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty]
  • Punk Frisk [Appears as the final boss of Fresh’s campaign. Beat them to unlock them.]
    • Base Design: African American with a ponytail that they dyed orange, wearing “YOLO” sunglasses like Fresh. They wear a sleeveless denim jacket, and underneath that jacket, they have a light pink shirt with an evil clown face emblazoned on it in black. They have a friendship bracelet on their left wrist, plaid tights, a denim short skirt covered in buttons, and long, black combat boots with yellow laces. They also have black lipstick, a nose piercing, earrings, and a gold canine. They go by He/She/They, so to any artists reading this who may be interested in drawing this edgy nightmare of a character, go with whatever gender you prefer.
  • Ink Sans [Beat campaign mode on Insanity difficulty.]
  • Blueberror [Beat campaign mode on destroy all monsters difficulty.]
  • Core Frisk [Beat campaign mode on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
  • Paperjam [Beat twisted campaign on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
  • Frisk Diagamer & Chara [Beat twisted campaign on Destroy all Monsters difficulty.]
• Misc.
  • Disbelief Papyrus [Beat him in campaign.]
    • Dustbelief (Dustbelief Papyrus design.)
    • Pumpkin King [Obtainable during Halloween event.] (Disbelief Papyrus dresses as Jack Skellington.)
  • Dust Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • The Murderer [Beat Murder Sans in campaign.] (Swapped out Dusttale Sans for Killer Sans. Changes some attack animations.)
    • Last Genocide (changes his design to be more similar to Last Genocide Sans. Also replaces his special with the followers attacking all at once, and the finisher with Last Genocide phase 4.)
  • Last Breath Sans [Beat campaign on Insanity mode using only different versions of Sans.]
  • Littletale Frisk [Beat campaign on Unlooseable mode.]
    • Worker Elf [Obtainable during Christmas event] (Wearing a green elf costume.)
  • Littletale Sans [Beat campaign on Unlooseable mode.]
    • Elf on the Shelf [Obtainable during Christmas event] (Wearing a red elf costume.)
  • Reaper Sans [Enter the Konami code during the Error Sans fight and then beat the hardest battle in the game.]
  • X-Sans [Beat him in campaign.]
    • X-Chara (Swaps Sans for Chara and changes some attack animations.)
  • Sixbones [Beat them in twisted campaign.]
  • StorySwap Chara [Beat Sixbones on insanity mode.]

Feel free to suggest whatever characters or costumes you want to see added to this roster. My only rule for suggestions is I’m not allowing anything from Alphatale or Godverse. I wanted to include Alphatale characters in the roster (particularly Error404 because I wanted to give him a William Afton skin), but I ended up not going with any of them because there was too much content for me to comb through in a story I just couldn’t bring myself to get invested in, all in order to skim through all those characters so I can find ones to add to this roster. So I decided to just scrap the idea entirely. I don’t mean for this to be a criticism of the AU as a whole though, I’m just saying that I can’t really work with these guys because I don't know enough about them, and the interest in the AU just isn't there enough for me to justify adding them. Godverse has a similar problem only amplified to an insane degree.

We start the same with Team Tennyson in Salem, and rather than turning into Stinkfly, he would turn into Deep-Freeze, to put out the fire. Gwen and Charmcaster would switch minds with Gwen, and Ben would quick change into Octo-lock to stop the horses.
​
Things go the exact same, with Ben turning into Diamondhead. When Gwen in Ben's mind would transform into Cellshiftier to escape. Gwen would try punching charmcaster, but she would charge at her. Gwen and Ben would get their minds to the right place, and Ben would quick change into Brain-brace to restrain Charmcaster, and would be knocked out by Gwen. Brain-brace would destroy the rock monsters and Charmcaster would be imprisoned.
​
Onto Merry Christmas:
Things start the same with Ben turning into Grey Matter and breaking the Rustbucket. They end up in the Christmas town and Max would be kidnapped because the elves think he looks like Santa.
​
Ben turn into Light-Brawl to fight the nutcracker dolls. He would jump out from behind the carriage, and shoot electricity at one of them, but it recovers. Light-brawl would continuously shoot electricity at the dolls, but there are to many, and Ben would quick-change into Heavy-mettle, to take on the dolls in a fight, destroying them before turning into human, where the elf would talk to him and Ben and Gwen would start turning into elves.
​
They would be attacked by the snowmen, and would go into the house, where things go the same, with Ben turning into Wildmutt and then turning into Grey Matter to stop the machine. He would turn into Ultra-Ben to send the presents.
​
​
​
​
We would have gone to the Halloween aliens/Ghostfreak arc, but we actually skip that. Since Zs'kar was not in the Omnitrix, he would have never been to Earth and his minions would still be in the Anur system, that whole arc does not happen.
​
Ben would still go to New Mexico, there would be not Werewolf, so they would still leave. Game over would not happen, since Ben does not have Upgrade.
​
We would go to Super Alien Hero Buddy Adventures.
​
The roster of aliens in the rip-off cartoon would be slightly different, since Ben would not have Heatblast. he would be replaced with Buzzshock.
​
Ben would have still seen the cartoon, and would go to Planetary Studios where Ben would see the plagiarized version of Four-arms. Rather than turning into Heatblast, he would turn into Buzzshock.
​
Ben would see Kangaroo commando hanging onto the burning building, and would fly up, duplicate, and save the Kangaroo Commando. Buzzshock would not have put out the fires, and he would know that it was a stunt play, so he would leave. No fight would take place. Ben would not become Kangaroo Camando's partner. Because of this, Kangaroo Commando is not accused of stealing the designs.
​
Things go the same, with Ben transforming into Four-arms to help save the people. Tim would be falsely accused of blowing up the ride, and Ben and Gwen would spy on Kangaroo commando with Octo-Lock instead of Stinkfly.
​
When they see the guy being held over a vat, Ben would transform into Pummlmayan. He would go after kangaroo Commando via jumping, and once he gets into the building, Pummlmayan would be shot with fire, but would use the sonic clap move to destroy the dragon machine. Pummlmayan and Gwen would stop the machine, and save the men. Pummlmayan would grab everyone and jump out of the building.
​
They would find the real Kangaroo commando, and he would take the two men and Pummlmayan would go after him, where Pummlmayan would punch him, knocking him out instantly.
​
He would be arrested for kidnapping and attempted murder.
​
The end
​
​
Roster:

1. Trick Shot (New name by Gechoman44): Instant technology knowledge, jet-pack for flight, and mask for breathing in space/underwater.
2. Clawfish (Name by Impressive-spray629): Drilling underground, amphibious.
3. Diamondhead: Crystal creation and construction
4. Grey Matter: Supper intelligence
5. Octo-Lock: Telekinesis
6. Cellshiftier: Shape shifting, Heat immunity
7. Buzzshock: Electric powers
8. Gax: High durability, Enhanced abilities compared to humans. I chose this name, because I'm lazy, and I like reboot.
9. Chromastone: Energy absorption, flight, crystallization
10. Wildmutt: Enhanced abilities. Different form of vision.
11. Roothack (Name by Impressive-spray629): Latching to the ground. "Ground tentacle growth" (Also by Impressive-spray629)
12. Lookback: Can look in front and behind himself. Stronger than humans.
13. Hexagolt (Name by Impressive-spray629): Understand the great one, six arms, splinting into two pieces. Can understand and read all languages.
14. Blind-sight: Heat vision only. Can not see walls unless they emit heat.
15. Light-Brawl: Can make his eyes glow, allowing him to light up areas. This light can hurt Ectonurites and Vladats. Electricity shooting.
16. Melt-claw: When the red claws scratch something, they send out a signal, allowing him to know exactly where that person is, no matter what. Other people can track them. The claws are super-heated, allowing them to cut through materials.
17. Deep-freeze: He can blast out extremely cold air that freezes everything around him. His vision is restricted due to the placement of his head.
18. Sticky-spine: Can climb on walls, and does not suffer from blood flowing to the head.
19. Green-metal: His arms are made of metal, making them much more durable, and have higher attack potency. Poor vision. Has four arms.
20. Bug-blast: Itching dust. Prevents cloning and regeneration.
21. Spike-shoot: Can create spike out of his body, skewering whoever is by him. He can choose where on his boy the spikes come from.
22. Eye-shock: Multiple red eyes. Red shock that triggers pain. If he uses the electricity, then the eye becomes temporarily blind.
23. Sight-staler: Can take away the vision of someone he hits, making them temporarily blind.
24. Heavy-Mettle : Does not need oxygen to survive. Extreme heat resistance. Can survive as long as his head is intact. Really strong. Electricity immunity.
25. Brain-Brace : Telekinesis. Can shoot blasts of it. Can create force fields. Breathes underwater.
26. Four-Arms: Super strength. Four Arms.
27. Ultra-Ben: Weak to chocolate. Super strength, and durability. Laser vision, and freeze breath.
28. Pummlmayan (Name by Gechoman44): Super strength. extended tongue that can grab objects. Necromancy. Temporary Soul adding.
29. Hive-mushroom: Can control and mutate fungus if it's around. Can spawn mushroom minions that share vision.
30. Cyan Cyclops: No powers
31. Greenie-Weenie (based off of the Beanie Weenie form Pvz Heroes): Has a prehensile tail. No other powers.

​
​
Link to part 23: Part 23 of scanning Omnitrix.
Based on a this post: "What if the Omnitrix only had the scan function."

All right, here goes !
Roused abruptly by the jarring clatter of something falling off my desk, I faced a morning as unwelcoming as a creditor’s harsh knock.
The pounding in my head, almost in sync with the blurring of my vision, served as a crude reminder of last night's excesses. You might picture me as the stereotypical washed-up ex-cop turned detective, a man drowning in a sea of booze and self-pity. Once, I might have fooled myself into believing that my celebrated days on the force would pave my way in this new venture. But let's face the grim truth: in these desperate times, yesterday's hero is no more remembered than last week's stale bread. Who am I trying to deceive? Scrounging for pennies to afford the bootleg liquor on my desk, living a life where an unexpected visit from former colleagues might end with handcuffs. Disgrace has become a familiar refrain, the tale of a local hero who soared only to plummet, now eking out a living in the laughable world of private investigation.
Life's been anything but kind, and the country seems to be spiraling out of control. Yet, you haven't truly glimpsed the depths of despair until you've seen it from my vantage point in Los Angeles – a city showing its most sordid face, from the twilight ladies to the ragtag vagabonds.
The door creaked open, and there she was – Mary, a fragile wisp of a girl who somehow became the cornerstone of this shabby office. She tiptoed in, clutching a scrap of paper between her fingers like a lifeline. Mary, bless her soul, had been a 17-year-old runaway when she found refuge under my wing, fleeing from some unknown horror. Now 18, she had become the custodian of not just the office and the mail, but of my chaotic life. I had made a silent promise to myself to find her something special for her birthday, yet my meager earnings barely covered the rent and her modest salary. Without a word of complaint, she looked after me with a devotion that seemed too pure for this tainted world. "Only way but up, boss," she'd often say, trying to inject some color into the grey palette of my existence. But deep down, I knew the bitter truth – I was a sinking ship, damaged beyond repair.
Catching my reflection in the mirror beside my desk, I saw a man ravaged by life's cruel games – my shirt, a canvas of dirt and sweat, barely concealing the scars of a past that stubbornly clung to me. Memories of the previous night's recklessness haunted me – tossed out like yesterday's garbage, abandoned on the cold, unforgiving pavement. The note in Mary’s trembling hand bore a single word: "Sully". A bitter smirk twisted my lips. Captain Sullivan, was it? Despite my detachment from the world, his face was a fixture in the daily papers – my old nemesis, Elliot Sullivan, the golden boy of L.A. What could he possibly want with a has-been like me?
“Here to gloat, Sully?” I whispered to myself, struggling with a cigarette, forced to use matches in the absence of my lighter.
Mary stood silently, her hands nervously intertwined. “Let him in, kid,” I muttered, my voice barely above a grumble. She nodded and retreated, her heels echoing against the wooden floor, sounding like an ominous toll.
Sully entered, his detective instincts as sharp as ever. We had both served in France, but while I endured the horrors and blood of Meuse-Argonne, Sully played the role of the charming hero, his path smoothed by family connections. He had paraded over the front lines for photo ops, returning as a decorated hero. His ascent was swift, yet frustratingly, he chose to start from the bottom in the force, mingling with the grunts, as if to earn his stripes. I harbored resentment for that – my achievements on the force were earned through sweat and blood, but for Sully? He was nothing short of the city's walking, talking prodigy, and aside from the last name, we shared nothing.
“Looking sharp, Captain Sully,” I remarked, shifting uncomfortably in my seat to mask my unease.
He flashed a smile, offering me a cigarette. “Cyclops Sullivan,” he quipped with his typical charm. Classic Sully – the man who didn't smoke but always had a pack ready for those who did.
He moved around the room, ensuring the door was locked, then turned to scrutinize me, his gaze settling on the nearly empty glass of brandy on my desk.
“That your morning poison, Benny?” he inquired, easing into the chair across from me.
I downed the last of the brandy, grimacing as I swallowed a stray bit of cigarette ash. I observed him closely, trying to unravel his true intentions.
“What's the angle, Sully?” I asked, my voice a rough growl.
Sully inhaled deeply, his expression betraying a hint of distaste for the musty air of the office. The longer the silence stretched, the more oppressive it felt. He clasped his hands together, straightening his jacket with a deliberate motion.
“I’ve got a case for you, Benny. The kind they warn you not to dig too deep into. It requires someone who's off the grid.”
A cynical grin curled my lips, a mix of skepticism and resignation. “Sully, there are a dozen rookies out there hungry for their moment of glory. Haven't you heard? I'm the guy who ruins every case. The only clients I get are those suspecting infidelity and old ladies with lost cats. I'm hardly the detective for your high-profile cases.”
Elliot’s eyes hardened with intensity. “I know what you're made of, Benny. I saw your mettle in the trenches. You're more than this office, more than these failures. I've got a situation that's perfect for your skills. And I'll ensure Mary and this place are looked after.”
He shifted, the chair creaking under his weight. “You don’t owe me anything, but... this is big, Benny. I need your help.”
For the first time, I saw a different side to Elliot. His usual bravado was gone, replaced by a man wrestling with a dilemma far greater than any ordinary case. It struck me – this wasn’t just about a case. It was about something corrupt in the system he was a part of, something that was eating away at him.
“Alright, spill it,” I said, finally finding my flask and taking a swig.
Sullivan let out a sigh, the weight of his burden seemingly lightening as he did so. I had expected him to hand over a file brimming with documents; instead, he made it clear this case was strictly off the record, requiring discretion to ensure no trails led back to him. I leaned in, my curiosity piqued, as he began to unfurl the details of the case, my mind keenly following every word, interjecting for clarification where necessary. It seems you might be interested in the particulars, so here's how it unfolded.
Edward Sterling, a British researcher and a war veteran, was recruited post-war by George Hale of Throop College of Technology to delve into the then-nascent field of Astrophysics. During the war, Sterling had been engaged in covert chemical research for our side. He had a family—a wife and two children—and spent his days at the Mount Wilson Observatory, his eyes forever cast towards the heavens. Then, as abruptly as a star vanishing from the night sky, he disappeared. One ordinary day, he went for a walk and never returned. His wife, bewildered and concerned, filed a missing person report, only to have federal agents come knocking. They claimed they were on the lookout for him, but oddly, a few days later, despite no sign of Sterling, his wife inexplicably retracted her report, muttering something about him probably running off.
This twist in the tale led Sterling's daughter, Dorothy, to take matters into her own hands. She confronted her mother about her father's mysterious disappearance, but her mother remained tight-lipped, prompting Dorothy to take her concerns to the precinct. Elliot took on the case, but his investigation was quickly stifled by the feds, who insisted there was nothing to see. Undeterred, Elliot headed to Mount Wilson, conducting interviews with Sterling's colleagues, but it soon became evident that a veil of silence had been cast over them.
Elliot reached out to a contact within the federal ranks, someone who promised to dig deeper. But that promise turned hollow when the contact later revealed he was being sidelined, his office ransacked by his own colleagues, and he was being forcibly put on leave. The feds then paid Elliot a threatening visit, coldly assuring him that if he persisted, his career would be over.
But the plot thickened when a secretary from Throop confided in Elliot. She had overheard Sterling in a heated discussion with some military personnel a few weeks before his disappearance. He seemed troubled by something he was told. The only snippet she caught was a phrase repeated several times: "Hamilton Feed."
It wasn't long before Elliot noticed he was being tailed and monitored by federal agents. That's when he realized he had to pass the baton, entrusting the investigation to someone less conspicuous, someone like me.
"So that's the long and short of it," I mused silently, as Sully concluded his tale. A scholarly type with a penchant for stargazing vanishes, and now it falls to me, of all people, to untangle this mess. I gave Elliot a nod, agreeing to take a gander at the situation, and ushered him out of the office, instructing Mary to burn the slip of paper bearing his name. I realized then, with a touch of irony, that I was fresh out of matches. Before leaving, Elliot slipped me an envelope heavy with cash, enough to keep the wolves at bay for half a year. "Stay sober for this one, Benny," he cautioned with a stern look. "I need you sharp."
Once he was gone, I told Mary I'd be heading back to my place for a bit of a cleanup and suggested she take her lunch break. My apartment, as disheveled as my life, greeted me with the familiar scent of neglect. I shed my clothes and let the bath fill, immersing myself with a cigarette dangling from my lips, the smoke curling lazily upward. "Elliot Sullivan," I echoed to myself with a wry smile.
After a while, I stood before the mirror, retrieving an old first aid kit to tend to a gash on my forehead—a memento from last night's follies. Hair slicked back and donning a fresh set of clothes, I felt somewhat more human. Back at the office, Mary was quietly eating her tuna sandwich. My mind was already racing with where to start this peculiar case.
"Mary, get me the contact details for a Dorothy Sterling, daughter of some scientist called Edward Sterling," I called out, my gaze fixed on the rain-streaked window, watching the droplets weave their way down the pane. Mary was quick to respond, her voice steady as she dialed up our usual contacts.
Leaving her to it, I stepped out, bound for an old acquaintance in the know it all world, someone who might shed light on the enigmatic the situation. The city's rain-soaked streets mirrored my thoughts—cloudy, meandering, and full of unseen currents. I needed answers, and I had a hunch where to start digging.
“They don't call it Throop anymore, Benny," Jim casually remarked as he polished off a glass. His voice carried the sort of candidness reserved for those who spend their days behind a bar, privy to the world's unguarded conversations. He motioned towards his hidden stash of bootleg liquor, but I declined with a wave, my focus fixed on the seltzer water he was preparing. "Good man," I thought. Jim had an instinct for the right drink at the right time, and now wasn't the moment for clouded judgments.
"It's the California Institute of Technology now. In times like these, who wants their alma mater named after some billionaire? Bad for optics. They're renaming everything, you know," he rambled on, his words painting a picture of the changing times. Jim was the kind of guy who had connections for just about anything, from a clean shave to less savory requests. As he went on, commenting on the 'academic type' while eyeing the women passing by, I focused on the matter at hand.
"Those two guys Sully mentioned, they stopped here after the precinct. I know every cop in this city, and those guys? Definitely not local," he said, leaning in a little.
I fixed him with a serious gaze. "You heard them talking, Jim. What did they say?" I pressed, not in the mood for games or half-truths.
Jim hesitated, his eyes darting around nervously. "I... I don’t want any trouble, Benny," he stammered, a clear hint for some sort of incentive. But I was in no mood for bribery. In a swift motion, I grabbed him by the collar, pulling him close. "I need the info, Jim. Now."
"Alright, alright, ease up, Benny... Christ, your breath," he complained. "Okay, listen. Two guys, definitely military, from the northeast. They were in a rush, talking about heading north, an eight-hour drive or something. I was just relieved to see them go, you know?"
I released my grip, scrutinizing him for any sign of deceit. "Did they mention anything about 'Hamilton' or 'Hamilton Feed'?"
Jim shook his head, his expression one of genuine curiosity. Satisfied for the moment, I finished my seltzer and headed back to the office. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to form a picture, but it was still incomplete. A scholar mixed up with the government, possibly some espionage affair. Yet, it didn't quite add up. If this were a simple case of espionage, the military would parade it for all to see. And if it were a kidnapping by foreign agents, they would have every cop looking for him. But there was nothing. No, this was something different, something deeper.
As I passed a flower stall, I picked up a bouquet for Mary. Today marked her 18th birthday, a milestone in a life that had been anything but easy. I returned to the office, the fresh air clearing my thoughts. Mary greeted me with a smile, and I handed her the bouquet, her eyes lighting up with surprise.
"Benny, you shouldn't have, what were you thinking?" she exclaimed.
I chuckled as I hung up my jacket. Pulling out the envelope of cash Elliot had given me, I handed it to her. "Here, keep this with you. If things go south for me, it'll keep you going for a few months. And hey, let's go out for dinner tonight. It's not every day you turn 18."
She opened the envelope, gasping at the contents before giving me a long, warm hug. For a moment, I was acutely aware of my own rough state, contrasted with the delicate scent of her perfume. It had been years since I'd felt a human touch like that. Mary had found her way to me under the most unlikely circumstances, and now, at 18, she was finally finding her voice in a world that had tried to silence her.
“You can finally vote and get a decent job,” I had told her earlier that day. Her laughter in response was both bitter and sweet. "Ain't no one worth voting for, and I'm fine right here, Benny."
I watched her leave with the bouquet and the envelope, looking back at me with a smile, her first steps into a new chapter of her life. Turning back to my desk, I realized it was time to dig deeper into this case. The more I thought about it, the more the intrigue pulled me in. There was something exhilarating about unraveling a mystery, especially one as convoluted as this.
Right before Mary left the office, she handed me a slip of paper with Dorothy Sterling's coordinates, a small heart sketched at the bottom. "Oh Mary," I thought, a hint of affectionate amusement in my mind. It was clear that Mary harbored feelings for me, but I saw them for what they were: a young woman's fleeting affection, likely a product of finding someone who hadn't treated her harshly. I was certain that one day she'd find someone more suitable than a jaded detective like me. I had a few hours to spare before our dinner, so I decided to pursue the lead on Dorothy Sterling.
The address led me to an opulent mansion nestled in the hills, its unkempt lawn sprawling across the vast estate. At the entrance, an eccentric figure caught my eye at the corner of the unpaved street. Perched on a chair, holding an umbrella, sat a man whose attire defied fashion. He was clad in what looked like a mechanic's jumpsuit adorned with shimmering, oversized shoulder pads that seemed to glow opaquely with a strange, iridescent light. His outfit was an odd juxtaposition of the mundane and the fantastical, as if he belonged to another place entirely
"That's Los Angeles" I thought.
As I absorbed the bizarre sight, another man approached me. He had a Midwestern twang in his voice. “Can I help you, sir?" he inquired. I explained my purpose to meet Dorothy Sterling concerning her father. His eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly turned to relay the message inside.
I waited, my umbrella struggling against the, at times, gusty wind. The strangely dressed man, still seated, watched me with an enigmatic smile. Slowly, he rose and approached. "My name is Jean-Jacques," he announced holding out a gloved hand in a thick French accent, reminiscent of my time in Europe. His presence was oddly captivating, almost bizarre.
"Do you believe in ghosts, monsieur?" he asked in an enthusiastic tone, his outfit subtly changing shifting as he adjusted it. The question, coming from such an unusual character, piqued my curiosity.
"Ghosts? Like a Halloween costume, like a sheet with two holes?" I replied, trying to shield my cigarette from the rain. My skepticism was apparent, but Jean-Jacques seemed undeterred.
He tapped my shoulder, drawing my attention towards the hills opposite the mansion. "Look," he urged with an air of seriousness. I followed his gaze and walked across the road to a vantage point near the edge of a cliff. Squinting into the foggy hills, I sought what he was pointing at.
There, against the side of the mountain, was an astonishing sight. A sleek, crescent-shaped form, the mountain fog brushing against it, almost a hundred feet long, hovered inexplicably in the air. It was unlike anything I had ever seen – too structured to be a natural formation, yet too surreal to be a man-made structure. My mind raced with possibilities – a hidden road, an unusual construction floating like a zeppelin, or something far more curious.
Just then, a car sped up the hill, nearly colliding with me. I steadied myself and looked back. Jean Jacques had vanished, leaving only the Midwestern man motioning me towards the entrance. With my mind still reeling from the inexplicable vision and the enigmatic Jean Jacques, I moved towards the mansion, unsure of what other secrets lay within its walls, I turned before walking in taking in the strange sight one last time.
The pathway leading to the mansion was lined with stones, guiding me to a classic Mexican-style hacienda adorned with plastered walls and a terracotta-tiled roof. The man who greeted me with a Midwestern drawl motioned me inside, and I stepped into the expansive lobby. Shortly, a maid approached, offering a much-needed cup of coffee to combat the chill from the relentless fall showers. Gratefully accepting, I savored the warmth, my fingers grateful for the respite from the cold.
My wait wasn’t long before a woman descended the staircase. She was in a state of half-dress, slipping into a beige silk robe that scarcely concealed her figure. Her appearance was startling, not just for her state of undress but for the confidence with which she carried herself. “So you’re Benny,” she said, her voice carrying a mix of curiosity and challenge. “Elliot mentioned you.”
I averted my gaze, trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism. “He didn’t say you had one eye. Seems like a situation where two might be preferable,” she quipped with a playful tone. I cleared my throat, “They call me Cyclops, ma’am, but I assure you, I don’t miss much.”
She poured herself a drink, the light catching her silhouette through the sheer fabric of her robe. “Vodka,” she indicated, but I declined with a raised hand. This wasn’t the time to dull my senses.
“My father is gone, and it seems I’m the only one who cares to find out where and why. Elliot thinks you can help,” she said briskly, obviously unimpressed with my rugged appearance. I started to explain my position, but she quickly cut me off. “Dorothy, please, no ma'am. And tell me, why should I trust you?”
I was about to respond when her attention drifted to the window, lost in thought. “Dorothy, I might not have much to go on, but I’m here to understand and help,” I assured her. She spoke of her father, Dr. Edward Sterling, a man passionate about his research, in the last few times she had seen him mentioning something about something called the Aetheric Theory and a Dr. Thorne. Her words wove a narrative of hidden realities and academic intrigue.
As the hours wore on, I realized I needed to meet Mary for dinner. “Could I speak to Jean-Jacques before I leave?” I asked, recalling the peculiar Frenchman at the gate. Dorothy looked puzzled. “Jean-Jacques? Who is that?” I pointed towards the entrance side street, visible from where we stood, but the chair where he had been sitting was empty. “The Frenchman at the gate?” She dismissed the notion, suggesting he might be a neighbor, but her tone suggested uncertainty.
Stepping out of the mansion, I waited for a cab. My mind was reeling with the bizarre encounter and the mysterious Jean-Jacques, who seemed as much a ghost as the subjects of his odd questions. Far away the object had vanished from the hills.
The Sterling case was shaping up to be more than just a simple disappearance – it was a labyrinth of secrets, and I was only just beginning to find my way through it.

With Season 6 (The Little Mermaid) starting on January 30th, I want to take a look ahead and predict a few things about future seasons. We know we're eventually getting A Nightmare Before Christmas season, and I absolutely love that movie, so I want to take some time to predict the crew members for the 4 racers that have been confirmed.
With roughly 3 crew members per racer lately with one exclusive that will equal 12. So some pretty easy ones is Zero exclusive to Jack, Igor, exclusive to Finkelstien, and Lock, Shock and Barrel exclusive to Oogie. Now I could see the three of them each being separate. But for now, I will say they 1 crew member, like Pain and Panic are.
Now I would love The Hanging Tree to be the exclusive crew member for Sally, but there has been a previous instance of Disney ruling The Hanging Tree too violent and removing him from a game. But assuming that we do get that, what of the other 8? Well, I personally would like to imagine they would save The Mayor or Sandy Claws to be a mid-season racer some other season. But realistically, they would both be crew members.
There are honestly tons of Halloween Townsfolk. I would certainly hope for the Corpse Family to be a Crew Member. But Behemoth, The Clown with the Tearaway Face and The Vampires are very popular, and get more screentime. I certainly think The Band could be exclusive for Sally if the Hanging Tree is rejected. The Witches and The Werewolf also have plenty of screentime. I think it would be very cool if they somehow pulled off grouping enough together that we got all of them.
So say the Mayor is a Racer later, and instead of him being a Crew Member for that season, Mr. Hyde is. Who would the crew released with the Mayor be? Well, his exclusive would definitely be the Mummy Boy. I feel like you could give The Cyclops his own Crew and then lump The Demon, The Harlequin Demon, and The Winged Demon all in one. I know... I left out The Undersea Gal, The One Hiding Under Your Stairs, Jewel, The One Hiding Under Your Bed, and half a dozen characters who never speak and don't have any merch.
But... what if... instead of Igor Dr. Finkelstien has Jewel as his exclusive crew member? Would Igor replace someone else? Or would he just not happen? I see the devs read this subreddit. Well if you're reading, I love all the Halloween Townsfolk and I can't wait to see who you pick, I love this game and seeing the Townsfolk in anything, especially in new outfits will be amazing.
I know it's a long shot, but if you could in any way reference Mr. Myzer, in a permanent way, I would be forever in your debt. Even if it's a license plate or the name of a wheel. It would mean the world to me if his name was in the game somewhere.
Mr. Myzer is from The Nightmare Before Christmas: Zero's Journey, a manga from Tokyo Pop, and he's a miserly guy from Christmas Town! Even if you can't reference him, you should do yourself a favor and read it! I guess I really only predicted one season. Maybe I'll do another post like this for Inside Out or something.

I do intend on buying Old Man Logan but I also want something that’s about the whole team, not just Wolverine.
Familiarity wise, I’ve seen the movies as a kid, seen the characters a bunch in Ultimate Spider-Man comics and I used to main Wolverine and X-23 in Marvel vs Capcom 3 lol.
If anyone wants to recommend a series, that’s fine, I can read it through Marvel Unlimited but I just want 1 book for my shelf. A self-contained story that mostly requires you to be at least familiar with the characters, if at all, but not an expert on them. Think of Spider-Man Blue or Life Story. Maybe even Old Man Logan or Batman Hush/Long Halloween. Something like that. That shows off the team dynamic and maybe has some cool fights. Preferably nothing more than $30 so no omnibuses or anything like that. Does such a book exist for me? I do like the relationship between Logan, Jean and Cyclops if you can maybe pull on that. If you’d like me to clarify more please let me know

Note: My analysis and review for Season One, Episode Two... => https://www.reddit.com/camphalfblood/comments/18phpjf/pjotv_my_analysis_and_review_for_season_one/ and https://www.reddit.com/PercyJacksonTV/comments/18pho40/pjotv_my_analysis_and_review_for_season_one/
Positives:

• I love the fact that Percy was the first one to speak during the attic scene with The Oracle by just casually introducing himself to The Oracle and calling her a Halloween decoration, even though in the original book Percy wasn't the first to speak in the original book, because this is just such a Percy thing to say and do and I just love it lol.
• The Oracle of Delphi / Pythia looks book accurate in that she looks like a spooky and creepy desiccated mummy. Also, Percy's reaction of "Oh, geez." and "You seem busy. I'll come back." when the Oracle moved and started groaning was a good reaction lol. Also, the green smoke that came out of the Oracle's mouth looked magnificent as well.
• I think Grover felt more like Grover in this episode. Especially at the end, when he kind of loses his patience and loses his cool. I literally don't understand anyone who says that Aryan Simhadri acting / performance as Grover is bad. In my opinion, Aryan was the best casted out of the trio because he not only has Grover's personality down, but he also even looks just like how I'd imagine Grover looked like in the book. Also, Percy's smile when Grover said, “I’m gonna pack the best snacks,” was adorable.
• Percy's "I think they're Canadian, maybe? Or from Chuck E. Cheese, I don't know," was a really funny added snarky line that wasn't in the original book, but still feels like it came straight from the original book.
• The CGI for the way the wing came out of the flying shoe was magnificent. I always pictured little wings sprounting out of the heels of the shoes, but instead the TV series has the shoe's laces intertwining to create a beautiful wing and it just looks so clean and so freaking great and it's very creative visually.
• Luke's final line that he gave to Percy where he said, "Just take care of each other out there," was really sweet and heartwarming and even better than his final line in the original book that he gave to Percy before Percy left Camp Half-Blood with Grover and Annabeth to embark on the quest where Luke said, "“Listen, Percy . . .” Luke looked uncomfortable. “A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just . . . kill some monsters for me, okay?”"
• I loved the added scene of Annabeth looking up at and touching Thalia's pine tree before they left Camp Half-Blood and also Grover subtly bowing his head because it's a beautiful moment that wasn't in the original book at all. Also, Percy's added snarky "She's really gonna to miss that tree, huh?" 😂😂😂
• Percy's line of "The most powerful being in the universe's best idea to save his daughter's life... was to turn her into a tree?", fits Percy's character perfect as someone who constantly stands up to the gods and holds them to account.
• Also, I love these little added moments of Percy just calling shit out with the crappy way the gods treat their kids. “She met a pinecone's fate,” is such a tone deaf (...and really funny lol...) thing to say, and yet something I can definitely hear another certain character saying the exact same thing or at least expressing the exact same sentiment... I like how the TV series is nailing how jaded Percy already feels and how close he could be to turning, it's going to make another certain character being his foil hit so much more harder than it did in the original book because Percy's "She met a pinecone's fate" line is lowkey true, and Percy is right to be calling the gods out.
• Grover's bit of exposition where he says, "Hero's quests are world-defining events. They have made and broken empires... altered the course of human civilization... changed the balance of power on Olympus. A quest is a sacred thing. And to be charged with one is to be in conversation with the gods themselves." was really interesting and it was added dialouge that wasn't in the orginal book. Also, I love how they cleverly showed the Empire State Building in the reflection of a Taxi window when Grover said, "changed the balance of power on Olympus."
• Annabeth being this stoic arrogant soldier type saying, "We're soldiers on a mission. It's not a vacation," when starting off on this quest is really great and it will make Percy, Grover, and Annabeth coming together as a trio so much more satisfying when Annabeth's character develops in the TV series and she fully opens up at the end of the quest with her walls slowly starting to come down throughout the entire quest.
• Percy and Annabeth arguing with each other on the bus was really great banter between the two of them with Percy going, "I wanna vote. Who thinks that we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?", and Annabeth telling him, "There's no voting. Chips and sodas okay for you guys?", and Percy challenging her by saying, "I don't think you should just get to decide we don't vote," and Annabeth just going, "I'm sorry to hear that," and Percy continuing by saying, "Okay. I wanna vote on whether you get to decide we don't vote." It's just so authentic with 12 year olds acting like and sounding like and being 12 year olds which I love to see.
• Percy looking depressed and defeated and just going, "Our voting system's broken," was absolutely brilliant. Like every single added snarky line they gave Percy so far that wasn't in the original book still feels like it came straight from the original book which is just great.
• The way the TV series showed Annabeth being able to sense and spot the Furies immediately while she was out buying snacks was a nice touch considering the fact that Annabeth does have prior experience being on the run from monsters.
• Grover's bit of added exposition where he tells Percy that, "Monsters can't be avoided entirely. They're more common than you think. The trick is to spot them first before they spot you. It's true they are more likely to sense a more powerful demigod. A child of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, is at the most extreme risk. But it isn't your power, exactly, that draws them. It's more complicated than that," and Percy going, "They smell fear," and Grover telling him, "That's bees. What a monster senses kinda depends on the monster. Some are better at sensing your inadequacy. Some, your need for glory, your shame. It's important to remember that if you've ever gotta confront one... wherever your armor is weakest, that monster's probably coming right for it. Nothing will stop them, not even death," was really interesting and it's added dialogue that wasn't in the original book.
• I actually really like the new added element of Mrs. Dodds / Alecto being one of the monsters that went after Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke when Thalia sacrificed herself all those years ago on Half-Blood Hill and taunting Annabeth about it.
• I love the set design for Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. It adds up to book's description of the site having a closed-down gas station and the site being surrounded by acres of statuary.
• I didn't really know that the TV series was going to make Medusa more of a sympathetic character until I read about it somewhere online and I was a bit skeptical about how the TV series was going to be able to do that in an interesting and successful way, but the TV series definitely made an improvement over the original book with this change of making Medusa more of a victimized character rather than a monster. Also, considering the fact that there wasn't much screentime, Jessica Parker Kennedy still gave a terrific and magnificent performance as Medusa, especially when she gets emotional while telling her story at the dinner table.
• The CGI for Medusa's head of snakes doesn't look fake at all and actually looks pretty good.
• Also, it was a really cool and interesting missable detail with how Medusa manipulated the trio by only having the monster statues outside, but the statues of innocent people hidden away in her dark lair in the basement...
• Percy actually using Medusa’s decapitated head to turn Alecto into stone just like how his namesake, Perseus, used Medusa’s decapitated head to petrify the Kraken, causing it to crumble to pieces, was such a cool heroic moment to see and to have Annabeth watch because in the original book Percy doesn't use Medusa’s decapitated head at all to petrify anything.
• I also really liked how Grover actually showed way more emotion for dead Uncle Ferdinand, which I didn’t really feel in the original book.
• The song choice for the end credits sequence for episode three was brilliant and really fits with what Percy did at the end of episode three with Percy doing "what he pleases" and "deep in his heart he's just a boy" and "livin' his life one day at a time" and "showing himself a really good time" and "laughin' about the way they want him to be".

Issues:

• The Oracle of Delphi / Pythia does take the form of Percy’s step-dad, Smelly Gabe (played by Timm Sharp), in the original book which I actually went back to check in chapter nine of the original book because I honestly completely forgot about this detail lol (Note: In fact, in the original book it isn't just Smelly Gabe that shows up to fortell the prophecy to Percy, it is also Gabe's buddies as well having a whole poker party)..., but the fact that in the TV series Gabe is just speaking in his regular New York accent instead of the rasping voice of the Oracle like in the original book and also the fact that it's this version of Smelly Gabe from the TV series, who's just a goofy over the top comedy character who only adds comic relief, completely ruins the spooky and ominous atmosphere this scene is suppose to have, especially on the last part of the prophecy where the Oracle warns Percy that his destiny is, "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend," and "And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."
• This is basically just a nitpick, but it was a huge missed opportunity to have Grover's consensus song basically be "In The Same Boat" => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D\_vDdHFIzxo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiQC0TtQcc. That would've been a really lovely easter egg.
• The whole attack on the bus scene in the TV series was a lot less exciting and action packed than it was in chapter ten of the original book... In the original book, all three of the Furies were attacking Percy, Grover, and Annabeth on the bus, not just two of them, plus, they had fiery whips. Also, to get out of that situation, Percy, using Annabeth's Yankees baseball cap, turned invisible and then wrestled with the bus driver over the steering wheel while the bus was on a highway road and they slammed into the side of the Lincoln Tunnel and while all of this is happening monsters and people were being tossed around the bus and other cars on the highway road plowed aside out of the way of the bus and then once they shot off the highway through a dozen traffic lights, Percy hit the emergency break and the bus wailed and spun full circle on the asphalt and crashed into trees. Also, in the end lightning struck the bus and the entire bus exploded with Percy's, Grover's, and Annabeth's bags inside... Here in the TV series the bus is completely stationery at a rest stop and there's a complete lack of a fight on the bus with Mrs. Dodds / Alecto just practically going, "oh, lemme just walk slowly towards you all against the crowd of bus passengers and allow you all a chance to escape" lol, and the entire bus doesn't get struck by lightning and explode at all like in the original book (Like what? Did Disney seriously not have the budget to simply blow up an entire bus using detonators lol?)... This should've started off as a really tense scene that was more like the original book where Annabeth clamps her hand onto Percy's knee and she points out to Percy that an old lady just boarded the bus and Percy immediately recognizes that the old lady is Mrs. Dodds but older and more withered but definitely the same evil face and Percy tries to hide by scrunching down in his seat but then two more old ladies come behind Mrs. Dodds and they all just sit in the front row behind the driver and then the two on the aisle casually cross their legs over the walkway making an X to send a message that nobody leaves and Grover whimpers, “All three of them. Di immortales!”, Annabeth begins to think hard and tries to keep Grover calm by telling him, “It’s okay. The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We’ll just slip out the windows,” and Grover moans, “They don’t open,” and Annabeth tries to suggest, “A back exit?”, and Percy tells her that there isn’t one and even if there was one, it won't help because they're currently on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel and Percy asks Annabeth, “They won’t attack us with witnesses around. Will they?”, and Annabeth reminds Percy that, “Mortals don’t have good eyes. Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist,” and Percy then asks Annabeth, “They’ll see three old ladies killing us, won’t they?”, and Annabeth thinks about it and says, “Hard to say. But we can’t count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof . . . ?”, and as soon as she says that they hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus goes dark except for the running lights down the aisle and it's eerily quiet without the sound of the rain outside and then Mrs. Dodds gets up and in a flat voice, as if she rehearsed it, announces to the whole bus, “I need to use the restroom,” and the second sister says, “So do I,” and the third sister says, “So do I,” and they all start coming down the aisle, but instead the scene in the TV series is just over in like one minute with Annabeth shouting, "Guys, you need to open that window! Now!", and Mrs. Dodds immediately showing her true form to the trio as Alecto and then Percy and Grover immediately get up from their seats and break open a window and all the bus passengers start slowly, and when I say slowly I do mean slowly at a snail's pace..., exiting out of the front of the bus and then out of nowhere another Fury just flys in and burst through a window like a literally missile and Annabeth just easily kills it in just one second with a simple knife/dagger throw (...the Furies in this TV series suck lol...) and Annabeth just picks up her knife and goes, "We're done here. Let's go," and then we cut to Mrs. Dodds hilariously trying to sluggishly make her way through the crowd of bus passagers exiting through the front of the bus (... again the Furies in this TV series suck lol...) and then we practically just cut to the next scene of the trio just casually and calmly walking through the woods on a satry path... Just continuing the awful trend that the TV series has so far with frenetic and breakneck pacing and basically speed-running through scenes from the original book and it just makes it feel like things are just happening and then "whoop, bye!", and it just leaves me with the underwhelmed feeling of, "Well that just sort of happened I guess..."
• The Mist in the TV series is so overpowered, my gods... I already discussed in my analysis/review of episode one that Mrs. Dodds attacking Percy in broad daylight right in front of all the students instead of luring Percy away on his own to a private place in the museum where obviously no one is going to see her take her true form as Alecto and attack Percy just like in the original book was a really weird change to me because I'm pretty sure The Mist doesn't just make monsters and magical creatures completely invisible lol... Like The Mist is just suppose to camouflage them and warp their appearance which makes me wonder what the hell were the students seeing when Mrs. Dodds was attacking Percy lol...? Like were they not just seeing their sixth grade teacher jumping Percy and pinning him down to the ground which is highly concerning and straight up illegal lol...? And with that being said, the attack on the bus scene in the TV series was done even weirder and even more nonsensical... Like, I had so many questions... Why didn't any of the other passengers react at all to Annabeth vanishing out of thin air when she put on her Yankees baseball cap in the middle of the aisle/walkway? Why didn't any of the passengers react to three kids breaking open a window in the back of the bus and hopping through it instead of just exiting through the front of the bus? Why didn't any of the passengers react to one of the Furies flying in and bursting through a window like a literally missile lol? I mean..., The Mist was already a pretty overpowered thing in the original books, but it seems to be even more overpowered in the TV series than it was in the original books where it can just make everything completely invisible instead of just warping the appearance of things lol. In the original book it literally says, "I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row. The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn’t get any uglier—but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat’s wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips. The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: “Where is it? Where?” The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right."
• I really hate that the TV series decided to completely cut out the part where Percy decides not to run off of the bus and decided to stay and help out his friends even though that would put himself in danger because that moment was soooo important in the original book. It is the first instance where that part of Percy, which in the end is his fatal flaw, really comes out in the original books. "Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake. The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver’s seat and let them pass. The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans. I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn’t leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap. “Hey!” The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F– math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards. “Perseus Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. “You have offended the gods. You shall die.” “I liked you better as a math teacher,” I told her. She growled."
• Another part in episode three that I disliked is when Percy talks about getting a phone to call and ask for help and the TV series decides to handle this situation by having Annabeth turn to Percy and basically call him a coward... Bro like, did they forget that the whole reason they don't use a phone in the original books is because it attracts monsters from miles away to their position? It just felt like the TV series was trying to make unnecessary drama happen and an argument happen between Percy and Annabeth when it really didn't need to... In chapter ten of the original book it's literally explained, "For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.)"
• Speaking of Chiron, I am so disappointed with the way this TV series completely underutilized him when in the original book he was literally playing the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Percy’s Luke Skywalker or the Professor Dumbledore to Percy's Harry Potter... Like how on earth do you just not utilize an actor like Glynn Turman...? Like in the TV series, Chiron gets pushed to the sidelines and gets such a diminished role compared to his role in the original book and again he barely makes an appearance at all in episode three here before Percy, Grover, and Annabeth leave Camp Half-Blood to set off on their quest... In the TV series, Chiron doesn't explain at all or give Percy important and valuable knowledge like how he does in the original book with him telling Percy interesting things such as, "The gods move with the heart of the West,” and why Percy being claimed as a big 3 child is a monumental event in this universe with World War II being apart of the official reason for the big three swearing off impregnating humans and the resulting implication that Adolf Hitler was a son of Hades... Also, Chiron doesn't tell Percy that the sword, Anaklusmos / Riptide, "has a long and tragic history that we need not go into,” and to "“Use it only for emergencies,” Chiron said, “and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn’t harm them in any case.” I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. “What do you mean it wouldn’t harm mortals? How could it not?” “The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It’s deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don’t kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable.” “Good to know,”" and, "“Chiron . . .” I said. “When you say the gods are immortal . . . I mean, there was a time before them, right?” “Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age.” “So what was it like . . . before the gods?” Chiron pursed his lips. “Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born.” “But the gods can’t die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they’re alive. So . . . even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?” Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. “No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny.” “Our destiny . . . assuming we know what that is.” “Relax,” Chiron told me. “Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history.” “Relax,” I said. “I’m very relaxed.”" Like all of this stuff is pretty important info that goes into explaining the lore and building the canon of the Percy Jackson mythos... I feel like episode 2 should've ended with it just being revealed that Percy's the son of Poseidon and then later on Percy talks with Chiron and Grover and Mr. D about why it's a problem (...with the whole World War II backstory and Zeus' Master Bolt being stolen and all that...) at the beginning of episode three instead of immediately at the end of episode two in extremely rushed fashion and completely neglecting to mention the World War II backstory.
• You know..., I really didn't really like how in the original book it took the trio quite a while to deduce in chapter eleven that Aunty Em was actually Medusa with there literally being acres of extremely life like statues everywhere of human people with startled and terrified faces and Aunty Em literally talking about making statues and so when Percy was like, "Aunty Em. Aunty “M.” How could I have been so stupid?", I was like, "For real... How could not only you, but also both Annabeth and Grover who are both pretty experienced in the world of Greek mythology be so stupid lol...?", so I was completely cool with the TV series having the detail of only the statues of Greek monsters outside of Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium and keeping the statues of innocent people hidden away in Medusa's lair down in the dark basement to make the trio feel smarter in this encounter, but guys..., having Annabeth immediately, and when I say immediately I do mean immediately go, "Oh, come on. Aunty "Em" has a garden full of petrified stone folks. Yeah, this is someone from our world, all right. Anyone want to guess what "Em" is short for?", in literally the exact second the trio wonder across it deflated me and goes right back to the fast and frenetic pacing issue this TV series has so far with going over stuff from the original book really quickly... Guys..., this doesn't fix the problem of the trio being stupid about who Aunty Em is and in fact it just creates a whole new set of problems and entirely different reasons for why the trio is so stupid in this encounter... In the original book, the trio walked into a trap without knowing it was a trap, and here in the TV series they walked into Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium fully knowing it belonged to Medusa (someone who can easily turn on the trio and instantly turn them all to stone if they so much as look at her...) all because Grover was hungry and because Medusa gave the trio this ultimatum that they could either follow her inside or fight Alecto, who they know wants them dead, and this ultimatum in the TV series literally made absolutely no gods dam sense lol... I was just left wondering what kind of mental gymnastics the trio did to think that the Fury was more of a threat than Medusa and why they couldn't just easily take down Alecto together when Percy, without any training, already beat Alecto all by himself at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in just a matter of like two seconds max by accidentally stabbing her with Riptide and Annabeth already easily killed one of Alecto's sisters with just a simple knife throw on the bus in even less time than that and it was literally three on one here with the odds in their favor lol... Like I think the trio could've easily taken down Alecto in the TV series instead of having to follow Medusa lol... If I were to do a bit of reworking/rewriting, this scene in the TV series would've made more sense to me if instead of having just Alecto show up to confront the trio, you also had another one of her sisters show up as well with her and the other Fury both actually having their fiery whips that they had in the original book and the trio decide to run inside Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium to escape from both of them and the two Furies mysteriously don't follow after the trio inside Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium because they both are aware of who owns Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium and figure that the trio are as good as dead and the trio don't even get to take the time to actually notice or assess for themselves the fact that the site is surrounded by acres of statuary because they are just only worried about escaping together from the two Furies with fiery whips, and then the TV series could've had it like the original book where it gradually leans into it with Aunty Em revealing and introducing herself to the trio as a friendly lady and the trio don't know that Aunty Em is actually Medusa at first and there's an off feeling about them going into this emporium trying to escape from the two Furies with fiery whips and then things could've slowly start to be revealed with Grover hearing a hissing noise and the trio noticing that Aunty Em's human skin is slowly shedding and coming off just like a snake's skin would as the scene gets more darker and more foreboding and with Aunty Em slowly revealing her true nature and her true skin starts to show and then the TV series could've had Annabeth be the one to finally figure out that Aunty Em is Medusa and then the TV series could've presented Medusa telling the trio her sympathetic tragic backstory and then we could've gotten more of Percy trusting his mom's advice of, "Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero, and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster," and deciding to leave Grover and Annabeth in the dining room with all the candy and sweets and follow Medusa into another room and with Percy feeling more and more bad for Medusa the more and more he hears her talk and then the TV series could've had Grover and Annabeth decide to secretly snoop around the garden gnome emporium together and they eventually ended up discovering and finding Grover's Uncle Ferdinand as a statue in the dark basement along with a bunch of other innocent people and then the TV series could've had both Grover and Annabeth come in to warn and save Percy from Medusa. This would've made this scene in the TV series more tension filled and more horror filled and more mystery filled that it should've had without making the trio look stupid at all and without glossing over a lot of stuff from the original book and having everything be over and done with so quickly...
• The action scenes, can I even call these action scenes because that kind of seems disrespectful to action scenes..., in episode three where all fucking terrible lol... In episode one I really enjoyed the fight between Percy and the Minotaur and thought it was really well done and cool for Percy's first ever battle and I also thought the fight choreography and sword play in the Capture the Flag scene was also really great, but... the fights with the monsters in episode three felt way too easy. Like there was no tension. I mean for christ sake..., the attack on the bus scene only lasted one minute and Medusa just gets killed by Percy in just two minutes lol... Not even joking here lol... => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjfULCi59g. Like the action scenes in episode three did not feel like action scenes, so far literally all of them have been one attack and its immediately over, which I'd understand for the original books because it could still be impactful from explanation and detail of what exactly happens, but it just feels weird in the show, it feels like the main characters are level 100 but also suck at the game but still have op stats, and all the monsters are like level 5 lol... I feel like one of the jobs of an adaptation like this is to make action scenes longer, because at the end of the day the action is a major part of this series, so they really should extend it to be actual fight scenes. Like when it was revealed that Medusa has a huge dark lair in the basement that actually looks Greek and it actually has human statues I was like this is actually pretty cool where it's like a labyrinth of human statues and I thought this was going to lead to a really cool and thrilling action scene where the trio somehow get split up from each other and get lost in the dark basement and we see them try to avoid being caught by Medusa and them trying to find each other again so that they can figure out a way to kill Medusa and escape from the dark basement together => https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTlMBdmaAAA62IY?format=jpg&name=4096x4096, but instead the quote on quote "action scene" is just immediately over in two minutes...
• Why did they make Grover completely useless in the whole Medusa fight sequence? In the TV series, Grover just disappears off into the darkness of the basement and then randomly causes a distraction by accidentally crash landing into a human statue... In the original book Grover yelled, "“Percy!” Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, “Duck!” I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o’clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone. “Duck!” he yelled again. “I’ll get her!” That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he’d miss Medusa and nail me. I dove to one side. Thwack! At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage. “You miserable satyr,” she snarled. “I’ll add you to my collection!” “That was for Uncle Ferdinand!” Grover yelled back. I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass. Ker-whack! “Arrgh!” Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting."
• Jeez..., are Disney's censors really this bad to where the TV series couldn't even show Medusa's decapitated head as a prop...? I mean..., The Lightning Thief movie was rated PG and it still was able to actually show Medusa's decapitated head as a prop. It would've been a much cooler and better looking kill in the TV series if Annabeth's Yankees baseball cap immediately fell off as soon as Percy cut Medusa's head off and we actually got to see Medusa's decapitated head hit the ground with green slime/blood pouring out of the top of her headless body instead of red blood to keep it PG. Having Walker Scobell pretend to hold an invisible head the entire time just looked really cheap lol...
• Wow..., this TV series really has no concept of graduality and build up and a proper pay off when it's over here outright revealing that Grover was actually the satyr that failed to protect Thalia Grace this early in the story instead of keeping it a secret until episode six, "We Take a Zebra to Vegas", where it's suppose to get revealed if the TV series was following the original book, and having Percy immediately tell Grover and Annabeth the last few lines of the prophecy in episode three (the same episode he's first told the prophecy...) instead of just having him hold off on telling them both until maybe episode seven, "We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of"...

Nitpick:

• Where are Grover's reed pipes lol!!!??? => https://twitter.com/seaweedbrainpod/status/1738034778006548528

Note: My analysis and review for Season One, Episode Two... => https://www.reddit.com/PercyJacksonTV/comments/18pho40/pjotv_my_analysis_and_review_for_season_one/ and https://www.reddit.com/camphalfblood/comments/18phpjf/pjotv_my_analysis_and_review_for_season_one/
Positives:

• I love the fact that Percy was the first one to speak during the attic scene with The Oracle by just casually introducing himself to The Oracle and calling her a Halloween decoration, even though in the original book Percy wasn't the first to speak in the original book, because this is just such a Percy thing to say and do and I just love it lol.
• The Oracle of Delphi / Pythia looks book accurate in that she looks like a spooky and creepy desiccated mummy. Also, Percy's reaction of "Oh, geez." and "You seem busy. I'll come back." when the Oracle moved and started groaning was a good reaction lol. Also, the green smoke that came out of the Oracle's mouth looked magnificent as well.
• I think Grover felt more like Grover in this episode. Especially at the end, when he kind of loses his patience and loses his cool. I literally don't understand anyone who says that Aryan Simhadri acting / performance as Grover is bad. In my opinion, Aryan was the best casted out of the trio because he not only has Grover's personality down, but he also even looks just like how I'd imagine Grover looked like in the book. Also, Percy's smile when Grover said, “I’m gonna pack the best snacks,” was adorable.
• Percy's "I think they're Canadian, maybe? Or from Chuck E. Cheese, I don't know," was a really funny added snarky line that wasn't in the original book, but still feels like it came straight from the original book.
• The CGI for the way the wing came out of the flying shoe was magnificent. I always pictured little wings sprounting out of the heels of the shoes, but instead the TV series has the shoe's laces intertwining to create a beautiful wing and it just looks so clean and so freaking great and it's very creative visually.
• Luke's final line that he gave to Percy where he said, "Just take care of each other out there," was really sweet and heartwarming and even better than his final line in the original book that he gave to Percy before Percy left Camp Half-Blood with Grover and Annabeth to embark on the quest where Luke said, "“Listen, Percy . . .” Luke looked uncomfortable. “A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just . . . kill some monsters for me, okay?”"
• I loved the added scene of Annabeth looking up at and touching Thalia's pine tree before they left Camp Half-Blood and also Grover subtly bowing his head because it's a beautiful moment that wasn't in the original book at all. Also, Percy's added snarky "She's really gonna to miss that tree, huh?" 😂😂😂
• Percy's line of "The most powerful being in the universe's best idea to save his daughter's life... was to turn her into a tree?", fits Percy's character perfect as someone who constantly stands up to the gods and holds them to account.
• Also, I love these little added moments of Percy just calling shit out with the crappy way the gods treat their kids. “She met a pinecone's fate,” is such a tone deaf (...and really funny lol...) thing to say, and yet something I can definitely hear another certain character saying the exact same thing or at least expressing the exact same sentiment... I like how the TV series is nailing how jaded Percy already feels and how close he could be to turning, it's going to make another certain character being his foil hit so much more harder than it did in the original book because Percy's "She met a pinecone's fate" line is lowkey true, and Percy is right to be calling the gods out.
• Grover's bit of exposition where he says, "Hero's quests are world-defining events. They have made and broken empires... altered the course of human civilization... changed the balance of power on Olympus. A quest is a sacred thing. And to be charged with one is to be in conversation with the gods themselves." was really interesting and it was added dialouge that wasn't in the orginal book. Also, I love how they cleverly showed the Empire State Building in the reflection of a Taxi window when Grover said, "changed the balance of power on Olympus."
• Annabeth being this stoic arrogant soldier type saying, "We're soldiers on a mission. It's not a vacation," when starting off on this quest is really great and it will make Percy, Grover, and Annabeth coming together as a trio so much more satisfying when Annabeth's character develops in the TV series and she fully opens up at the end of the quest with her walls slowly starting to come down throughout the entire quest.
• Percy and Annabeth arguing with each other on the bus was really great banter between the two of them with Percy going, "I wanna vote. Who thinks that we should all go get to breathe fresh air and buy our own snacks?", and Annabeth telling him, "There's no voting. Chips and sodas okay for you guys?", and Percy challenging her by saying, "I don't think you should just get to decide we don't vote," and Annabeth just going, "I'm sorry to hear that," and Percy continuing by saying, "Okay. I wanna vote on whether you get to decide we don't vote." It's just so authentic with 12 year olds acting like and sounding like and being 12 year olds which I love to see.
• Percy looking depressed and defeated and just going, "Our voting system's broken," was absolutely brilliant. Like every single added snarky line they gave Percy so far that wasn't in the original book still feels like it came straight from the original book which is just great.
• The way the TV series showed Annabeth being able to sense and spot the Furies immediately while she was out buying snacks was a nice touch considering the fact that Annabeth does have prior experience being on the run from monsters.
• Grover's bit of added exposition where he tells Percy that, "Monsters can't be avoided entirely. They're more common than you think. The trick is to spot them first before they spot you. It's true they are more likely to sense a more powerful demigod. A child of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, is at the most extreme risk. But it isn't your power, exactly, that draws them. It's more complicated than that," and Percy going, "They smell fear," and Grover telling him, "That's bees. What a monster senses kinda depends on the monster. Some are better at sensing your inadequacy. Some, your need for glory, your shame. It's important to remember that if you've ever gotta confront one... wherever your armor is weakest, that monster's probably coming right for it. Nothing will stop them, not even death," was really interesting and it's added dialogue that wasn't in the original book.
• I actually really like the new added element of Mrs. Dodds / Alecto being one of the monsters that went after Annabeth, Thalia, and Luke when Thalia sacrificed herself all those years ago on Half-Blood Hill and taunting Annabeth about it.
• I love the set design for Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. It adds up to book's description of the site having a closed-down gas station and the site being surrounded by acres of statuary.
• I didn't really know that the TV series was going to make Medusa more of a sympathetic character until I read about it somewhere online and I was a bit skeptical about how the TV series was going to be able to do that in an interesting and successful way, but the TV series definitely made an improvement over the original book with this change of making Medusa more of a victimized character rather than a monster. Also, considering the fact that there wasn't much screentime, Jessica Parker Kennedy still gave a terrific and magnificent performance as Medusa, especially when she gets emotional while telling her story at the dinner table.
• The CGI for Medusa's head of snakes doesn't look fake at all and actually looks pretty good.
• Also, it was a really cool and interesting missable detail with how Medusa manipulated the trio by only having the monster statues outside, but the statues of innocent people hidden away in her dark lair in the basement...
• Percy actually using Medusa’s decapitated head to turn Alecto into stone just like how his namesake, Perseus, used Medusa’s decapitated head to petrify the Kraken, causing it to crumble to pieces, was such a cool heroic moment to see and to have Annabeth watch because in the original book Percy doesn't use Medusa’s decapitated head at all to petrify anything.
• I also really liked how Grover actually showed way more emotion for dead Uncle Ferdinand, which I didn’t really feel in the original book.
• The song choice for the end credits sequence for episode three was brilliant and really fits with what Percy did at the end of episode three with Percy doing "what he pleases" and "deep in his heart he's just a boy" and "livin' his life one day at a time" and "showing himself a really good time" and "laughin' about the way they want him to be".

Issues:

• The Oracle of Delphi / Pythia does take the form of Percy’s step-dad, Smelly Gabe (played by Timm Sharp), in the original book which I actually went back to check in chapter nine of the original book because I honestly completely forgot about this detail lol (Note: In fact, in the original book it isn't just Smelly Gabe that shows up to fortell the prophecy to Percy, it is also Gabe's buddies as well having a whole poker party)..., but the fact that in the TV series Gabe is just speaking in his regular New York accent instead of the rasping voice of the Oracle like in the original book and also the fact that it's this version of Smelly Gabe from the TV series, who's just a goofy over the top comedy character who only adds comic relief, completely ruins the spooky and ominous atmosphere this scene is suppose to have, especially on the last part of the prophecy where the Oracle warns Percy that his destiny is, "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend," and "And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end."
• This is basically just a nitpick, but it was a huge missed opportunity to have Grover's consensus song basically be "In The Same Boat" => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D\_vDdHFIzxo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiQC0TtQcc. That would've been a really lovely easter egg.
• The whole attack on the bus scene in the TV series was a lot less exciting and action packed than it was in chapter ten of the original book... In the original book, all three of the Furies were attacking Percy, Grover, and Annabeth on the bus, not just two of them, plus, they had fiery whips. Also, to get out of that situation, Percy, using Annabeth's Yankees baseball cap, turned invisible and then wrestled with the bus driver over the steering wheel while the bus was on a highway road and they slammed into the side of the Lincoln Tunnel and while all of this is happening monsters and people were being tossed around the bus and other cars on the highway road plowed aside out of the way of the bus and then once they shot off the highway through a dozen traffic lights, Percy hit the emergency break and the bus wailed and spun full circle on the asphalt and crashed into trees. Also, in the end lightning struck the bus and the entire bus exploded with Percy's, Grover's, and Annabeth's bags inside... Here in the TV series the bus is completely stationery at a rest stop and there's a complete lack of a fight on the bus with Mrs. Dodds / Alecto just practically going, "oh, lemme just walk slowly towards you all against the crowd of bus passengers and allow you all a chance to escape" lol, and the entire bus doesn't get struck by lightning and explode at all like in the original book (Like what? Did Disney seriously not have the budget to simply blow up an entire bus using detonators lol?)... This should've started off as a really tense scene that was more like the original book where Annabeth clamps her hand onto Percy's knee and she points out to Percy that an old lady just boarded the bus and Percy immediately recognizes that the old lady is Mrs. Dodds but older and more withered but definitely the same evil face and Percy tries to hide by scrunching down in his seat but then two more old ladies come behind Mrs. Dodds and they all just sit in the front row behind the driver and then the two on the aisle casually cross their legs over the walkway making an X to send a message that nobody leaves and Grover whimpers, “All three of them. Di immortales!”, Annabeth begins to think hard and tries to keep Grover calm by telling him, “It’s okay. The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We’ll just slip out the windows,” and Grover moans, “They don’t open,” and Annabeth tries to suggest, “A back exit?”, and Percy tells her that there isn’t one and even if there was one, it won't help because they're currently on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincoln Tunnel and Percy asks Annabeth, “They won’t attack us with witnesses around. Will they?”, and Annabeth reminds Percy that, “Mortals don’t have good eyes. Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist,” and Percy then asks Annabeth, “They’ll see three old ladies killing us, won’t they?”, and Annabeth thinks about it and says, “Hard to say. But we can’t count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof . . . ?”, and as soon as she says that they hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus goes dark except for the running lights down the aisle and it's eerily quiet without the sound of the rain outside and then Mrs. Dodds gets up and in a flat voice, as if she rehearsed it, announces to the whole bus, “I need to use the restroom,” and the second sister says, “So do I,” and the third sister says, “So do I,” and they all start coming down the aisle, but instead the scene in the TV series is just over in like one minute with Annabeth shouting, "Guys, you need to open that window! Now!", and Mrs. Dodds immediately showing her true form to the trio as Alecto and then Percy and Grover immediately get up from their seats and break open a window and all the bus passengers start slowly, and when I say slowly I do mean slowly at a snail's pace..., exiting out of the front of the bus and then out of nowhere another Fury just flys in and burst through a window like a literally missile and Annabeth just easily kills it in just one second with a simple knife/dagger throw (...the Furies in this TV series suck lol...) and Annabeth just picks up her knife and goes, "We're done here. Let's go," and then we cut to Mrs. Dodds hilariously trying to sluggishly make her way through the crowd of bus passagers exiting through the front of the bus (... again the Furies in this TV series suck lol...) and then we practically just cut to the next scene of the trio just casually and calmly walking through the woods on a satry path... Just continuing the awful trend that the TV series has so far with frenetic and breakneck pacing and basically speed-running through scenes from the original book and it just makes it feel like things are just happening and then "whoop, bye!", and it just leaves me with the underwhelmed feeling of, "Well that just sort of happened I guess..."
• The Mist in the TV series is so overpowered, my gods... I already discussed in my analysis/review of episode one that Mrs. Dodds attacking Percy in broad daylight right in front of all the students instead of luring Percy away on his own to a private place in the museum where obviously no one is going to see her take her true form as Alecto and attack Percy just like in the original book was a really weird change to me because I'm pretty sure The Mist doesn't just make monsters and magical creatures completely invisible lol... Like The Mist is just suppose to camouflage them and warp their appearance which makes me wonder what the hell were the students seeing when Mrs. Dodds was attacking Percy lol...? Like were they not just seeing their sixth grade teacher jumping Percy and pinning him down to the ground which is highly concerning and straight up illegal lol...? And with that being said, the attack on the bus scene in the TV series was done even weirder and even more nonsensical... Like, I had so many questions... Why didn't any of the other passengers react at all to Annabeth vanishing out of thin air when she put on her Yankees baseball cap in the middle of the aisle/walkway? Why didn't any of the passengers react to three kids breaking open a window in the back of the bus and hopping through it instead of just exiting through the front of the bus? Why didn't any of the passengers react to one of the Furies flying in and bursting through a window like a literally missile lol? I mean..., The Mist was already a pretty overpowered thing in the original books, but it seems to be even more overpowered in the TV series than it was in the original books where it can just make everything completely invisible instead of just warping the appearance of things lol. In the original book it literally says, "I was free. I made it to the front of the bus. We were almost through the Lincoln Tunnel now. I was about to press the emergency stop button when I heard hideous wailing from the back row. The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same—I guess those couldn’t get any uglier—but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat’s wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips. The Furies surrounded Grover and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: “Where is it? Where?” The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw something, all right."
• I really hate that the TV series decided to completely cut out the part where Percy decides not to run off of the bus and decided to stay and help out his friends even though that would put himself in danger because that moment was soooo important in the original book. It is the first instance where that part of Percy, which in the end is his fatal flaw, really comes out in the original books. "Another great idea: I hit the emergency brake. The bus wailed, spun a full circle on the wet asphalt, and crashed into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door flew open. The bus driver was the first one out, the passengers yelling as they stampeded after him. I stepped into the driver’s seat and let them pass. The Furies regained their balance. They lashed their whips at Annabeth while she waved her knife and yelled in Ancient Greek, telling them to back off. Grover threw tin cans. I looked at the open doorway. I was free to go, but I couldn’t leave my friends. I took off the invisible cap. “Hey!” The Furies turned, baring their yellow fangs at me, and the exit suddenly seemed like an excellent idea. Mrs. Dodds stalked up the aisle, just as she used to do in class, about to deliver my F– math test. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather. Her two ugly sisters hopped on top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward me like huge nasty lizards. “Perseus Jackson,” Mrs. Dodds said, in an accent that was definitely from somewhere farther south than Georgia. “You have offended the gods. You shall die.” “I liked you better as a math teacher,” I told her. She growled."
• Another part in episode three that I disliked is when Percy talks about getting a phone to call and ask for help and the TV series decides to handle this situation by having Annabeth turn to Percy and basically call him a coward... Bro like, did they forget that the whole reason they don't use a phone in the original books is because it attracts monsters from miles away to their position? It just felt like the TV series was trying to make unnecessary drama happen and an argument happen between Percy and Annabeth when it really didn't need to... In chapter ten of the original book it's literally explained, "For the first time, the quest felt real. I was actually leaving Half-Blood Hill. I was heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone. (Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be worse than sending up a flare.)"
• Speaking of Chiron, I am so disappointed with the way this TV series completely underutilized him when in the original book he was literally playing the Obi-Wan Kenobi to Percy’s Luke Skywalker or the Professor Dumbledore to Percy's Harry Potter... Like how on earth do you just not utilize an actor like Glynn Turman...? Like in the TV series, Chiron gets pushed to the sidelines and gets such a diminished role compared to his role in the original book and again he barely makes an appearance at all in episode three here before Percy, Grover, and Annabeth leave Camp Half-Blood to set off on their quest... In the TV series, Chiron doesn't explain at all or give Percy important and valuable knowledge like how he does in the original book with him telling Percy interesting things such as, "The gods move with the heart of the West,” and why Percy being claimed as a big 3 child is a monumental event in this universe with World War II being apart of the official reason for the big three swearing off impregnating humans and the resulting implication that Adolf Hitler was a son of Hades... Also, Chiron doesn't tell Percy that the sword, Anaklusmos / Riptide, "has a long and tragic history that we need not go into,” and to "“Use it only for emergencies,” Chiron said, “and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but this sword wouldn’t harm them in any case.” I looked at the wickedly sharp blade. “What do you mean it wouldn’t harm mortals? How could it not?” “The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It’s deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don’t kill you first. But the blade will pass through mortals like an illusion. They simply are not important enough for the blade to kill. And I should warn you: as a demigod, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable.” “Good to know,”" and also, "“Chiron . . .” I said. “When you say the gods are immortal . . . I mean, there was a time before them, right?” “Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age.” “So what was it like . . . before the gods?” Chiron pursed his lips. “Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born.” “But the gods can’t die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they’re alive. So . . . even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?” Chiron gave me a melancholy smile. “No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, Percy. The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny.” “Our destiny . . . assuming we know what that is.” “Relax,” Chiron told me. “Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history.” “Relax,” I said. “I’m very relaxed.”" Like all of this stuff is pretty important info that goes into explaining the lore and building the canon of the Percy Jackson mythos... I feel like episode 2 should've ended with it just being revealed that Percy's the son of Poseidon and then later on Percy talks with Chiron and Grover and Mr. D about why it's a problem (...with the whole World War II backstory and Zeus' Master Bolt being stolen and all that...) at the beginning of episode three instead of immediately at the end of episode two in extremely rushed fashion and completely neglecting to mention the World War II backstory.
• You know..., I really didn't really like how in the original book it took the trio quite a while to deduce in chapter eleven that Aunty Em was actually Medusa with there literally being acres of extremely life like statues everywhere of human people with startled and terrified faces and Aunty Em literally talking about making statues and so when Percy was like, "Aunty Em. Aunty “M.” How could I have been so stupid?", I was like, "For real... How could not only you, but also both Annabeth and Grover who are both pretty experienced in the world of Greek mythology be so stupid lol...?", so I was completely cool with the TV series having the detail of only the statues of Greek monsters outside of Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium and keeping the statues of innocent people hidden away in Medusa's lair down in the dark basement to make the trio feel smarter in this encounter, but guys..., having Annabeth immediately, and when I say immediately I do mean immediately go, "Oh, come on. Aunty "Em" has a garden full of petrified stone folks. Yeah, this is someone from our world, all right. Anyone want to guess what "Em" is short for?", in literally the exact second the trio wonder across it deflated me and goes right back to the fast and frenetic pacing issue this TV series has so far with going over stuff from the original book really quickly... Guys..., this doesn't fix the problem of the trio being stupid about who Aunty Em is and in fact it just creates a whole new set of problems and entirely different reasons for why the trio is so stupid in this encounter... In the original book, the trio walked into a trap without knowing it was a trap, and here in the TV series they walked into Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium fully knowing it belonged to Medusa (someone who can easily turn on the trio and instantly turn them all to stone if they so much as look at her...) all because Grover was hungry and because Medusa gave the trio this ultimatum that they could either follow her inside or fight Alecto, who they know wants them dead, and this ultimatum in the TV series literally made absolutely no gods dam sense lol... I was just left wondering what kind of mental gymnastics the trio did to think that the Fury was more of a threat than Medusa and why they couldn't just easily take down Alecto together when Percy, without any training, already beat Alecto all by himself at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in just a matter of like two seconds max by accidentally stabbing her with Riptide and Annabeth already easily killed one of Alecto's sisters with just a simple knife throw on the bus in even less time than that and it was literally three on one here with the odds in their favor lol... Like I think the trio could've easily taken down Alecto in the TV series instead of having to follow Medusa lol... If I were to do a bit of reworking/rewriting, this scene in the TV series would've made more sense to me if instead of having just Alecto show up to confront the trio, you also had another one of her sisters show up as well with her and the other Fury both actually having their fiery whips that they had in the original book and the trio decide to run inside Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium to escape from both of them and the two Furies mysteriously don't follow after the trio inside Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium because they both are aware of who owns Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium and figure that the trio are as good as dead and the trio don't even get to take the time to actually notice or assess for themselves the fact that the site is surrounded by acres of statuary because they are just only worried about escaping together from the two Furies with fiery whips, and then the TV series could've had it like the original book where it gradually leans into it with Aunty Em revealing and introducing herself to the trio as a friendly lady and the trio don't know that Aunty Em is actually Medusa at first and there's an off feeling about them going into this emporium trying to escape from the two Furies with fiery whips and then things could've slowly started to be revealed with Grover hearing a hissing noise and the trio noticing that Aunty Em's human skin is slowly shedding and coming off just like a snake's skin would as the scene gets more darker and more foreboding and with Aunty Em slowly revealing her true nature and her true skin starts to show and then the TV series could've had Annabeth be the one to finally figure out that Aunty Em is Medusa and then the TV series could've presented Medusa telling the trio her sympathetic tragic backstory and then we could've gotten more of Percy trusting his mom's advice of, "Not everyone who looks like a hero is a hero, and not everyone who looks like a monster is a monster," and deciding to leave Grover and Annabeth in the dining room with all the candy and sweets and follow Medusa into another room and with Percy feeling more and more bad for Medusa the more and more he hears her talk and then the TV series could've had Grover and Annabeth decide to secretly snoop around the garden gnome emporium together and they eventually ended up discovering and finding Grover's Uncle Ferdinand as a statue in the dark basement along with a bunch of other innocent people and then the TV series could've had both Grover and Annabeth come in to warn and save Percy from Medusa. This would've made this scene in the TV series more tension filled and more horror filled and more mystery filled that it should've had without making the trio look stupid at all and without glossing over a lot of stuff from the original book and having everything be over and done with so quickly...
• The action scenes, can I even call these action scenes because that kind of seems disrespectful to action scenes..., in episode three were all fucking terrible lol... In episode one I really enjoyed the fight between Percy and the Minotaur and thought it was really well done and cool for Percy's first ever battle and I also thought the fight choreography and sword play in the Capture the Flag scene was also really great, but... the fights with the monsters in episode three felt way too easy. Like there was no tension. I mean for christ sake..., the attack on the bus scene only lasted one minute and Medusa just gets killed by Percy in just two minutes lol... Not even joking here lol... => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjfULCi59g. Like the action scenes in episode three do not feel like action scenes, so far literally all of them have been one attack and its immediately over, which I'd understand for the original books because it could still be impactful from explanation and detail of what exactly happens, but it just feels weird in the show, it feels like the main characters are level 100 but also suck at the game but still have op stats, and all the monsters are like level 5 lol... I feel like one of the jobs of an adaptation like this is to make action scenes longer, because at the end of the day the action is a major part of this series, so they really should extend it to be actual fight scenes. Like when it was revealed that Medusa has a huge dark lair in the basement that actually looks Greek and it actually has human statues I was like this is actually pretty cool where it's like a labyrinth of human statues and I thought this was going to lead to a really cool and thrilling action scene where the trio somehow get split up from each other and get lost in the dark basement and we see them try to avoid being caught by Medusa and them trying to find each other again so that they can figure out a way to kill Medusa and escape from the dark basement together => https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FTlMBdmaAAA62IY?format=jpg&name=4096x4096, but instead the quote on quote "action scene" is just immediately over in two minutes...
• Why did they make Grover completely useless in the whole Medusa fight sequence? In the TV series, Grover just disappears off into the darkness of the basement and then randomly causes a distraction by accidentally crash landing into a human statue... In the original book Grover yelled, "“Percy!” Behind me, I heard a buzzing sound, like a two-hundred-pound hummingbird in a nosedive. Grover yelled, “Duck!” I turned, and there he was in the night sky, flying in from twelve o’clock with his winged shoes fluttering, Grover, holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by ears and nose alone. “Duck!” he yelled again. “I’ll get her!” That finally jolted me into action. Knowing Grover, I was sure he’d miss Medusa and nail me. I dove to one side. Thwack! At first I figured it was the sound of Grover hitting a tree. Then Medusa roared with rage. “You miserable satyr,” she snarled. “I’ll add you to my collection!” “That was for Uncle Ferdinand!” Grover yelled back. I scrambled away and hid in the statuary while Grover swooped down for another pass. Ker-whack! “Arrgh!” Medusa yelled, her snake-hair hissing and spitting."
• Jeez..., are Disney's censors really this bad to where the TV series couldn't even show Medusa's decapitated head as a prop...? I mean..., The Lightning Thief movie was rated PG and it still was able to actually show Medusa's decapitated head as a prop. It would've been a much cooler and better looking kill in the TV series if Annabeth's Yankees baseball cap immediately fell off as soon as Percy cut Medusa's head off and we actually got to see Medusa's decapitated head hit the ground with green slime/blood pouring out of the top of her headless body instead of red blood to keep it PG. Having Walker Scobell pretend to hold an invisible head the entire time just looked really cheap lol...
• Wow..., this TV series really has no concept of graduality and build up and a proper pay off when it's over here outright revealing that Grover was actually the satyr that failed to protect Thalia Grace this early in the story instead of keeping it a secret until episode six, "We Take a Zebra to Vegas", where it's suppose to get revealed if the TV series was following the original book, and having Percy immediately tell Grover and Annabeth the last few lines of the prophecy in episode three (the same episode he's first told the prophecy...) instead of just having him hold off on telling them both until maybe episode seven, "We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of"...

Nitpick:

• Where are Grover's reed pipes lol!!!??? => https://twitter.com/seaweedbrainpod/status/1738034778006548528

So with the chatter of the next season could be based on a greek like theme, i've thought about how we haven't gotten much mythical monster outfits.
-Bigfoot
-Trog(a prehistoric yeti) I would like to see a more aggressive looking yeti and maybe a female counterpart.
-Mothmando (based on mothman/moth meme) But i would like an outfit that's more based on the mothman.
-Halloween monster(the classics, frankenstein's monster, the mummy and sub vamps) havent seen all the classics or at least one that are not just a mix of the classic and another character.
-The devourer (there is a lot of mystery behind the devourer, but it's look reminds me of a mix between the greek cyclops and a kraken).
I would like to see more unique outfits than the simple reskins or at least ones that have more of an non human look to them.
That's just my thoughts but would anyone else like to see more monsters and mythical style outfits in game?

It's Halloween night, and you're on your way to a mysterious party at a secluded old manor on the edge of town. Outside you meet a charming girl in a very convincing vampire costume and the two of you chat a bit… only for you to realize she's a real vampire!
You quickly learn you're not at just any Halloween party. You've stumbled on the Monster's Ball, a legendary night of supernatural revelry attended by all manner of monsters and creatures of the night – and more than a few of them are interested in being your date. It's up to you to decide which of thirteen unique and colorful characters (including a vampire, a zombie, a werewolf, a fairy, an incubus/succubus couple, a three-headed chimera, and more) you want to spend the spookiest night of the year with in this Halloween choose-your-own-adventure story with 10 alternate endings.
This is a script for a Halloween choose-your-own-adventure collab I organized with 13 VAs and 6 writers this year. It was so much fun collaborating with so many immensely talented people, and I really appreciate all the hard work and creativity everyone who participated put into their roles. I hope others will enjoy the final product as much as I did. The full cast and writers list is included below.
u/Starry_Night369 as Vicky, a confident and flirty vampire (Ending by u/Stormcoming7)
u/DeluluDeliria as Zoe, a shy but kind zombie (Ending by u/NataliaFinnVT)
u/KyrianW as Phillip, a cold and blunt but emotionally aware phantom (Ending by u/PrepareThyBedlam)
u/Baby_Dragon_Fly as Faye, a sweet and bubbly but slightly human-obsessed fairy (Ending by u/GoldenProxy)
u/Simple_Mastermind as Warren, a competitive and boisterous werewolf (Ending by u/NineTailsScripts)
u/StonefallVA as Damon, a friendly and jovial woodland dryad (Ending by u/Patient-Departure626)
u/ChaChaBoop as Gabby, a nerdy, tomboy goblin girl who has an academic interest in humans (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
u/penguinarmyfamila as Lana, a lonely and shy lamia (Ending by u/Stormcoming7)
u/TheWickedQueen_ as Clarissa, the smooth and flirty cobra head of a three-headed chimera (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
u/NataliaFinnVT as Tabby, the confident and jealous tiger head of the chimera (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
u/JouskaByNight as Ozzy, the foolish ostrich head of the chimera (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
u/kainpai as Ivan, a suave and charming incubus (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
u/TaesTeahouse as Sabrina, Ivan's equally charismatic and flirty succubus girlfriend (Ending by u/Lalo_ASMR_Alt)
Link to the script on Scriptbin, the full text is also below.
My other scripts + fills.
Characters
[V] Vicky
[Z] Zoe
[P] Phillip
[F] Faye
[W] Warren
[D] Damon
[G] Gabby
[L] Lana
[C] Clarissa
[T] Tabby
[O] Ozzy
[I] Ivan
[S] Sabrina
[Footsteps]
[V] Oh hey. Late to the party too, huh? Don't sweat it… the cool kids are always fashionably late to this thing.
[V] I haven't seen you around before. New in town? My name's Victoria, but my friends call me Vicky. What's yours?
…
[V] Mhm. Pleasure to meet you.
…
[V] "Nice costume?" Uh… what costume? I don't usually dress up to this thing, not really my style.
…
[V] (Confused) ...What? This isn't a costume, silly. I'm a vampire. Duh, see the fangs? Anyway, let's get on up those stairs and get inside before the mermaids and mermen get their clammy little hands all over the jello cups.
[V] Last year there wasn't a single one left by the time I showed up, can you believe that? You'd think they'd watch their diet since it's swimsuit season year round for them, but who knows. I'll never understand sea monsters.
[V] Here, after you.
[Door opens]
[V] Man, I've been coming to this manor on Halloween for the past hundred years or so, you'd think they'd change up the decor a little once a while. (Laugh) I guess Victorian is supposed to be timeless.
[V] So, uh… what are you supposed to be?
…
[V] (Laugh) No, not your costume. I mean what kind of monster are you?
…
[V] No, you heard me right. What kind of monster are you? You look pretty, uh, human. (Laugh) When I saw you standing outside I was trying to figure out if you're, like, a werewolf that was saving their transformation for the dance floor or what.
[V] You're not a vampire, I know that much. Your teeth are way too small to be one of us.
…
[V] You're a little slow on the uptake, huh? Don't worry… it's actually kind of cute. (Laugh) I already said I don't mean your costume, I mean what kind of actual monster are–
[V] Wait a minute… that outfit you're wearing, your voice, the way you talk… You're actually… human, aren't you? That's why you thought I was wearing a costume?
…
[V] Oh my god… it's been, like, decades since one of you showed up here. How'd you even get an invite?
…
[V] Just a Halloween party? (Laugh) Sweetheart, this isn't just a Halloween party. (Whisper) This is the Monster's Ball.
[V] I honestly can't believe I–
…
[Z] Hey, Vicky! You made it! I saved you a couple brownies in a napkin from the snack table downstairs before they ran out, I know you love those. They look so tasty I almost want to eat one myself, but you know I have pretty major dietary issues... being a zombie and all.
[V] Oh, Zoe! You're just in time. Forget the snacks, you're never going to believe who I ran into outside.
[Z] (To listener) Oh hey, how's it going. I'm Zoe. I'd shake your hand, but, uh… as you can see mine is kinda, uh, falling off again… That's what happens when you try to beat an octopus girl at Twister. (Laugh) I was actually on my way to go duct tape it back in place in the bathroom when–
[V] Yeah, yeah, anyway… get this. This one is human.
[Z] What? No way. You are? I mean I know you look human but… I figured you were, I don't know… a skinwalker wearing a pretty cute body to the Ball. I was actually going to compliment you on your fashion sense. You know where you are, right?
…
[Z] Uh, calling this a "Halloween party" is like calling me unhealthy. (Laugh) Technically correct, but… a mega understatement. This is the Monster's Ball.
[Z] (Grandiose voice) Every year on Halloween night, creepy creatures of all kinds – or "monsters" to use our preferred nomenclature – make their way from near and far to this manor for a night of celebration and revelry the ordinary world only sees in dreams… or nightmares. And you, my friend, are the first human we've had show up to the festivities in… god, I'm not even sure how long.
…
[V] Yes, what she's trying to say is that we're real monsters. I'm a real vampire, these fangs aren't plastic. (Softer) Some other parts are, but the fangs aren't. (Normal voice) And that arm practically hanging off my undead bestie isn't some prop either. She's a real zombie, a genuine living corpse.
[Z] Yep. It's not just us, either. Take a look behind me. See that dude in the bowtie with the single-lens sunglasses? He's a cyclops. See that chick with the horns and hooves doing karoake by the bar? She's a satyr. See that couple in the tight black outfits taking turns whipping each other over by the stairwell? She's a succubus, her boyfriend is an incubus… their kind really needs to learn to get a room, in my opinion. But yeah, point is… we're all real monsters.
[Z] Uh… I can see you're a little… surprised. There's no need to be scared or anything. I mean… sure… some of us have a bit of a bad reputation with humans.
[V] That's putting it mildly. (Laugh)
[Z] Hey come on, don't scare them! There's a standing tradition at the Monster's Ball that we don't hurt anyone or cause any harm, especially to humans. Tonight's not about that. It's about having fun, letting loose, letting your claws and fangs and wings hang free... the kind of stuff monsters never get to do the rest of the year when we're busy, uh... monstering. So, like… don't worry. I'm not going to eat your brains or anything, for example.
[Z] Okay I see by the look on your face I shouldn't have said the words "eat" and "brains" in the same sentence, but… I mean, I was just trying to explain I'm not going to! I don't even want to! I mean… not that I'm sure they aren't tasty or whatever, I mean you look smart, I'm sure your brains are as big and juicy as any other human–
[V] Yeah, yeah, save it Zoe. God you zombies are the worst flirts I've ever seen – and that's counting mantis girls.
[Z] (Defensive) Hey! That's not true… and I wasn't flirting, exactly, I was just… I mean… well even if I was flirting, would you… be okay with that? I mean… you seem like a cool person. I'd kind of like to get to know you better if–
[V] Yeah, you and every other monster here. (To listener) Excuse my friend tripping over her own rotted tongue. There's one thing you have to know about monsters… most of us are very interested in humans. Some of us… dangerously so, honestly.
[V] Kind of ironic given half of us also eat humans, or drink them in my case, but… the heart wants what it wants. (Laugh) And what this vampire's heart wants is for you to be my date to this Ball. So come on, cutie, let's go dance. I'll show you some great flapper moves I picked up in the 1920s, it'll be fun. You know I once dated F. Scott Fitzgerald? True story. I'll tell you all about it when–
[Z] Wait, I mean… before you go–
[Eerie ghost sound]
[P] (Deadpan) What's happening here? (Acknowledging the others) Vicky, Zoe… and I don't think I've met you before, have I? You have very striking eyes… I'd remember them.
…
[V] Oh, Phil. I didn't think you'd be at this party.
[Z] (To listener) This is Phillip, our ghost friend.
[P] I prefer the term phantom. And I died on these grounds, Victoria, my spirit is trapped here for eternity. It's impossible for me to not be at this party. Your friend is human, by the way.
[Z] We know. But how did you know that?
[P] Spirits have a sixth sense for these things, no pun intended. We can recognize a kindred spirit still inhabiting its mortal shell… and your spirit is quite the vibrant one, if I might say so, friend.
[V] Oh don't you start flirting with them, too… (Groan)
[P] Who's flirting? I only paid a compliment where it's due. This human has a warm soul… I can feel it flowing over them like a... heated blanket, soft to the touch. It's a pleasant feeling.
[P] Don't be alarmed by my appearance, human. Here, feel my hand on your cheek… tickles a little, doesn't it, the energy?
[P] I'm not so different from you, only older and… well, ghostlier. Hence the glowing, pale, translucent skin. But I'm not a true monster in the way of most guests at the Ball – ghosts are merely humans lingering a little after their time.
[P] I can tell you're not like most people here, either, in form or in spirit. I think I'd like to spend more time with you… if you'd be interested.
[V] (Sarcastic) Generous offer, Phil, but unfortunately they're already my date, and I'm not big on sharing.
[Z] (Soft) Uh, they actually didn't make a decision on–
[P] Come now. The two of you are… amusing, but I'm sure our mutual friend would prefer the company of a soul akin to his own over a night with a bloodsucking goth or a girl so dead she can't keep her limbs on straight.
[V] Hey!
[Z] Hey!
[Z] You're dead too, genius! At least one of us has a body at all. It's easy to insult other people's bodies when you're just ectoplasm or whatever.
[Z] Don't listen to him, human. I may be dead, or undead, depending on your point of view… but ask people who know me, I can still be the life of the party. Ever played limbo with a zombie?
[V] And you're not the only former human here, either, Phil. How do you think most vampires are made?
[P] I'm the only former human who remains similar to what I was before. Trust me, human, I can understand you. And you'll find that though my manner might seem a trifle cold… I can be warm, too, in my own way. I get along better with people more like me.
[V] Well then, I'm sure there are plenty of great girls and guys for you out in the cemetery across the street, but this human is–
[Magical sound]
[F] Did someone say "human?"
[V] (Groan) Oh no.
[Z] Oh… hi, Faye.
[P] (Deadpan) Oh, my favorite fairy.
[F] I'm ever so sorry to interrupt, everyone, pardon my rudeness. But, you know, I just couldn't help overhearing–
[V] You mean eavesdropping.
[F] (Passive aggressive) Overhearing a little of your conversation and I believe someone said there's a human at the Monster's Ball tonight? Is that you, my little friend?
…
[F] Oh, splendid! I'm ever so pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Faye the fairy. It's been so, so long since I met a human… I'm awfully fond of humans. (Laugh) I only wish more of them came and stayed in my mushroom circle…
[P] It might help if you didn't act so utterly obsessed with them from the moment you met them.
[F] (Defensive) I don't act obsessed! I'm just… full of love and affection, is all, and sometimes that comes out in a way that's a little… intimidating. But I have nothing but love for humans, I promise, you'll see. Say… this is a little strange but… oh its been so long since I met a human! Can I give you a hug?
…
[F] Oh thank you! Here we go, let me just wrap my arms around you and bring you in real close. Mmm. (Whisper) Doesn't that feel all nice and warm? Fairies give the best hugs in the world.
[F] Oh, I'm so glad you're here. Now you can be my date to the Monster's Ball.
[P] I'm afraid this human is spoken for.
[F] What? By who?
[Z] Uh… a couple of monsters actually–
[F] Well whoever it is, no frightening, scary, terrible monster is a proper date for a kind, gentle, adorable human like this. They need the gentle touch of the fae, not the rough hands of the undead… no offense to present company.
[V] (Defensive) Hey! The three of us may be undead, but at least we were all human once and we see them as actual people. Fairies like you see humans as exotic pets, living stuffed animals to dress up and sit across from at your tea parties.
[F] (Defensive) And is there something wrong with being an exotic pet for a fairy? We treat our pets ever so nicely, we feed them and care for them and shower them in love… Say, human, maybe you'd like to hear more about what it would be like to be my pet…
[Z] (Whisper) Trust me, she's insane.
[F] Would you like to feel my wings, human? They're the softest things ever, oh you'll love them. I only let my very special friends touch them, but you seem like a–
[Growl]
[W] What are you all barking about over here? That's usually my thing.
[Z] Oh hey Warren. You're looking dapper in that blue suit jacket, really suits your fur color. A human showed up to the Monster's Ball.
[W] Oh… a human. That's interesting…
[V] Everyone wants to be their date.
[W] Well I don't. I know most monsters are crazy for humans, but I'm not… They're all weak and soft and squishy compared to us… they're nothing special. I don't get why monsters are so obsessed with them. I mean take a werewolf like me, I can tear through metal with my bare teeth and run faster than a jaguar… compared to that what makes some regular old human off the street so special?
[V] Good. So you won't mind someone else taking them, then.
[W] (Quickly) I didn't say that. I mean… even though humans aren't anything special… it still might be kind of interesting to have a human date... (To listener) If you can even keep up with a werewolf, that is. We party pretty hard, don't expect me to slow my roll on your account. But if you think you can handle it… you look like you might be kind of fun to spend time with, maybe…
[F] Don't get any funny ideas, wolf. This human is mine, if they want a mangy dog I can take them by the pet shelter later to pick up one with better fashion sense… Why are you here, anyway, don't you have bones to be chewing or something? (Laugh)
[W] Don't you have pixie dust to be snorting, princess?
[F] Fairies and pixies are not even close to–
[Z] Hey, come on, everyone just relax. We don't need to keep getting so heated. We're all friends here… sort of… Well we're all monsters, anyway. And this is the Monster's Ball, this is our night. Let's not bicker.
[P] Good luck asking for civility from someone who goes rabid at the sight of a particularly fat squirrel.
[W] Rabid? Did you just call me rabid, Phillip?
[P] Don't tell me that foam that always gushes at the corners of your mouth when the waiter sets your steak on the table is toothpaste.
[W] I don't foam at the mouth... at least not in public! (To listener) Look, human, I already said I don't care much for your kind, but… I don't want you to get the wrong idea from this bitter poltergeist. He's just mad he hasn't gotten out of the house in decades. It's not true. Not that I have anything to prove to you, or anyone else... but I won't stand for people mocking some of the noblest monsters around. Werewolves almost always do not get rabies.
[V] That's actually true. Of course there is that other pesky problem of going absolutely savage once a month when the moon is full... But at least you probably don't have rabies. (Laugh)
[W] "Savage?" Bold word choice from a woman who takes her coffee red.
[V] Hey, I would never drink someone's blood without their permission. And I have no shortage of willing takers, thank you very much. Besides, at least what I drink can be replenished.
[P] Imagine all this fighting over which part of you you'd like your date to eat when a perfectly eligible bachelor who doesn't want to consume any of you is standing, er, floating, right here.
[Z] To be fair, it's easy to have no appetite when you have no stomach.
[P] I have a heart. That's what matters.
[F] You had a heart, emphasis on had. I, on the other hand, have every organ in place, even the magical ones only fairies have. And I don't want your blood or your flesh or your brains.
[F] Sure, I may be a bit… forward. But at least I'm honest enough to admit when I have a crush on someone.
[W] What is that supposed to mean? I don't have a crush on them, I just met them! I didn't even say I wanted to be their date… I mean I said it might be cool, but I'm not begging for it or anything. I'm not desperate…
[F] When did I say I was talking about you? (Laugh)
[W] I… Shut up!
[F] What's that one human saying… "A hit dog will holler?" (Laugh) Anyway darling, how about we–
[Tree swaying]
[D] (Clears throat) Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, I don't mean to interrupt. My name is Damon, I and my friend Gabby, who's sitting on my shoulder here–
[G] (Shy) Hi.
[D] -were wondering if any of you could point us to the cloakroom. Gabby left her coat there and it's getting a bit chilly on the roof. This place is like a maze, it's been so hard to find our way back.
[P] A goblin sitting on a talking plant. Now I've seen it all.
[D] She is a goblin, but I'm actually not a plant, though I see why you might think that given my leaves and branches and flower petals and… okay, I'm sort of a plant. (Laugh) Really I'm a dryad, a living spirit of the forest. We dryads are guardians of nature and the environment, trusted with the care of–
[V] Yeah, yeah, save the speech for your next Greenpeace rally, Damon. We're discussing important stuff.
[D] Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt. My apologies. What are you all up to?
[Z] This human here stumbled into the Monster's Ball, everyone wants to be their date but we can't decide who should get the honor.
[D] Oh, wow! A human. I'm sure I must look very strange to you, I know my appearance is a bit odd to those not well-acquainted with creatures of the forest. (Laugh) That's alright, don't worry. I don't mean you any harm.
[G] A real-life human? Wow…
[W] Well I hope you're not going to try to throw your flower crown in the ring, leaf boy. There are other interested parties.
[D] Well I wouldn't want to pressure them one way or another, and I certainly wouldn't want to prickle any of my fellow monsters. Of course, it would be a pleasant new experience to go to the Ball with a human – variety is what makes the garden of life so intoxicating, after all. But it's entirely your choice, friend. I believe the Monster's Ball should be fun for all who attend, be they monster or human. Although I will say in my favor, there's unlikely to be anyone else here who can grow you a party favor quite like this.
[Flower blooming magic]
[Z] Woah. Is that flower real? It's so beautiful and colorful. How did you just grow it like that in 2 seconds?
[D] Well I am a spirit of the trees, after all. I have a bit of a green thumb. Here, take it. A gift from Mother Nature, really, just by way of her humble servant.
[F] Big deal, I have a thousand flowers like that in the garden behind my home in the fairy realm. They're absolutely gorgeous, you can see them if you choose me. And the difference is, when we cuddle you won't need to spend time picking leaves out of your hair. (Laugh)
[D] That's a little harsh.
[W] Don't try to pluck roses if you can't handle a couple thorns, Damon.
[G] I've never seen a human up close before, outside of my textbooks.
[D] Oh, right. Gabby here is actually studying humans in monster college, she's something of an expert in humanology.
[G] (Shy) Well, I mean, I'm hardly an expert… I just got started with my degree… but, I am a massive human nerd. Er, not a human nerd, obviously. I'm a goblin, if you couldn't tell by the fact that I'm really short and have green skin and pointy ears (Laugh). But, I mean, I'm a nerd for, like, human culture and history… I've always been interested in it, ever since I was a little girl.
…
[G] Oh, all kinds of stuff. I remember how, growing up back home, when the other goblins were out scavenging for gold and gemstones you could always find me curled up with this copy of The Phantom Tollbooth I found in a crate washed up on the beach. I read it, like, 30 times… I loved it so much. Did you know for the longest time I didn't know what parts were true and which were fiction, so I thought talking dogs were real?
[F] Talking dogs are real, just ask Warren here. (Laugh)
[W] You're still here, Tinker Bell? I thought you were supposed to die when people stopped paying attention to you.
[F] And, I thought dogs were supposed to–
[Z] Everyone just calm down, at least let Gabby finish.
[G] Uh, I was just going to say, I mean… it would be really cool to spend tonight with a real human. I have so many questions to ask… and, honestly… it would be really fun to kind of live out that human romance I've only ever read about in the books… I don't know though, I know I'm kind of a nerd, I'm not exactly most people's first choice for a Ball date. Unless… you'd be interested…
[D] I'll say this, having known Gabby quite a long time… she's one of the smartest people you'll ever meet. Sure, she's a nerd… but who doesn't like nerds?
[G] (Embarrassed) Aww, thanks Damon. You're not too bad for a loghead yourself. (Laugh)
[V] So a dryad and a goblin, let me just add that to the list of people in line to steal my date. (Groan) You know, if I had known every monster in a three-mile radius was going to–
[L] Um… hello… sssorrry to intrude. I sssaw you all ssstanding here and was hoping you wouldn't mind me joining you. This is my firssst time at the Monster'sss Ball and I don't really know anyone here, ssso…
[V] Who are you?
[L] I'm Lana. As you can sssee, I'm a lamia… a ssserpent girl. Sorry for my lisssp, it's embarrasssing but I can't control it…
[Z] You can join us if you want. We're not really doing anything, just bickering very immaturely.
[L] About what?
[Z] The human.
[L] Human? You mean… thisss one? You're human?
…
[L] Oh. I rarely meet humansss. Though… I rarely meet anyone, for that matter. I don't have many friendsss or people to ssspend time with. But… it's nissse to meet you.
…
[L] Oh, do you like it? Thank you… I picked out this dresss ssspecially for tonight. It can be hard to find dressesss fitted for a lamia, so I was lucky to find one ssso beautiful. It's probably a little too fansssy for me…
…
[L] That's sssweet of you to sssay. Thank you…
[P] You're quite the snake charmer, human.
[D] Lamias are actually less like snakes and more like serpents, the key difference being that–
[F] No one cares. Now I'll admit the dress looks nice… as much as it can on a reptile, anyway. But I see the way you're eyeing my human, sister, so (Making fun of her lisp) ssslither off.
[V] Your human? Am I all of a sudden just not even in the running anymore? I'm the one who found them in the first place!
[W] Anyone can find a human they like, it's getting them to like you when you're a monster that's the hard part. Trust me…
[Z] (Softly, sarcastic) And you're all doing such a great job of that.
[L] Sssorry, I didn't mean to caussse any trouble… I'll go…
[Z] No, no… it's not your fault. Everyone is just getting so worked up tonight over who gets to be the human's date.
[L] Date? Oh… Well, I've never had a date to the Ball before. Dancing together, holding hands, maybe even a kisss… That might be nissse…
[C] Well if you're into snakes, why didn't you just say so? I can give you the real deal.
[O] (Silly, innocent) Uh, I'm not sure we should interrupt this Clarissa, these guys seem–
[C] Shut up, Ozzy.
[O] Sorry.
[Z] Who are you… wait… are there more than one of you?
[G] Oh my… that's a chimera! They're pretty rare, I've actually never met one… they're three-headed monsters. I'm trying to think back to that book I read about it… let me see. Um, I think, one head is usually some type of dragon or snake–
[C] (Confident) That would be moi. My name is Clarissa, pleasure to meet you all. I'm a cobra, but don't let the venomous fangs intimidate you. I don't bite. Much. (Laugh)
[V] Those are some sweet fangs. They'd be the envy of most vampires…
[G] Another head is, like, a lion…
[T] Tigress, actually. The name's Tabitha, but my friends call me Tabby… and call it animal instinct, but I have this feeling we're about to become very good friends, human.
[G] And the last head is… uh… I forgot what the other head is.
[O] I'm an emu.
[T] (Annoyed) You're an ostrich, Ozzy. (Softly) Idiot. (Normal voice) Ignore him. And ignore my serpentine sister as well, her forked tongue is always getting her into trouble.
[C] Don't even start, Tabby. (To listener) Don't mind my imbecile brother and my less imbecile but no less intrusive sister… I'd have left them at home before coming to the Ball, but, as you can see… we're joined at the hip, so to speak.
[V] More like the neck.
[C] It can be quite annoying always being part of a crowd, but one gets used to it. Three's company, right? And it beats being alone… I wouldn't want you to be alone at the Ball, human, that's no fun at all…
[W] Well don't worry about it. They're not alone. They're my date.
[T] Back off, wolf. I'm the queen of this jungle, and when I see prey I like I don't share. Doesn't your kind prefer bones anyway? (Laugh)
[W] (Angry) Bones? We don't chew on bones, we're not dogs. And most of the tigers I've met aren't in a jungle anyway, they're busy doing tricks at the circus.
[T] (Sarcastic) Do you spend a lot of time at the circus?
[F] (Laugh) Okay, that was actually kind of funny. You know, it's a shame you two are trying to get between me and my date, on a different night we'd probably get along.
[C] Relax everyone. See, this is why you can never hold a relationship, Tabby, you're much too aggressive. (To listener) My sister is desperate to earn her stripes… even though she already has so many. I prefer a gentler touch. And I'd be happy to show you just how gentle, human…
[T] No, the reason is because you always lunge in and steal my dates right out from under me. You're a real snake sometimes.
[C] It's not my fault if people prefer my company. And you can be very catty yourself, darling, but you don't hear me complaining about it.
[T] I do. All the time. Your mouth is permanently a couple inches from my ear, in case you forgot.
[C] Don't remind me.
[T] What she's not telling you, human, is that you won't be able to feel your lips for an hour after she kisses you. Cobra venom is pretty much the opposite of an aphrodisiac. (Laugh)
[C] At least my kisses won't take half someone's face off.
[T] That only happened once! And it's not my fault I sneezed in the middle of it, you know I have allergies.
[O] (Innocent) I'd like to kiss someone one day.
[T] Shut up, Ozzy.
[O] Sorry.
[P] You're not seriously considering going to the Ball with this… ensemble, are you, human?
[V] Only if they want their wedding to be a quadruple date.
[T] I'm not so scary, human, don't be intimidated. Sure, I'm a fearsome apex predator… but don't think that means I don't like belly rubs and scritches behind the ears as much as the next girl. I can be soft and affectionate, too. I'm sure you're more of a cat person than a dog person, anyway.
[W] Hey! I said I'm not a dog. Though… I bet they're a dog person, anyway. Not that… not that I'm a dog…
[C] You're both wrong. I can already see but that look on their face, this human is a snake person. (Laugh)
[L] Technically, I'm a sssnake perssson.
[C] And don't let that little jab about venom scare you off, either. My sister is just mad I'm the better cuddler. Ever been wrapped up tight in smooth cobra scales? It feels so much snugger than you'd think… and I give the best massages, too.
[T] Until your lips turn blue. (Laugh)
[C] I'm a cobra, not a boa constrictor. And my romantic partners usually turn red, not blue, which is more than I can say for you.
[T] I'd rather you didn't say anything for me. I can speak for myself.
[C] As if we could forget.
[T] Picture us lying together, you enveloped in my soft arms by the dying firelight, human. Doesn't it sound nice and cozy and warm? It is. More than you can imagine. That could be us tonight, if you want. Just take my paw, let me lead you.
[C] That paw might as well be a monkey's because whatever you're wishing for, it's not going to go the way you think. She's competitive and loud and jealous… trust me, you'd prefer someone less hot-blooded. Maybe even someone cold-blooded.
[T] Better to be too hot and passionate than too cold. You should choose me, if only to shut Clarissa up.
[C] Or you could choose me and shut Tabby up, that's also an enticing option. Call it a serpent's intuition, but I can tell all the yowling is getting to you.
[C] Just go with me. Say what you want about me, but at least I won't be tempted to eat you.
[T] How dare you? I would never eat someone so adorable! I'm closer to eating you than them if you don't stop being so smarmy.
[C] Maybe I'll eat you first, then.
[T] I'd like to see you try.
[C] Is that a challenge? Want to see how far this jaw unhinges? Ever heard of an ouroboros?
[O] Um… not to interrupt all the, uh… dietary talk, but… I was thinking… I'd kind of, maybe, like to go on a date with this human as well… and I just–
[T] Shut up, Ozzy!
[C] Shut up, Ozzy!
[O] Sorry.
[Z] Hey, I hate to get in the middle of this, uh, sibling rivalry, but… do you guys smell something burning?
[W] Oh my god, the floor's on fire! Did someone forget to put out–
[Small explosion]
[V] (Coughing) What… What just happened?
[I] Sorry for the theatrics, you know we can't resist making a big entrance.
[V] (Sarcastic) Oh great… the Wonder Twins. (Softer) Just when I thought this couldn't get any more crowded…
[Z] (Whisper) You know the succubus and incubus couple we saw playing around the stairwell earlier? Well… guess they got bored…
[I] A little birdie told us there was a human at the Monster's Ball tonight… a human looking for a date. Of course, we couldn't resist taking a peek. Is this the one? Mmm… you look scrumptious, if I might be so bold.
[W] (Coughing, annoyed) Why do you guys always have to pull some magic act when you show up? You can't just walk in normally like every other monster instead of making explosions and setting stuff on fire?
[S] Well we could, but that wouldn't be very sexy, now would it? (Laugh)
[P] Third-degree burns are sexy?
[F] Demons are such show-offs. We fairies have plenty of magic, too, but you don't see us waving it around to impress people all the time…
[D] You almost caught my ivy-and-thistle cloak on fire…
[S] Oh… I don't think I've seen you before, dryad. You're a nice tall drink of sap. That's one garden I might like to take a romp in…
[D] (Gulp) I'm flattered, ma'am, truly… but I'm a little afraid of flames.
[I] Terribly sorry to bother, my friends, my sincerest apologies. For those of you who haven't had the pleasure, my name is Ivan. Demon prince, at your service. And this lovely long-tailed creature by my side is Sabrina, my other half. She's an incubus, I'm a succubus… or, rather, the other way around. (Laugh) Forgive me, I've had a bit too much to drink this evening… my tongue is especially slippery…
[S] Pleasure to make your acquaintance, human. Oh no, please, we don't shake hands. That's for boring old mortals. We demons of pleasure much prefer a more intimate greeting. How about a little kiss on that soft cheek? [Kiss]
[I] Yes we do, darling. I hope you won't mind me stealing a kiss as well. [Kiss]
[Z] Don't be too weirded out, these two are demons… they make everything they do kinda raunchy. You should see them on Valentine's Day…
[L] They do ssseem very friendly…
[I] Oh you don't know the half of it, my dear lamia – and may I say your scales are looking ravishing this evening. We're the friendliest pair of hellspawn this side of the afterlife. And don't take just my word for it… I hope you don't mind me wrapping my arm around your shoulder here, I'm a very physically affectionate creature.
[S] Don't mind my tail curling around your leg either, she's a mischievous little minx, I can hardly control her half the time when she gets going. (Laugh)
[G] You two are practically about to eat them.
[Z] And I thought I was hungry.
[I] So what do you say, human? Want to dance?
[W] Which of you is even offering to be their date, you or her?
[I] Either of us. Both of us, even. Pick your pleasure.
[S] We don't mind sharing. We don't mind sharing at all.
[I] No we don't, darling. (Laugh) Two dates for the price of one… how's that for a deal with the devil?
[V] Put your tails back in your pants, lovebirds. This human is mine, I found them and I'm tired of fighting off every monster in this manor who wants a piece.
[P] You don't really think "finders keepers" applies to people, do you?
[V] Do you have a better way to decide?
[W] I have an idea. Let's have an arm wrestling competition. Winner gets to be the human's date.
[F] Yeah, that sounds really fair against someone who can shift into a 300-pound animal at the drop of a hat.
[G] What about a… human trivia contest?
[P] How about we give it to the monster who's had to hear annoying bickering from his fellow monsters the longest?
[V] You'd have to give it to me, then, Phil.
[O] Oh, I know a way! What if we play "eenie-meanie-miney-moe."
[T] Catch a tiger by the toe.
[S] I have a little suggestion – what about a lingerie-clad pillow fight to decide who gets to take the hand of this dashing human?
[I] I adore that idea, darling. But what if, instead of wearing lingerie–
[Z] No! Enough already. I'm tired of you guys fighting. This isn't what the Monster's Ball is about. I get that everyone wants to be this human's date… (Softer) I kinda want to, too… (Normal voice) But we don't need to argue about this. Besides… what really matters is what they want.
[Z] (To listener) Not to, uh, put you on the spot too much, human… but looks like you have a choice to make. If you're going to spend the night here… which one of us, if any, do you want to go with?
[W] Can we all give like… a quick sales pitch? Just in case maybe they forgot our names? There are thirteen of us, after all… counting by heads, at least.
[Z] Sure.
[V] I'll go first. I'm Vicky the vampire. If you hang with me, I can promise you a fun night of dancing to all the old classics – and I mean the old classics. Plus, I promise not to bite you unless you ask me to. (Laugh)
[P] I'm Phillip the phantom. I was human once, and I think if you spend the night with me you'll find our souls are cut from the same cloth, so to speak.
[F] I'm Faye the fairy. Sure, I'm a little clingy, but I'm really a sweet and caring person when you get to know me and I'm a pretty good baker, too, if you've got a sweet tooth! I'd just love to walk arm-in-arm with you down the stairs to the garden as your date tonight.
[W] I'm Warren the werewolf. I'm a bit hardcore and I already said I'm not usually impressed by humans… but I'll give you a chance since you seem like you might have what it takes to party like a wolf.
[D] I'm Damon the dryad. I like flowers, trees, and long walks in the forest. I'm pretty easygoing. No hard feelings if you don't pick me, but if you do, well, let's just say I'll do what I can to make a romance bloom.
[G] I'm Gabby the goblin, and I'm kind of a nerd but I can be fun and let my hair down too, and I genuinely want to learn more about humans. If you were my date, I'd love to get to know more about you – and I promise not to pester you with too many questions about everything. (Laugh)
[L] I'm Lana the lamia… sssorry again about my lisssp. I'm a little shy and don't really have a lot of friendsss, but I've been trying to get out there more lately and I think it might be fun to ssspend more time with all of you. Especially you, human. I don't know much about romance and I've never been sssomeone'sss date to a ball before… but I'd love to try it…
[C] I'm Clarissa the cobra. Well, the cobra head of a chimera, anyway, not that my siblings ever let me forget it. If you want to have some casual fun, relax, and unwind after all the chaos tonight, you know who to go with.
[T] I'm Tabby the tigress, the best head of the aforementioned chimera. If you want something hot and fierce and fiery, that's me. I can come on a bit strong, but I can promise you'll like the ride. Ever heard the song "Jungle Love?"
[O] And I'm Ozzy the emu, and I'd–
[T] Shut up, Ozzy. And I told you, you're an ostrich.
[O] Oh yeah. Sorry.
[I] I'm Ivan the incubus, debonair devil extraordinaire.
[S] And I'm Sabrina the succubus, Ivan's demonic other half… not that we're at all shy about sharing.
[I] No we aren't, darling.
[S] I hardly think you need reminding what kind of ride you're in for if you decide to be our date to the Ball. But just in case you do… let's just say, we can make Hell feel like Heaven… and vice versa. (Laugh)
[Z] Alright then… and, last but hopefully not least (Laugh), I'm Zoe the zombie. I'm not really the coolest or the strongest or the boldest, but… you seem like a really sweet human. And if you'd be interested… I'd love to be your date to the Monster's Ball.
[Z] So, it's your choice. Who do you want to go with?

For the full experience don’t miss the amazing narration by Amanda Jane exclusively on The Darkest Hour!
————————
Intro
What’s your worst fear? Do you even know? If you said something like spiders or clowns— that’s kid stuff; take a second and try again...
I don’t want to hear things like heights or small spaces, either; those are a little better, but I asked for your worst fear. We all love a good story where everyone is plagued by that which they fear most, and every Harry Potter fan has imagined what their Boggart would be… But the simple truth is— if that stuff were actually real— none of us would be seeing snakes or mean teachers.
Most people don’t actually realize their worst fear until they’re facing it. Our minds tend to reject the unthinkable; we would rather believe that animals are our biggest threat, and the Boogeyman doesn’t exist... Well, it exists, alright— only it's far more complex than a single entity… It’s Tragedy personified, and it lives in us all.
It’s the woman standing in the road while an ambush lies in wait; it’s the hooded man following that drunk girl home, and the unmarked van creeping by that school… The Boogeyman isn’t always intentional. Sometimes it’s the horrible accident on I-95, or that deadly gas leak in the night. It takes the form of tornados, earthquakes, and floods— but also cancers, famines, and droughts...
It’s our deepest fears buried in the farthest reaches of our subconscious; we envision a monster lurking in our closet because that’s exactly what it is. We know it’s lying in wait, so we take precautions— we lock our doors, build our shelters, and take our vitamins— but it’s still coming for us...
There are actually three main types of fear; Rational Fear is when there is a real, imminent threat. For instance, if a man were pointing a gun at you— it would only be rational to fear him. Primal Fear is pre-programmed into our brains courtesy of evolution— things like darkness and death… Then we have Irrational Fear— that which frightens us for no rhyme or reason. For me, it’s moths, and if one touches me, I’ll scream; for my best friend, it’s nectarines— even she can’t explain it.
Everyone has felt a version of these at some point, but only a few ever find themselves subject to a combination of all three… I wouldn’t have thought it possible for “rational” and “irrational” to coexist, but that’s one of the reasons we’re here… Well, that and the fact that demons are real; those fuckers are the worst, too.
You see, I’ve been through an unbelievably traumatic ordeal, but talking about it makes me sound like a complete lunatic… So, I don’t know what else to do with all of this information; I only know that I can’t keep it to myself.
Seriously; I have no physical evidence, so the police won’t help. My family and friends would have me committed— another pass. There’s always my diary, but that wouldn’t answer any questions…
So, what does that leave? Strangers on the Internet, obviously. But where? Oh, why, Reddit, of course! Thus, here we are.
———
I
I guess my introduction seems pretty random without context… Sorry about that... If it hasn’t been made abundantly clear, I have no clue what I’m doing… I’m just flying by the seat of my pants— grasping at straws— or whatever metaphor rolls off your tongue. The point is— I’m a hot mess, so I’m gonna need you to meet me halfway on this.
Maybe I should have introduced myself first. Hi, I’m Taylor, a recently single 21-year-old college dropout and starving artist. After a brutal breakup, I decided to impulsively spend my savings on a new tablet specifically for drawing. You know, so people would “take me seriously.”
Unfortunately, I got a little carried away, and the “starving” part became all too literal. I needed a second job— something temporary with night hours. Since it was almost October, I got online and applied to every haunted house, corn maze, and escape room in my area. If I had to spend my nights working, there were far worse things to do than scaring people.
I went to a few of the haunted houses but ultimately settled on the corn maze— and not just because it paid more. They have one in the same spot every Halloween, but the new management was clearly sparing no expense; I was absolutely in awe of the place. It’s almost not fair to call it a corn maze, but— at its core— that’s exactly what it was.
They were still setting up decorations and cutting extra pathways, but the exterior was practically finished. It was more than double its usual size, and some extra sections were being walled-in for specially themed rooms. The costumes were also insanely high quality, and I would get to play a different character each night! I asked my boss (Pete) why that was, once; it seemed more productive to have us perfect a single role, but that was a common misconception. When employees— especially young ones— perform the same task night after night, they get bored, and their enthusiasm plummets. In this particular line of business, that’s basically a death sentence. By making sure we had fun, he ensured his customers had fun.
Though— to be clear— Pete was only a part-owner; he had set up a few other mazes that did well, but having a silent partner allowed him to create the maze of his dreams without counting pennies. Who was this gracious benefactor, you ask? Well, that’s complicated; through most of this story, Maggs was just a name on a check, so we’ll have to circle back to that. For now, let’s start with opening night; each section had a few skits prepared, and we were all excited to show off the fruits of our labor.
A team of makeup artists were employed to fix us up properly, and their work was incredible. I was playing a zombie in an overrun Catholic school, and we were painted varying shades of grays and greens. Our uniforms were torn and blood-stained yet trendy without being slutty— which I particularly appreciated— though I’m not sure how to describe the hair… It was like “sexy bed-head” meets “Scarface.”
The concept was simple; when a group came in, we tore into the last survivor, then— after a dramatic pause— they rose as a member of the undead, and we all began chasing the patrons. The customers could also purchase cap-guns if they wanted to play along. When someone fired at us, we would “die” with a little flair; the kids really loved it… But there was something wrong with that place from the very beginning.
There was this brief instance— I mean literally just a flash— when I felt like a real zombie… A little girl shot at me with her cap-gun, so I dropped to my knees and fell back with a loud grunt— no big deal… Only then she came to pop-off a few more right in my face, and it was like the entire world shifted…
Suddenly, I was consumed by the most intense hunger I’ve ever known… Which, don’t forget the money troubles that put me here in the first place; you have no idea how many times I’ve chosen Juul pods over food... But this was a ravenous, violent hunger; absolutely nothing else mattered. Taylor was gone; as were my relationships and responsibilities. All that remained was an insatiable, blood-thirsty craving for meat.
I could hear the child’s blood coursing through her body like a surging river, and the smell… It was like smelling the best Thanksgiving dinner of my life; I would die if I didn’t devour her immediately… One second I was lying on my back, and, the next, I was lunging for her— my eyes locked on her plump, tender, red cheeks…
Then— just as suddenly— everything returned to normal, and the little girl was running back to her mother. They seemed to think it was all part of the act, so I let myself believe the same… Until it happened again the following night… Only I was a Roamer instead of a zombie. Roamers basically wandered their assigned areas dressed as someone generic like Jason, Michael, or— in this instance— Leatherface. I was a little bummed to be leaving Zombie School, but then they gave me the chainsaw— minus the chain, obviously— and that eased my pain… For a while, at least.
The maze was divided into sections; I was in Section C— between the Zombie School and Emily Rose’s exorcism. There was nothing particularly special about being a Roamer; you chased a customer till they reached the end of your section or stopped for a picture, and that’s about it. We highly encouraged posting any and all photos; it only served to attract more business, though I hadn’t yet realized that was a bad thing...
It was a completely normal night until my final group; when turning a corner, I practically collided with four teens slightly younger than myself. They screamed— I started the chainsaw— and the merry chase began… But in earnest… Because, again, the world suddenly shifted, and everything became very real— including my weapon and the desire to use it…
Being Leatherface came with a different kind of hunger… It wasn’t about survival so much as hatred. I was furious with those kids; I’ve never before or since felt such blinding, black rage— just because they existed. I was alone and despised by everyone while they were beautiful and loved; it wasn’t fair. I needed them to feel my pain— to understand suffering.
Those teenagers weren’t playing anymore, either; their screams turned from playful to bloodcurdling in a single breath… And I found it thrilling. Then the short, blonde girl tripped, and none of her friends stopped to help… I don’t recall moving… I was just instantly upon her as she began to rise... The chainsaw jerked as it entered her back, but I was prepared for the recoil and held it firm, relishing the moment her desperate screams eventually fell silent.
I had to step on her to pull the saw free and couldn’t help smiling at the wet, crunchy sound it made. Upon resuming the chase for her friends, I turned the last corner to see them entering an old, wooden barn…
There was a split second of crushing disappointment before the world shifted once more, and I was left standing before the entrance to our Emily Rose exhibit. The outside was decorated to emulate the movie’s barn, but— for that one instant— I had been staring at an actual barn.
My chainsaw was once again chainless, but… Ok, this is about to get even more confusing… So, originally, my saw didn’t have any fake blood on it, but now it did... Real blood would have still been wet, yet this was more like dried paint...
I ran back the way I came, and the dead girl was also gone; in her place was a new fake blood display, and— upon closer inspection— I noticed chainsaw marks on the ground where it pushed through the front of her chest.
I wasn’t imagining that… It wasn’t there before, yet, if I tried to tell anyone what happened, my only piece of evidence would be a decoration! I studied my coworkers as we changed out of our costumes, but everyone else seemed to be in a great mood while I was waiting to be arrested for murder.
After hurrying out of the dressing-rooms and into my car, I replayed the event in my mind until a soft knock jerked me back to reality. It was Pete; we were suddenly the last two in the parking lot, and he didn’t feel right leaving me alone. I appreciated his concern and drove home so he could do the same, but I never stopped seeing the fountain of blood that erupted from that poor girl’s back…
My brain wouldn’t stop… Her body has to be somewhere… What happened to her friends? Surely they reported her missing… Unless they didn’t make it out either! That’s when I thought to look on Instagram, and— within minutes— I had all four of their profiles! Each one had tagged the Maze in several photos— including a clearly staged shot of me pretending to chase the blonde… But it had to be fake; I never stopped to pose with that group— at least not consciously…
The girl’s name was Maddie; her smiling photo winked at me, but I only saw the horrified expression she wore while being impaled with a chainsaw… Also— before anyone asks— yes, I was the only Leatherface that night; Pete never doubled up on his killers.
I didn’t know what to think unless I was truly going crazy... The whole thing felt like a complete break from reality... I went to bed hoping to wake up feeling foolish (which I did)… But then each night grew progressively more unsettling until there was no denying it— something was seriously wrong with the Maze…
———
II
We originally planned to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but there was such a high demand for admission that we had to stay open seven days a week. Even if nothing strange had happened before this, I should have known something was wrong when we didn’t hire extra staff. There was no need… Out of more than 50 employees, no one wanted a night off… We were all having too much fun…
Well, the support staff came and went all the time, but they weren’t real employees… The customers, however, loved the Maze as much as we did; out of thousands of reviews, none of them were negative… Can you believe that? You shouldn’t. In case you aren’t familiar with how the internet works— that isn’t actually possible. No matter how perfect you are— no matter how many fans love you— a certain percentage are going to hate you; that’s just basic math… You can’t please everyone, but— even if you could— trolls exist, and they’ll get you everytime.
Honestly, the Maze was kind of like an addiction… I knew it was unhealthy— I just didn’t care. Plus, there were plenty of good excuses like, “better make some money while I can.” Or, “I’m basically just going to a Halloween party every night;” haha, like that was any healthier… But I think the real turning point came at the end of our first week.
I was roaming Section A— between Bloody Mary’s Bathroom and Dr. Frankenstein’s lab— as Ruby Lane. For those unfamiliar with the Fear Street trilogy, imagine a hot college chick from the 60’s running around with a straight razor like she’s Sweeney Todd, and you’ve got the right idea; her look is phenomenal, and she sings a creepy song... That’s horror gold in any book.
Again— most of the night was normal— and then the friggin’ world shifted the moment I laid eyes on my last couple. Two men appearing to be in their mid-thirties were running along the path when they saw me and came to a sudden halt. The dark-haired one tried turning back only to be stopped by his partner; he seemed to fear whatever was behind them more than my razor-blade.
I’m not sure how to describe the emotions inspired by Ruby Lane… There was a large part of me that felt excited— giddy, even— at the sight of two fresh playmates (yes, I remember specifically thinking of the word, playmates)… Yet— though considerably smaller— there was also a part that desperately wanted to run away… Of course that desire was moot since the larger part immediately took control, and I was upon the two men like a rabid banshee.
The dark-haired man was faster; he leapt out of reach and ran for his life, but his partner panicked, and I cut his throat in a single, fluid motion. The sight of blood pouring down his front was mesmerizing— both funny and beautiful at the same time… It held me captivated until I was suddenly hit from behind. There was no pain— just an unexpected momentum forcing me to the ground— and it only stalled me for a few seconds.
The first man could have survived had he not returned to cry over a corpse… As I regained my footing and came within striking distance— he lunged at me with a large pocket knife. The scuffle was brief— not even worth calling a fight— but his attack left me with a deep gash to my upper arm… At least until the world shifted back, and then it was no worse than a cat scratch…
I feel awful for the part I played in ending yet another human life, but… God why couldn’t he just keep going?! Now they’re both dead, and I have to live with knowing what actual madness feels like… Ok, fine… That last part isn’t actually his fault… It just sucks really bad.
Once home, I went straight to Instagram where I found my victims almost immediately. Their pictures told the story of a great night at the Maze… There were dozens between them, including a selfie which showed us all smiling for the camera— my face on full display. The last photo showed the couple posing under our reaper as they left— not a scratch on either of them…
The exit was one of the few things that never changed since it was everyone’s favorite spot to take pictures. To leave, you walked beneath a covered pathway leading back to the parking lot; at the end awaited our giant grim reaper— swinging his scythe— and the exit’s awning was his curved blade. The idea was to convey, “you only think you escaped.” The irony would be comical if not so tragic…
I didn’t know how any of this was possible or what it could mean, but it was time to get some answers... Which meant recruiting a little help from my cousin, Lori… The following night, I was scheduled to play Ghostface— the only costume that came with a voice changer— and it was the last time my face would be covered for nearly a week; if I wanted to see the Maze from a customer’s perspective, this was my best chance… My cousin and I are roughly the same height and build, so— if she wore my outfit— she could take my place while I did some investigating. As long as we both kept our masks on— there was really no reason for us to be caught…. None that I knew of, anyway…
I told Lori everything knowing she didn’t believe me but wanting her to be as informed. She offered to go snooping as a customer herself, but I couldn’t take that risk... It didn’t matter how many dead people were walking around posting selfies afterwards— I absolutely could not live with memories of stabbing my own cousin to death… But whatever was going on, Pete needed to know about it. I thought I could safely poke around until the end of the night and then maybe catch the shift on video; I even attached a GoPro to my bag in case I couldn’t get to my phone.
———
III
Not wanting to be recognized, I bought a black, hooded cloak and generic skull-mask on the way and arrived an hour after opening— when it was busy enough to disappear in the crowd. It was like a totally different place; right away everything seemed very real, but I chalked it up to the same effect as watching a magic show… In the audience, you only see the angle they want you to see… But— from backstage— the illusion is immediately dispelled. Suddenly, mirrors are everywhere, and the floating lady is lying on a platform; that’s exactly what entering the Maze felt like as a customer...
The entrance’s open-roofed walkway had Greek fire painted down the length of both walls; I’d walked it nearly a hundred times, and it had never been heated, but I was suddenly pouring sweat… I only remained confused for a moment before panicking at the realization of a drastic oversight…
I assumed customers and employees alike experienced the shift from one reality to the next just before closing time, and that everyone— except for me— lost their memories immediately upon shifting back… But now I wondered if we were shifting throughout the night, and I was only retaining memories of the final transition… If that were the case, I would be in serious danger for the entire 3 hours.
I had encountered costumed customer’s before, and they remained human, so I was confident the same would be true in my case. Sadly, I didn’t know about the employment contracts yet, but— hey— I was also blindly assuming my “shifting reality” theory was correct, so what do I know? If I had any sense at all, I would have aborted the mission, but— once I got out into the open again— I instantly felt better. I wanted to believe it was just paranoia, but— if I really had felt the heat from the Greek fire— at least there might be some kind of warning before the shifts, right?
That simple, ignorant theory was enough to keep me going…
Most of the themed-rooms are optional. Sure, people usually want their money’s worth, so they specifically visit each one, but there are technically several routes that lead to the exit with minimum engagement… There’s only one room that must be crossed; the area beyond the entrance was a sort of family recreational area with an information desk, gift stall, and concession stand. Beyond that was the unavoidable room— currently themed as Odysseus’ Voyage… My friend Adrianna was playing the siren; her boyfriend was the cyclops, and a girl named Erin was the witch.
Each of their islands was represented in one of the corners, and— in the center— Odysseus’ ship sailed past Siren’s Rock… Which was just a fake boulder with a built-in platform for Adrianna to stand on while she sang her siren song. The part that actually worried me was the floor; it was painted with a swirling blue pattern to represent the whirlpool...
If a shift occurred while I was standing on that— we were talking an instant Game Over… My best chance was to run straight through and get it over with… But— as I approached the entrance— my mind was filled with a hypnotic song that made me forget why I was there… Suddenly, I was just a normal girl listening to the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard, and nothing else could have possibly mattered. No force on this earth could have distracted me from my new goal… Keywords being, “on this earth,” but I’m jumping ahead…
Seriously, the craving to find the singer was stronger than words can ever convey… I’ve tried love both ways and thrown in the towel; I had less than zero interest in dating when I entered that room. Men might treat you like dirt and rough you up, but women… They’ll kiss your goddamn neck while they cut your throat… That voice, though… It made me want to try again. I would have handed that goddess a knife and laid there for the carving just to hear her sing a little longer…
Odysseus was right to have himself tied to the mast; those sirens are no joke. Without even realizing it, I was already halfway into the room, and the woman was only a few feet away. My hand was reaching out for her, though I don’t remember lifting it…
And then I was being dragged underwater by a raging whirlpool because I fell into the fucking ocean!
Well, a skeleton version of myself, anyway... My best guess? Since I wasn’t dressed as an actual character, I retained my own personality. Can you guess what I— a simple human— was like as a skeleton? Brainless, for starters… Blind… Deaf… Paralyzed… I didn’t need to breathe, though… So, that was handy…
I’m not sure how much time passed, but— once the world shifted back— I was lying on the blue flooring next to the Siren stand, and Adrianna was staring down at me in total confusion. Thankfully, my mask was still in place, so I scrambled to my feet and ran for the closest door before Collin or Erin could get too close. Then I kept putting distance between myself and Adrianna until I felt certain there was no chance of hearing that voice again…
What scared me most is how much I actually wanted to stay… Even now, I often dream of her voice and wish I could sleep forever… That’s how completely the siren’s song can consume its victim; it’s the one ailment that time is powerless to cure, and— when I die— it will be the last thought in my mind as the world falls dark.
The confirmation of random shifts was disconcerting to say the least, but receiving sensory warnings from the environment provided some small source of comfort. According to the map I had prepared, I was currently in the section patrolled by Freddy and Jason; they were always paired for the sake of Freddy Vs. Jason shenanigans, and I had no desire to face off with either.
I could go one of two ways not counting the dead-end— another zombie school or Annabelle’s dollhouse. Easy choice, right? Dolls all the way, baby! I ran straight past Freddy and Jason while they posed with a group of teens and didn’t stop until I was inside the dollhouse. Thinking it was one of the “safer” rooms, I paused to catch my breath.
Only two employees were inside— Becca was playing Annabelle while Lori’s ex was playing what appeared to be a male version of the same doll. As an added precaution, I asked to get a few scene pictures before they started creeping, and they were happy to oblige— as I knew they would be.
Only a minute— maybe two— passed when my lower back suddenly exploded with pain. Do you know what it feels like to fall directly on your tailbone? It was that, only— instead of falling down— something hit me! Something roughly the size of a baseball, only blessedly softer. With a surprised yelp, I turned in search of the source, but my back had been to the wall; no one else was on that side of the room…
There were only a few shelves containing various toys— including a rubber ball that was an exact match to what I had envisioned hitting me... I knew there was some vital piece of information to glean from this, but my mind refused to connect the dots… Still, even though I didn’t understand the mechanics behind it, I knew that cheapshot had to mean the next shift was coming…
Of course it’s obvious now that I know the answer, but a load of good it did me back then. You see, there was a fundamental flaw in my original theory; I’d been operating as if the world was shifting between two realities— as if only one version could exist at a time... But that proved to be wildly inaccurate.
In actuality, my consciousness was shifting between two planes of existence on which both sets of events were occurring simultaneously. I know, I know— it’s confusing; that’s why I was trying to take you through this in baby steps, but it’s hard to explain something you barely understand yourself.
For now, think of it as being split in two; most of the time, my consciousness was with my physical body in the real world, while my soul was trying to survive on the Other Side, but— sometimes— my awareness was able to join my soul for short durations. Had I understood this, the danger would have been obvious, but you know what they say about hindsight and all that...
If you’re reading this, you’re likely a big fan of horror, but I’m really not. I always enjoy Halloween, but— for the rest of the year— I barely know this stuff exists… I knew Annabelle was a possessed doll connected to that famous Warren couple but not what it actually did; I just expected it to be really easy to win a fight against dolls, yet now even that was beyond me thanks to my costume.
My only hope was to get the mask off before each shift. With my head down and hood pulled low, I could probably remain unrecognized through the darker areas— but not in that lit-up dollhouse with Lori’s ex… With my phone also set to record— and don’t forget about my GoPro— I rushed out of the door and into Michael Myers’ territory, shedding my mask just in time for the next shift.
It worked! I was no longer a skeleton— just plain ole Taylor in a cheap, hooded cloak! I actually thought things were looking up for a second… If I had to film a real murder being committed, Michael was by far one of the better options. He might be invincible and super strong, but getting stabbed didn’t seem so bad compared to what Pinhead or Pennywise might do… Even so, it wasn’t an easy thing to witness…
The screams began almost immediately, and I had to force myself to run towards them instead of away. I passed others who were fleeing and did my best to capture the chaos— the terror so apparent on all of their faces— until, finally, there was nothing left between myself and the still-active murder scene…
Centered in my camera-frame, a grown man dangled several feet above the ground as Michael held him firmly against the side of Hannibal Lecter’s house— formerly just a kitchen— and stabbed him multiple times. I took a few steps to my right, making sure to capture the full change of scenery along with a close-up of the victim’s face as he lost consciousness… The hard shots were a necessary evil; if Pete was going to take me seriously, there could be no room for doubts…
Michael discarded the man’s now limp body in favor of the bloodied woman emerging from Lecter’s house. She screamed at the sight of him, but— instead of going back inside— she ran to the end of the porch where she became cornered, and he was on her in seconds…
All the while, I had continued moving closer— collecting all the footage Pete would need. It was now time to hide in the corn until Michael was out of the way, but a loud snap beneath my foot made that impossible; he would have only chased me deeper into the field until I ran into the arms of another killer or became lost. There was no choice but to run towards Dracula’s Castle instead.
Even with Michael friggin’ Myers on my ass, the sight of it still stopped me in my tracks. If the world hadn’t shifted at that moment, I would have remained hypnotized by its beauty until a knife was in my back… But, suddenly— almost sadly— the Castle was reduced to a plywood mockery of its former glory.
After putting my mask back on, I thought it was safe to stop and check the map; I had my proof, and now it was time to get the hell out of dodge— preferably before the next shift— but I needed to get Lori first. As far as I was concerned, I quit; there was no reason to risk staying all night. The only problem was that she left her phone in the car, so I had to physically go get her. Luckily, she wasn’t too far away; I only needed to go through Lecter’s kitchen, bypass the Creeper, and survive the Bates’ Motel to reach her section— piece of cake…
That was sarcasm in case you couldn’t tell… To reach the kitchen, I had to pass by whoever was playing Michael. As expected, they pretended to lunge— rubber-knife held high— and I felt obligated to play along. After a brief interaction, we shared a knowing chuckle, and continued on our way… Or, tried to, at least, but I was suddenly brought to my knees by an unbearable pain in my chest— one that felt exactly as if Michael’s blade had struck down into my chest; I could see it in my mind’s eye… Yet I still didn’t understand what it meant! It’s all the more ironic to think I would have died were it not for a $3 Walmart mask…
My dramatic collapse caught the guy’s attention, and he hurried back to offer his hand, but I was too afraid to take it. Whatever else was happening, it felt like actual flames were burning inside of my chest. If that was somehow an indication of the next shift, I did not want to be by Michael when it happened.
Forcing myself upright, I practically sprinted away as I removed my mask once more. In the next section, I poured all of my focus into simply placing one foot in front of the other, and— before I knew it— I was entering Lori’s section without a single shift or attack along the way.
I didn’t expect her to believe me without seeing the evidence, so— after her customers left— I showed her the video of Michael killing two innocent people… Only that’s not what my phone actually recorded… The video I showed Lori featured some random guy posing with Michael before leaving with his friends. The woman who exited Lecter’s kitchen was actually with two other ladies, and they posed for their photos as a group while I seemingly stood to the side recording creepy stalker footage.
Lori was ready to have me committed, but— knowing how badly I needed the money— she refused to leave in the hope I would “come to my senses” after some rest. I was desperate to get us out of there before the next shift occurred, but— whatever else happened— I just didn’t want us “happening” to each other, you know?
If I hadn’t been so certain of her overall safety, I would have dragged her out kicking and screaming, but the gaping wound I received as Ruby Lane was hardly a cat scratch once everything shifted back to normal... I had no reason to think it would be any different for her… I guess it shouldn’t have been, but if I veer off onto that tangent now, we’ll never get back on track.
I didn’t think my GoPro footage would be any different than my phone’s— and it wasn’t— but I couldn’t leave Lori without knowing I tried everything. I wouldn’t be able to convince Pete now, either, but there was nothing else I could do about it from inside the Maze. My new goal was to simply reach the exit; everything else could wait. I only had to endure one last shift before finally tasting sweet freedom. Lizzie Borden almost took my head off, but I managed to avoid her by pretending witnesses were in the next room.
I went straight home to wait for Lori. I didn’t care about the Maze anymore; it was already obvious that she wouldn’t experience the shift, but I wasn’t going to feel right until she was out of there... Before getting into the shower, I asked her to call when she left— which she did. We talked for one minute and 37 seconds, and she was pulling out of her parking space when we disconnected… But then she was never seen or heard from again…
———
Part 2