thisisnotthenerd

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 2/? Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Amphitrite (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Olympians (Percy Jackson), Rhode (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Rhode (Percy Jackson), Benthesikyme (Percy Jackson), Benthesikyme (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Herophile (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Kymopoleia (Percy Jackson), Kymopoleia (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Time Travel, Deity Percy Jackson, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Skips, Ascension, Accidental Ascension, Sibling Bonding Series: Part 4 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Percy looks up to find her father in a heated argument with Athena. The scenery has shifted from winter to summer, the sun beating down on the mountaintop. Both of them have changed outfits and stand about 10 feet tall. Would this be strange under any normal circumstance? Yes. The gods have been making an effort to be more relatable ever since they realized that mortals were less inclined to help them if they remained aloof. Does Percy care at this point? No. Is she paying attention to them? Also no.

Perse Athenide, a collection of fixed points.

[thisisnotthenerd]

the short answer is no, it wouldn’t have mattered.

the long answer is:

at the end of the episode, vic asks for $20000 to find their pitch. all of the producers go in on it, but do not have the money to cover it. the proportions are as follows:

trapp had $3749, or 18.745% stake

rekha had $150, or 0.75% stake

jordan had $0, or 0% stake

thus sam, making up the total, had 80.505%

prior to the addition of brennan’s exit video:

trapp had 3,771,760 views

rekha had 6,119,293 views

jordan had 8,444,482 views

sam had 0 views

brennan’s exit video got a total of 8,273,103 views in the first week. if allocated according to their stake and added to their totals:

trapp would have 5,300,215 views

rekha would have 6,181,341 views

jordan would have 8,444,482 views

sam would have 6,660,261 views

so jordan still would have won the episode despite not contributing money to the pot for the final pitch. i think the production team was aware that all of the them would go in on it, knowing it was the most impactful pitch. it did make it a ‘wash’ as sam put it in the episode, but it was a good note to end on, as it wouldn’t have changed the results, since the producers were not really ‘playing the game’ for the final pitch.

i hope this answers your question!

Hello! As a big fan of your D20 stats, would you be interested in breaking down the results of Game Changer's Fool's Gold? I just watched the updated version, and it seemed fascinating to me, not only which clips were more popular, but which were bigger hits in which websites, and also taking into account which website overall provided more engagement and whether that affected each clip's performance etc etc. I was almost about to do this when I realized I would inevitably mess it up somehow 😂 But since you're amazing at this already, I thought I'd bring it to an expert!

well thank you for thinking of me! you actually reminded me that i haven't watched the update yet.

fool's gold - the bops and the flops

i'll evaluate each pitch on a few criteria:

price + negotiation

how well it did in the first week

the platform it did best on

how many views it got per dollar invested

each will include a bit of my commentary on why i think the pitch did well, or didn't do well.

at the end, i'll take a look at the general numbers and which producer played the game best, as well as which pitch had the best bang for your buck.

project snake skin - paul robalino

producer: mike trapp

price + negotiation: $550

first week success: 1,188,719 views

best platform: instagram (691,664 views)

views per dollar: 2161

an interesting pitch, in terms of looking for a niche audience and involving the producer. instagram significantly outperformed the other platforms by over 400k. i attribute this to tiktok and youtube having less tolerance for nudity.

king for a day - anna garcia

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $1500 ($1800)

first week success: 1,946,673 views

best platform: tiktok (718,098 views)

views per dollar: 1297

this one did pretty well; the concept was fun and positive, and it had pretty similar performance across all platforms, with 500k+ on all three. it did best on tiktok likely because the conceit originally came from tiktok, and both instagram and youtube tend to feature tiktok content after the fact.

katie's dimension 20 campaign - katie marovitch

producer: rekha shankar

price + negotiation: $3500 ($3000) with the promise that rekha shankar will not be in it

first week success: 3,819,764 views

best platform: instagram (1,297,397 views)

views per dollar: 1091

this one did very well; the intentional infuriation of 4 long time dms, especially brennan, sells. i do wish we got to count fan engagement with the concepts, since i've seen tons of incredible art about dimension 20: on a bus, and been asked to add it to the episode randomizer. it did comparably well on all platforms, ranging between 1.2 million to <1.3 million views.

side shave real estate - erika ishii

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $506 ($500)

first week success: 1,687,922 views

best platform: youtube (854,255 views)

views per dollar: 3335

a fun pitch, playing on the existing record of people making fun of sam on game changer. It did best on youtube, middling on instagram, and worst on tiktok. i tend to see more hairstylists on youtube than the other platforms, but that may just be my feed.

sexy carwash - persephone valentine

producer: rekha shankar and jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $3700 ($4200) with the promise of rekha in the video, wearing the most clothing possible

first week success: 1,314,368 views

best platform: instagram (764,617 views)

views per dollar: 355

while this pitch was very fun, it underperformed compared to other pitches at similar price points. it performed best on instagram, but had a significant drop on tiktok and youtube. i understand the draw of horniness, but given the rise in recent censorship (call your reps about KOSA!), i think it ended up buried.

best ever back cracks - grant o'brien

producer: mike trapp

price + negotiation: $1201 ($1200) with the $1 held in escrow if grant reaches over 40 cracks over the course of his adjustment

first week success: 940,816 views

best platform: instagram (417,506 views)

views per dollar: 783

continuing the trend of trapp financing videos involving bodies, we have this one. again, it did not perform that well, doing best on instagram by a ~150k margin. i've seen these on youtube before, and it is a pretty niche audience, with the occasional more viral video. i attribute this to grant's body not having more interesting cracks.

human puppy bowl - johnny stanton

producer: rekha shankar and mike trapp

price + negotiation: $5000 ($3500) with the addition of a graphics package and puppies in the audience

first week success: 812,449 views

best platform: instagram (331,495 views)

views per dollar: 162

i have to echo jordan and say that the puppy bowl is for the puppies, and the adult men take away from it. the furries couldn't carry this one, unfortunately. this pitch did comparably well on all three platforms, in the 200k-300k range.

breast milk taste test - lily du and izzy roland

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $6144

first week success: 4,152,703 views

best platform: instagram (2,778,392 views)

views per dollar: 675

an incredible pitch, one that very much benefited from jordan's experience as a taste tester. it took off on instagram, but also got <1 million on tiktok. the combination of perverted and parasocial pitch with the skill of the producer really worked for this one.

even more buttholes - izzy roland

producer: mike trapp and rekha shankar

price + negotiation: $4000 ($3000)

first week success: 2,472,200 views

best platform: youtube (1,640,502 views)

views per dollar: 618

you can't deny that the buttholes work. this pitch did quite well, but wildly outperformed on youtube compared to instagram and tiktok. i attribute this to the video layout and the fact that the imagery can be best viewed on youtube as opposed to instagram or tiktok.

brennan's exit video - vic michaelis

producer: sam reich and mike trapp and rekha shankar and jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $20000, with the caveat that all producers will corroborate the claim as best as they can.

first week success: 8,273,103 views

best platform: youtube (2,944,307 views)

views per dollar: 413

obviously, the most impactful pitch. i think having the bts, and knowing that brennan also pitched this was deeply funny. it performed comparably on all platforms.

the winner

the overall winner of the episode is jordan myrick, with a total of 10,512,758 views. they went in on 5 out of 10 pitches, including the 2 most popular videos. they also had a solid strategy regarding value for money; they financed several pitches at lower price points, which ended up doing relatively well.

bop or flop?

it's time to evaluate the pitches themselves, and see how they compare to each other.

overall view count

brennan's exit video

breast milk taste test

even more buttholes

katie's dimension 20 season

king for a day

side shave real estate

sexy carwash

project snake skin

best ever back cracks

human puppy bowl

there is a trend of brennan and izzy's involvement in the best performing pitches. i think the top performers did well for a couple of reasons:

capitalizing on dropout's previous content

demonstrations or deliberate subversions of skill

leaning on controversy

bang for your buck

this one i evaluated purely by the ratio of money to views, i.e. how many views could you get for a dollar invested in the pitch.

side shave real estate

project snake skin

king for a day

katie's dimension 20 campaign

best ever back cracks

breast milk taste test

even more buttholes

brennan's exit video

sexy carwash

human puppy bowl

it is interesting to see the differences, since some of the pitches involve much more production than others.

i hope this answers your questions!

[thisisnotthenerd]

Hello! As a big fan of your D20 stats, would you be interested in breaking down the results of Game Changer's Fool's Gold? I just watched the updated version, and it seemed fascinating to me, not only which clips were more popular, but which were bigger hits in which websites, and also taking into account which website overall provided more engagement and whether that affected each clip's performance etc etc. I was almost about to do this when I realized I would inevitably mess it up somehow 😂 But since you're amazing at this already, I thought I'd bring it to an expert!

well thank you for thinking of me! you actually reminded me that i haven't watched the update yet.

fool's gold - the bops and the flops

i'll evaluate each pitch on a few criteria:

price + negotiation

how well it did in the first week

the platform it did best on

how many views it got per dollar invested

each will include a bit of my commentary on why i think the pitch did well, or didn't do well.

at the end, i'll take a look at the general numbers and which producer played the game best, as well as which pitch had the best bang for your buck.

project snake skin - paul robalino

producer: mike trapp

price + negotiation: $550

first week success: 1,188,719 views

best platform: instagram (691,664 views)

views per dollar: 2161

an interesting pitch, in terms of looking for a niche audience and involving the producer. instagram significantly outperformed the other platforms by over 400k. i attribute this to tiktok and youtube having less tolerance for nudity.

king for a day - anna garcia

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $1500 ($1800)

first week success: 1,946,673 views

best platform: tiktok (718,098 views)

views per dollar: 1297

this one did pretty well; the concept was fun and positive, and it had pretty similar performance across all platforms, with 500k+ on all three. it did best on tiktok likely because the conceit originally came from tiktok, and both instagram and youtube tend to feature tiktok content after the fact.

katie's dimension 20 campaign - katie marovitch

producer: rekha shankar

price + negotiation: $3500 ($3000) with the promise that rekha shankar will not be in it

first week success: 3,819,764 views

best platform: instagram (1,297,397 views)

views per dollar: 1091

this one did very well; the intentional infuriation of 4 long time dms, especially brennan, sells. i do wish we got to count fan engagement with the concepts, since i've seen tons of incredible art about dimension 20: on a bus, and been asked to add it to the episode randomizer. it did comparably well on all platforms, ranging between 1.2 million to <1.3 million views.

side shave real estate - erika ishii

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $506 ($500)

first week success: 1,687,922 views

best platform: youtube (854,255 views)

views per dollar: 3335

a fun pitch, playing on the existing record of people making fun of sam on game changer. It did best on youtube, middling on instagram, and worst on tiktok. i tend to see more hairstylists on youtube than the other platforms, but that may just be my feed.

sexy carwash - persephone valentine

producer: rekha shankar and jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $3700 ($4200) with the promise of rekha in the video, wearing the most clothing possible

first week success: 1,314,368 views

best platform: instagram (764,617 views)

views per dollar: 355

while this pitch was very fun, it underperformed compared to other pitches at similar price points. it performed best on instagram, but had a significant drop on tiktok and youtube. i understand the draw of horniness, but given the rise in recent censorship (call your reps about KOSA!), i think it ended up buried.

best ever back cracks - grant o'brien

producer: mike trapp

price + negotiation: $1201 ($1200) with the $1 held in escrow if grant reaches over 40 cracks over the course of his adjustment

first week success: 940,816 views

best platform: instagram (417,506 views)

views per dollar: 783

continuing the trend of trapp financing videos involving bodies, we have this one. again, it did not perform that well, doing best on instagram by a ~150k margin. i've seen these on youtube before, and it is a pretty niche audience, with the occasional more viral video. i attribute this to grant's body not having more interesting cracks.

human puppy bowl - johnny stanton

producer: rekha shankar and mike trapp

price + negotiation: $5000 ($3500) with the addition of a graphics package and puppies in the audience

first week success: 812,449 views

best platform: instagram (331,495 views)

views per dollar: 162

i have to echo jordan and say that the puppy bowl is for the puppies, and the adult men take away from it. the furries couldn't carry this one, unfortunately. this pitch did comparably well on all three platforms, in the 200k-300k range.

breast milk taste test - lily du and izzy roland

producer: jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $6144

first week success: 4,152,703 views

best platform: instagram (2,778,392 views)

views per dollar: 675

an incredible pitch, one that very much benefited from jordan's experience as a taste tester. it took off on instagram, but also got <1 million on tiktok. the combination of perverted and parasocial pitch with the skill of the producer really worked for this one.

even more buttholes - izzy roland

producer: mike trapp and rekha shankar

price + negotiation: $4000 ($3000)

first week success: 2,472,200 views

best platform: youtube (1,640,502 views)

views per dollar: 618

you can't deny that the buttholes work. this pitch did quite well, but wildly outperformed on youtube compared to instagram and tiktok. i attribute this to the video layout and the fact that the imagery can be best viewed on youtube as opposed to instagram or tiktok.

brennan's exit video - vic michaelis

producer: sam reich and mike trapp and rekha shankar and jordan myrick

price + negotiation: $20000, with the caveat that all producers will corroborate the claim as best as they can.

first week success: 8,273,103 views

best platform: youtube (2,944,307 views)

views per dollar: 413

obviously, the most impactful pitch. i think having the bts, and knowing that brennan also pitched this was deeply funny. it performed comparably on all platforms.

the winner

the overall winner of the episode is jordan myrick, with a total of 10,512,758 views. they went in on 5 out of 10 pitches, including the 2 most popular videos. they also had a solid strategy regarding value for money; they financed several pitches at lower price points, which ended up doing relatively well.

bop or flop?

it's time to evaluate the pitches themselves, and see how they compare to each other.

overall view count

brennan's exit video

breast milk taste test

even more buttholes

katie's dimension 20 season

king for a day

side shave real estate

sexy carwash

project snake skin

best ever back cracks

human puppy bowl

there is a trend of brennan and izzy's involvement in the best performing pitches. i think the top performers did well for a couple of reasons:

capitalizing on dropout's previous content

demonstrations or deliberate subversions of skill

leaning on controversy

bang for your buck

this one i evaluated purely by the ratio of money to views, i.e. how many views could you get for a dollar invested in the pitch.

side shave real estate

project snake skin

king for a day

katie's dimension 20 campaign

best ever back cracks

breast milk taste test

even more buttholes

brennan's exit video

sexy carwash

human puppy bowl

it is interesting to see the differences, since some of the pitches involve much more production than others.

i hope this answers your questions!

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Amphitrite (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Olympians (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Time Travel, Deity Percy Jackson, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Skips Series: Part 4 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Percy looks up to find her father in a heated argument with Athena. The scenery has shifted from winter to summer, the sun beating down on the mountaintop. Both of them have changed outfits and stand about 10 feet tall. Would this be strange under any normal circumstance? Yes. The gods have been making an effort to be more relatable ever since they realized that mortals were less inclined to help them if they remained aloof. Does Percy care at this point? No. Is she paying attention to them? Also no.

Perse Athenide, a collection of fixed points.

[thisisnotthenerd]

it's time for a r-r-r-recap!

we're halfway through the season, and since we have a break week i thought it would be a good time to take a look at the combats so far and how they measure up xp-wise

cloudward, ho!

the zephyr crew are doing epic level 6 progression for the most part; instead of gaining levels, they get feats and other combination features to enhance their characters instead.

the party is very martial-heavy; most of the magic tends to be read as technological, with the exception of van, as a warlock.

the path out of gath: the first combination ship / individual combat of the season. lots of fun mechanical intros, and the party being startlingly effective.

eisengeist brutes: CR 3. total of 8 of them, with a 1.5 multiple for the number, gives a total of 8400 XP

lord kensington cosgrove mordecestershire: CR 4, for 1100 XP

mech brute: CR 5, for 1800 XP. would have been a major threat but got thrown off just so easily.

total XP count: 11300 XP

a tussle in tabira city: not a setpiece battle, but very fun nonetheless, all of the enemies are great. party splits between being in combat and making wild swings to distract from the battle.

porcoro: CR 5, for 1800 XP

barney ballast: CR 6, for 2300 XP

brachiosaurus: CR 5, based on brontosaurus stats because that's the most similar beast that i could find. 0.5x modifier because monty made friends with his handler. 900 XP

total XP count: 5000 XP

raptors at ramansu: a totally individual battle. extremely fun. i loved the puzzle mechanics and general tomfoolery involved in this battle. give me some of the yeller. everything has a 1.5x modifier to account for the number of enemies as well as the environmental mechanics. i didn't make it higher because they cut off the entrances.

legatus dromarcus petronius: CR 2, for 675 XP

legio rex: CR 1, using deinonychus stats. total of 10 directly defeated, for 3000 XP

imperasaurus rex: CR 8, whether by t-rex or t-rex zombie stats. 5850 XP

total XP count: 9525 XP

skirmish above the swirling sea: back to the ship. honestly this one came down to a combination of good tactics and the wind riders being full-blown insane. the reason there are not more modifiers on this fight comes down to the number of allies that the zephyr crew had, between bert, wealwell, dawderdale, diaz, polaximus, freyja, torse, little one, and ghost dog.

bank of fehujar fighters: CR 3. I counted 8, but there might be more. 1.5x modifier for number, total of 8400 XP

rolfgar halvorson: CR 6, based on his damage output. equivalent to barney ballast, which is deeply funny. 2300 XP

ornithopters: CR 4. I counted 4. 1.5x modifier for number and their ability to get on the zephyr. 6600 XP

mid-season totals

overall, the zephyr crew is looking at 43125 XP, for a prospective level of 5. something interesting that i noted is that olethra's individual progression has run pretty close to the xp progression of the party. it works out regardless of whether she's doing xp or milestone leveling.

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 7/7 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Fates (Percy Jackson), Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Hestia (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Legend: Twelve Labors of Heracles (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Ascension, Time Skips, Non-Linear Narrative, Gigantomachy Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

update from the ap!

van has 5 levels of fighter and one level of warlock! i don’t know when this was filmed, but if it was pre-PHB ‘24, then she should already have a subclass. i’d put my money on fathomless:

You have plunged into a pact with the deeps. An entity of the ocean, the Elemental Plane of Water, or another otherworldly sea now allows you to draw on its thalassic power. Is it merely using you to learn about terrestrial realms, or does it want you to open cosmic floodgates and drown the world?

Perhaps you were born into a generational cult that venerates the Fathomless and its spawn. Or you might have been shipwrecked and on the brink of drowning when your patron's grasp offered you a chance at life. Whatever the reason for your pact, the sea and its unknown depths call to you.

Entities of the deep that might empower a warlock include krakens, ancient water elementals, godlike hallucinations dreamed into being by kuo-toa, merfolk demigods, and sea hag covens.

it comes with create/destroy water as a first level spell as well as thunderwave, which works well with van’s crowd control options if she were so inclined.

some things we learned this time:

olethra is a mastermind rogue! the 5th in dimension 20 history, it's a great pick for her, since it gives her the bonus action help for both battle and investigation work. it gives her a lot of bonus action options, since she has battle mode as well and various mech abilities. also a very fun pick for social situations, given the disguise + forgery kit proficiencies and language imitation.

the zephyr's been upgraded to have 200 hp and a variety of new weapons, including the wind turbine turned meat grinder.

maxwell gotch is a menace.

van has eldritch blast as a cantrip, and we've seen the entities she is connected to escape the prosthesis for the first time.

they have the coordinates to the ectic research station and the true temple, so long as monty can decipher them.

[thisisnotthenerd]

what do you think of all the lore of zood in the first half of cloudward, ho! so far? there's so much to dissect

i think it's been fun! answering this did make me want to compile what we know so far about zood.

the mythic land of zood lore

gath

in gath, zood is the mystical 28th continent.

it's associated with mysterious disappearances by way of the effulgent biangle, a legendary beam of light that unpredictably appears, taking cities, people, battalions, animals, and lots of other stuff with it

these include the legio rex of the tressian empire, goldbeard, etc.

it serves as an explanation for sailors lost at sea and wind riders lost at air, and other unnatural phenomenon

the effulgent biangle appears to be the only way to reliably travel to zood save for whatever means the eyeless hand have

at comfrey macleod's south pole research station, there appears to be a remnant of an ancient castle, with an artifact connected to the energies of zood and zern (the sliding tablet)

zood

zood is a tube that is braided with zern. zood has several types of native energy, but its primary energies are solar and lunar light. zood likely operates on an altered timescale, given that the people they have met from gath have all been aging slower, and things that happened thousands of years ago in gath are treated as more recent phenomena in zood.

flora & fauna

zood is home to many fantastical creatures, including

nocturnal zebras

parasitic ticks

moving moss

flying turtles

feathered bipedal lizards

explosive sugar gliders

carnivorous giraffes

herbivorous panthers

baboon

cricket?

dinosaurs, including pterosaurs, brachiosaurs, velociraptors, and tyrannosaurs

myconimus magnamensa, which switches the bodies of living beings that have come into contact with it

locations

tabira city, a city of wanderers in the desert that wanders just as much as its inhabitants

oda

zumhara (crystal people)

lost cities of hawk and luin

a sea of asteroids in close orbit, which occasionally come to surface and also play host to many pirates and the house of fehujar

temple of ramansu - a power station that channels multiple types of energy & potentially cultivated myconimus magnamensa, remnant of the illangan empire, the prophecy refers to people paying for their power bills as it was collected and stored onsite. comfrey macleod performed some research here

the ramansu 'prophecy' goes as follows:

the power of ramansu is not given freely all must pay the price when the moon is full the bill comes due for all who wield the light

ectic research station - research station in the ocean, where comfrey was doing research and investigating threats to zood. comfrey rushed there after hearing about damage to a submersible known as the langosta five

flying temple of katur - temple created near the end of a period of war between zood and zern when zumhara was nearly destroyed by straka, which supposedly halted the attacks. originally flying, likely now sunk in the ocean, and ectic research station is near it

pirate hideout among the islands, which is home to many many clockwork beings and also lots and lots of fun trinkets, weapons, and junk from all over zood. sort of zood's scrapsylvania.

groups

the house of fehujar: viking raiders turned bankers who take their viking long blimps and offer bank accounts at their establishment and raid those who refuse them. they worked with comfrey for some time and financed her work, before chasing her down after her research did not turn up results for them

legio rex: a battalion of tressian soldiers and their imperator who underwent the 'zood switcheroo' and ate their old bodies. they switch their leader into the body of a new t-rex every time the t-rex gets to old for him to live in it. desperately want thumbs

the eyeless hand: assassins / cultists with some means of teleportation, who seek to awaken a nameless god with some connection to zern. supposedly, van chapman is the last piece of their puzzle, as she is likely connected to something that opposes them.

phenomena

calendar and seasons:

there are 4 months in zood:

amravi, which corresponds to fall and leads into

nuha, which corresponds to summer and leads into

tahal, which corresponds to winter and leads into

currently unnamed spring month which leads back into amravi

directions:

4 cardinal directions: nox, nef, vim, vex

nox and nef are like east and west; relative and infinite as one goes around the globe/tube

vim and vex are absolute points, with vex being closest to zern and vim being furthest from zern.

biangles:

effulgent biangle produces light, serves as a point of connection between gath and zood where beings and objects can cross over. zood is associated with this light

calefactory biangle produces heat, likely serves as a point of connection from zern to gath and zood, possibly where straka emerges from.

obtenebrant biangle relates to reflections, though the name is more closely related to shadow. very likely the entrance to the dimension that hosts the entities that van is connected to, as well as what the eyeless hand utilizes to teleport.

zern

associated with the dark, fiery, mechanical energy that matches with straka, the corvus exitium, the mechanical crow made of trash who takes vengeance

home to automata and naughtomata of various tribes

was at war with zood for some time

a queen who subjugates the naughtomata such that they do not have moral qualms with conquering zood in turn

possibly related to ludmila, marya's protege

in correspondence with the eyeless hand regarding the destruction of zoodian artifacts and 'dimming the beacons'

aganti zernai are the tribe of automata from which torse originates

water world?

the chapman family made a deal with an entity from this dimension, which involves them being a) the best sailors on the sea and b) dying young. something like a warlock pact.

may be another plane, may be solely related to the depths of the ocean. my guess would be a plane that connects the depths of each plane.

connected to the eyeful hand which was found at ramansu power station. this hand is very responsive to van's energies and may or may not be the hand that she lost a decade ago.

full of tentacle entities, which van can summon upon great damage to herself.

let me know if there's anything i've missed!

[thisisnotthenerd]

some things we learned this time:

olethra is a mastermind rogue! the 5th in dimension 20 history, it's a great pick for her, since it gives her the bonus action help for both battle and investigation work. it gives her a lot of bonus action options, since she has battle mode as well and various mech abilities. also a very fun pick for social situations, given the disguise + forgery kit proficiencies and language imitation.

the zephyr's been upgraded to have 200 hp and a variety of new weapons, including the wind turbine turned meat grinder.

maxwell gotch is a menace.

van has eldritch blast as a cantrip, and we've seen the entities she is connected to escape the prosthesis for the first time.

they have the coordinates to the ectic research station and the true temple, so long as monty can decipher them.

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 6/7 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Fates (Percy Jackson), Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, Hestia (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Legend: Twelve Labors of Heracles (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Ascension, Time Skips, Non-Linear Narrative, Gigantomachy Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 5/6 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Fates (Percy Jackson), Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Legend: Twelve Labors of Heracles (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Ascension, Time Skips, Non-Linear Narrative Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

some epic epiphany updates this time!

pappy: fighter (gunslinger) 6, sharpshooter, repeating shot, fastest gun in the west

junker: artificer (battlesmith) 6, piercer, flash of genius, ability zenith (INT)

monty: ranger (monster slayer*) 6, one with the steel, theoretical biology

max: pugilist (squared circle) 6, moxious attitude, ability boost (STR)

van: fighter (blade breaker) 6, sentinel, crusher, duck & weave

olethra: rogue 3, luck

mechleod: barbarian (mech) 6, down but not out, dig in

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 4/6 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Fates (Percy Jackson), Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque, Frank Zhang, Piper McLean, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Legend: Twelve Labors of Heracles (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Ascension Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 3/5 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson), The Fates (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Legend: Twelve Labors of Heracles (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore) Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 2/4 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson), Poseidon (Percy Jackson), Athena (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Time Travel, Book 5: The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus), Nymphs & Dryads, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental. It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors. Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands. As long as we’re together.

Percy and Annabeth, when time is a curse on them both, and godhood even more so.

[thisisnotthenerd]

guess who's back!

i'm finally back to live* watching these after being away for a while and boy what a fun one to come back to

not a ton mechanically: everyone is pretty much at the same spot as they've been since around episode 3, but we're likely to see new epic epiphanies by episode 8.

the new thing: van's story penalties. as of now, she takes damage while making nonstandard use of her prosthetic in particular environments. the ocean and the moon have notably affected it, and it shows up differently to olethra's mech than other stuff. my hunch is that comfrey created it with stuff from zood/got it directly from zood without telling van, and now she's getting into some of the issues with it.

their approaches to potential enemies are so funny. everyone except max tries to lie at first encounter, and max is usually telling their enemies relevant info.

also, i've been doing xp calcs along the way. 800 velociraptors (cr 1/4) plus a t-rex / t-rex zombie (cr 8) flat, with no human intelligence would be a cr 22 encounter just by flat xp count (43900), but that number jumps to cr 28 (131700) with contextual modifiers for the horde. adding human intelligence** makes it well over cr 30 flat (163900).

just 12, by my estimate makes it somewhere between cr 5 and 7 depending on how high you make the contextual modifiers for the environmental hazards and puzzle elements. i'll come back to this next week once the fight has concluded with more details.

*watching on premiere night when i can get to it

**velociraptors are made cr 1 but t-rex is left flat because it's mostly dead and directed by the legion

[thisisnotthenerd]

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Gaea (Percy Jackson) Additional Tags: Female Percy Jackson, Deity Percy Jackson, Deity Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Athenide (Percy Jackson), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence Series: Part 3 of of Perse + Athenide Summary:

Voluntary sacrifice will always hold power over the accidental.

It is no question who should be the first to face the world’s horrors.

Annabeth looks at Percy and the blades in their hands.

  As long as we’re together.