1. Yes, I'm alive. But I have very little free time right now. I'm surprised at how many PMs I got asking me if I'm still alive.
Yes, I know that it's been awhile since my last update, and I'm sorry about that. Things have been very busy in my life, which has greatly impacted my writing schedule. I'm currently in film school, which takes up a huge chunk of my time. I'm also working on my own novel.
Furthermore, I suffered a big setback when my cousin accidentally got my Mac infected by vicious malware and I had to do a hard wipe and reboot, losing all my data in the process. Thankfully, most of it was saved on hard drives.
Also, I have a busy social life, and attend a lot of film and literary events in my off time. I actually just met the author of Eragon a few days ago, so, yeah, events like that take up my time. I also attend conventions, such as Star Wars Celebration Chicago, which I managed to get a full 5 day pass for with my friends, so there's that too.
Also, I am trying to catch up on my backlog of games from 2018 that I couldn't play because of school. Apex Legends in particular is addicting as hell.
At the moment, I currently binging Kingdom Hearts I.5 and II.5 for Kingdom Hearts III, which I've already picked up. And before I get the motherload of comments I know that sentence is gonna generate… YES! YES, I AM AWARE THAT THERE ARE MORE THAN THREE GAMES! I AM AWARE that there are a TON of side games that I need to play to understand the plot of this frustrating, convoluted series! But I have no intention of playing any of them, like Chain of Memories, Birth by Sleep, or 358/2 Days. Seriously, who came up with these titles? I am saying it now, I am playing only the main three games. So do NOT badger me with names or spoilers.
And second… no! NO, I am NOT going to do a Kingdom Hearts fanfic anytime in the foreseeable future, and since I just said that I don't plan on becoming a lore addict, don't expect Sora, Aqua or anyone else whose name I can't remember(God, there are a lot of original characters in this series) to show up in my stories. The closest thing I can promise is MAYBE an off-hand reference at some point.
2. Which anime I am familiar with?
Okay, so I'm going to kinda cheat here. Since so many of you asked me about which specific anime I'm into or would like to see me feature characters from, I decided to bunch this all up. Basically, I'm going to list all the anime I've seen in one list. If you don't see your requested show in the list, then I haven't seen it yet. Also, there are some in the list I haven't seen, but I included because a bunch of questions all circulated around it.
And keep in mind that with some of these, I don't keep up to date with or stay current on. I just wait for the season to finish and then I binge it when I have the free time. Or I wait for it to pop up on one of my streaming services.
I have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and HBO, and I plan on cancelling my HBO subscription once Game of Thrones Season 8 is done and getting Disney Plus instead. Though I will add that this list will grow in the future, now that Hulu has made that exclusive deal with Funimation.
As for anime films, I decided to split this into two categories, Studio Ghibli films and all the other films.
Oh, and really fast, when I say anime, I mean only anime. No manga. I have read manga, but very little of it. So, when I mention an show on my list, I will ONLY know the plot of the specific series as far as that anime has covered it. So, I will not know any of the future plot points that that specific manga has already covered. AND DO NOT SPOIL ANY OF THEM!
Oh, and another quick thing: I prefer dubbed versions. I know some people feel strongly about that. It's nothing against subbed anime, I just prefer dubbed over subbed.
Now then, let's get started. And let me clear the big one that I know everyone is going to ask right off the bat.
Dragonball Super: Yep, this one. The one that everyone asks me about. And this is going to disappoint a lot of you guys, but I have NOT seen the series yet. I'm sorry, but as I stated earlier, I do not have the free time to binge a series like this, and none of my streaming services have this one yet. I could go online and watch it episode by episode on a third-party site, but one, I really don't want the risk of infecting my computer. Two, I would much rather binge-watch this series on my 65 inch, 4k television in one sitting, instead of on a weekly basis on my 15-inch computer screen. So, I don't know, or will mention, any of the exclusive characters from that specific show, such as Goku Black. And no, their concept of the multiverse is NOT mine. So no, the Gohan in my Percy Jackson series is NOT from Universe 7 or 6.
However, I have seen both Battle of Gods and Resurrection F. I haven't seen Broly yet. (DO NOT SPOIL IT!) So yes, I'm familiar with both Whis and Beerus. As to the question if they will ever appear in my DBZ/Percy Jackson crossovers at some point… maybe. I'm not sure yet. And no, I don't plan of having them meet the Gods of Olympus anytime. In my series, Gods tend to stick to their own universes.
My Hero Academia: Yes, I've seen this series. So far, I've reached up to the first half of Season 3, still waiting for the second to come out. Definitely in my Top 10. I'm not planning a fanfic for it anytime soon.
Seven Deadly Sins: I love this series. I binged the first season in a single weekend, and did the same with the second. I also saw the movie. I love all these characters, though Ban and King are probably my favorites. Escanor definitely takes a close third.
Attack on Titan: I love this series. Especially that epic first season title music. Binged the first 2 seasons on Hulu, waiting for the third. And believe me, I have considered the possibility of Gohan, Percy, Annabeth and the other demigods fighting Titans. Or at least, something very similar.
Death Note: This is definitely one of my favorites of all time. Binged the whole thing in a single weekend. I do have some good and bad news on this one. No, don't expect Light or Ryuk to pop up in my series. Maybe a cameo from the Death Note itself. However, I will admit that Light is one of my favorite anime villains of all time, and he partly inspired an upcoming character who will debut in Titan's Curse that I hope everyone will grow to love. Especially since, and tiny spoiler, this character is going to have a very similar dynamic with Annabeth that Light had with L. Yeah, that intense back and forth. Someone who will push Annabeth to her limits. I know you'll all get a kick out of that.
Pokémon: I've played practically every single main game up to Let's Go Eevee, but stopped watching the anime after the Diamond/Pearl saga ended. I have seen many of the movies, the first three in particular are my favorites. I do plan on seeing Detective Pikachu.
Avatar: The Last Airbender: Oh yeah, I know I'm gonna piss off some diehards who insist that this isn't anime. And to them I say… shut up.
Naruto: Okay, I have gotten a ton of requests for this one. And it's both good news and bad news. Yes, I've seen some of the episodes. I am around the end of Season 3. But no, I am nowhere near finishing it, and have not seen any of the other shows. Honestly, I just got so infuriated with it and had to take a break, because it felt like it was taking FOREVER for anything to happen, and I was starting lose my mind out of pure frustration. I don't know HOW people watched this series weekly on Toonami in the old days. I'll probably get back to it eventually, but if there's an official version of this show that cuts out all the filler like with Dragonball Z Kai, please PM me, and I will happily watch that, because I do like the characters, especially Sasuke.
One Punch Man: I love this series. I binged the entire first season in a single day. Saitama is one of my favorite anime heroes, and he is just badass and hilarious with his stupid/casual attitude. To me, the friendship between him and Genos is similar to the friendship between Gohan and Percy.
Fairy Tail: I love this series. Binged the hell out of it on Netflix. The only problem is that I haven't been able to finish the whole thing yet, because all the streaming services only have the first two seasons in English, even though there are WAY more seasons already completely dubbed. So, I'm trying to find the others to finish that one.
Goblin Slayer: Oh yeah, this one. The one that everyone knows because of its notorious first episode. I've gone through a bit of this series, and I love it. Oh, and relax, the rest of the seasons is nowhere as intense as its pilot. My favorite character has to be Goblin Slayer himself, he's like a medieval version of Master Chief.
Castlevania: Seen season 1, haven't had time to see Season 2 yet. It looks beautiful.
Studio Ghibli: I've seen every single Studio Ghibli film except the ones that haven't been dubbed yet and My Neighbors the Yamadas. I love every single one of these films, and I think Hayao Miyazaki is an absolute genius and a master at the art of filmmaking, and I am ecstatic that he's finally making another film. If I had to pick, I would be stuck between Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.
Misc. Anime Films: Right off the bat, some of my top top favorites are The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Wolf Children, and The Boy and the Beast. Mamoru Hosoda is incredible, and I really want to see Summer Wars when I can stream it. I've also seen all the Lupin the III films. Also on the list is Akira(and was confused as heck at the end), and Sword of the Stranger. And before you flip out, yes, I do plan on seeing Ghost in the Shell when I have some free time.
Honestly, that's pretty much it. There's a few that I saw the pilots of, and others that I do want to see, like Sword Art Online (YES, I've heard all the complaints about how bad the show eventually becomes) and Assassination Classroom.
3. How high can Gohan's power go?
At the moment, Gohan's maximum limit is Super Saiyan 2. He has not achieved Super Saiyan 3 yet. I don't plan on featuring Super Saiyan 4, since that's not really canon anymore.
And yes, I know about the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Blue forms and have pondered using them in my series at some point. At this point in the series, obviously, Gohan can't go into either form at the moment, since he's literally the only Saiyan in the universe at the moment. Plus, the trickiest problem would be finding the right circumstances for Gohan to need and achieve those forms, and whom to fight against. Maybe Gaia or Loki? That's gonna require some planning. I don't plan on having Gohan go into either form anytime soon.
4. Could Percy use Ultra Instinct?
Okay… as I said earlier, I haven't seen Super yet. So I know very little about what Ultra Instinct actually is. The research I did online says that this is a a hypertensive mental state that greatly improves your abilities, and is supposedly extremely difficult to master even for gods. So, no offense, I don't really see Percy mastering something like that. If I had to say something now, and I may alter this once I learn more about this, the only Riordan characters I could see possibily using Ultra Instinct are Annabeth, Athena, and Loki. I chose these characters all for both their intelligence and strategic abilities. Especially in Athena's case, given that she's a god.
5. Who is your favorite character to write about?
Oh, that's an easy one. My favorite character to work with is Annabeth. She's also my favorite character in the Riordan series. What I like about her so much is her spirit. She can be stubborn, but also very loyal and caring.
6. Do you plan on including the Buu saga?
Hmmmm. That's… complicated. Would I like to? Sure. But… trying to find the right place is very difficult. I've planned the timeline around my series based around the timeline of the Riordan books, so trying to insert the Buu saga in there would be tough. Not to mention, Buu is seriously OP. Frankly, Percy and the others wouldn't be able to do much if anything against Buu, so including him would seriously shift the narrative away from them.
So, Buu probably won't be appearing anytime soon. Maybe that will change in the future, but not at the moment.
7. If Gohan sees the gods' divine form, would he be incinerated? And if he can't take it in his base form, can he handle it in his Super Saiyan form?
That's an interesting question. And… well, yes, I think he would be incinerated, both in his base form and his Super Saiyan form. Quite frankly, I think the only way that Gohan could see the gods' divine form and survive would be if he was in the Super Saiyan God form.
Several of you have commented that Gohan has more raw power than the gods, and to an extent, that's true. However, just because Gohan can harness more power than the gods doesn't mean that he can survive seeing their divine form or defeat them. Remember, Gohan isn't immortal. And, I'm going to clarify something I don't think I made very clear so far. Yes, Gohan defeated Ares. But…Ares severely underestimated Gohan: Obviously, Ares didn't realize how powerful Gohan was when they fought him. When it comes down to it, there wasn't really any strategy from either of them. It was a match of raw power. Which is why I am fully confident in saying that if Gohan ever tried to pick a fight with Athena, she would win.
8. Are there saiyans in the Percy Jackson universe?
Good question. And If I had to guess… no, likely not. Honestly, I don't even think there are any aliens whatsoever in this universe. After all, this universe is heavily influenced and shaped by the gods, so I don't think there are even other planets, really. Take the Sun, for example. In the Riordan universe, the sun is actually the Sun Chariot driven by Apollo, instead of an actual star. I think the closest this universe has to other planets are the Nine Worlds from the Norse. So no, don't expect any native saiyans to pop up.
9. What's happening with the Kane Chronicles?
Errrr… okay, I will admit I screwed up somewhat with this. Honestly, I should have finished Red Pyramid before I started Sea of Monsters, especially since the two are a bit more connected in my version than the original. But, I can fully promise that once Titan's Curse is finished, I will be going back and finishing Red Pyramid, as well as doing and finishing Throne of Fire, which takes place soon after The Titan's Curse in my timeline.
10. When will Titan's Curse be finished?
Okay… I'm sorry, but I can't say for sure. Like I said earlier, I have a very busy schedule. I'll try to do a bit here and there, but I can't give a definitive date. Hopefully, it'll be done before 2020.
11. How many books of the Percy Jackson Franchise do you plan to adapt in this fanfic series? Do you also plan to include Heroes of Olympus? Magnus Chase? Trials of Apollo?
I think I released a roadmap of this series a while back, but I'll list it here. I plan on adapting all of the main PJ books, Kane Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus as well. However, I will admit that there may be a bit of a problem with doing both The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune, given the direction I plan on taking this series. I'm not saying that I'm skipping either of them, they'll just be a different approach.
And yes, I'm happy to confirm that I plan on featuring the Magnus Chase series as well, so you can expect to see Gohan going on adventures with Magnus, Sam, Blitzen, Hearthstone, and the rest of the Hotel Valhalla gang.
As for Trials of Apollo… well, that's complicated. For one thing, the series isn't done yet, and won't be done until October 2020. I've only read Book One so far myself, I'm waiting for the rest to come out to do a binge-reading. However, I think the problem of clashing timelines appears again here. So, it might be a bit tricky to have Gohan going on adventures with Magnus AND with Apollo around the same time period. I honestly might just skip this specific series all together. I have to wait for all the books to come out before I make a decision.
Honestly, it still bothers me that Riordan is ending the entire franchise with this series. I would love to see a sequel series with Percy and Annabeth's children.
12. Will Gohan teach Percy or the rest of the team to use Ki?
No. The reason for this is simple: the concept and utilization of ki is specific to Gohan's universe. Each universe has a different form of energy. Technically, energy projection DOES exist in Percy's universe, but it functions more in magic, such as with the Egyptian magicians or the Norse runestones. So, someone like Percy or Annabeth physically can't use ki no matter how much Gohan tries to train them.
13. Do you have a plan for how the series will end? And will there be tears?
Okay, I already said that I wouldn't do spoilers. And I already said that this series will go through all the way through Magnus Chase, and beyond. But yes, I can promise that there will be more than a few water shedding moments. And yes, I have planned out the end of the series and know the ultimate fates for Gohan, Annabeth, Percy and everyone else. I can't promise that it'll make you all happy, but I hope it's satisfying.
14. Did you ever see the Percy Jackson movies? What did you think of them?
Okay… I know this is probably gonna horrify some of you, but I'm actually one of those guys who saw the film first before I picked up the book. And I can honestly say that the only good thing I'll say about the movies is that they introduced me to the books and made me appreciate them more.
I truly hope that Percy Jackson will get the adaptation that it deserves, and as a TV series instead of a film series. And those hopes may soon be realized now that Disney is getting the film rights to Percy Jackson in their Fox deal. With their streaming rivals snagging the rights to every fantasy franchise they can get their hands on, with any luck, Disney will make a Percy Jackson television series for Disney Plus. If they do, I will watch that in a heartbeat. Happily.
15. What's going on with your Halo crossover fanfic?
Okay, I know that it's been a long time since I worked on that. And honestly, I do want to return to it someday. But if I do, I will need to do some serious revisions. After all, my writing has improved greatly since then. Master Chief feels slightly out of character, and I had way too many plot threads. Furthermore, a lot of Halo content has been made since I wrote that fanfic back in 2012, such as Halo 5, Halo Wars 2, the Halo Escalation comics, and all the new novels. So, I plan on cutting out a lot of excess, like the Spirit of Fire, given where that plot ends up. Plus, Halo Infinite is on the way, hopefully coming out this year. Yes, I am still a Halo fan. So expect me to return to that someday.
16. What is your favorite book in each Riordan series? And why?
Okay, so I'll list them down below. Keep in mind that I love ALL the books in each series, but I'll be picking the one that I liked the most. Trials of Apollo will NOT be on this list, since that series isn't finished yet. I will be including Riordan's short crossover trilogy between Percy Jackson and the Kane Chronicles.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. This is the one where all the main characters are introduced. Great world building, a great introduction for all the characters, a fun adventure, the twist with Luke was well-done(the movie ruined it for me), great set-up for the rest of the series.
Heroes of Olympus: The Mark of Athena. I was seriously torn between this one and House of Hades, just for how tense-filled, emotional, and well-done Percy and Annabeth's journey through Tartarus was. But, I ultimately decided on Mark of Athena.
I chose Mark of Athena because it was an excellent payoff for the buildup of both The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune. The reunion of Percy and Annabeth was both emotional and hilarious. I also liked that this was the first book where we got to see Annabeth's POV. I also liked the dynamic between the Greek and Roman demigods, and the final confrontation between Annabeth and Arachne. Especially because even though Annabeth wins, Riordan shows that she's still not perfect by having her taunt Arachne, which backfires on her and shows that she's not infallible. Also, probably just as a tiny bonus, this is the only book in this series that I have signed by Riordan. I found a signed copy in Goodwill.
Kane Chronicles: Throne of Fire. This one was fun to read. I liked the bickering between Sadie and Carter, and the introduction of that hilarious dwarf. The senior home and the whole river scene were cool. Though, I will admit that the weakest aspect of this series, for me, had to be the romance, especially the love triangle between Sadie, Anubis, and Walt. I don't know, it just seemed like something that didn't match up with Sadie's personality.
Magnus Chase: The Sword of Summer: I like this novel for many of the same reasons as Lightning Thief. Good introduction, great worldbuilding. I really like how this novel introduced and expanded on Annabeth's family in particular. Also, the first time I saw Riordan in person was at an event promoting this book, which I have a signed copy of.
Demigods and Magicians: The Staff of Serapis: I chose this one because it features my favorite female leads in the Riordan series, Annabeth and Sadie. I loved the dynamic between the two, and I can't help but notice the little joke Riordan made by having Carter and Percy brawl in their crossover while Annabeth and Sadie hit things off right off the bat. And frankly, if I include this miniseries, I'm gonna love writing this story in particular just for how awkward its' gonna be for Gohan.
17. What's happening to the Gohan love interest poll?
So, I am well aware of how the Sadie Kane category suspiciously exploded in numbers in a very short time. So, I plan on taking the poll down and redoing it again. And I will be adding male characters just because so many have asked for the option.
18. What is your favorite YA series? And are you planning a fanfic on it?
So… that's tricky. I love YA, so I've read a ton of it. I guess Harry Potter counts, but since that's what everyone expects and since I've already done fanfiction on it, I'll be skipping it. So instead, here's some other YA series that I've read. Also, if there's a spinoff series or a film adaption, I've seen it as well: Red Queen, the Grisha trilogy, Shatter Me, Eragon, Unwanteds, Divergent, Hunger Games, Vampire Academy, An Ember in the Ashes, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Legend, Warcross, Mortal Instruments, Throne of Glass, A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Raven Cycle, Dorothy Must Die, Three Dark Crowns, Lunar Chronicles, the Unwind Dystology, Uglies, the Mara Dyer trilogy.
19. Will Gohan train anymore? Like to control his SS2 form or get even stronger?
Yes, Gohan still keeps training. He's not going to let himself go just because he thinks he's the most powerful being around. Plus, he's still doing sword training with Chiron so he can better use Ascension in battle.
Well, I hope all you wonderful readers enjoyed this Q&A! I should have a new chapter up soon. Until then, keep reading!