I'm DM-ing a quasi-homebrew campaign, which started off in an altered version of the Gnomengarde quest from DoIP, then stopped in Neverwinter for an unfortunate encounter with Dagult Neverember, who revealed himself to have been behind the attempted assassination of the Gnomengarde kings and tossed the party in prison. They escaped and fled the Sword Coast by ship, just as Neverember's mercenary armies were setting out to march on Gnomengarde and other settlements in the area.
Now the party is engaged in a war with a necromancer pirate captain who's trying to enslave Acererak, a vassal of Vecna's, using an item created by Vecna himself.
Interestingly, NotEE is set in Neverwinter, with the party working for Neverember. If they survive their current campaign, I'll need an excuse for Neverember being desperate enough to turn to people he framed for attempted regicide, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. And NotEE ends with Vecna monologuing at the party and giving them a gift, signaling his interest in them. If the party faces the issues in their current campaign by calling up Vecna to deal with a mutual problem, this may well be the second time he bestows his favour on them.
I had originally planned only to reference Vecna rather than include him directly, but as soon as the party heard about the Acererak plan, they were all, "Let's find a way to tell Vecna what's going on; he'll be PISSED!" And now it seems that the two campaigns can meet right where the party's original troubles began.
Eve of Ruin is in the post; I can't wait to see how this goes.
Who else is looking forward to playing or running EoR

Title: Halo: RingFall
Story: On Installation 06, 16807 Abashed Eulogy contemplates the history of the galaxy. All its conflicts, wars, and struggles. She ponders which of the many factions of the galaxy is truly the most powerful. Which one has the greatest potential for destruction and glory. So, she decides to experiment. Converting a large section of her ring, she transforms it into a battleground. The thick vegetation is cleared, making room for environments that mirror multiple locations. A frozen tundra with forerunner architecture, a barren desert with a human outpost, a sickly swamp with a banished fortress, and a volcanic waste with crumbling ruins. Scattered between them are dense forests, open plains, and some rivers. With the scenery set, she begins her testing.
Gameplay: At the start of each match, an Arkship will fly across the landscape, dispersing fighters wherever they wish to deploy. The players will control their descent within drop pods before landing and exiting in a first-person cinematic display (think Chief's landing on Delta Halo in Halo 2 in first-person). Weapons from every Halo game, expanded media and even some new ones will be scattered about, along with a small amount of vehicles. Weapons would include the “cut” ones from Infinite, Halo 3’s brute weapons, Reach’s expanded arsenal as well as stuff like the Stanchion, Flamethrower, gravity rifle, and others. Vehicles would be Mongoose, Warthog, Razorback, Ghost, Revenant (Halo 4 design), Chopper and Maurader. Perhaps also a Mantis and Reaver. To push players to a randomly generated middle, Abashed Eulogy will designate an era as inadequate and begin a purge. First, the area will begin to crack and pale, signaling the "closing of the ring". Once a set amount of time has passed, the cracked area will be ejected into space, eliminating anyone left in the area and shrinking the fighting space. Abashed Eulogy will also act as the announcer, commenting in what is happening and changes about to occur.
Player content: To make the gameplay more interesting, players can choose between six factions between three categories to play as. Each player can create three "characters" per faction and can switch between characters and factions between battles. Unlockable customization is earned in a Reach-like style with credits earned based on your gameplay and leveling up. Each faction has unique animations, drop pods, and melee weapons. Putting away your weapons will allow players to run faster and be weaponless at will. Content will be shared between characters but not factions. The categories and factions are these. The Alliance: UNSC Spartans and Swords of Sanghelios Elites The Betrayed: Banished Brutes and Endless Xalanyn The Hated: Flood Combat Forms and Created Prometheans UNSC: The spartans will be in Infinite style (though Reach proportions if you know what I mean) and contain armor options from all games. There are also 3 voice types ( technically six, considering it’s 3 per gender). First is a stoic and calm Spartan 2, second is a professional but more bantery and laid-back Spartan 3, and third is the much more vocal and chatty Spartan 4. They will use the familiar UNSC drop pods and wield the Spartan knives from Reach Assassinations. SoS: The Elites will contain male AND female elites, allowing us to finally see female elites in game. Their armor will range from all games though the base shape is their Infinite Design. HOWEVER, there is an optional third body type in the form of 343 (Halo 4/5) style Elites for those who wish to play as them. Voice types will be a strict and professional Covenant Elite, second will be a boisterous and loud remnant follower and third is a more approachable and open-minded Swords Elite. The drop pod used will be the Halo Reach style, with the cover sliding up and the elite jumping out. Their melee weapon will likewise bet the Reach-style energy daggers.
The Banished: This will allow us to finally play as the brutes. They will have two body types; trimmed and neat Infinite Style or shaggy/hairy Halo 2 style. No female brutes. Armor will be from all games (2, 3, Reach and Infinite). Voice types will include a snarling savage that rarely talks, a devote covenant follower from Halo 3, or the bombastic and snarling Infinite style. Their drop pods will be the ones form Infinite, with fire and explosions, belching smoke and flame while the brute leaps out and roars. Unlike other factions, the Brutes use their fists as their melee weapons, with their running animations while “armed” being the beserking lope from Halo 2.
The Endless: This will be fun, allowing the expansion of Xalanyn design. I’m assuming they resemble the Harbinger, so they’ll be slender and regal, floating above the ground as if swimming in water. Due to the Harbinger being female, I’m going to say males and females are playable, with their armor taking inspiration from the already-seen designs as well as some influence from the Reapers of Mass Effects (the reapers themselves, not the Husks) Their voice lines could be a calm, regal figure that looks down on other species, an unhinged fighter who wants revenge for their betrayal and a solum warrior who feels they are dying and have little left. Their drop pod could be almost anything, but I feel they’d exit it with arms folded over their chest, floating out as if underwater. Their melee weapon would be their hand coated in energy to act as slashing blades.
The Flood: Getting to play as a Combat-Form has a lot of potential. Three body types; human, elite and brute, with armor being different ranks of each before they were infected. Voice lines will be super fun. The first is the Primordial; ancient and calm, talking about the inevitability of its victory and monologuing on ancient times. The second would be the Gravemind we know and love, speaking in riddles and metaphors before going unhinged and angry. And the third would be a proto-gravemind, snarling and groaning like a classic zombie and only speaking the occasional broken phrase or word. Their drop pod would be a flood sac, with the player crawling out of it. Their melee weapon will be tentacles that extend from their arm, and these also wrap around any weapon they pick up to aid in reloading.
The Created: The Prometheans would be soldiers, though modified to look a bit less “floaty”. A combination of what they are and the design that Wernissage created on YouTube. Their armor designs could range from Halo 4’s with different colors and lights, to 5’s more vivid metal and perhaps a few more floaty bits. Voice lines would include a dull, mechanical voice, very robotic and stiff. The second would be similar to Halo 5, serving Cortana and believing in the superiority of machines, and last would be a LifeWorker drone, striving to protect life and feeling they are only doing what they must by killing. Their drop pod would be a solid metal cylinder that disassembles partially to form the soldier itself, floating apart and then reforming into the player. Their melee weapon would be similar to the Knights light blade.
Additional Game Modes: A survival-style game with between 96 to 99 Flood players, unarmed, against 1 to 4 survivors who drop down and have to scavenge and attempt to kill the flood before they are killed. There could also be an Infection Style game where there are 99 survivors and 1 Alpha Flood who is a Juggernaut. Whenever a survivor is killed, they are turned into a flood form with their original character’s armor (or one of their flood character if they an endless or Promethean) and they keep respawning until either all survivors are dead or the timer runs out. Release and Future Content: On release, everyone who buys the game (which would be about $20, gets a 100-tier season pass that they can work through to earn customizations for their armor and decals. Think how For Honor does their passes. However, once the season is done (after a month or two) the pass remains so you can continue to unlock. The following season would introduce a new category and two new factions. Ancient Humans and Forerunners. Further seasons would include an ODST faction, a covenant Prelate Factions, a Fringe Faction that uses the Dazreme, an ONI season that has UNSC customization for Elites, Brutes, Prometheans, and radio-controlled Flood. A Covenant Season that unlocks Honor Guard Armor for elites, brutes and flood and Covenant Spartans, Prometheans, and Endless. The ideas go on and on.
Would this ever happen? Probably not. But I think it would make an amazing game that would breath life back into Halo without rewriting anything and would be an amazing thing!
That’s how I would make a Halo Battle Royal Game.

Heavy on the spoilers and devoid of all brevity, but if I do not get this off my chest I will lose my mind. I’ve been on a Shatter Me high all week. The first three books have altered my brain chemistry. I have said the words “Aaron Warner, the man you are” so many times I am beginning to question my sanity. I cracked open Restore Me last night, fully prepared to trust-fall into the arms of my #1 Fictional Boyfriend of all time.
So, um, what the fuck was that?
Look, I can forgive messy plotlines and overwriting, I can ignore ill-planned and lazily-executed rebel coups. I can even appreciate the absurd surplus of metaphors and similes crammed in between strings of dialogue, if for no reason other than comedic value.
What I can’t get behind is Book 4 Aaron Warner.
Seriously, who is this guy? Because I’ve gone through the five stages of grief, turned around and reread the entire book in frank disbelief, and the only conclusion I can possibly come to is that I’ve somehow picked up an imposter, written in very bad faith. When Adam Kent did a 180 in Ignite Me and went from “gentle, pathetic childhood crush who can suffer through Juliette’s touch in some small capacity” to “bitter, controlling ex-boyfriend driven mad with jealousy,” we all understood this to be much-needed fan service. Juliette was, after all, being an idiot; she needed a little push, to realize that Aaron Warner was the undisputed crown jewel. Most of us came to this conclusion two and a half books ahead of her, but better late than never. I walked away from Ignite Me feeling content. The power couple has been established. Anderson is dead. Juliette’s rise to Supreme Commander was satisfying, if a bit hasty. I went into Restore Me confident that, with Aaron at her side, Juliette could achieve anything.
The transition was…jarring, to say the least.

“The Reestablishment does not allow time for people to grieve.” - Book 3 Aaron.

(Alas, this is Book 4, and *insert obligatory Bob Dylan joke*)
The Times, They Are a’ Changin’
Anyway, what I’m getting at here is that Aaron is grieving, he is mourning, he is SAD. This is totally understandable, both to me as a reader and to Juliette as a character. It appears to be the guiding factor behind his new penchant for stonewalling and emotional blackmail. Before diving into THAT can of worms, I’d like to add a couple of bullets to my list of “Miscellaneous What-and-Why-the-Fucks:”

• Why does Juliette have zero advisors? Where is her council? Her attendants? Her scribe? Her translator? Her GUARDS?
• What, exactly, is Kenji’s job? She refers to him as her “second-in-command,” and while I adore his character, I can’t help but feel that lending snarky input does very little in the way of running a tight ship. Why is she entirely on her own?

Moving on.
A TIMELINE OF SHITTY EVENTS, IN WHICH I HANG UP MY ‘ADAM KENT’S #1 HATER’ JACKET AND SHRUG ON MY ‘AARON WARNER SUCKS’ VEST:

• Juliette is trying to make peace between two unruly schoolboys who refuse to get along at the playground. Sorry, Juliette is trying to make peace between two grown men, both of whom appear, in some capacity, involved in the running of North America. This is going “Not Very Well,” if Aaron’s botched haircut is any indication. Fortunately, he comes to terms with his Slim Shady Era, and while he’s clearly going through some things, I could roll with the punches and learn to love the buzz cut, if only he didn’t IMMEDIATELY TURN INTO THE JOKER AFTER THIS.
• Aaron knows better than anyone else about the role and responsibilities of a Supreme Commander. Still yet, he appears completely uninvolved in Juliette’s day-to-day regimen. He makes zero effort to inform her about details that might save her from needless embarrassment. Her fuck-ups seem imminent. Perhaps this is why he has no inclination to avoid them, nor lessen their impact on her pride or public image. Slim Shady is a lone wolf. He has completely forgotten that whole “I’ve told you from the start, we would make an excellent team” spiel. North America is a One-Woman (De?)establishment. Kenji appears to play the role of court jester, though he lends emotional support when necessary–and always with more empathy and forethought than Regent Warner, who, I might remind you, has the power of READING ENERGIES (“hers, especially”).
• Enter Delalieu, to inform Juliette her quarters are overflowing with unanswered mail, and worry that this may reflect poorly upon her as a new leader, to which she’s like “I have quarters?” This revelation comes on the heels of Castle’s memo that “all of her correspondence is being monitored.” I suspect somehow this is Castle’s fault, which brings me to my follow-up point.
• In Book 4, Castle becomes less of an incompetent hippie and more of a prick to Juliette. He terrorizes her with cryptic warnings, but refuses to divulge any information he may have about Warner’s past, which–given her new status–seems like it ought to be grounds for some sort of official noncompliance. He also had her reach out to the other supreme commanders “as an experiment.” It was at this point I decided I wasn’t a fan of how everyone kept undermining or making a mockery of Juliette at every turn. I couldn’t help but notice how Castle’s comments to Aaron about her went entirely unchecked. I am reminded, if you will, of that scene in Shatter Me, when Aaron staged a big spectacle in which a soldier was killed, to ensure his men knew not to fuck with Juliette. He seems to have forgotten this virtue, in Book 4.
• Despite being warned that Ibriham’s children are en route, Aaron lets a conversation with Kent take precedence over informing Juliette what to expect, how to dress, what to say, etc. Castle also informs him once Haider arrives. Juliette chooses to meet Haider without waiting for Aaron, but he should have been there regardless. He can FEEL her energy, he doesn’t need her to say it out loud to realize she’s insecure and needs him to be there, and she wouldn’t BE insecure about so much shit if he would step in and stop allowing everyone to make her the butt of every joke!!! Where’s that supportive boyfriend act you roped us all in with, buddy? Also, literally neither she nor Kenji know jack shit about politics, why would he let them walk into a meeting with the children of foreign leaders entirely blind?
• Speaking of the meeting with Haider, Aaron has a closet full of clothes organized by color and shade; yet he didn’t think to help Juliette pick out a new wardrobe for her designation as Supreme Commander? He literally chose her entire last wardrobe, and look, I get it, they’re busy with war things and his evil dad is dead and that’s sad and all, but don’t introduce us to a standard you can’t maintain! She goes to meet this snotty rich boy in BLUE JEANS AND A PINK SWEATER. Kenji “cringes” at her. This was so humiliating I literally felt my face getting hot when I read it.
• Again, Castle specifically *told* Aaron when Haider arrived, but when he and Juliette discuss it later, he turns it around on her to justify why he didn’t show up to support her!

“You didn’t tell me he’d arrived earlier. I wish I could’ve been there to assist somehow.”
Like, are you fucking kidding me? Again, he can FEEL her energy; he is well aware that she spent that meeting getting humiliated, and still decides to make his absence a product of her incompetence. Like, his entire pep talk after this left me filled with visceral rage.

• Allow me to share this absolutely infuriating passage in Aaron’s POV:

“She [Nazeera] has the same long legs and lean frame as her brother, and she carries herself with great pride, like someone who was born into position and privilege. She wears a gray tunic cut from fine, heavy fabric; skintight leather pants; heavy boots; and a set of glittering gold knuckles on both hands.
And I’m not the only one staring.
Juliette, who’s been watching quietly this whole time, is looking up, amazed. I can practically see her thought process as she suddenly stiffens, glances down at her own outfit, and crosses her arms over her chest as if to hide her pink sweater from view. She’s tugging at her sleeves as though she might tear them off.
It’s so adorable I almost kiss her right then.”

Are you fucking SERIOUS? So she is here, dying of embarrassment, already feeling inferior because she’s comically underdressed and only speaks one language, and his response is to GAWK AT A HOT GIRL IN FRONT OF HER AND INFANTILIZE HER IN HIS INNER MONOLOGUE. “I’m not the only one staring” ???? Be so for real right now, like I am lost for words!

• Aaron is “fairly certain” and generally insistent that Castle’s suspicions will prove false. Like, why would Castle just be pulling random hunches like this out of his ass? When I read it, I was like, “Hmm, kinda sounds like Aaron is just rationalizing why he isn’t going to tell Juliette any of this.” Spoiler alert: I was right.
• Aaron sits in silence and watches Juliette flounder helplessly while trying to explain to Haider how she only sort of knows what the “Continental Symposium” is.* OH YEAH, DID I MENTION IT IS ALSO TWO DAYS AWAY? Like, Aaron clearly knows this is a big deal, it appears to be a tradition of sorts. Why is he once again letting his girlfriend be humiliated and condescended by their guests? He also *CRINGES,* he CRINGES at her for not knowing about it. Like, at this point I am beginning to greatly resent this man.
• He also doesn’t defend Juliette when Haider calls her “some idiot psychotic girl” TO HIS FACE. RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. Actually, SHE steps in and defends HIM. I wish she hadn’t. After this, in his inner monologue, Aaron is like, “I wonder if she knows I would do anything for her.” FUCKING DO SOMETHING WARNER, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.
• Juliette peeks in on Aaron in his office, finds him listening to old vinyl, discovers he likes Bob Dylan. ME TOO, BUDDY, I’ve seen him live. Might I suggest a little less “Like a Rolling Stone” and a little more “Just Like a Woman,” “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Lay Lady Lay,” ‘COZ I AM BEGINNING TO HATE YOUR ASS FOR THE WAY YOU ARE TREATING JULIETTE!
• Again, Aaron is fully aware of Castle’s warnings that people are coming for Juliette. WHY is she walking unarmed and unguarded on the beach at night? That’s right, because he ran off with Haider to count gold coins or suck each other off or something, leaving her to be sad and alone and not on the lookout for danger. Once again, he fails to come through and keep her safe, and she gets hit with some kind of bullet or dart or something.
• AGAIN, why is Castle allowed to stand here and disrespect Juliette right to Warner’s face, invalidate her and tell him how HE should have been the one who became Supreme Commander? Like, she already has zero support around her whatsoever and this rat is allowed to talk shit about all the things she does and doesn’t know, what she gets told, and potentially also her MAIL. Why hasn’t Warner killed this fucker yet? Warner, ARE YOU STILL IN THERE?
• Remember when Aaron was clever? Yeah, me too. He seems to have abandoned that trait in Book 4. Things like “taking basic precaution” no longer hold any precedence. He and Juliette have, however, found the time to fuck twice, despite having no time or opportunity for all the critical conversations they’re not having that could have redeemed Aaron Warner in my heart and mind. P R I O R I T I E S.
• *slams the back of his head against the wall in frustration* I actually had an ex who did this once when I caught him cheating. It is not something intelligent people do, in my experience. I am beginning to hate Aaron the way I hated Adam. Side note, I still hate Adam. Glad he kind of disappears after the first couple of chapters.
• Great, Juliette is now hallucinating from poison bullets. Good thing Aaron is there to…look really scared and terrify her even more. Moral support? Don’t know him! Just…staring fearfully, jumping in to prevent her from going outside. Maybe a pat on the head or something would help…no? Okay then.
• At this point he decides it’s time to fess up. He couldn’t have chosen a worse time, by the way. Juliette asks if it’s okay if she washes the blood and sand off first (she was just attacked on the beach, remember?). She is clearly still sick and “hallucinating” (seeing the bright white lights outside of her window, the way people do right before they die). Maybe he could…I don’t know…HELP HER? Run her bathwater? Help her clean up? Yeah no, he just nods. She can do all that by herself, just like everything around here. Juliette, girl, if you don’t kick this deadbeat to the curb I’m gonna SCREAM. P.S.: WHO IS THIS MAN? THIS IS NOT THE AARON WARNER I KNOW. Remember how he remembered to bring gloves and a coat for her before he dropped her off at Omega Point? They weren’t even dating yet. How hard did he slam his head into the wall? Maybe he should keep going. Maybe he would like a little help? I’m not busy at all rn.
• See the thing is, now Aaron has to do a big fess up about Juliette’s life. He’s obviously lied and withheld some vital information, but more importantly he spent a couple of years torturing a sister she doesn’t know about yet. And while I realize he didn’t have any CHOICE in this particular matter, I also loathe him at this point for a ton of other shit he’s done leading up to this, so it’s really hard to feel sorry for him when–REALLY THEY FIND TIME TO FUCK AGAIN AT THIS POINT? SOMETHING IS FUCKING WRONG WITH THESE TWO. I can’t help but notice she’s “crawled on top of him” both times now. Guess she’s doing all the work in the sack, as well. Remember that “flip over on your stomach” line from Ignite Me? That guy is dead now. This dude blows and I hate him. Separate LOL at “onto to the floor.” That’s really in there. You can check.
• So the only time these two can communicate is during coitus. Cool. Maybe instead of reminding each other of their mutual love, they could reinforce their bond with something like…confessional hour? Maybe Aaron could use his energy to feel her energy and figure out something safe to say, that isn’t super fucked up and wrong. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t.
• CONFESSION TIME! She starts crying when he gets to the “Reestablishment is coming for you, they’re coming to take you back” part. This is pretty reasonable, but he doesn’t pause to reassure her about it before he’s like, “Oh yeah and about your SISTER–” At this point she actually asks him to stop, probably so she can digest some of this horrifying information, but he says, and I quote, “No.” I really feel like he could have paused for a few minutes to let her process, maybe find some solid ground to stand on(since the man whose lap she is sitting in is a spineless moron and awful boyfriend, and thus not at all likely to be of any assistance).
• Juliette panics. Again, this is not entirely unjustified. Aaron speaks seven languages, none of which are “reassurance,” or “comfort,” and so when she actually gets up and runs away he just…accepts it. I want a refund. I want the first three books to apologize for love-bombing me. I made this man my #1 book boyfriend of all time. THIS Aaron Warner…this man is a fraud and I hate him. She should honestly just hook up with Kenji. At least he still calls her princess. Has Aaron called her love even once in this book? It’s possible I missed it, over the sound of his ceaseless letdowns from Chapter One onward.
• Aaron has a panic attack. Luckily his nemesis Kenji is there to comfort him. Why is no one worried about Juliette? While we are all crying over Warner’s psychosomatic breakdown, she is hysterical, hallucinating poison, has a voice in her head, and is being hunted by some kind of evil bureaucrats and possibly her own parents.
• Allow me to share yet another passage that made blink in disbelief:

He [Kenji] shakes his head. “You just can’t, man. You can’t be with someone and keep that many secrets from them.”
“It’s never stopped me before.”

At this point, Mafi, I already hate him. You did not need to include this passage, at all.

• **PARAPHRASING** Kenji’s like, “Hey man, you’re kind of being shitty to your girlfriend by not telling her about things like all your exes.” Aaron is like, “Well, I wouldn’t have ever done anything to hurt her (barring all those things I did to hurt her), but since I already lost her, who cares? Water under the bridge!” To which Kenji reminds him that ‘water under the bridge’ means Juliette can go out and fuck someone else, and Aaron doesn’t like the idea of that, so he decides he probably wants to fix things, after all.
• Aaron: “You couldn’t have called, Lieutenant? Isn’t that what our phones are for?”

Nothing significant here, although it is news to me that they have phones. When did they get phones?
Anyway, turns out Delalieu tried to call him, but Warner disconnected his phone. Can we like, demote this guy or something? This guy SUCKS.

• Juliette chooses the moron’s escape route (blind sprint into the open night), and gets snatched up by Jazeera (who can fly). This is the first time Jazeera has shared said secret with anyone, which she confides when they land in a tree. It’s a really great time for these two to kiss, and it’s only fair. After all, Warner never had any friends, so this childhood friend of Warner’s technically doesn’t count. Juliette lets Aaron block her blessings once again, but Jazeera is nonetheless more emotional support than Kenji and Aaron put together. You know, I usually read fantasy to ESCAPE the disappointing reality of Men. This book is reminding me they manage to infiltrate even sacred spaces like fiction. Jazeera is sucking on a hard candy, and I’M turned on, but Juliette is sad, so I’ll be quiet.
• Jazeera tells Juliette that Warner isn’t a bad person. Unfortunately, I must disagree. She’s still hot so I’m still listening.
• Lena Mishken? Yeah, no, never heard of her, but once again thank the gods for Jazeera, who spills the tea. It is…entirely embarrassing that since-revoked #1 fictional boyfriend Aaron Warner would let this information have to come to his girlfriend through a near stranger’s gossip, but turns out Lena is Aaron’s EX-GIRLFRIEND. I wonder how he could forget to mention a thing like that. Maybe Good Guy Aaron Warner didn’t anticipate she would still be part of the global, troubled teen Brady Bunch they’ve all been part of since they were kids, who are all apparently coming to visit. I’m not sure why he didn’t anticipate this, and I’m also not sure why all these people are showing up for this “Continental Symposium.” Symposiums typically involve presentations of some sort, that is the extent of my knowledge. I am sure if that was the case here, Warner would conveniently forget to remind his girlfriend about it. I am truly convinced at this point he gets off on humiliating her, so he’ll really enjoy making her walk on stage unprepared for something like this. I personally preferred when he was firmly ddlg/cgl coded in books 1-3. Uhhh, I would have appreciated a tw for this kind of content rebranding, but no matter.
• Did I mention Lena and Aaron were together for TWO YEARS?
• Did I mention Lena and Aaron only broke up EIGHT MONTHS AGO?
• Did I mention the Reestablishment is planning to destroy Sector 45?
• Also Lena is Russian. That seemed arbitrary, unless we are just supposed to know she’s extra hot or something. I don’t think Juliette needed any more tearing down, actually, but duly noted!
• Lena shows up outside of Warner’s room. Let me include this tiny snippet from his POV:

“Open the door, asshole.”
“You never did hold back with the flattery.”

Okay, this second line is what I would consider ‘flirting’ and I don’t like that. Good thing I decided I cannot stand this man like, twenty chapters ago, so at least this isn’t anything unexpected by now. This character is utterly irredeemable to me, and I wish I could act like I didn’t cry about it, but I can’t. I am devastated by the character assassination that took place in this book.

• Next up, Lena is attacking him because he broke up with her through a letter to his mom. Nothing surprises me at this point. Also, there is this:

She’s still thrashing against me, landing several kicks at my shins when I finally manage to gentle her arms and pull her close.

Suddenly, she stills.
My lips are at her ear when I say her name once, very gently.

This is an...awfully intimate way to subdue your ex-girlfriend. This would end any relationship in its tracks, for me. Also Kenji is here watching this all happen. He will not say a word to Juliette about it, if my guess is correct.
Why…did the author do this? I am literally sick to my stomach. This is worse than never getting a fourth book. I am really so hurt.

• Juliette has gone 2009 Britney and shaved her head. I really cannot take anymore humiliation of this protagonist who spent two and a half books learning how to make eye contact with other human beings and is now being torn down and betrayed by every single person she has ever cared about.
• For some reason Kenji and Warner walk in at this point. She is obviously wrecked and in her underwear, with a half shaven head. It’s nice to confirm that Kenji has sided with Warner in the breakup. This is the most debasing experience for me. Like I was really here for the found family and learning how to trust in love tropes. I wish I had never opened this one, to be quite honest.
• Warner talks to Juliette like she is a small, crippled animal (she is, essentially, and I would call this at least 75% his fault, but moving on). She is pathetic and drunk and we’ve all been there and I do not want to listen to her idolize her piece of shit boyfriend she broke up with but will get back with in the morning. She begs him to stay and hold her and he obviously can’t do that and still play the victim so he goes to the living room. I am honestly sick to my stomach.
• Warner has some “woe-is-me” inner monologue that I skim because I hate him with a burning passion at this point.
• Juliette wakes up and is, predictably humiliated. Now she has to go in front of all these terrible rich snobby assholes after manic shaving her head bald the night before. The author attempts to turn it into a big empowering moment, but this simply is not realistic as the author has just spent the entirety of the book tearing down and crippling every shred of confidence this girl gained over the course of the first three books.
• Lena is transphobic. That is an odd detail. Moving on.
• Warner tells Juliette he likes her hair. She asks him why he didn’t mention Lena. He tells her it “wasn’t a real relationship.” He tells her it was “purely physical.” The only explanation at this point is that the author did not want to write another book, but then she continued o write books after this so…I have no idea why she destroyed this man’s character so meticulously. I am honestly at a loss for words.
• Juliette is reasonably upset about this, and Warner launches into explanations and excuses for why he doesn’t think before he speaks or consider her feelings the way he did when he was trying to steal her away from Adam. Like, at this point it is safe to say Adam Kent was telling the truth, despite the fact that he also sucks very hard.
• He’s like “blah blah before you I never wanted to get close to anyone.” Well you clearly had no problem getting CLOSE to her, but you also refuse to be emotionally vulnerable with Juliette, so all of this is useless rabble and he is just a narcissist trying to win back a girl who will probably forgive him at the end of the day, to her own undoing. He says some lies and then ends with, “Give me another chance. Please. I swear on my life I won’t disappoint you.” Yes, yes, this is what they always say. If you keep refusing he’ll promise to go to therapy, too, Juliette, this is a universal experience and not the one any of us wanted when we cracked open this book. He kisses her after that and it’s special because it’s in front of all these people he’s been humiliating her in front of for like however many days it’s been now.
• After their kiss, Juliette runs away for…I don’t know. Theater?
• Castle shows up and pretends to be a father figure to Aaron, for some reason. I don’t like him so I don’t care to elaborate.
• Juliette stands at a podium and gives a speech about what she wants to make better in the world and nobody wants that so a bunch of people in the crowd advance on her and she gets shot in the forehead but she’s invincible somehow. Once the first bullet doesn’t do anything they all start shooting. It’s okay because she screams and kills 554 people, which may or may not have been real, I’m not really following at this point. She runs through all her old friends, most of whom she’s just killed, and then a couple greet her and tell her they’re her parents and they’ve come to take her home.
• Warner’s POV is blank. He’s probably still alive. Who cares? He’s ruined either way.
• Juliette wakes up in a child’s bedroom. Spoiler alert: it’s hers. She starts snooping and finds a letter from Warner’s dad about how they’ve found a suitable family for her (she is obviously the “her”). She finds photos of her and her sister before school, then photos of her, her sister, and Nazeera. Oh yeah, then she finds a photo of her and Aaron together as kids. Her real name is Ella.

This is all good and fine, the plot twist was even cool. But there is literally no salvaging what was done to Aaron Warner’s character or his relationship with Juliette in this book. Like, what was the point? I literally have cried way too many times about this and I thought reading it a second time would convince me I am being dramatic or embellishing the level of betrayal I feel but no, like, I am certain this was devastating.

Hey everyone,
I've had to do this whole post again (absolutely gutted) as the draft function let me down so sorry if I skip through a bit quicker...
Another day, another set of memes to look through. As always, you can catch my previous day round ups below:
13th May
14th May
15th May
To reiterate, the description of each tweet is to the best of my knowledge the references made to allow you to make your own view in context and the speculation is pure speculation on my part. If you just want to look at the descriptions and not the speculation then just ignore the speculation part.
This is just for fun and shouldn't be taken as any financial advice, make your own decisions, I just like the stock.
If you have anything to add feel free to in the comments.
Let's begin:
10am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791106334517010680
Description: First we have Jigsaw from Saw, "Hello, Do you want to play a game?", it then cuts to The Prestige with the quote "are you watching closely?" and then it cuts to Lucky Number Slevin talking about the Kansas city shuffle and finally it's Nas with Made you look.
Speculation: Jigsaw used to capture people who were not looking to live their life and play games with them to show them that they actually do care about their lives in the end. Maybe DFV is referring to shorts desperately trying to get out of their position and showing they will do whatever it takes to do it. The Prestige quote comes from the scene here and shows a magic trick of money appearing. The Kansas City Shuffle is "In order for a confidence game to be a "Kansas City Shuffle", the mark must be aware, or at least suspect that he is involved in a con, but also be wrong about how the con artist is planning to deceive him. The con artist will attempt to misdirect the mark in a way that leaves him with the impression that he has figured out the game and has the knowledge necessary to outsmart the con artist, but by attempting to retaliate, the mark unwittingly performs an action that helps the con artist to further the scheme" and the Made you Look songs full line is "They shootin', Aw made you look" maybe referring to what is happening to the stock right now.
10.15am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791110102797172804
Description: Here we have a scene from Kill Bill where the bride is about to take on the crazy 88 gang and the music Nobody but Me by The Human Beinz.
Speculation: On the theme of ultimate revenge, The Bride in Kill Bill was on a mission to well.. kill bill. Lots of to go through in order to get to the final boss and the song is maybe making a point that Nobody but DFV could have seen this coming or maybe he is saying RCEO can do it
10.30am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791113879684325383
Description: This is taken from Inside Man, i think it's the opening scene and has the music Chaiyya Chaiyya, also taken from the original clip. DFV has imposed a cat looking over and listening to the monologue which reads "Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself".
Speculation: Inside man is about an elaborate heist turned hostage movie on Wall Street. Don't think there is much more to say about that other than GME is most likely the hostage in this situation.
10.45am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791117652276195516
Description: The first part of this meme is taken from The Office and Michael pulls up in a car with Lady Gaga - Let's Dance playing and states "it's Britney Bitch". We then cut to Britney Spears in her music video Hit Me Baby One More Time and the part "give me a sign" has the movie logo for Signs on it (much more of that to come)
Speculation: First part is a joke from DFV keeping the just dance theme going but then we go to hit me baby one more time and most importantly a reference to a "Just give me a sign". There are signs coming that something big is going to happen.
11am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791121430836584789
Description: This is the intro to Goosebumps and follows a lot of the original clips theme, you can watch that here. Some key changes that have been made though, R.K Gill is on the briefcase, something has definitely been edited with the man's head holding the briefcase, the billboard shows a morph to Ryan Cohen, Ryan's dog is brought in and then it's "Bear Beware" and "Goosebumps, based on the memes by R.K Gill"
Speculation: This is a really fun meme, we see some more of RC and Roaring Kitty Gill all over this. Is there a partnership or does DFV just know that RCEO is about to do something big that will send goosebumps down the bears necks.
11.15am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791125203147428066
Description: Next we have Broad City and the song Best Friend by Sofi Tukker. The meme basically just has lots of scenes around new york with friends just doing a lot of dancing. Just a fun meme of dancing really and a lot of it centers around the two best friends the sitcom is about.
Speculation: DFV and RCEO are best pals and with everything that is going on with the stock they are just dancing and having a great time. Essentially owning New York which of course is where the finance bros hang out.
11.30am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791128976632459643
Description: The first scene is taken from Devil Wears Prada with the models hanging out in New York for a shoot and the song Crazy by Seal plays with the lyrics "we're never gonna survive, unless we get a little crazy" it cuts to the official music video then back to Devil wears Prada where they say "oh i get it, the piece is called urban jungle right?", "yes the modern investor unleashes the animal within to take on the big city" Roarrr
Speculation: Another meme from New York with predominantly girls hanging out. DFV maybe noting that we all unleash a little roaring kitty by taking on his thesis with Gamestop, dunno about you but I just like the stock. Things might get a little crazy, at least to people on the outside when they are asking you why you aren't selling.
11.45am - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791132751976120778
Description: This scene is taken from the movie Signs and the Rev Graham here is woken and staring at something on the roof that spooks him.
Speculation: There will be many more references to this movie, in this case the Rev Graham (who weirdly looks like Ken G) is getting spooked at something he thought he saw. Scary stuff if you are short on GME.
12.00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791136527801807077
Description: This is also taken from the movie Signs and it's a quote, "See what you have to ask yourself is what kind of person are you? Are you the kind that sees signs, that sees miracles? Or do you believe that people just get lucky? Or, look at the question this way: Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"
Speculation: Something big is coming, what kind of person are you? Is it possible there are no Cohencidences?
12.15pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791140301895352325
Description: Again from Signs, this shows the scene where the kid takes out his baby monitor and claims he can hear the aliens talking to each other. There's two of them talking he states and again we see the sign logo flash up. We then see an overlay of alien writing that isn't in the original clip so that's been dubbed on purposely.
Speculation: Things starting to get real interesting now. This looks to be a sign that something is happening behind the scenes. A baby monitor, what's RCEO got stored up? Maybe he is pregnant? Maybe GME is pregnant? Is there a merger happening? A split of some sort?
12.30pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791144075963298165
Description: This is the scene in Signs where they go to the crop fields and there are alien crop circles everywhere, only in this meme DFV has replaced those circles with GME logos. Many GME logos some with long running lines.
Speculation: Really looking like something big is on the horizon and DFV thinks he has seen the signs. This meme would suggest maybe its a merger with multiple gamestop logos but that's just my opinion. One thing for sure is that Gamestop has something on the horizon.
12.45pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791147851466047673
Description: This is the scene in Signs where the news start reporting sightings of aliens and they show a load of kids in a different country looking down an alley way only for an alien bearing Roaring Kitty as a face to walk by, scary stuff!
Speculation: This was actually the first scene from this film that made me realize i had seen the film before and a younger me was pretty freaked out by that scene. It could imply that they have landed, they are here and or DFV is at least. Certainly a they are coming sort of message.
1.00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791151631259574559
Description: This is taken from the animated film Luca, where one kid says "what does it mean, the thing you just said?" and the other kid goes "Come on Ill show you more stuff"
Speculation: I think this is aimed at me writing this right now and whoever is reading this right now. Ultimately i have no idea what DFV is saying i can only speculate and DFV knows that, he can't outright say what he thinks but he can show us more and more cool memes.
1.15pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791155401091596494
Description: This is taken from 500 days of summer and DFV has changed a lot of the words here but essentially he is asked what he does and he says he makes Gamestop memes, the woman says he could be a really great investor if he wanted to be, he is asked why he went from being a great investor to making gamestop memes and he says "why make something disposable, like an investment thesis, when you can make something that lasts forever like a Gamestop meme"
Speculation: DFV having more meme lols here but really why would he need to do anymore investing, he already has his favourite company shares and the thesis is done, he knows what's going on and he is happy to stick with what he has. That doens't mean his thesis on Gamestop doesn't evolve, I just think he is done looking for other deep value plays.
1.30pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791159177785770273
Description: This is taken from The Shining and the song dubbed on is Matter of Time by Vandelux. The main protagonist and author in the movie, Jack is sat writing and it seems it is DFV and he is writing memes.
Speculation: Anyone that has seen The Shining knows that Jack goes to a secluded house with no distractions to write his book. Turns out it actually just makes him go completely mental and he ends up killing his family. I think DFV is just having some fun showcasing the time he has spent focusing on making Gamestop memes.
1.45pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791162950373527857
Description: We have Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See by Busta Rhymes and his music video. The lyrics he has chosen for this clip are emphasized and they are:
Flipmode Busta Bus (Uh, what?) Nine-seven (Come on, what?) Hot shit (Ha-hah) Check it out
Hit you with no delayin' so what you sayin', yo? (Uhh) Silly with my nine milli, what the deally, yo? (What?)
Do you really wanna party with me? Let me see (Uh) just what you got for me (Come on) Put all your hands where my eyes can see (Put 'em up, yo) Straight buckwildin' in the place to be (Wildin', nice, ha)
It then ends with If you really wanna party with Roaring Kitty
Speculation: More fun and dancing. Some interesting lyrics, Flipmode (reverse uno card anyone), Silly with my nine milli (could relate to shares, does RCEO have that much?) Could just be a fun meme without much else to it.
2:00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791166726891061749
Description: This is taken from Sicario and it starts with the quote "so you wanna be a Sicario" and then shows the blonde reddit icon from the other sub tied up and then a guy looking pretty pissed off.
Speculation: The Sicarios were hitmen, that's basically what it means when it asks if you want to be a Sicario, do you want to be a hitman or assassin. The blonde icon from other sub tied up is in the place of a kid who was tied up in the film and certainly WAS NOT a friend of the Sicarios. Take from that what you will but I can't comment to much as it's about another sub.
2.15pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791170783277949042
Description: First we have a scene from No Country for Old Men with the quote "you can't stop what's comin" then we cut to a train tearing it up in Chicago and also taking out a double deck chair with a Chicago Bears logo on it then finally we go to a WWE smackdown with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Speculation: No Country for Old Men has cropped up a few times before but it's about a killer who is pretty much unstoppable mowing these people down. The train wrecking Chicago and the Chicago Bears (as a Packers fan i liked that), well option contract writers are in Chicago I believe but also it's the original home of Citadel. The chair maybe is an answer to a Cramer tweet and the smackdown i'm not sure other than it being just a fun thing to watch.
2.30pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791174276604699013
Description: This is the music video for Punkrocker by Teddybears. It basically follows a man who is being chased by the police, the cops are coming but the guy seems pretty chill about it. He listens to the music with no fear and you can too. The words are in Gamestop white and red.
Speculation: I think that this could indicate that Gamestop isn't doing anything wrong with what's going to happen, they have warned again and again in their financial postings that the stock is being manipulated and is subject to squeezes. It could also indicate a GME investor has nothing to worry about legally either, just like the stock.
2.45pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791178049939182048
Description: This is taken from The School of Rock where Jack Black is trying to ask what it takes to rock out. If you wanna rock its not about scoring chicks, it's not about getting wasted, its about sticking it to the man, and you can't just say it man you gotta FEEL it it in your blood and guts.
Speculation: Only you can decide what sticking it to man means yourself in relation to having GME stock during a big squeeze event but for me personally it's been a long 3 and a half years of having crap tossed at me just for owning this stock and i certainly pissed with the amount of corruption and cheating that has and continues to go on. If shorts never closed and still have that position, that's their mess not mine.
3.00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791181824754106742
Description: The main scene in this meme is taken from the film Stand By Me. You have two cars on both sides of the road. The good guy in this is driving on the wrong side of the road and the other gang are on the right side, it's a game of chicken with a truck coming towards the good guy as they both drive side by side. It then cuts to Bojack Horseman trying to do some comedy and being asked to get off stage, he states "I'm not done hold on" - it cuts back to the scene and the truck bails last second. The good guy just keeps on driving and goes in front of the other car having a victory sip.
Speculation: If you take DFV to be the good guy in this car scene then he just carries on with what he believes which is in GME regardless of trying to be chickened out of it in the face of adversity. You could also say he is Bojack and wanting to continue with his memes, he ain't done telling his memeroirs yet.
3.15pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791185600453783688
Description: This is taken from Everything Everywhere All At Once and shows a woman showcasing her awards, DFV has imposed some cat photos on her desk and also 3 awards that read

• DeepFuckingValue, Degen of the Month
• Roaring Kitty, 1st Cat in Congress
• Keith Gill, Best Ethics from the CFA institute (lol)

"The quote is Do you see these? You don't get one of these unless you've seen a lot of bullshit. Excuse my French. Now you may only see a pile of boring forms and numbers, but I see a story."
Speculation: DFV is a fucking dude, the guy has a meme trophy cabinet. To us or others we just don't quite see it like he does. If DFV thinks something big is going to happen you have the choice to believe it too or not, that's completely up to you. The awards are lol.
3.30pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791189376195854606
Description: The first scene is taken from Garden State, he asks her "what are you listening to", she goes "you gotta hear this one song" and you then hear Dont Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult and the opening lyric "all our times have come"
Speculation: Don't fear the reaper, if you hold GME you don't have to as it's not going bust. The company is not going to die. There are certainly some shorts that should be fearing the reaper though.
3.45pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791193149408223306
Description: This is a hilarious meme and i'm not sure where this is taken from but i'll try my best to describe it (really you should just watch it though). Two men are in a rich guys house, the host writes a note and then has to leave tearing the note off and taking it with him, the other sneaks up to the notepad, labelled Cohen, and tries to sketch the next page to work out what he wrote. What is revealed is a cartoon man with a huge dick.
Speculation: RCEO has a big slong, what else is there to say? Ok I think that he is going to do something big and it's an exciting thing to think about. Does make you think of the tweet of Steve Smith he posted with the erect penis too.
4.00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791196925619789864
Description: A more recently made meme shows Jay Clayton talking about Roaring Kitty showing his first meme and saying "is this something that we should be tolerating in our markets, whether it's legal lalallull" then it goes to a clip of a guy saying "i mean what did he say fuck me for"
Speculation: DFV basically saying as we would say in the UK, "whatever mate". The guy is talking a load of bullshit and to bring up legality after all the stuff he has let slide as former SEC chairman, i mean bitch please!
Edit\*
8.00pm - https://x.com/TheRoaringKitty/status/1791257325451493396
Description: First scene is taken from the car chase in The Bourne Identity, DFV has imposed a load of pictures of himself on the sheet of paper and then the car chase from the police proceeds (original clip here) There is a part in the middle of this car chase where the footage has been mirror flipped which means the steering wheel that would read Mini reads INIM then it finishes the chase and moves on to the opening scene of the movie Drive (original clip here).
Speculation: I think that the mirror flip of the video shows the steering wheel just at that point to sort of read "IM IN", surely not a coincidence given that is the only part of the whole clip that is flipped. The movie drive as someone suggested in the comments is about, "Ryan Gosling plays the unnamed Driver, a near-silent, methodical, mysterious, professional, highly competent getaway driver." - DFV has also tweeted about this movie before here.
Hope you enjoyed, still pissed i had to write this twice, my original had a lot more links to original clips and each Superstonk post as well! I'm off to bed, i'll update with the 8pm tweet tomorrow.
Love ya DFV x

Just finished MotF book 2 and I've had a really good time with this series, will continue. There are just a few little things that felt odd to me, and some thoughts about where the series is going from here. Major spoilers ofc.
I don't really get what is going on with Alex reminding himself that he "did not have issues" in his inner monologue. It came up when he was momentarily fixated on the person he's in love with ... so that's ... completely normal? Another time it was because he wants Brutus to like him. Yes, that is indeed how people are around dogs. So what's this about issues? I don't know. To me an "issue" would be a problem, or at least something that's confusing, or requires some kind of action to address. It's an odd choice of phrase for just experiencing normal feelings. Normally.
I had some trouble with how long it took Alex to talk to anybody at Generasi about his mark. This guy is shown to be fairly brilliant at adapting to new and challenging situations. That's kind of his whole thing. And yet it took him six months of living full time in a country far away from Thameland, where nobody gives the slightest shit about Thameland, to lose this silly idea that if people find out about his Mark, he's going to get dragged off in chains by the Thamish authorities -- authorities who very obviously have no jurisdiction and no presence in Generasi. I mean, Alex is a smart guy and this stuff isn't rocket science. He also didn't need to be super specific about it in every case. When the force magic professor was giving him crap for not putting in an effort, all he had to do was say "look I have some peculiar circumstances going on that make it super difficult for me to cast offensive spells, I swear that it's not for lack of trying" and that probably could have resolved the conversation.
On a similar vibe, Alex is described as being surprised in situations where that doesn't really add up. Like, he goes to collect a 3000 gold bounty that he knows is going to be split 8 ways, and when the clerk tells him his share is 375 gold, his "jaw nearly dropped open". But why though? There's no way he didn't already know what that number was going to be, our boy is a genius wizard, he can do basic arithmetic.
It'll be interested to see where the series goes from here and what kinds of conflict will need to be resolved. Here at the end of book 2 he's already figured out, and mitigated, most of the downside elements of the Mark. It seems like his golem almost completely solves his combat problems, so the Mark is pretty much just a (huge) advantage at this point. It seems clear that the Ravener is going to raise the stakes on trying to kill Alex after the failed assassination, especially with this expedition back to Thameland. And this mystery with the Traveller's writing in the book is a cool thread. I look forward to seeing where that goes. There's been a whole lot of foreshadowing about the priests of Uldar being an antagonistic force, but so far they haven't really done anything except (maybe) be involved in the demon attack at the protest.

Well I just finished the campaign of Homeworld 3 today and I have to say I am massively dissatisfied with the presented story. I feel utterly disappointed that after 20 years of waiting for a sequel to one of my favorite game franchises; we got something like this.
I feel like this game's story and narrative direction went in a direction that goes counter to the fundamental experience the first 2-3 games delivered that made them memorable so many decades after the fact. I honestly think it is the worst/weakest game of the franchise narratively speaking. All the other aspects of HW3 are fantastic. I 1000% understand what Rob and the rest of the folks at BBI were trying to accomplish here when they said the tech wasn't available 20 years ago with HW2. This game is beautiful and it shows. Visuals, Audio, ship design, UI, are fantastic. Gameplay and mechanical issues are fixable so I'm not going to fault them for that being a bit rough at launch.
I'll try to explain as best I can, but I'm not the best at fully expressing my thoughts out into text, so (BRING SAJUUK TO BEAR) with me.
For context, I've been in the Homeworld community for a LONG TIME. Since the Relicnews days. Not as long as Uber, Shin, or some of the other folks, but long enough to have made many friends from this community I still know to this day, and also I am one of the moderators on the HWU Discord server. So I have spent the better part of my entire life a part of this community in some way.
Here we go... (quote shameless stolen borrowed from The Way of Kings)

Journey Before Destination

The ancient code of the Knights Radiant says “journey before destination.” Some may call it a simple platitude, but it is far more. A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles. The trials. The knowledge that we will fail. That we will hurt those around us.
But if we stop, if we accept the person we are when we fall, the journey ends. That failure becomes our destination.

Why do people love HW1/HWC to this day? What about those games made them so well loved by the community that they are widely considered the de-facto games of the series when it comes to their story telling? But what about it was good that made it that way?
DanVanCrone wrote a fantastic piece on the old Relicnews forums that the entire forum base loved to referenced for many years of how heartfelt and masterful the story connected with its audience.
For me and many others. it was the experience of the story; the journey that took place within those games that gave us the player something to connect with; to relate with. The story of Homeworld presented a simple premise. A people on a planet who discovered their home was not their own. Their true home was out somewhere among the stars. The reasons how they got here or why lost to time and ancient memories turned to myth and legends. Their struggle to survive, their rise out of near extinction to climb into the heavens and stumble upon a lost secret that would transform their entire society in such a way that would drive them across the galaxy.
So we set out on this journey not as a third party viewing Commander Shepard do his thing, or as a specific character; but as someone who had their place right along side the entire Kharakian people as they set out to find their home. Sure we had Fleet Command/Intel, as they were voiced and spoke, but their agency as a character was done in such a way presented them moreso as proxies or acted as a voice for the entirety of the Kharakian (Kushan) people. Karan did have her own voice due to the nature of her linkage to the Mothership and so she had a sort of duality with her position. But both her and Fleet Intelligence were able to act as a means to deliver the emotions for moments of pain, grief, anger, sadness, revenge, hope and everything we experienced as we played the campaign.
We experienced the journey to Hiigara along with the entire crew of the Mothership. We had the welling of anger and sadness when Kharak burned. The anxiousness and anticipation at the Bridge of Sighs as we gained entry to the Hiigaran system. Panic, concern, worry as we fought to survive in orbit around our Homeworld.
The story of Homeworld was never about a character or about chasing 'a thing' but moreso the exploration and experience of an idea that resonated with everyone; to find your home. In doing so, the story unfolded naturally of uncovering the history of what happened in their past of how they came to be on Kharak, experiencing loss, exacting revenge, hope for the future and eventually tears of joy at the accomplishment that the did in fact find Hiigara. And we were there along the way as an active participant to experience all of it along the way as if we were there with them.
The glorious vistas of the galaxy as we jumped from mission to mission. We cried at the end NIS as we saw the epilogue of our journey. The lives lost from the conflict of the fight to gain our Homeworld. The awe and wonder of seeing a lush world to those who knew only endless sands, and especially when we saw Karan insisting that she be the last person to disembark and set foot on the Homeworld.
The agency we had as a player was not viewed through the lens of one person; but through the eyes of an entire people and the journey they took. The universe had enough backstory written within the manual to lay the foundational ground work just enough that you didn't need a lot of technical exposition dumps, or have to have things blatantly explained to you right to your face. So in a sense, you were like part of the crew going on the journey along with them, as part of them.

Homeworld Catacylsm

HWC worked much the same way within its own twist. For this game, the focus was much smaller in scope and placed you with the crew of the Kiith Somtaaw mining vessel.
Here HWC built upon the foundations that HW1 put in place with the lore of the Kiiths, the fallout of returning to Hiigara, and touched upon and provided interested world building elements about the universe. From the aspects of Kiith politics; and the explorations of galactic geopolitics resulting from the Return of the Kushan people.
It was an underdog tale and also one that mirrors and parallels aspects of a Hero's Journey. Only again the hero here is not a person but a group of people. The story aspect of The Beast acted as narrative driving force to drive those concepts of the growth and journey of the Kuun-Lan and her crew as they had that Hero's journey.
You fight alongside the Kuun-Lann, you feel and hear the fear in their voices of the ship engineers as they struggle to understand the Beast when it captures and subverts ships. The tension as the story progresses as the circumstances get more dire. The interactions with the Bentusi and seeing a culture so powerful be shook to their core was a fantastic element of exploring who the Bentusi were as a people. We saw the horrors of the Imperialist experiments and their alliance with the Beast. We got the the thrill of victory with the Siege cannon working as we fought back in the last mission. And lastly at the end of the epilogue sequence where the Somtaww fought, died, and earned their place among the great martial Kiith; the naming of their children as Beastslayers. Truly it was fantastic story telling under the guise of using science fiction and some space horror.
All of the gameplay, and the emotions come out as the story and narrative is experienced. Everything that is told within the game, works within the confines of the established lore of the game, and the prior game. Nothing is over explained, nothing is just hand-waved away. We saw them grow as a crew, saw their fear, stumbles falls, and triumphs along the way. All this while exploring and growing the established lore of the Homeworld universe.
In my view those two stories worked so well for so many people because fundamentally, they were a story of the Journey; not the destination. We lived through those experiences as if we were there with them; we experienced the ups and downs of the emotions of the stories told about the people and their growth within those stories. We were able to connect and relate to those experiences in our own way. And in my view, the ability to connect to those stories made them so fantastic.

“And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.”

The Stumble

"What you saw belongs to you. A story doesn't live until it is imagined in someone's mind."
"What does the story mean, then?"
"It means what you want it to mean," Hoid said. "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think , but to give you questions to think upon. Too often, we forget that.”

In my view Homeworld 2 is where things started to have problems.
Many of us in the community know of the development of Homeworld 2, its cancellation, its rushed story and development. However the story of HW2 mostly throws out the concepts mentioned before. While the story and gameplay is presented in the same way as the prior two games; in my view it fails to present the user a story and experience they can truly and fundamentally connect with and is more 'generic science fiction'.
The driving force of the story is some prophecy we've never seen or heard of before this game in any of the lore. And the main reason for all of it is the now retconned nature of the hyperspace cores. Throw on top of this heavy leaning into the religious themes and mysticism focusing on Karan and Makaan who now and take the stage as the primary protagonists and antagonists of the story.
The character motivations of the Makaan/Vaygr, Karan, and the Bentusi are in my view mostly shallow or very hollow to the point its basically cookie cutter tropes without a lot of nuance to it. The story becomes and is less about the people and more about a MacGuffin game of Hide and Seek. The prior exploration and expansion of the HW universe is entirely ignored in favor of this hide-and-seek of the cores that the entire game has driving it forward. There's no understanding of the growth of the world, of the Kushan people, geopolitics, or anything like that. Just lots of woo-woo mysticism about the Cores and the Progenitors.
With regards to the plot; we're mainly just told 'hey the bad guys are coming, keep the cores away and go find the others'. The Bentusi are unceremoniously killed off without any real build up or explanation. Why are they the last? What happened to them? None of that is explored in a way that gives us any sort of satisfying reason to why this makes sense when they detonate their Harbour Ship to give us their Magic Space Core.
To me there's no personal emotional connection to the story. Why should I care about a magic space prophecy I've never heard of until now? Why are the Vaygr the way they are? None of that is given time to breathe or has enough depth to make me care beyond superficially. The narrative doesn't make you feel less of an active participant in the journey you are going through, and makes you more of a passive viewer of a conflict that has little explanation as to why you should care or understand the importance of said driving forces. The reasons for getting to and through the the game feel rushed so much that the narrative doesn't have a lot of depth or time to breathe in my view.
While the backstory in the manual does give context to the pre-exile events and how it does relate to the events in game which helps with overall universe world building; it's done so in such a way that is retconning the fundamental established soft-rules of the universe that HW1 and HWC laid the ground work on which further compounds or allows the weak story of HW2 to take place, and undercuts the accomplishments of the Kushan people as I will explain shortly.

The Fall - Homeworld 3

However the worse crime is what was squandered with the ending of the HW2. The epilogue of Homeworld 2 put forth a massive chance for some incredible story options to take place with the opening of the Hyperspace Gate Network across the galaxy. A chance for exploring stories that can connect with the player on that personal level like HW1 and HWC and the explorations of what could be explored in this new open universe. What will the Hiigarans do now, what about the Taiidan, the other Inner Rim species, what now will the galaxy look like with the Bentusi gone, why were the gates closed in the first place?! So many fantastic ideas were possible with scopes as large or as small as possible. The discovery, exploration of the Homeworld Galaxy would have been tremendous.
Instead we got the story of Homeworld 3.
Now I don't want to be unnecessary harsh or mean to the writers or the team at BBI/Gearbox for the effort they put into the work for Homeworld 3. This game is a niche title and not anywhere near popular like COD, or Warcraft or Zelda. But to be frank, I really truly feel that y'all need to have some direct constructive criticism of this story's campaign. I don't know what the motivation was for putting this story together, or what was attempting to be told here, but whatever story you were trying to tell did not land well.
I backed this game on fig at the Admiral level, so I threw down hard for this and am truly grateful we got the game at all. I truly want BBI and Gearbox to take this to heart in a way this is not demeaning, but a cold bucket of water that I feel needs to be throw.
The best way I can succinctly put this is that the story of Homeworld 3 lacks the fundamental soul that made Homeworld 1 and Homeworld Cataclysm the absolutely best in the franchise. This game makes Homeworld 2's rushed narrative and slight stumbles look somehow not that bad by comparison. Those on the HWU discord know my passionate dislike of the overall story of HW2 and the retcons that introduced that were further compounded by HWDOK. The story of HW3 makes HW2 look polished and well thought out by comparison.
So I'll be straight with my gripes on this.

• More and worse of the same that came from Homeworld 2. Retcons of established lore, de-emphasizing and diminishment of the motivations of the persons and people's in the prior games. Putting the Progenitor hyperspace cores as the singular driving force of the entire franchise
  
• Everything is now about KARAN SJET. Karan saved the Kushan people. Karan lead the revenge against the Taiidan, Karan found the magic space cores. Karan opened the hyperspace gate network, Karan tries to stop the anomaly. Karan probably cured cancer and saved JFK from assassination for all I know.
  
• The compounding of the Progenitor hyperspace SpaceMagic and making Karan the primary protagonist of the series continues to massively undercut the accomplishments of the Kharakian people off at the knees. The entire back story of HW1 that details their struggle and clawing up the tech tree, the struggle to survive on the harsh conditions of Kharak, how the discovery of the Guidestone and the goal of Hiigara the singular unifying goal of reaching their lost Homeworld uniting their entire population. Everything the HW1 manual details and gloriously shows the accomplishments of their PEOPLE to get to where they were at the start of HW1. All of that is diminished because 'magic hyperspace core'. I could go on but you get the gist. (I won't get into the further compounding retcons of HWDOK, but this just furthers that same narrative direction.) In my view, the Homeworld series has and never been about a person, but the story and journey of a group or people whose plight or experience is something that can be emotionally and personally related to by anyone.
  
• Karan was only a small person out of her entire population and only ONE person of the entire crew of the mothership. She was not some messianic figure, but someone who sacrificed for her people. Now I get the messianic implications of that, but the first game was never about her.
  
• HW2 already crossed over the line of making the story about a person rather than about the people. HW3 takes that and makes it worse. Gone is a story about the Hiigaran people and how their place in the Inner Rim has taken hold a century after landing back home. No explaination of how the inner rim has changed since the gates opened. Nothing about the Galactic Council. Nothing about other species or factions.
  
• The world building of HW3 is basically non-existent or is very poorly done as compared to the last games. No real understanding of the world at large since the ending of the last game or how the events have unfolded and affected the universe as we have come to understand it. Unless you go on the HWU website to get some level of backstory to get an idea of what's going on leading into HW3, you'll have no idea what the hell is happening.
  
• The antagonist of HW3 makes the life-size cardboard cutout of Makaan win the Oscar for best actor in a science fiction video game. They are bad and lack any sort of depth at all as a character. They instead come off at worst as cringe at and best cliché trope-y bad. Throughout the entire campaign we have no idea how/why/what they are doing the things they are doing. Nothing is explained that makes any sense. They just monologue at us with some over the top badguy speeches without any real understanding of what they are after or what their motivations are. Seriously, the the cut scenes from Homeworld 1 with Emperor Riesstiu IV the Second or Makaan from HW2 had more narrative depth and in universe understanding of their motivations than the antagonist of HW3. I have seriously no idea how this Incarnate Queen got the power she did, or why she was doing what she was attempting. No reasons why beyond I AM BADGUY WITH ULTIMATE POWER. JOIN ME OR DIE. It was the equivalent of 'Somehow Palpatine has returned levels of bad. How did she get the Progenitor tech she did, how did she live as long as she does, how does she have magic hyperspace cores that let her go into the Magic Hyperspace Navigator Mind Realm?? No idea Something the OG Homeworld games did very well was of show don't tell, and telling just enough for it to make sense without having to go into crazy techno battle or massive mystical assumptions of how things worked. This is one of those moments I feel like it did the opposite of that. We're shown a WHOLE LOT OF STUFF, but have no way to reconcile it in game in a way that narratively makes sense or resonates with the playeuniverse.
  
• The massive in-universe violations of established lore regarding hyperspace. Holy shit this is so bad I don't even know how this came about. The Progenitor hyperspace cores and their special spacemagic look mostly normal by comparison. There is no lore or story elements that help explain how any of this is possible. It's never explained at all beyond 'it happened just go with it'. Absolutely nothing, nada, not a bit of information is explained or made attempts to understand at how the Incarnate Queen is using hyperspace as a weapon. The violation of the mass override safety interrupts or gravity blocking or interfering with hyperspace is never explained at all. Nothing to show how she is THROWING PLANETS AT OTHER PLANETS. This is the equivalent of the Holdo Manuver from 'The Force Awakens'; massively cool to see on screen; but holy shit this violates so many in-universe conventions of how FTL travel works that it fundamentally causes problems.
  
• MASSIVELY more leaning into the mysticism aspects and moreso science fantasy side of storytelling are done within this game than the prior four games. I am not sure on the motivations here, but I feel like it was done in such a way that that leaves much to be desired for HOW/WHY. I get that they may have been trying to lean more into the nature of the Unbound and how the Navigators of the mothership class vessels are connected to their ships and have a much more profound view of the universe (similar to what the Bentusi alluded to). But this just felt very out of place and didn't make a lot of sense to me why it was presented in this way. I feel like it could have been done better or in such a way that helped it link up better to the ideas of the Unbound, but this was not it.
  
• The way HW3 story plays feels like someone only had a cursory understanding of the Homeworld lore and just did their own thing with it irrespective of the established lore and world building that was previously done. Shutting down the gate network??? WHY. This just takes the ending of HW2 and throws all those chances I mentioned and just throws it in the trash.
  
• No explanation of why the Incarnate Queen thinks she can make a new race of Unbound?? Why is this important? Don't know! Why are Karan and Imogen somehow special and able to stop her within the Hyperspace Mental universe? No idea and it really pushes things way into Science fantasy.
  
• Imogen as a character I feel is 'okay'. I am not sure if its the relationships she has with the other characters in the game, or if its just the story as a whole doesn't give her a lot to work with. To me it feels like there some aspect of her story and character I feel is missing from the game. Again its probably my displeasure of the game focusing on individual characters instead of larger abstractions of people like the prior games before HW2.
  

Final Thoughts

Fundamentally I know this is a personal opinion of mine and not everyone will agree with it. That's fine, but for me I have so many issues with the story and many of the pillars that are supposed to hold it up that at a certain point I can only say that the story is for me very bad and goes against the grain of what the foundational games to me setup for the franchise. It does nothing to grow or expand the HW universe lore in any interesting ways. I say this as someone who's been in and grown up with the Homeworld community for the last 26 years.
Story-wise; it's disappointing, bland, and generic at the very least and doesn't live up to the GOAT levels of quality the originals of HW1 and HWC (and to an extent HW2) put forth; to being insultingly bad at worst. I don't mean this as an slight to the writing staff as I know that a LOT of the OG folks involved with the first games were involved, but I really feel like there was a misstep here. It plays well and the pacing is kinda faster than I'd have wanted within a Homeworld game. However the core story ideas that make up the game are poorly explained, weak, or are so counter the established lore that for me it doesn't hold up well. This is magnified by the antagonist motivations and actions being poorly explained which in turn doesn't give the story or world to grow in any meaningful way.
I honestly don't know where or how the path the franchise has taken can be corrected. In my personal opinion, its gone off in a direction that gave the first games their unique style that made them attractive in the first place. Without doing massive retcons to entirely course correct to bring the game to where I personally think would be more akin to the original games I don't know where they'll try to take the game. This recent game I feel it has pushed more into the generic bland science fantasy genre with this newest entry into the franchise; rather than taking the careful slow burn, grounded science fiction based abstract story approach that connects with a player on a deeply personal level.
For me, while may it may have the gameplay mechanics and RTS genre DNA of seasoned devs in the industry that have been involved with Homeworld and other games over the years, it lacks the soul that made the first games who they were and is Homeworld game in name only.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

I love David Fincher's movies but The Killer was a little strange to me. The pacing was great, the style was fantastic, I loved everything about it technically, but did anyone else find themselves confused about the plot? It's pretty simple stuff, but I'm scratching my head about a few things:

1. Why would Hodges's assassin agency kill its own assassins for fucking up a single mission? Fassbender isn't any more of a liability now than he was before. He would have left the same trail no matter the target.
2. Did Fassbender know about that rule? He acts like he doesn't - he even calls up to Hodges about talk about the botched hit - but in the confrontation, Hodges says Fassbender "must have known my hands were tied."
3. I'm confused about Hodges' plan.

• Why did Hodges not think Fassbender would go home?
• Why did he send assassins to Fassbender's home if he didn't think he'd be there? Was he not intending to kill Fassbender?
• If he wasn't intending to kill Fassbender, why send assassins at all?
• If he was intending to kill Fassbender, why send the assassins before Fassbender even had time to get home from France?

1. How did Fassbender find out which taxi the assassins took to his house?
2. Why did Fassbender kill the two assassins? It's not like they're still after him. Besides, they botched the hit, so shouldn't they also be getting killed by Hodges?
3. Is Fassbender good at his job or not? He keeps monologuing about preparedness, not improvising, staying under the radar, etc, but he keeps making questionable decisions. Here's just a few things I remember off the top of my head:

• Throwing his backpack into a garbage truck, while the garbage men are literally right there and just happen not to notice. If they'd noticed, they could have opened it and found his equipment.
• Not wearing a mask when he's attacking the taxi place.
• Putting on his black latex gloves in the elevator right in front of the Fed-Ex guy, who even reacts to it with a suspicious look.
• Going into Hodges' office knowing he's going to kill him and the receptionist, even though the dustbin he brings clearly isn't big enough for two corpses.
• Shooting Hodges' laptop without knowing if the files were on it.
• Shooting Hodges in the lungs and then expecting him to talk (???)
• Going to Florida with no other plan than to shoot the Floridan guy without a mask and then burn his house down with a molotov cocktail. It worked, but it's not exactly inconspicuous, is it?
• Confronting Claybourne without a mask

Also, one last nitpick: in the beginning he mentions being tired of uncreative jobs, and that it's been too long since he's done a cool kill like a drowning or a poisoning. When he finally gets to kill people on his own terms, he uses...a gun. For every single target. Am I missing something?

I love David Fincher's movies but The Killer was a little strange to me. The pacing was great, the style was fantastic, I loved everything about it technically, but did anyone else find themselves confused about the plot? It's pretty simple stuff, but I'm scratching my head about a few things:

1. Why would Hodges's assassin agency kill its own assassins for fucking up a single mission? Fassbender isn't any more of a liability now than he was before. He would have left the same trail no matter the target.
2. Did Fassbender know about that rule? He acts like he doesn't - he even calls up Hodges to talk about the botched hit - but in the confrontation, Hodges says Fassbender "must have known my hands were tied."
3. I'm confused about Hodges' plan.

• Why did Hodges not think Fassbender would go home?
• Why did he send assassins to Fassbender's home if he didn't think he'd be there? Was he not intending to kill Fassbender?
• If he wasn't intending to kill Fassbender, why send assassins at all?
• If he was intending to kill Fassbender, why send the assassins before Fassbender even had time to get home from France?

1. How did Fassbender find out which taxi the assassins took to his house?
2. Why did Fassbender kill the two assassins? It's not like they're still after him. Besides, they botched the hit, so shouldn't they also be getting killed by Hodges?
3. Is Fassbender good at his job or not? He keeps monologuing about preparedness, not improvising, staying under the radar, etc, but he keeps making questionable decisions. Here's just a few things I remember off the top of my head:

• Throwing his backpack into a garbage truck, while the garbage men are literally right there and just happen not to notice. If they'd noticed, they could have opened it and found his equipment.
• Not wearing a mask when he's attacking the taxi place.
• Putting on his black latex gloves in the elevator right in front of the Fed-Ex guy, who even reacts to it with a suspicious look.
• Going into Hodges' office knowing he's going to kill him and the receptionist, even though the dustbin he brings clearly isn't big enough for two corpses.
• Shooting Hodges' laptop without knowing if the files were on it.
• Shooting Hodges in the lungs and then expecting him to talk (???)
• Going to Florida with no other plan than to shoot the Floridan guy without a mask and then burn his house down with a molotov cocktail. It worked, but it's not exactly inconspicuous, is it?
• Confronting Claybourne without a mask

Also, one last nitpick: in the beginning he mentions being tired of uncreative jobs, and that it's been too long since he's done a cool kill like a drowning or a poisoning. When he finally gets to kill people on his own terms, he uses...a gun. For every single target. Am I missing something?

The last of us 2
I've seen this game criticized for It's story so much that people completely miss out on the gameplay. Or probably just choose to ignore it, say that gameplay is mediocre because the story has ruined the whole experience for them.
I love these characters but if the game plays the way it plays, I couldn't give a rats ass of what happens in the story, and for me, Gameplay makes up for everything, even intrigues me in the story thoroughly.
I've seen some complaints that It's outdated, I don't know what we are comparing this to? But to me what the game does, does better than what other games do. Shooting is phenomenal and so satisfying, It does it better than Rockstar, Remedy.. Melee is fantastic too, crafting and exploration IMO does it better that those survival games that are known for it, because you will always find something interesting while exploring, a cool note, a surprise by zombies, interesting monologues, dialogues. (I'm not saying It's better than stuff like Day Z, but for a singleplayer story driven game, It is pretty phenomenal)
I didn't feel like a stealth, ninja, assassin this way since the old splinter cell games, and this is that but up by 100.
It also gives of that Resident Evil vibe with exploration, resource management and puzzles. Even though the puzzles are a bit bare boned, It's still nice that it has some inclusions here and there.
But I've caught myself dozens of times just trying to save ammo, not waste it, especially versus stuff like shamblers. And once I actually killed a shambler, It didn't feel just like another zombie kill, I actually felt pretty cool about it since I'm playing on grounded. Making it that moment " Holy shit Ellie, you just took out a shambler "
What do you guys think? Did the story ruin the overall experience for you, or did you get a kick out of the gameplay?
Edit :By the way I got a dm from someone who got upset that I liked the game and told me that I should reconsider it. Really creepy.

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https://preview.redd.it/o6z858oxgazc1.png?width=745&format=png&auto=webp&s=23726b445f2b8223fff6c512413c1aec085ec751
Spoilers for any plot points involving Mandragora and Tara in Episode 9 and onwards, as well as What the Firelight Casts and a little bit of Lingering Echoes. I’ll only be touching on the Horn lines in Episode 14 since I don’t want to read too far ahead and they’re kinda the main focus, but feel free to discuss anything related to Tara that may have come up because I am interested. Anything translated from CN text I can not really verify since I do not speak Chinese.
TL;DR: The conflicting information regarding Mandragora’s status is likely intentional. I like her because she is a complex character to the point where the community feels split on whether they want her to be alive or dead. She doesn’t need to become playable. Mandragora can either be alive or dead at this point. Let HG cook and hopefully they do something with either her living or her death since neither were utilized. Please give us another Dublinn/Tara event soon.
I also want to mention that a lot of my research was done using the Terra Wiki. If anything sounds familiar, it’s because I spent the last 3 days cross referencing with the story itself. Anything that crosses the line into plagiarism is not my intent, I’m just stupid and haven’t written an essay in years. Obligatory “stop using the Fandom wiki. Please support the Terra Wiki.” Fandom is super out of date at this point and is objectively a worse user experience. Also, the person who changed Mandragora’s status to “Deceased?” is a legend. I laughed at it since it’s so unclear at the moment.

An Attempt to Clarify Mandragora’s Status (and also defend Hypergryph’s writing decisions)

Why do I like Mandragora?

Mandragora is a character that gets a lot of reactions from the community whenever she’s brought up. It’s pretty easy to see why if you’ve read Episode 9, she’s not exactly a good person on a simple black and white scale of morality. She’s short-tempered, ruthless, seems to hate anyone that isn’t Taran or otherwise allied with the Tarans, sometimes even hating those who are allied with the Tarans. Perfect villain material for the episode she’s the main villain of; Episode 9, where her list of war crimes rivals many of our own war criminals in Rhodes Island. But what makes Mandragora a fascinating character to me are a whole lot of factors regarding the history of Victoria and its relationship with Tara. Mandragora didn’t just wake up one day and decide to start slaughtering random civilians on the streets. Mandragora is the premier character to give us insight into how average Taran citizens are treated in “modern” Victoria, which is why I hope that Hypergryph didn’t decide to retroactively remove her from the story. I also want to go through a lot of the statements made on her status to attempt to clear the air regarding speculation on her status, since I keep seeing people make statements that, while aren’t completely false, can’t exactly be proved with our current knowledge of the story. So as to say, stop making assumptions and let HG cook.
I should probably add since creating an essay about a character like this makes me seem unhinged, which I am, but I’m not exactly a simp for this character. She’s probably my favorite character in regards to story in the game right now, I’ll admit that much, and if she becomes playable I’ll pull for her regardless of meta status. That being said, if she never becomes playable then I’m fine with that too, so long as she gets a satisfying conclusion to her story or if her death does something for the story or characters, like Guard. The purpose of this is to create discussion, not to beg for a banner or event, though I’ll definitely take one if given.

Meet the Tarans

To start, let’s look at the history of Tara. Pretty much all of the history surrounding Tara revolves around the fact that Tara and Victoria were once separate nations until Tara was annexed in a process described as peaceful by the Victorians, but as forced subjugation by the Tarans (Reed Alter’s Files, Archive 3). Which account is more accurate cannot objectively be proved, but it doesn’t matter a whole lot. We see Tarans get treated pretty poorly by Victorians throughout events they are present in. While this isn’t the exact reason Dublinn was formed, it is what their goals seem to align to for a lot of their members. Of course, we haven’t had the focus on them in quite a while, and Eblana seems less concerned about that aspect than her own ambitions, which is why I think Mandragora is such a necessary character for Dublinn to have. Eblana and Reed are both nobility -Reed is far more sympathetic to the plight of the average Taran citizen, but as a noble, she does have certain privileges that common people like Mandragora don’t have. As well as being playable, we also know that things work out for her just fine in the end. Unless of course HG starts throwing screwballs at us in the future.
I do hope we learn more about Dublinn, Tara, and their conflict with Victoria in the near future, since it seems like the Sarkaz have taken center stage for the current main story arcs, which is definitely fine and this isn’t a complaint about what direction the main story should be headed in. It would be much better told in an event since it doesn’t relate to the main cast as much.

A Bit More About the Cat

What do we currently know about Mandragora? Well, she’s angry about a lot of things for a pretty good reason and hates being looked down on. This stems from her issues with the Victorian nobility, but are not limited to them specifically. She hates the Sarkaz seemingly for the same reason and I’m sure she’d hate anyone else who does the same. She’s also not Infected, which I didn’t really pay attention to until people started discussing how she could have died. This is something to note since it means that any oppression she’s faced has entirely been due to her being Taran, rather than the standard treatment the Infected face.
She isn’t only ruthless though. In Episode 10 when she’s among her own people, we see her care about their wellbeing as they attempt to extract the Spy, Cillian, from Sarkaz occupied territory. While it’s stated that they’re old friends, it does go to show that she does have the capacity to show compassion and isn’t simply sociopathic. Sure, she’s a little crazy, but if she was shouting “eat the rich” a good majority of you would probably be down with it.
Along with caring for her own soldiers, we know that she really looks up to the Leader of Dublinn, Eblana. One of the main motivators for her to rescue the Spy was to gain further approval from her. She even seems to be taken aback when the Spy states that they’ve been abandoned. In What the Firelight Casts, it’s stated that The Elocutionist, one of the commanders who were vaporized by Outcast, was apparently manipulating her into fracturing Dublinn, which could mean that the higher ups didn’t really care for Mandragora. Her entire relationship with Eblana was possibly one-sided. And considering she was upset that Harmonie was by the Leader’s side and worried that the Leader may discard the commoners of Dublinn, she may have realized that by the end of her story.
Harmonie does mention in 10-13 that Eblana has “never forgotten her first Taran compatriots,” but whether that is true or not is unknown.

The Cat’s “Death”

By this point, anyone who has read the story knows how 10-8 through 10-13 play out. To summarize, Mandragora breaks the Spy out of a factory she was entrusted by Manfred to defend. She runs into Horn on the way and they make it very clear that they do not like one another before going separate ways. Horn runs into Manfred and gets saved by Misery. They both comment on how out of her league Mandragora is when it comes to escaping Manfred, how she likely won’t escape the factory alive, and how she’s beyond saving. All of the people Mandragora was leading were killed by Manfred’s forces and she makes a last stand after being surrounded. Manfred, frankly, embarrasses her in terms of combat prowess. After a final desperate attack on Manfred, she collapses among the bodies of her soldiers, left by Manfred to die.
By all means this would be a death scene, but then Misery had to show up and cause problems for us. Misery offers her a chance to escape to the sewers, which she seemingly refuses, leaving her fate unknown.

The Insanity Arc

Here starts the insanity arc of the cat fans. So much of the wording is ambiguous in regards to her final fate. A comment I’ve seen a lot recently is “she isn’t infected, why would she die from exhaustion,” which I agree with. However, she was surrounded by Manfred and his men and even seemingly struck by Manfred, but with a blunt sound effect used, meaning not by his sword. I don’t think it’s reasonable to assume Manfred and his men just stood around blocking attacks until Mandragora exhausted herself, but there also isn’t any blood in the image of her lying on the ground. Simply a description of what she feels.
If you take everything at face value you can say she died, but there’s so much literary spinning going on that it becomes unclear. Death is so flowery in literature. Did Mandragora die? Did “Mandragora” die? What does “she has met the true Death” mean?
The answer can really only lie in the mind of the reader at this point of the story. Either Mandragora died literally, or “met the true Death” refers to “Mandragora” as the commander of the Specter Force dying. All of her aspirations at this moment have failed and she is on the ground at her seemingly lowest point. Her old friend is dead in front of her, she’s surrounded by the bodies of those she cared about; she has been abandoned by Eblana, the one she looks up to the most; she might have realized that she was disposed by Dublinn in general; she was embarrassed and pitied by her enemy, and now she’s being told that by lowering herself even further and climbing into the sewers by a different enemy, she can have a chance to start again. It sounds like the most literary “death” you could ever write. However, this is literary analysis. A different reader could simply comment “nuh-uh” and shut this down immediately. Some people just want the cat dead, which is fair, since there’s enough evidence to support that she simply dies here as well.
Welcome to literary analysis, where everything is made up and everything makes a lot of sense and no sense simultaneously. As a quick note, I did pretty well in my AP Literature classes in high school, and that’s my only claim. Someone smarter than me can call me stupid and there’s nothing I can do about it since I don’t have a degree in English Literature and high school was quite a bit ago. Forward this to an English major that plays AK or something. I’d be curious to hear what they think.

Contradictions

Anyways, 3-4 months later, What the Firelight Casts is released. Dublinn officers reveal that they believe Mandragora is dead (FC-2 After). Harmonie also reveals that she did crawl into the sewers and die (FC-6 After). Eblana also reveals that she is aware that Mandragora crawled into the sewers and died (FC-8 Before). People say this is a contradiction and that Hypergryph forgot, but wait for a moment because then randomly, years later in Episode 14, Horn reveals to Bagpipe that she confirmed her death and buried Mandragora outside the walls of Londinium.
Now from this point forward, all we can do is wait and speculate. I’ve seen so many Mandragora believers say so many things about all of this. That HG did Mandragora dirty, they forgot her story, killed her offscreen, etc.
I’ll start by saying that is one possibility. It is entirely possible that Mandragora is just a side character to them and they forgot her story while writing. I find it unlikely though. How many times has Arknights/HG set up a story point months/years in advance of actually using it? To give a relevant example, Outcast’s death was foreshadowed in IS1 with the Broken Revolver Cylinder artifact. 2 months after is when Episode 9 released. For a less related example, how about the key from the end of Grani and the Knights’ Treasure being brought up in Under Tides 7 months later, then again in Stultifera Navis years later. I find two things unlikely: the first is that they would forget important character plot points like this, and the second that they would bring up a character for no reason. It’s because of this that I don’t think they would kill a character for no reason either. Let’s start by comparing Mandragora with some different corpses.

Guard and Gertrude and Killing Characters

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the circumstances of Guard’s death as a whole, and there was already a post talking about how AK isn’t at the end game with comments like, “no HG isn’t killing off characters because they’re running out of story room” that covers it better than I could be bothered to here. I mainly want to give my opinion on character deaths in Arknights and stories in general.
In stories, important characters, both heroes and villains, rarely die without reason. Everyone has a certain level of narrative plot armor that stops them from being randomly hit by a car or stray bullet. If an important hero dies, it will have setup, and the payoff will usually reverberate throughout the story as it continues. If a villain dies, it’s usually because it’s usually towards the heroes’ goals, or a bigger, badder villain needs to strut their stuff.
Arknights doesn’t really work on a “good guy, bad guy” two-sided chart. There are good people and bad people, but a lot of gray between. Guard is a bit of a villain during the Reunion arc since he kinda betrays us for them, but is treated as a good guy from Reunion’s perspective in Episode 13. His death, while some think is a bit too sudden, is treated as a hero’s death. The setup is him making contact with an outside group, getting caught in a tragedy, and leaving a final message to Reunion to accept everyone, not just the Infected, which no doubt will have an impact going forward. Thinking about it more, it’s a good ass death. It seems like it acts as a mirror to Alina’s death. One of the final things Alina says to Talulah is to never hate anyone, Guard’s final words are to accept everyone. Alina’s death causes Talulah to fall into her rage, which nearly destroys Reunion, Guard’s death seems to almost bolster Reunion.
For an example of a villain’s death, Gertrude gets killed while monologuing. It’s sudden, might have been foreshadowed, I don’t remember Lingering Echoes very well and I haven’t read Zwillingsturme yet to see if it has any impact. She dies because she was an obstacle in the heroes’ way.
Mandragora doesn’t really fall into either category. If she is truly dead, her death has had zero impact. She also wasn’t in the way of any hero. Did she die for Manfred to strut his stuff? It doesn’t really seem like that either; he was already an established threat and hasn’t done much strength based villainy since then.
The point I’m getting to with this is that narratively, it doesn’t really make any sense to kill Mandragora at this point. She isn’t a threat, she isn’t a hero, her death would have no impact on any characters, and it would only serve as comeuppance for her actions in Episode 9. But death isn’t that bad of a consequence compared to the alternative, which is her continuing to live knowing that she had been fooled into becoming an enemy to her cause, abandoned by the leader she looks up to, and all of her friends are dead to an enemy that embarrassed her by letting her live out of pity.

Short Summary About Misery

Misery probably didn’t kill Mandragora. Almost certainly, but we can never be certain about these things. We don’t know a whole lot about Misery, but we have a few things. First, he was best friends with Outcast, which would be a decent reason to kill Mandragora for, since she’s indirectly responsible for her death. This is contradicted by the second; he “wants to let the living live” (9-20) in regards to Outcast’s death. In fact, he seems to be opposed to killing in general. “I’m no assassin. Unless it’s called for, I have zero desire to harm any Sarkaz at all” (10-12 After). Speculating on this would be pointless, we need more information. All of this to say, he likely wouldn’t let any potential ill will get in the way of his job in regards to Mandragora.

Clearing the HG Bad Writing Allegations

Let’s go over what every character saw from their perspective. Harmonie says that she died in the sewers. In Episode 14,Horn says offhandedly that she confirmed her death and buried her outside the wall of Londinium. Let’s go over the possibilities of each perspective

Harmonie is a Double Agent

Section Title. Harmonie is a double agent. It’s ambiguous whether or not she witnessed the battle, but it’s possible she did. We also know that she’s close to Eblana, but not loyal, since she’s an employee of Rhodes Island. All of Dublinn believes she is dead. I think it’s reasonable to assume that Harmonie reported it, she was shown in 10-13 briefly as a transition during the battle, after all.
Let’s be honest though. Can you trust a character that looks like this: >:3
Or a character that is actively working as a double agent? Narratively, it makes no sense to bring Mandragora up in any conversation in WTFC. It feels more like foreshadowing that she’s still alive, but you can call that “cope” if you want.
I think it’s possible that Harmonie is covering for her here. If she was captured by Rhodes Island for information, then it would be advantageous for Dublinn to not know that.
On top of this, if they did witness Mandragora go into the sewers, did they go into the sewers to check? It really just feels like an assumption on Dublinn’s part.

Misery Captured Mandragora for Information

This is still my personal belief. I’ll cover Horn in a moment, but this does not contradict her statement to Bagpipe.
Why would Misery, or anyone in that vicinity, leave a valuable source of enemy information lying in the street? It would make very little sense in a world like Arknights, which is generally pretty logic driven. Of course, Harmonie could have all the information they need, but even still it doesn’t make sense to simply leave her alone. We’ve captured worse war criminals in the past and will in the future.
Here’s a tweet from the “hear ye hear ye” guy. I don’t fully subscribe to this notion since Harmonie could have told us all of this and it actively de-confirms Eblana as playable, which is a whole can of worms I’m not opening, but it is food for thought in regards to this.

A Certain Character's Statement in Episode 14 Has Two Outcomes

I have no clue if I need to tag this is spoilers. If you're reading this, you probably already know the scene I'm talking about. If you're scared of Episode 14 spoilers, it's about 10 lines at most. Otherwise, just keep scrolling I guess.
Hear me out here guys. First off, I don’t speak Chinese. Here’s a non-MTL translation of the scene. I can’t confirm anything, since I don’t know Chinese, so let’s just take it at face value.
I really quickly want to debunk another thing I see said. Yes, Horn could have been in contact with Mandragora after she got wrecked by Manfred. 10-12 After, she gets saved by Misery. 10-13, Misery gets in contact with Mandragora after she gets bodied. 10-14 Before, Horn and Misery are both in the same locale. Manfred had already left, which is why Misery could walk over. You could chalk it up to his Arts, but nothing about the scene or story tells us that Horn couldn’t just walk over with him or otherwise be standing behind him, just off screen.

They're Telling the Truth

We can take the scene at face value. Misery captured Mandragora, she died in their care, Horn gave Mandragora a proper burial despite her hatred for her. Cat is dead. She hesitates when speaking because she is in disbelief that she could show an enemy like that compassion

They're Lying

Bagpipe is going through it in that scene. Horn tells a lie to make her feel better, hesitating because she's thinking of something on the spot. Which part is she lying about? The part where she got in contact with Mandragora, the part that Mandragora died, the part that she buried Mandragora? Take your pick to suit your theory.
Basically, Horn would need to lie, which feels out of character, or be deceived for this to be true.

Could They Have Been Deceived?

Misery was in the area and has matter manipulation Arts. It would be weird though. I don’t think Horn was part of Rhodes Island at this point though, so if he was trying to extract Mandragora then I could see it happening.

Where could Mandragora be now?

Here are all the relevant possibilities:

• Dead in the sewers
  • Harmonie wasn’t kidding, Horn was lying
• Dead, buried outside the city walls
  • Horn was telling the truth
• Dead, next to Spy’s body
  • Everyone was lying, she just dies lmao
• Alive, chilling among the bodies
  • Misery was just testing her loyalty or something, was not taken
• Alive, angrily digging her way out of the ground again
  • Horn wasn’t lying, but Mandragora somehow faked her death
  • Also a parallel to her backstory, which would be fitting
• Alive, in Rhodes Island’s custody for information
  • Horn lied to keep Bagpipe calm about this
• Dead, a corpse in Eblana’s corpse army
  • Actually completely possible
  • Super messed up

Conclusion

Mandragora is a character whose plot feels unresolved compared to other “dead” characters. I can’t see any reason for HG to continue bringing her up unless they really want to crush our hopes, or if they’re foreshadowing her return. WTFC first ran 18 months ago in CN and was the last mention of her until Episode 14. If another Dublinn/Taran event happens and she isn’t mentioned in any way then we can assume she is dead. If they say she’s dead again, then she is absolutely not dead because why would they keep bringing it up? To hurt people’s feelings? I don’t even think Frostnova had this many random mentions after the fact, and her death had an actual impact.
In conclusion, I don’t really care if she’s alive or dead. I just want closure. As in a conclusion. I do want Closure too.
Let me know if I got anything wrong and I can edit the post. Thanks. Alternatively, call me stupid in the comments. As long as there's discussion about the cat I'm happy.
The TL;DR is at the top. This was about 2-4 hours of researching and about 2-3 hours of writing. Thanks to ikusahime22 for proofreading.

If only we could get the mixture of phenomenal budget and production quality of s6-s8 with the writing, character development and intrigue from s1-s4.
Still, there are a few good monologues and this particular exchange between Dany and Varys is a really good piece of writing IMO:
Varys is on the hot seat, as Dany points out his inconsistencies, his betrayals, his temperate allegiance. He has had to acknowledge that he used to serve her father, than her usurper and is now asking to support her while managing through her insistence on him acknowledging his betrayals. Tyrions comments and defenses to Varys' aid are either being dismissed or ignored.
In her fervor, he begins to slump down, growing more uncomfortable in her judgment and tirade about his loyalty - until Tyrion inadvertently sets up the perfect volley:
Dany: Ah I never thanked you for that, did I Lord Varys? (referring to the alliances with both Dorne and Highgarden)
Varys: They joined because they believed in you, my grace
Dany: You served my father didn't you? (walking closer)
Varys: I did
Dany: And you served the usurper, Robert Baratheon
Varys: I did. It was either the headman's axe or Rob---
Dany: (interrupts) ---but you didn't serve him long....before you turned against him?

Varys: Robert was an improvement over your father to be sure. There have been few rulers in history as cruel as the Mad King. Robert was neither mad, nor cruel - he simply had no interest in being king.
Dany: So you took it upon yourself to find a better one?
<Tyrion tries to defend Varys, she cuts him off and returns to her questioning>
Dany: Before I came into power, you favored my brother? All your spies, your little birds. Did they tell you that Viserys was stupid, cruel and weak? Are these the qualities of a good ruler in your learned opinion?
Varys: Before your marriage to Khal Drogo, I knew nothing about you your grace except that fact that you existed.
Dany: Who gave the order to kill me?
<Uncomfortable Silence>
Varys: King Robert
Dany: Who hired the assassins? Who sent word to Essos to kill Daenerys Targaryen?
Varys: Your grace, I did what I had to---
<Dany cut hims off pointing out his inconsistencies, that he will gladly trade in one monarch, seemingly at a whim, she gets closer and closer to him and he begins to diminish under the intense questioning, not making eye contact>
Tyrion: Your grace, Varys has proven himself a loyal servant
Dany: "Proven himself loyal???" Quite the opposite! If he doesn't like one ruler he conspires against them to make another.... What kind of loyal servant is that?
<The energy changes completely. Varys, on the defense until just now stands up straight, fire and steel in his voice>
Varys: The kind the realm needs.
Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty and as long as I have my eyes I shall USE THEM.
I wasn't born into a great house. I came from nothing. I was sold as a slave and carved up as an offering and lived in allies and empty buildings. You want to know where my loyalty lies? Not with any king or queen, but the people. The ones who suffer under despots and prosper under just rule. The people whose hearts you aim to win.
If you demand "blind allegiance", I respect your position and you can have Grey Worm kill me, or feed me to a dragon, but if you let me live, I will serve you and I will dedicate myself to seeing you on the throne because I choose you.
​
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I don't know if it happens to you, but something that worries me a lot is that the legion has decided to call Shin "Báleygr", being this one of the many names given to the god Odin in Norse mythology.
I am not an expert, but to give some context, Norse mythology tells us that at the end of time Odin will lead the gods and men against the forces of chaos in the battle of the end of the world, the Ragnarök.
There, this god will be killed and devoured by the terrible wolf Fenrir.
Why this worries me, you may ask. Well, basically because of two specific things.
The first one is that I've been feeling for a while that Raiden has a pretty big deathflag. Besides bearing the personal name Wehrwolf, on different occasions it's suggested to us that he descends from the Vargus.
In Old Norse mythology, the vargus (vargr, synonymous with "wolf") are in particular the wolf Fenrir and his sons, Sköll and Hati Hróðvitnisson. If we remember who it is that murders and devours the god Odin, it's quite disturbing to think about Raiden's background.
Based on this, several questions arise for me, the main one being:
— Will Raiden be the one who, finally turned legion, assassinates Shin during the final battle?
It would break my heart, really.
The second thing that makes me uneasy, has to do with another of the names given to Fenrir.
Were you guys already nervous? Now you'll be more anxious, cause that name is nothing more and nothing less than "Vánagandr".
Many of us who are up to date with the novels know Giad's last actions.
Will it be a coincidence that another of the names of who assassinates Báleygr is precisely the same as the one carried by the Federation war machines?
Only time will tell. Sorry for the monologue, but I wanted to share my frustration and fear with you to see what you think. Asato is kind of scary to me.

Part 2 to the Foil Theory is here! (Here’s Part 1 for context.) Today, we’re discussing how it relates to the Commedia dell’Arte, Gnosticism, Greek mythology, historical figures, and the greater plot of Genshin Impact. Fair warning: This is long, and I can’t finish this analysis without addressing other major in-game lore, pop-culture references, and real-world history. Stop reading now if you're concerned with possible spoilers.
“Haven’t You Beaten This Topic to Death Already?!”
The first post only served as groundwork for lore & theories. The symbol attributed to Pantalone on the Harbinger’s Wheel is likely the Globus Cruciger, or the “orb and cross.”
https://preview.redd.it/fv67i4wkbhyc1.png?width=168&format=png&auto=webp&s=bd8fecd7de95272ed9df0664536fe50e2d9cf49d
It’s a Christian symbol intended to represent God’s dominion over the world. The orb and cross are sometimes seen alongside the Barmas: a Russian collacrown featuring 7 medallions.
https://preview.redd.it/w6ar7y5qbhyc1.jpg?width=287&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=65698ae9ba494483e323d7acff9d70fe9396f1b9
*There’s a misconception these represent “heresy.” That was how they were treated by another videogame developer, not real-world history. Pantalone is wearing the Globus Cruciger as a ring.
https://preview.redd.it/arsekqemchyc1.jpg?width=668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d9fd05f3ad85d04d1d2e4de0e9da984463bf025c
Now can we properly discuss Pants. Let's start with Pappus:
The Attelan stock character Pappus may have played a forerunner, or Harbinger, to Pantalone. Given the way formal theatre literature framed this, I chose to investigate Pappus first.
The name Pappus likely originated from the Greek ‘Pappos,’ meaning “grandfather” or “old man.” He was typically portrayed as a fool who was easily tricked by his wife or daughter. He may have been based on Pappus of Alexandria: a Greek mathematician who wrote 8 volumes of mathematical texts featuring Euclidian geometric principles and other subjects (called “Synagoge.”)
What’s Euclidian Geometry? “Euclidean geometry is a mathematical system attributed to ancient Greek mathematician Euclid, which he described in his texts on geometry, “Elements.” Pappus’ own work on projective planes was partly influenced by “Elements.” ‘Elements’ refers to geometric mathematical principles.
The Pappus Configuration is a configuration of nine points and nine lines in the Euclidean plane, with three points per line and three lines through each point.
That’s cool, but… I’m here for the gorgeous banker? Okay, okay. As I researched Pappus, it became evident that some works and terminology associated with him and Euclid may have been repurposed along with Gnostic premises for Genshin Impact’s plot. I’m operating on the assumption Hoyoverse read some of the same formal sources I did, so it feels criminal to omit these details. Moving on…

Commedia dell’Arte Pantalone
He’s consistent in his behaviomannerisms, and his role in the plot. He’s typically an affluent Venetian merchant whose greatest fear is financial loss, and encompasses everything his (proposed) primary inspiration isn’t.
Pantalone is rich, greedy, lecherous, pompous, and prone to mismanaging business and personal affairs. He’s often partnered with Il Dottore in some capacity, sometimes married to La Signora, and often the father of one of the Innamorati. When he plays the father of one of the Innamorati alongside Dottore, they work together to keep the Lovers separated at all costs.
Some players discounted the Commedia dell’Arte influence on the Fatui Harbinger’s lore because it was comedic. However, “our” Pantalone is somewhat consistent with his Commedia dell’Arte image, and there are several Lazzos/background history that seem to have been foreshadowed already. Here’s an amazing example featuring Pulcinella:
-Lazzo of the Inside (Potential Pulcinella Spoilers)
To create the illusion of ferociousness, Pulcinella (hidden behind a door from the Captain) fakes the voices of servants being beaten by him. That’s the entire punchline of this Lazzo.
-Lazzo of Greeting (Potential Pulcinella Spoilers)
“Pulcinella greets the Captain or another character with what seems like great respect. He says, "You are the son of Jove, the new moon, and twice the last name of Alexander!" Then, Pulcinella explains, "The son of Jove refers to Bacchus, who is depicted as a goat. The new moon is represented by horns, and the last name of Alexander is Magno. When repeated twice, it becomes magno-magno. So, the entire greeting means: 'Eat it up, eat it up, you horned goat [cuckold].'"
In Genshin Impact, Tartaglia speaks of Pulcinella as a concerned-grandpa-type looking out for his family, while Wanderer is convinced that Pulcinella’s real message to Tartaglia is something to the effect of “your family’s lives are in my hands.” These Lazzo tells us who’s more likely to be correct. Pulcinella being made out to be as malicious as he’s implied may be an illusion, and he may not share the loyalty/regard to the organization that other members do in spite of his cooperative front. Wanderer’s take on his behavior speaks only to affirming personal biases. (Keep in mind that Wanderer assumes the worst of everyone, and that About voicelines alone don’t necessarily speak to the full truth; only the character’s perception of the truth.)

Lazzo of Pantalone’s Story

“Pantalone begins to tell ridiculous and impossible stories about adventures he has supposedly had with well-known figures from medieval/ancient history.”
The punchline is that he talks about this at great lengths, and nobody believes him. I questioned how Hoyoverse may have used this Lazzo, and came at it from several angles that all felt equally ridiculous. It got messier when I factored in the possibilities behind other popular theories. He’s King Deshret, he’s a Vishap-person, he’s Nibelung, he’s Changsheng’s evil segment, he’s Rouran, he’s Ouroboros incarnate, he’s the one who founded the Wangshang Funeral Parlor, he’s Baizhu moonlighting as a Harbinger, he’s a priest who ventured into the Abyss, he’s an Abyss Mage/Lector, he’s the Heart of Naberius, he’s a soldier who fell into the Chasm, he’s Caribert, he’s immortal Clothar Alberich, etc.
In the end, I chose to interpret this as “Pantalone is ancient, and has likely played more than one historical role in Genshin Impact.” Why?
https://preview.redd.it/ajip2vykfhyc1.jpg?width=1432&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b059c939bf35fa24e13394f11650edc5bdedce13
1: Saint Pantaleon/Pantaleimon, Christian healer & martyr in Greek-speaking Roman City of Nicomedia:
https://preview.redd.it/tsbk2myofhyc1.jpg?width=205&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87e95b2fe8ea409732c8ada8e5e0ed6004b29870
St. Pantaleon (meaning ‘all things like a lion,) better known as St. Pantaleimon (the all-compassionate) is commonly suggested to have inspired Commedia Pantalone, making Commedia Pantalone a traditional foil to his real-world counterpart. Born and raised with a Pagan education during Diocletian’s persecution of Christians, Pantaleon gravitated to medicine. One day, he happened upon a child who’d been killed by a viper. Saving the child was beyond his power as a mortal physician, and Pagan gods wouldn’t come through. As a test of faith, he prayed to God. The child was revived, & the viper was killed. He’s renamed Pantaleimon, usually upon converting to Christianity.
He went on to treat everyone without charge (including restoring a blind man’s sight to convert his father,) and treated prisoners freely too, many of whom were Christians. Jealous doctors who’d lost patients to Pantaleimon’s goodwill responded by reporting him to Emperor Maximian for healing Christians. Emperor Maximian ordered Pantaleimon to sacrifice to Pagan gods, but he refused and proposed a test of faith. A sick person for whom there was no hope would be brought before them, and each would pray to God/Pagan Gods to see who came through. They brought in a paralyzed man. Pagan Gods didn’t respond. Pantaleimon un-paralyzed the man using the power of God. Now playing “Big Mad,” Maximian responded by killing the unparalyzed guy, and sentencing Pantaleimon to torture. However, the power of God protected Pantaleimon from a ton of your usual Roman violence (boiling, stabbing, etc) so Maximian ordered his execution.
At the site of his execution, God called down to him. The soldier's swords softened upon their attempts to execute him. He forgave the soldiers ordered to kill him, they repented, he told them to off him anyway to protect them, and he was beheaded. However, his body refused to decay.
St. Pantaleimon is the best evidence Pantalone plays a foil to Genshin Impact’s Baizhu, and the best evidence of a potential Alberich/Khaenri’ah allegory.
Baizhu is currently following a path similar to Pantaleimon’s. Though he extorted Pantalone indirectly over the Everlasting Incense, he’s also known to treat people freely when they can’t afford him. He’s the pharmacist from Liyue we work with to cure Anna’s illness, and he used his research on Qiqi to save Jialiang's life. He’s currently in pursuit of immortality, which Pantaleimon appeared to achieve in the end, and was ultimately killed for.
The narrative similarities to Clothar’s pleas to the Statue of the Seven in saving Caribert are too flagrant to ignore. The Archons don’t answer, but the “Sinner” did, and imbued Caribert with the Loom of Fate (said to be of Primordial Creation) saving Caribert. This story may imply that the “Sinner” is some aspect of the Primordial One.
2: Pantaleon/Pantaleimon Sudzhaksky:
https://preview.redd.it/s5i0qz5tfhyc1.png?width=259&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf83222e16a669c9ce0caf3e7fe31236aa830985
I could only find Bulgarian Orthodox & Russian Orthodox sources mentioning this variation of St. Pantaleimon’s background. Some are conflicting on whether healing was involved. He was born into extreme poverty, sent to work in an old shoe shop and doing other odd jobs from a young age to survive. A terrible plague swept across his homeland, and he was left wandering alone, surrounded by endless death. He sought understanding/help, and ended up in a monastery on Mount Athos (an important Greek center of Eastern Orthodox Monostacism.) He inquired persistently as to the nature of life and death, and became fixated on partaking in Holy Communion, believing it to bestow eternal life. He would eventually be expelled for partaking in excess, and went on to become a religious leader whose followers lived in poverty. He believed communion to be their salvation; everlasting connection to God. He was persecuted by the Greek patriarch, and arrested under orders of the Bishop of Adrianople. However, he and his followers would go on to unite with the Catholic Church. He was later venerated in Bulgaria and Russia as Saint Pantaleimon, suggesting multiple “St. Pantaleimon” inspirations. 1 article claims he founded a religion known as Pantaleymonovsty: I can't find anything else to expand on this.
His story is similar to Baizhu’s with the loss of his parents during a plague and pursuit of immortality, but more closely resembles Pantalone’s, given his implied profound experience with destitution, and rhetoric dictated by religion & leadership. This St. Pantaleimon lends more credence to the Foil theory, as well as several Liyue and religion-oriented theories, which leads me to…
3. Holy Prophet Mani, the Zoroastrian Martyr:
https://preview.redd.it/uq4w8z0xfhyc1.png?width=419&format=png&auto=webp&s=1805da0ff16a3e8d3e1d3f60d16722992f5ee061
I generally avoid using Wikipedia summaries, but when formal sources back them up and I can’t find a better way to summarize info, they’re helpful.
“Mani was an Iranian prophet and the founder of Manichaeism, a religion most prevalent in late antiquity. The exact meaning of the name is a question still unsolved. It may have derived from Babylonian-Aramaic Mânâ [luminescence].” Mandaeans used the term mânâ rabba, which means "Enlightened Lord/King". Ancient Greek interpretations were skeuos (σκεῦος, vessel, instrument) and homilia (ὁμιλία, intercourse, company, communion, instruction.)
Here’s where the Foil theory gets interesting:
Baizhu’s birthday is April 25th. This is also the date commemorating Mani’s birth.
A prophet who blended Gnosticism with Buddhist and Zoroastrian elements, Mani was arrested and martyred by Persian authorities, not unlike St. Pantaleimon. Meanwhile, our Pantalone is looking… An awful lot like a conglomeration of a different Saint Pantaleimon, and Commedia Pantalone.
4. King Pantaleon/Panteleimon:
https://preview.redd.it/ju1w6tk9ghyc1.jpg?width=571&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3fb6167f25c69d8c69ecceea7e6fc586e6414e1
King Pantaleon was a Greek King and successor to Demetrius I Anicetus the ‘Unconquered,’ who is thought by some to have been his brother. His copper-alloy coins may be suggestive of early Bactrian trade with China. His role is consistent with the ‘ruling with the authority of God’ sentiment behind the Globus Cruciger, and involves production of personalized currency.
5: Rouran Khaganate, "Zhongli"+ "Xiao", & "Pantaleon y las Visitadoras"
https://preview.redd.it/euhe6hunc41d1.png?width=696&format=png&auto=webp&s=9da881406ffe7b2ae3bd6b8fa1ea9a2f1941c0d2
Modernization/assimilation (Alatus = Xiao, Deus Auri = Zhongli, Abrax = Aberaku, etc) is a common theme Pantalone may have followed as an ancient entity. Considering this and his connection to Baizhu lends credence to the Rouran coin-replacement-as-warfare theory discussed in the first post. Furthermore, one of the last recorded Rouran was named Furen.
There’s also some interesting misinformation that Hoyo may have been inspired by to explain the similarities to Pantalone’s pose in Winter Night’s Lazzo, and the Harbinger’s cloaks. One historian/linguistic expert claimed linguistic origins revealed ‘Rouran’ may not have been a name, but an ancient term for anyone who defected from their nation/allegiance to serve a charismatic warlord. I say ‘misinformation’ because this was disproven by another historian. (The Rouran Khaganate overall is very misunderstood.)
Thanks to user Kameshazam, the "Pantalone is Rouran" theory may have been proven! Recall from the 1st post that "Rouran" owns the Flower Boat (referencing prostitution vessels) set in the harbor opposite of Bubu Pharmacy.
"Pantaleon y las Visitadoras" is a Peruvian comedic novel by Mario Vargas Llosa (allegedly based on real events) featuring a Captain Pantaleon Pantoja. Pantaleon is reluctantly sent on a mission by the Peruvian Army to... Cultivate a secret prostitution service intended to "satisfy" soldiers stationed there. Despite his misgivings, he follows orders. The services are referred to as "benefits" under an "audit" program, and the prostitutes are referred to as "visitadoras." Pantaleon becomes involved with one of the women, cheating on his wife with her. The woman is later assassinated by angry locals. In response, Pantaleon shows up to her funeral dressed in military attire, confirming to the public what was going on behind the scenes in the army. The resulting complaints ultimately end the "services," and the army sends Pantaleon to a garrison far away. Yet again, a Pantalone reference featuring leadership and conflicting morality.
6. Emperor Wang Mang:
https://preview.redd.it/4ry1lnpsghyc1.png?width=276&format=png&auto=webp&s=aa92e4d2c85750b27f29f7d1d3034604fc58c1e5
Again, because of Baizhu’s connection to Pantalone, we need to consult both Russian and Chinese history for analysis. To that end, recall Zhiyi, Pantalone’s cunning subordinate and the antagonist of Yelan’s Story Quest?
小泉直一 , or Xiaoquan zhi yi, meaning "Small Coin, Value One" in ***Classical Chinese* were introduced as the lowest denomination of a new currency system under Emperor Wang Mang’s rule of China*. Wang Mang was considered China’s first Socialist. Zhiyi’s name in Yelan’s Story Quest may be a reference to this, a *homonym essentially calling him low value – or as Uncle Tian puts it the EN translation, a “pawn.”
\Please note that there are multiple ways this was translated in different historical sources; if you attempt to use basic translating apps to investigate, you’re probably going to get nonsense-sounding results.*
Emperor Wang Mang was a Confucian ascetic who rose to power through his good standing. Wang Mang secured his position as Regent to the Emperor Ping by arranging a marriage between the Emperor and his own daughter. Later, it’s said that Wang Mang’s son conspired with the Emperor’s Uncles to end his regency. They were all put to death on Wang Mang’s orders for the ‘conspiracy.’ Emperor Ping would later die by unknown causes; whether it was natural, or a matter of poisoning is debated by historians. Wang Mang replaced him. He was known for his efforts to reform society through use of forward-thinking foreign policy, the imposition of taxes on slave owners, and currency replacement, though these efforts didn’t go over well. His intentions in all of this are uncertain; was he sincerely trying to help his people, or did he merely see these methods as a means of securing wealth and control? Whether he was ultimately a tyrant or a benevolent ruler is debated depending on the source.
More conflicting intentions and wealth inequality. He's easily likened to the contradictory impressions of Pantalone behaving like Commedia Pantalone (who also leveraged his child to benefit economically/politically) while wearing symbols related to the ‘all-compassionate’ Pantaleimon, like the Heart of Gold motif. That said, Emperor Wang Mang didn’t use currency replacement as a form of intercontinental warfare or defect to other countries, and other nuances to his background directly contradict Pantalone’s, which is why I concluded the Rouran Khaganate to be the other aspect to the monetary warfare/reform inspiration.
7. Commedia Pantalone
https://preview.redd.it/781xfg34hhyc1.png?width=230&format=png&auto=webp&s=30cd6d131000704f6db4ee3dd7e8433dbfe43acc
‘Our’ Pantalone and his associates encompass the extravagant and cruel nature depicted in his Commedia role so far. His subordinates are terrified of him, and they tend to operate in very underhanded ways: espionage, sabotage, monopolization of resources, even turning on one another when things get rough to come out on top.
A prime example of the company he keeps? The Rusty Rudder in Fontaine. It’s full of Pantalone’s sketchy associates, including a debt collector who hints at an imminent meeting and forcefully bribes us. You can find a correspondence between criminals in codewords, threatening to make unsuitable business partners wear “cement shoes”; in other words, threatening to tie them up, attach a weight to them, and drown them in the ocean. You can also find a bill referencing the suspicious transaction of 3 mysterious items we accidentally helped Pantalone complete with Landa when we first entered Liyue, as well as an article clipping referencing the fall of the criminal organization “Club Pantaloni di Novela” to the Spina di Rosula, further referencing the tendency of Commedia Pantalone’s plans to fail.
Arlecchino’s voiceline regarding him suggests he’s subtly temperamental; not as controlled as he believes himself to be, which tracks with Commedia Pantalone and Luoxia’s description of Rouran.
Furthermore, he purchased the pelt of an extinct legendary beast to offer as a gift to the Tsaritsa. Yelan stole it and repurposed it as a mantle as payback for Pantalone having stolen one of her Fascinating Bracelets. Both items were ancient (Yelan mentions the technology behind the bracelet is ancient,) but Pantalone seemed to have intimate knowledge to target them as he did, further implying “our” Pantalone possesses “old” knowledge related to Liyue. Traditional theatre instructions of Pantalone, Tartaglia, Dottore, and sometimes Capitano refer to them as “old men.”
8. Pappus:
https://preview.redd.it/44mz3y6ahhyc1.png?width=139&format=png&auto=webp&s=86ba93efacf20230cd59c7a7c62ac0771559ab31
The Attelan Farce refers to the Roman improvised masked comedies the Commedia dell’Arte was said to be inspired by. There’s a great deal of emphasis on Pappus’ age in the Attelan stock, with his name being the only one derived from Oscan; an extinct Italian language. (Capitano and Pulcinella are also thought to draw direct inspiration from other Attelan characters, though the details are debated.) Pappus’ foolishness is also emphasized like Commedia Pantalone’s, and real-world Pappus’ contributions to Euclidian Geometry as a skilled mathematician contrast against this starkly.
Genshin Pantalone is Baizhu’s Foil Commedia Pantalone is St. Pantaleimon’s Foil Commedia Pantalone is Commedia Il Dottore’s Comic Foil Attelan Stock Pappus is Commedia Pantalone’s Harbinger Attelan Stock Pappus is Pappus of Alexandria’s Foil
9. Enkanomiya Quests, The Legend of Zelda, Domain Murals, & Pantalone’s Design:
The ascending eyelet pattern on Pantalone’s shirt resembles the same eyelet pattern present in Domain murals, Seals, the Spiral Abyss dooportal, and certain sea entities
https://preview.redd.it/9b95b81jhhyc1.png?width=808&format=png&auto=webp&s=9afb1c92ed762af2e148a40b0436c1dee1aea0fd
Be warned that by addressing this, I might be spoiling serious plot points.
“The Pale Princess & the 6 Pygmies” The repeating pattern of 6 eyelets made this impossible for me to overlook. Lisa gives us the first volume at the very beginning of the game. We haven’t seen another since. Why? It holds weighty implications about the creation of the world & how the plot will progress. Some believed this story exclusively referenced Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and I agreed… Until I researched Pantalone, Enkanomiya, and Greek history. Then I spent a drunken evening saltily pulling it all apart again, with focus on the Night Mother. Why? Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella all took influence from older Greek or Roman mythology. (One example is the story of Chione, or ‘Snow.’ )
An Enkanomiyan Questline titled “Erebos’ Secret” had us endure 3 trials in the corners of Enkanomiya with the help of Eboshi. Finishing this questline dropped major lore. Many assumed ‘Erebos’ & ‘Eboshi’ were only references to the assimilation of Enkanomiyans into Narukami culture.
However, the symbol representing the Questline and other World Quests tells a different story (as does the history behind the name Erebos.) The symbol just so happens to resemble the brooch Pantalone is wearing, which leads us to:
https://preview.redd.it/sja95wess50d1.png?width=964&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb08ba45a084eda1c28b66e98913a3a3c0e9d46a
Yes, I’m likening Pantalone to Ganondorf in Twilight Princess, representing the Demiurge. The Odal Rune’s inversion on the brooch suggests Pants doesn’t possess the “natural” right to rule the world, which is how Phanes, the Demiurge in certain Gnostic beliefs, is regarded. Its position is akin to the position of Ganondorf’s fragment of the Triforce, and Ganondorf believes himself to be a rightful King. If you’ve never played the Zelda series, it revolves around the power of the Triforce, and the incarnations of Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf fighting the same battles of good and evil in different periods/worlds. Ganondorf is a Sorcerer King born with the innate right to rule the Gerudo. Ganon covets Hyrule Kingdom for the light and peace it holds (very unlike the dry, harsh Gerudo Desert) and attacks Hyrule. He’s caught and imprisoned in the Arbiter’s Grounds, sentenced to be executed by the 6 Sages.
https://preview.redd.it/8xd1kc0vt50d1.png?width=479&format=png&auto=webp&s=fb51e744b73a5424b3c0b5f0b8ae1c84b9966030
However, by some “divine prank,” the Sages are unable to execute him. As it turns out, he possesses the Triforce of Power – equated to the power of the Demiurge, as Din’s Power was said to have “shaped” the world from existing elements in Ocarina of Time.
https://preview.redd.it/a3ws3gzyt50d1.png?width=998&format=png&auto=webp&s=a54e054cd88b7ce58927b6d4b00df4e52226ca54
Sounding anything like Pantaleimon’s execution? The difference is that Ganon is innately evil. I don’t believe Pantalone is innately evil, otherwise there wouldn’t be hints towards his being in conflict with his emotions.
Moving on, if you research Erebos in the contexts of Greek mythology & Gnosticism (also spelled as Erebus) you’ll learn that he’s a Primordial God of Darkness, often Nyx’s counterpart in Primordial creation. Nyx is a Greek Primordial Goddess born in the darkness. She has many names across different cultures, and is often likened to Gaea.
The “Night Mother” represents Nox/Nyx in Greek & Gnostic beliefs. Looking at Nyx’s relationships in Cosmogony alongside Erebos allows us to explore the roles they can play. Genshin suggests Chronos and Ananke play a part (by way of the Domain floors featuring 2 golden, intertwined serpents/dragons.) Chronos and Ananke are serpentine entities said to squeeze the egg Phanes was born from. So we can focus on cosmological dynamics where Chronos and Ananke (or an egg) come “first.” For example:
-Some beliefs say that Nyx and Erebos can be born of Chaos (with Chaos taking the form of an egg.) They go on to create Aether and Hemera. -Others say Chaos comes first, followed by Nyx and Erebus. Then, Aether, Eros, and Metis are born. (Metis is sometimes used as an alternate name for Phanes.) -Yet other beliefs say that Nyx and Phanes can be born of Chronos and Ananke (who squeezed the egg to allow for their births.) They can be wife/husband or daughtefather.
Erebos' role as a partner creator-God to Nyx can be conflated with Phanes' role between some belief systems (although Erebos and Phanes are never directly/officially conflated. They either both exist as distinct entities, or only 1 of them plays a part in the belief system at all.) Together, they create more primordial entities to found the universe, but Nyx goes forgotten. For the “Supernatural” fans inevitably going OH MY GOD right now… Yes, you could liken them to Chuck and Amara. The ending to "Supernatural" was also informed by Greek & Roman mythology, and some Gnostic principles: Fortuna herself grew to believe in Sam and Dean’s self-determined heroism.
https://preview.redd.it/d3acp4jzu50d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=c60050f2f3af331c26bd611e7151c660fc396b76
Furthermore, in the Book of Genesis, it’s said that in the beginning of creation, God separated the Darkness from the rest of creation to protect it.
“The Separation of Light from Darkness is, from the perspective of the Genesis chronology, the first of nine central panels that run along the center of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”
So what is Erebos’ Secret?
-Eboshi’s secret regards the Unified Civilization and evolution of Vishaps
-Eboshi’s trials betray the identity of Phanes through the Legend of Zelda reference
-Erebos’ secret regards the fluidity of cosmogonies/roles between Greek and Gnostic sects, opening up a number of doors for interpretation in-game. If we keep trying to define roles in Genshin by one specific story or belief system’s canonical telling, we’ll miss a lot of nuance.
To that end, Erebos can also be “Aether’s” father. I’m referring to the Greek Aether.
Pantalone in the Commedia dell’Arte is the Father of one of the Innamorati. Before you go “but the Travelers aren’t the Innamorati,” hear me out.
https://preview.redd.it/i6thvslmv50d1.png?width=422&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ecebe2d36746c44f5e87cc159fa40008001f0b1
The Innamorati virtually never don masks in the original Commedia dell’Arte, and Genshin Impact went out of its way to make us wear a mask in Mondstadt. This drew players away from the assumption that the Twins represented the Lovers. I felt like it was a misdirection. So I also investigated the Innamorati, and their influence on later storytelling. Many popular stories are thought to have directly spun off of the dynamic between the Lovers.
The key takeaway about the Innamorati's influence ultimately wasn’t that they were lovers, but that their pursuit of one another drove the greater plot. A modern example would be Naruto and Sasuke's relationship in Naruto/Shippuden.
The Twins absolutely can be the Innamorati in modern storytelling, which means ‘Pantalone’ has the capacity to act as a ‘Father.’
It’s not a coincidence that the brooch Pantalone is wearing features the upside-down Odal rune in the same position as the ‘power’ segment of the Triforce when you consider the implications of the Globus Cruciger in godliness and authority to rule, and Genshin’s admission to having taken significant influence from Breath of the Wild. What could this make Pants, given his fixation with the natural rights of humanity? Daddy. The Father.
The ‘androgynous’ Phanes – or I should say, a part of Phanes. Which leads us to…

Cosmic Dualism, Baizhu, the Nag Hammadi, Manichaeism, and Phanes

Cosmic dualism relates to Gnostic principles of forces in opposition, similar (but not the same) to concepts like Yin-Yang. Depending on the belief system, it can regard the opposition of the material world and 'evil' God, framed against the immaterial and 'true' God. This is among the reasons why Baizhu is contrasted against Pantalone, and why they both feature black-and-white rhetoric and motifs.
'Cycles' regarding time and history are constants in-game. I suspect Phanes/his Shades ended up subject to Teyvat's ‘cycle.’ I have no idea how/when. So why would I draw this conclusion?
When I was doing my Pantalone/Baizhu analysis, I kept challenging my own take because they share so much in common besides their looks. Baizhu delayed naming Bubu Pharmacy to just start treating patients, and then named Bubu Pharmacy using anti-Gods wordplay. Pantalone complained about naming the Credit Coupons as he hatched the “removing Zhongli’s authority and replacing Mora” plan, and then gave them a similarly symbolic name.
So here was my reasoning: -What would you call 2 people who share the same ‘essence’ without being the same person? -What if they share the same soul? That’s a popular concept in many cultures, especially regarding Twins

There are distinct references to this concept in the Nag Hammadi, as well as references from Mani’s belief system.

The Nag Hammadi, an ancient and badly damaged Gnostic text, is full of references to places where souls go to be purified. It discusses models and copies of souls being transferred from one “path” to the next. (These obscure passages may also relate to Visions, but that part’s just supposition.)
-“[Souls] are located according to the power they have in themselves, [...] lower are produced by the copies. Those who receive a model of their souls are still in the world. They came into being after the departure of the aeons, one by one, and they are removed one by one from the copy of Exile to the Exile that really exists, from the copy of Repentance to the Repentance that really exists, [and from the] copy of Autogenes to [the Autogenes] that really exists. The remainder [...] the souls [...] exist in a [...] all [...] of aeons [...]
-( …) “He said, "[Zost]rianos, listen about these [...] for the first [...] origins are three because they have appeared in a single origin [of] the Barbelo aeon, not like some origins and powers, nor like (one) from an origin and power. It is to every origin that they have appeared; they have strengthened every power; and they appeared from that which is far better than themselves. These (three) are Existence, Blessedness and Life.”
Meanwhile, Mani taught how the soul of a righteous individual returns to Paradise upon dying, but "the soul of the person who persisted in things of the flesh – fornication, procreation, possessions, cultivation, harvesting, eating of meat, drinking of wine – is condemned to rebirth in a succession of bodies."
“According to biographies preserved by ibn al-Nadim and the Persian polymath al-Biruni, Mani received a revelation as a youth from a spirit, whom he would later call his "Twin" (Imperial Aramaic: תאומא tɑʔwmɑ, from which is also derived the Greek name of Thomas the Apostle, Didymus; the "twin"), Syzygos (Koinē Greek: σύζυγος "spouse, partner", in the Cologne Mani-Codex), "Double," "Protective Angel," or "Divine Self." This spirit taught him wisdom that he then developed into a religion. It was his "Twin" who brought Mani to self-realization. Mani claimed to be the Paraclete of the Truth promised by Jesus in the New Testament." Paraclete is a Christian biblical term occurring five times in the Johannine texts of the New Testament. In Christian works, the word typically refers to the Holy Spirit, translated as 'advocate', 'counsellor' or 'helper'.
The ‘Old men’ from the commedia are often Pantalone, Dottore, and Tartaglia – all of whom have at least 1 additional ‘version’ of themselves canonically confirmed in Genshin Impact.
We find notes on a play “Ajax” was part of as the 2nd strongest member of his alliance from hundreds of years ago, while “our” Ajax exists presently. Dottore has his whole obsession with preserving “perspectives” while taking offense to being called “young.” Baizhu therefor fits as Pantalone’s 'other self,' explaining the implied age gap; Pantalone lived into another cycle while his ‘model’ was incarnated yet again.
In other words, Baizhu isn't Pantalone in disguise: they have unique life experiences and conflicting perspectives while sharing base likenesses because they’re the same ‘essence’ on divergent paths, not unlike the Travelers. Whether or not they’ve met and influenced one another has yet to be seen.

All Roads Lead to Phanes, proposed to be the Primordial One

Here's where it becomes crack-theory territory. Please be kind in your response to these suppositions, because I spent weeks researching academic sources from JSTOR, and my fingers hurt.
https://preview.redd.it/t7vo8e3o660d1.png?width=1347&format=png&auto=webp&s=90edd813ed4d0d4e0cc8cd018801553582f9ef7e
I’m not claiming any of this is a guarantee of how Hoyo will treat this dynamic, but I’m struggling to form other conclusions:
Pantalone’s represented by the Globus Cruciger, a Christian symbol representing God’s dominion over the world. There's a ton of symbolism in the stories inspiring Baizhu and Pantalone’s rhetoric regarding religion, martyrdom, healing, economics, and inequality, suggesting they’re connected by far more than their designs. Baizhu and Pantalone’s rhetoric regard humanity’s plights.
...But Pantalone has an inhuman appearance; pointed ears somewhat similar to Neuvillette’s, and eyes hidden, presumably because they reveal something very distinct about him.
I’ve checked Baizhu’s model. His right ear appears normal; the left is concealed by his hair. As for his eyes, we’ve confirmed they were altered as a consequence of his contract with Changsheng; both the shape of his pupils and the color of the iris were swapped. So Baizhu’s natural eyes were violet-red and human; Pantalone’s may also be red, but inhuman
-The simplest explanation is that Phanes was said to be beautiful and inhuman. But given they hid Pantalone's eyes...
-As a stretch, given the potential Khaenri'ah reference, perhaps he's being transformed by a certain power?
-If I stretch more, perhaps Vishap-people were a thing during the Roman-inspired empires, they eventually grew to identify with humanity, and our Pantalone may have been reborn as the human-vishap blend Enjou discussed with us in Enkanomiya to repent for what Phanes did to the Sovereigns. Vishap-people are said to be mostly indistinguishable from humans, but with altered pupils. Enjou wasn’t the most reliable narrator, but this Version mentioned the "Traitorous Dragonheirs” in Remuria’s history, Petrichor is based on Italy (and may also reference the Greek village of Pantaleimonas,) Pappus’ name in the Atellan stock implies he’s ancient Italian, Pantalone's early background closely fits St. Pantaleimon Sudzhaksky's, and Repentance is mentioned repeatedly in the Nag Hammadi.
-The alternate BIG STRETCH is that we shouldn’t interpret the “Christian" reference literally in Pantalone's case, and he’s following the path Enjou implied by joining the Harbingers. Enjou suggested Vishaps evolved in Enkanomiya to infiltrate/sabotage human ranks. He could be Nibelung, King of Dragons himself - or someone who believes in Nibelung’s authority as the King (Pulcinella allegedly has lore-based connections to Nibelung, and he and Pantalone are cooperating on Project Stuzha.) Collection of the Gnoses would reveal the ‘true’ God, and the Sovereigns power was stolen by the Primordial One.
So, would their unity reveal Nibelung or Phanes? It’s unclear how that sentiment’s going to be defined in Genshin Impact. One possibility is that Pantalone is Nibelung’s equivalent, and Baizhu is Phanes’ equivalent.
But it gets more tedious when you read Vera’s Melancholy, which implies eyeball-eating-aliens-writing-stories-for-interdimensional-worlds vibes. One of the main characters was Ike, a black-haired boy with glasses + tendency to monologue, and they were from ‘Delphi,’ a real place in Greece. Another character in the story claimed to have "fused" with a dragon.
Teyvat's natural order is draconic. Ouroboros is a persistent theme in-game. It informs Beidou’s design/lore, and it’s also described as a natural ‘phenomenon’ discovered by Enkanomiyans, used to create the Serpent’s Heart. Ouroboros can be depicted as a snake or dragon consuming itself: as a representation of eternal creation and destruction.
You could argue Nibelung, the King of Dragons, would be the “true” God per the Orphic Gnostic belief systems. Ophites (a derogatory term from the Greek Ophis, ‘serpent,' coined by Hippolytus) venerated the Serpent in the Bible because it was seen to have enlightened humanity.
https://preview.redd.it/l25rb6vophyc1.jpg?width=294&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b42378490894e43741acb61a1555b725146c730b
Regardless of how the details are panned out, they are most likely God/Shades in some respect, and they’ve been subjected to the cyclical-incarnational nature of Teyvat. So now for residual thoughts:
On the Baizhu/Pantalone end, there’s potential foreshadowing in Baizhu’s Story Details. Genshin explains that he's in conflict with Hu Tao, but that they and Zhongli all play a part in life and death, as it’s where their empathy/concerns overlap completely.
Zhongli is popularly proposed as one of the Shades. I might agree now. If we contemplate the “Pantalone founded the Wangshang Funeral Parlor” theory I've seen floating around, he’d be double-foiled against Baizhu with Hu Tao as an allegory, and again connected to Zhongli.
I haven’t researched Capitano in depth yet, but some players allege he may have played more than one role in Genshin’s history, too. Similarly, there are some narrative consistencies to suggest that Dottore is connected to Shiruyeh, the Lord of Pestilence; if this pattern is accurate, then Shiruyeh could be a wronged past “self” of Dottore’s. Dottore seems more than intelligent enough to have noticed these patterns himself, given all of “Zandik’s” research across Sumeru. Accordingly, he may be creating segments as a way to ensure he never forgets the truth while he resists the cycle.
Ei & the Raiden Shogun may foreshadow what the Sustainer of Heavenly Principles is: a puppet acting on orders independent of its leader, because its leadeShades have been absent and/or ignorant to their own identities. This may be why Celestia is decaying, and why Baizhu/Pantalone would be related while suffering the very consequences of the cycle of incarnation.

The Takeaway?

Pantalone and Baizhu are a HUGE DEAL in Genshin Impact’s greater plot, the Foil theory is absolutely spot-on, and some popular theories as to Pantalone’s identity are probably simultaneously true for one reason or another. We can’t rule out many theories from this info, as some of it is conflicting. That’s why I came to the conclusion that they were inspired by numerous historical figures, with 'Godliness' being the main consistency.
As before, thanks for reading, share your thoughts, and have a day!

I discovered this novel and I really love the story. After reading 384 chapters, I decided to go online and read other people's reviews of it, expecting other people would be discussing it in the same way as how I felt, only to find an archived post where every single commenter agreed they considered this to be the most unoriginal and trashy novel they had ever read. And I can't help the feel we're not even reading the same novel. I have read lots and lots of light novels, and some have been exceptional some of them have been atrocious. And having red as far as I have, this novel falls in the case of the former. So, I am compelled to provide my review of this novel, so that perhaps others can see it the way I do.
The first two paragraphs below will be a background description of the novel for people who haven't read it yet, followed by one or two presenting a contrast or distinction that will be drawn between this novel and previous munchkin like novels I had read in the past, and then lastly I will speak personally on how I feel about the story, the character arcs, the world building, and the power leveling aspects of this novel. And why I feel this novel is what is one of the "gems" in L-Novels/W-Novels, as some would say, and not one of the trashier munchkin novels we have likely all grown sick of.
Background:
My Vampire System is a novel where humanity envountered a race called the Dalki, and fought a war in the past. The political structures of the old world collapsed, their leaders assassinated by the Dalki, and humanity had entired a period of chaos and bloodshed. But out of this dark age, humans emerged whose ancestors possessed special abilities and chose to reveal themselves and fight in the Great War, as others awoken new powers and abilities during this time. They all fought valiantly for their survival on the frontlines, and a new military alliance was formed as a result, which became the sole interplanetary system of government.
Now, after the Great War, a temporary truce/stalemate was formed. During this fragile peacetume, humanity and Dalki compete in a form of cold war to conquer other planets in the cosmos, hoping to seize greater territory in preparation for the inevitable reignition of conflict in the future.
The protagonist is an orphan raised by the military in one of their institutionalized orphanages attending public school, and is now on the precipice of attending their military schools, where students will study and train gor 2 years, and then have the option of pursuing a civilian career, working as an independent traveller, or joining the rank and file military as a soldier. With no abilities of his own, MC feels some kind of way about the discrimination he has faced by other peers his age for being powerless, but is given a book as an inheritance that awards him vampiric abilities, and the well-established [System] that munchkin readers are by now familiar with.
Drawing a contrast:
This novel diverges from the formula of a traditional munchkin novel. Ordinarily, you immediately encounter a handful of types of characters in these novels. You usually have a single MC destined to be the richest, most powerful, most important person ever. His sidekick exists to be as devoted as he is useless for most of the story. Sometimes he is a walking talking bank account and little else. His love interest exists to hate his guts initially, and then gradually grows fond of him as she decides she misjudged him, before falling madly in love with him for the rest of the series.
Then you have various faction leaders who are either allies, who exist solely to be of benefit to the MC, or antagonists, who always exist as callious, hypocritical, homicidal maniacs with designs on mudering the MC over some superficial grievance that occurrs early on. They exist to be humiliated, and then ruthlessly destroyed. Everyone else in a munchkin novel exists to monologue about how great the MC is.
My review:
I have read roughly 384 chapters of 'My Vampire System' so far.
Initially, it gives off the impression of being some kind of edge-lord character, however that doesn't honestly last very long, and even while it is ongoing, the author does not seem to dwell on it or monologue heavily, as I have seen in other novels.
There is a clear-cut story to be had in this novel, and it is a little bit slower in the beginning than what you may be used to. It takes time to establish the character Quinn Talen, his abilities and limitations imposed on him as a vampire, and the 3 side characters he is introduced to early on that become some of his best friends.
I love the way The author of this novel handles his characters. Each of the characters initially exist to be a friend to the main character, however they each posses diverse backstories that are hidden from the MC and the reader, and rich character arcs that are satisfying to witness. Even as the events of the story revolve around the main character, the side characters that exist, their personalities, their motivations never cease to be important to the author. It is abundantly clear he cares about the side characters and their respective stories just as much as he cares about furthering the main characters "progression". 384 chapters in, and the main character has more than just three friends that are initially introduced, in each of those friends has their own path that is being prepared for them by the author. A path that will see them become competent, powerful, and distinct larger than life archetypal characters. Even a character as simple and innocuous as one of the teachers in the school that the MC is close to, is given can be given an arc that respects an already cool character, and makes them even better.
There is a story to be had in this novel. And it feels like even the small characters matter in this world to the author. They don't just exist to satisfy and serve the MC's power fantasy. And often times events occur in the novel that would be cliche for munchkin novel, such as a martial arts funding competition, and the author will undercut and subvert the reader, steering away from the over hyped oversaturated, self-aggrandized developments (power levelling) we've seen in power fantasy novels. I don't want to go into greater detail and spoil anything, but this novel focuses first and foremost on furthering a story the author has in mind. And he will delay gratification and character progression or undercut cliche developments, which would have showered the main character with new power or wealth, for the sake of instead expanding upon the larger story he wants to create down the road. Doing so will i troduce new, compelling characters that are foreshadowed to return later, or foreshadow a future decelopment for a side character that promises to be exciting and i teresting, often for that side-character alone, and not necessarily for what it might do for the MC Quinn Talen.
The world building is a little minimalistic. The planet Earth has a bunch of military bases that are also cities where humans live, and humans occupy various planets. Sometimes the characters will get to go to those planets, but 384 chapters in, the focus is more on a main story that involves the main character, the dalkey, the race of vampires, and ultimately the world at large. It cares less about spoiling the main character than it does about simply setting these characters up to eventually become something more, and setting things up for when eventually the author will have some great battle between many different factions or races, with different ambitions and motivations from each other. The author does this early on, as opposed to most novels waiting til the very end to introduce a bunch of world backstory right before wrapping everything up.
If you want world building, this novel may not be the best compared to other, extremely popular novels that might prioritize immersing the reader into the world in the political structures the author has created first, and then furthering character progression later. But unlike other novels like Reverend Insanity, the world is an introduced through the lens of existing solely to provide the MC people to conquer and benefits/wealth to exploit at the cost of everyone else.
If you love novels like "solo leveling" / "I alone level up", you may find this novel slower and less interesting than what you're looking for. Solo leveling places are far greater emphasis on power levelling and character progression with respect to the mc, and very little if any for side characters, providing the reader high dopamine as they shower the main character in power and prestige. Only later in the novel story does the author fully reveal the backstory of the world in which the character exists, and then rushed to resolve the story after revealing the world building in that final section that ensues, after having squeezed out every last drop of dopamine the author could have beforehand.
Conversely, this novel focuses first and foremost on the story the author has in mind, THEN the main/side character progression, then some world building where the reader is gradually introduced to the technology the history and different factions or political structures over time, and lastly the power leveling of the main character into some great force to be reckoned with.
I feel like I'm reading a children's fantasy novel I found in a library, written by some big name author, as opposed to feeling like I'm reading some half-baked munchkin novel that usually exists to let the reader live vicariously through one overpowered character. If you're used to every plot development being followed by a period where every other character in the world will spend some considerable length of time exclaiming about the greatness of the main character and the power they have, then you will find this novel to be a welcome diversion from the standard fare. This novel is exceptional, the story is good, the characters are diverse and well-ceafted, promising to be even more compelling in the future, and I'm loving every second of it.

I'll start off by saying I absolutely adore the costume Oliver has this season. Arguably the best of the whole show, easily up there with the Season 1 look. It goes back to a more simplistic, minimal design that suits him best, with a longer Hood, and back to the classy recurve bow. I love it. Probably my favorite Green Arrow outfit. Just a shame it's only used in a handful of episodes. I wish this could've been the look from Season 5 to now.
 
Well, I thought the majority of the season was fairly good. True, it was mostly just nostalgia reliving the best moments of the show, but for a concluding run there's nothing wrong with that. The excuse of the "Monitor" gave them a reason to have these episodes. If something doesn't make sense, ah well, chalk it up to these grand cosmic things beyond your understanding.
 
Other than the fact that "Crisis" had little logical consistency to it; i.e. "This happened! And then that happened! And then that happened!" without much logical flow between events, I really don't mind. It's all supernatural/magical B.S. anyway. I really enjoyed the crossover, plot holes be damned. I thought they were going to do a Jekyll and Hyde thing, with the Monitor and Anti-Monitor being two sides of the same god-like entity. He just left out that part where the anti-Monitor is his sinister alter-ego he is doomed to become. I thought that would've been a lot cooler than just, "He's the me of the anti-matter universe." (God there are so many universes as it is in the multiverse, now there's a multiverse in anti-matter too?)
All in all though, the crossover was suitably epic, and they gave Oliver a good death. Well, no, actually he had a pretty lame death, but it's okay because he comes back as a ghost, and then he gets a good death there.
 
I really loved the Obi-Wan Kenobi thing he had going on at the end. In fact, the scene of him dueling the anti-Monitor (who is not dissimilar to Darth Vader) as the younger heroes look on from a distance reminded me a lot of that scene in A New Hope where Kenobi says, "If you strike me down now, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine," before sacrificing himself and disappearing into the ether.
 
Oliver had an excellent final goodbye there. Short, sweet, and to the point. It doesn't need to be anymore than that; we've been anticipating this moment all season, since last season in fact. The series should have ended on the second last episode of "Crisis on Infinite Earths." Despite a rocky last two--three--four--hell pretty much everything since Season 3--seasons, they pulled through strong at the end, and went out on a high note...
 
...is what I wish I could say, but sadly, it didn't end there.
 
The following episode deals with the aftermath, which is fine as an epilogue episode, except that there is a tonal whiplash between one moment Barry and Sara mourning Oliver and the very next minute there's giant CGI killer teddy bears running around the city. I mean they literally have a funeral service, and as soon as it's over, Barry turns around and gleefully geeks out, "Hey guys check out my sweet new Justice League round table!" IN THE SAME FREAKING ROOM as the still-burning funeral pyre! Complete tonal whiplash.
 
But wait, there's more. Another whole episode dedicated to the painfully bad drudgery of the future Star City, made even more confusing because in this new timeline the entire storyline (which was pretty incredulous and boring to begin with) has been tossed out in favor of an entirely new character and story in the future only being introduced just now. I couldn't stand to even finish this episode, it was so cringeworthy. The only time I actually like the future kid characters is when they interacted in the present with their parents, our heroes. Those moments are always great drama. Otherwise though, their own story just isn't at all interesting.
 
The finale, "Fadeout," had a couple decent things in it. I liked the flashback moment. The extended fight scene with early Oliver in the iconic S1 outfit was well choreographed and pretty badass. At least they didn't completely insult the memory of S1 Oliver like they did in S5 with the flashback then (trying to make him out to be some sadistic psycho killer which he wasn't). Other than that though, the only good scenes are with Felicity, and Diggle's final monologue.
 
This final episode is simultaneously a "so bad it's good" joke, and also a huge middle finger to the audience. They completely erased the show's ENTIRE history. Yeah, screw you, dear viewer, for actually being invested these past 8 years (10 for me, I started watching this show in 2013 or 14). Everything in the entire mythos has now been completely re-written and undone, with a wave of plot magic. One would think at least the early show, when it actually was dark, gritty, grounded, mature, realistic, serious, etc. before there were alternate Earths and time travel and magic and Lazarus Pits and superhero nonsense of characters staying dead all of 2 minutes--before all of that, one would think they would at least keep that early era untouched. Moira's and Tommy's deaths are tragic, but that's what makes for good storytelling! Don't undo that!
 
Quentin Lance had a great exit from the show in Season 6. (One of the few good things to come out of the later seasons.) It's one thing to have him back as a guest star through this Monitor-induced time loop dream sequence/alternate reality thing. I actually really liked that. That episode, "RESET," is the highlight of the season, my favorite episode. However, the understanding was that version of him was a fiction, concocted by the Monitor to help Laurel-2 come to terms with Quentin's death, and help Oliver come to terms with his own. Bringing Quentin back for real just nullifies that, and it undoes the fantastic exit he already had.
 
This whole season, even in S7, they keep treating Oliver as this holier than thou, messianic, Jesus-like figure. But that's not really who he is. He is a complex character, or at least he was originally. He ultimately is a hero, but he never set out to be one. It was a journey of personal redemption and redemption for his family's sins every bit as it was a crusade to clean up the city. He was immensely strong as a warrior and a leader, but deeply wounded and broken on the inside, all the same. He was the hero, but he had moral failings, blindspots for family and lovers, moments of succumbing to violent rage. His story is not supposed to be that of an anointed savior who always wins the day, but of a dark, damaged man, weighed heavy with the toll of far too many great losses. That he somehow kept going, that he didn't let his grief consume or define him, but instead temper him into a better man--that alone is something. Let's keep that complexity to his character. He doesn't need to be a saint to still be loved and respected.
 
How many times are Thea and Roy supposed to have their "happily ever after"? They keep bringing them back as guest cameos once a year, and each time they need an excuse for why only one actor is back, and also to have some drama. Their character arcs ended years ago. It's quite ridiculous how many times they rode off into the proverbial sunset, but then broke up off-screen at some point, then they re-unite; rinse, repeat.
 
Crime magically disappears? Does nobody in the city find it just a slight bit odd that Star(ling) City was mostly a safe place, until the Arrow/Oliver returns, then suddenly terrorists are conquering or nuking the city every single year, but the moment Oliver dies, suddenly all crime for ever and ever magically goes away? Almost like he was the cause of the suffering, rather than the hero. Hey, writers, that would've been a fantastic story! Imagine if Season 5/Prometheus was not about revenge for killing Daddy, but instead about making Oliver see that his being the Arrow ultimately caused more suffering and destruction, in a sort of "Spec Ops: The Line" / Apocalpyse Now / Heart of Darkness way. After all, the only reason for Deathstroke and Ra's al Ghul seeking to destroy the city is Oliver. He spurned and insulted his friend Anatoli, thus inciting the wrath of the Bratva on the city. He plays the hero, but his actions are what nearly always brought about the damnation he sought to fight. That would've been a great story, and the psychological thriller they tried to do that season would've actually been believable without needing to entirely retcon Season 1 Oliver into being a serial killer.
 
That said, if you were a criminal, would you want to do crime in the city where some lunatic Robin Hood-wannabe is going all William Tell on your ass, or would you do it in the city where he's not around? Logically, shouldn't crime spike up now that Oliver is dead? In the past, when everyone thought he was dead, that's exactly what happened. Oh sure, they tried to keep up appearances by having Dig under the hood, but that only lasts for so long before criminals realize it's not the real Arrow. It doesn't make any sense that crime should go down with him gone.
 
The unintentionally funniest part of this episode for me was Talia telling Nyssa, "All Father ever wanted for you was to have a normal life." Bitch, she was heir to the Demon, an Assassin on the FBI's Most Wanted list, a lesbian in love with the girl whose boyfriend she's married to, and was to be executed as a traitor by her father. A NORMAL LIFE??????
 
I shit you not, I was laughing so hard at that for 3 minutes straight, I was in tears. The dialogue is awful, but sometimes it's so bad, it's fucking hilarious.
 
Some of the cameos are just criminal. How can they have Manu Bennett back for a scene, and it's just an alternate version of the night Moira died, so they can retcon her into being alive? How the hell was Slade Wilson not the star of one of these nostalgia-tour episodes? He should have had at least a whole episode. They brought back Yao Fei and Fyers who are both dead, somehow, but no Slade fucking Wilson? I mean, he's half the reason for the show's success! That character was amazing. No Felicity? How come she's only a cameo in the final episode? She should've been here all season long! I know they established she's looking after baby Mia somewhere, but c'mon, that didn't stop Dig from returning; besides they changed the future a dozen times anyway! How come Talia gets a whole episode, but not Nyssa, who was way bigger? But I'll tell you who they didn't forget to call back, the fucking Ragman. The goddamn Ragman. Why. That character was such a mistake then, and one I tried hard to forget ever happened.
 
I was almost excited at the prospect of Diggle's character continuing on in Supergirl. It would've given me a reason to actually watch that show, besides the dude from "Two and a Half Men" playing Lex Luthor (that was pretty cool). But then they did it. They actually did it. They made Diggle into Green Lantern? Are you freaking kidding me! It was stupid enough giving him a costume and calling him "Spartan." He was always coolest as himself, no hood needed. But going full on superhero? The same guy who could never wrap his head around the Flash in every crossover? Just insulting the memory of that great character on the final episode.
 
It seems that Arrow died as it lived. Burned bright, and was fun while it was good, but it inevitably sours. Later episodes are penned by such amateurish writers, and it shows. The writers knew they weren't going to do a full season, but somehow even with only being on contract for 10 episodes, they only really had enough story for 8. The last two (three if you count Legends' season premiere) were totally disposable filler that sadly tanked my opinion of the otherwise top notch season.

Out from another passageway stepped an elderly Stone Giant, blocking our way. I almost reflexively attacked, but was able to stop myself when I saw that her hands were open and raised, palms up, to show that she was unarmed.
“I don’t have much time,” she whispered, in Taldane, “but know that if you are here to slay Mokmurian, I am your ally. Come with me to a place we can speak in peace, for I would aid you in your quarrel here—without my assistance you might find only your graves below Jorgenfist.”
Everyone turned to Domoki, who nodded, and we followed the Stone Giant down a side tunnel. As we moved down the tunnel, the raucous sound of Stone Giant laugher echoed through the hall. A large open cavern to our left appeared to be in use as a mess hall. A dozen young male Stone Giants sat at tables pounding back mugs of ale, telling jokes, and arm wrestling. As our guide approached this room, her gait changed from a confident stride to a slow, plodding shuffle. She hunched over her walking stick and pretended to lean on it.
“Go, go, go,” she whispered, as she blocked the doorway. The young giants paid no attention to their elder as she slowly shuffled past. We quickly snuck past the doorway, using her as cover to avoid being seen. When we had passed the doorway, she resumed her normal walking pace.
“I see that you encourage your people to underestimate you,” I whispered. “That is wise.”
She smiled a half smile and walked on and soon we came to a small empty cave. Inside this cave was a small shrine. The walls of the cave were painted with murals. Giants were shown hunting mammoths, elk, deer, and wyverns. Other scenes depicted battles between races: Humans, Ogres, and Dwarves being crushed underfoot by Giants of exaggerated size. Antlers, hooves, and furs were piled up before an altar. The giant sat down on the ground and invited us to do the same.
“Here we can talk in peace,” she said. “I am Conna the Wise.”
Just as she spoke, something moved in the corner of my eye. It seemed, for a second, that one of the paintings on the wall was moving. I turned my head to get a closer look, and it stopped just as abruptly, but I was quite certain that the giant painted on the wall had thrown a spear.
Conna laughed.
“That is just my husband,” she said. “His ghost haunts this shrine, and he likes to play with the paintings. As a result, the other giants give this place a wide berth. That is how I know we will not be disturbed here. So… Why have you come?”
“As you suspected, we have come to assassinate Mokmurian,” I said.
“Excellent,” she said. “While I cannot openly oppose him, I can assure you that I and the rest of the elders will be happy to see him deposed. He has led our people into a senseless war, and though we do not cower from battle, none of us sees what is to be gained from this conflict.”
“So do we have your word, then, that if we depose Mokmurian for you, you will disperse the army above us, and abandon plans to march on Sandpoint?”
“I will not be in charge,” she admitted. “But I know the chain of command quite well, and I can tell you who to kill and who to leave in place in order to give our tribe the best chance of a peaceful future.”
“Very well then,” I said, “go on.”
Conna pulled an empty scroll out of her belt and unrolled it on the surface of the altar. On it, she sketched the layout of the caves.
“Can any of you fly?” she asked.
“That’s how we got here,” I answered.
“Good. In that case, you can avoid the Northwest passages entirely, which will greatly increase your chances of survival. I suggest you go across the pit. On the other side of the pit,” she said, pointing to a small cave on the map, “you will find Galenmir, Mokmurian’s second in command. Kill him if you like, or not, it doesn’t bother me either way. He will follow whoever ends up in charge, and won’t try to become chief himself. In any case, you have to get past him.
“Turn left down this corridor,” she continued, tracing her finger along the map, “you’ll have to deal with some Kobolds or something like that – they’re not really with us, do as you like with them. There will be half a dozen stone giants in each of these rooms,” she indicated a couple of side caves off of the main corridor, “and if you could get past those without killing them, I would be grateful. They have no influence within the tribe, they’re just grunts.
“Then continue through here, past the entrance to the Northwest passages, and try not to be seen. The residents of the Northwest passages will need to be killed eventually, they side with Mokmurian, but if you try to kill them before you get to him, they might alert him to the danger. Once you’re past that, you’ll head down this passage to the library level. At that point you will probably have to kill everything in your path. There is only one way in from there on, and it’s well guarded.”
Conna got to the end of her set of directions and rolled up the map, handing it to Asclepius who had been eyeing it the most intently.
“Good luck.”
“Thank you for your help,” I said. “We will be on our way now.”
◊◊◊
Conna led us back out towards the pit, replicating her ‘old, frail woman’ trick to get us past the mess hall again, then left us.
We reached the end of the tunnel, Asclepius turned herself invisible, and we flew out over the pit. Everyone drew their weapons, and we rushed the entrance to Galenmir’s cave and attacked. Galenmir fought back, but he was not winning. As soon as his resolve began to flag, I flew up over Tenebis’ shoulder and addressed him.
“Galenmir!” I cried out in a loud, unflinching voice, as my right arm traced through the motions of a fear spell behind Tenebis’ back. “We are Mokmurian’s death! Flee or die!” My probe of fear pushed its way into Galenmir’s mind, and he dropped his heavy pick on the ground and pulled out a potion. I was not sure what the potion was, but it seemed to me he had switched his focus from defending his post to preserving his life. The others attacked anyway, and Galenmir was dead within seconds. My eyes locked onto Domoki as I saw him loose arrow after arrow with no sign of emotion on his face. He had called me a murderer.
“Gentlemen,” I said, when the fight was over, making no effort to disguise my disappointment, “that was not necessary.”
I flew over to Galenmir’s corpse and picked the potion of his still warm hand to inspect it.
“It’s a potion of gaseous form,” I pointed out. “He was trying to escape.”
“If we’d let him get away, he would have come after us with reinforcements,” said Tenebis. “We couldn’t allow him to raise the alarm.”
I shook my head and moved on in silence.
The kobolds in the next hallway did not want to let us pass. They fought to the death and I felt no guilt for killing them. Down the hallway, Tenebis poked his head around the corner and whispered back at us.
“Four Stone Giants – first one, 35 feet in, 5 feet across…”
Domoki lined up his trick shot.
“You’re not even going to try to sneak past them,” I whispered, in disbelief.
Domoki started the fight with an arrow bounced off the wall and into the room. The commotion from fighting the giants in the first room lured out the giants in the second and we ended fighting all 11 of them at once. They fought to the death. In the second room, we found a cage full of captive dwarves. Their beards had been shaved, and I knew that for a dwarf, this was the ultimate act of humiliation. I unlocked the cage with a key lifted from the corpse of a stone giant (there was no sense in wasting my magic unnecessarily). Asclepius turned herself visible and joined the dwarves in the cage to tend to their injuries. The dwarves kept their noses down and stared at the ground, and I saw that their spirits had been thoroughly broken.
“Hey there, men!” I said, quietly, but in an urgent tone, trying to get their attention.
“We can help you escape! Are you interested?”
At this, one dwarf finally looked up at me.
“There is no escape,” he said, despairingly, “there are too many of them. They’ve got all the exits covered.”
“How do you think we got in?” I asked.
“Well, I don’t know,” he said. That clearly had not occurred to him until now. “Grendal, how do you think these folks got in here?”
“Maybe they teleported in,” said Grendal.
“No, no, no, if they could teleport, why would they have appeared in the hallway? They would’ve just appeared in the room,” said another.
“Maybe they’re stonewalkers and they walked through the walls to get here,” said a fourth.
The debate on how we had gotten in seemed to bring a little of their spirit back as they argued back and forth. Finally, they were quiet.
“How did you get in?” asked the one who had spoken first.
“Through the tunnels.”
“No, that’s not possible,” said another dwarf, “those tunnels are heavily guarded. They’ve got Dragons and kobolds and giants all blocking it up.”
“We killed them all,” I said.
The dwarves erupted in another round of arguing over whether or not that was possible. When they were finished, they looked up again.
“So you’ve cleared a way out then? You’ll take us to freedom?” said a dwarf.
“We’d be happy to,” I answered. “But we have to assassinate someone first.”
Their eyes grew wide, but this time, no one challenged my words.
“We’ll come back for you. I’m leaving your cage unlocked. If we’re not back within a few hours, we’ve most likely been killed, and you should probably try to escape on your own.”
The dwarves nodded, dumbfounded, and Asclepius finished her work, and the seven of us moved on towards our target.
“What were you thinking?” I whispered to Domoki once we were back in the hallway. “We were supposed to sneak past those rooms, not kill everyone inside!”
“Look on the bright side,” said Domoki, “if we hadn’t killed the Stone Giants, we couldn’t have freed the dwarves.”
“Well, ok,” I admitted, “that is a valid point, but you didn’t even know the dwarves were there when you started shooting. You just wanted to show off your trick shot!”
“No,” protested Domoki, “that’s not it! I…”
His voice trailed off, and he never finished his sentence.
“We should be coming up on the Northwest tunnels now,” I whispered, a little louder so everyone could hear, “and we are going to follow Conna’s advice and sneak past them. Remember, she said if we attacked the residents of the Northwest tunnels, they could alert Mokmurian to our presence. We can’t risk that.”
We successfully snuck past the entrance to the Northwest tunnels, and soon enough, the tunnel we were in began to slope downwards. The natural tunnels we had been moving through gave way to worked stone. We were heading in to the library level. Conna had advised us to murder anything in our path once we reached the library level, and I had a suspicion none of our party would have a problem with following that advice.
In the middle of the next room, an immense iron cauldron stood over a bonfire. Something foul was bubbling inside, and a column of thick, black smoke rose from the cauldron as a warning. Scattered bones, hair, and other less desirable body parts littered the floor around the cauldron, some of them clearly human. Behind the cauldron, a large, ugly giant stood, stirring the foul brew in the pot.
“Oh do come in,” said the giant, its voice dripping in sarcasm. “Table for… seven? Our specials today are death and dismemberment.”
“Ooh, tough choice. Have you got anything else?” I asked, after flying out from behind Tenebis’ shoulder.
“Well, not normally,” responded the giant, “but for you, I can make a special offer of incineration!”
“Oh, lovely, I’ll take that,” I said. “But I’m afraid it won’t be my incineration. It will be yours.”
When the sassy giant was thoroughly sliced up, poked through, and burnt to a crisp, we paused to inspect the room. Edyan sniffed the air.
“Smells like necromancy,” he said.
I paused to do the same.
“You’re right. What do you suppose it does, exactly?” I asked, indicating the cauldron. Edyan approached it and walked all the way around.
“I don’t know, off the top of my head,” he admitted. “But I’ve a feeling it has something to do with our deceased friend back there.”
“Well, we are going to a library,” said Domoki, “perhaps we will find out more about it there.”
I took this as our cue to move on.
In the next room, a half a dozen zombie giants had been trying to hide in some suits of armor on display, but as soon as they moved, fireballs were tossed their way by myself and Edyan, and all but one of them died. The remaining zombie giant, tougher than the others, and headless, fought for another minute or so, and then died unspectacularly. We pressed onwards.
At the end of a long hallway, we found a number of doors: three stone doors, and a pair of heavy brass ones.
“I know you’re very excited to get through those brass doors,” I said to Edyan, “but I think we should crack the stone doors first.”
“Indeed,” said Edyan, “it would hardly do to be attacked while I was trying to peruse the library.”
Behind the first stone door was only rubble, for that passage had collapsed long ago. Behind the second stone door were half a dozen Hounds of Tindalos, otherworldly dogs with huge, soulless eyes and far too many teeth. It took some time to slay the hounds, for they started out invisible, and we could not see them until after they had attacked. Behind the third stone door we found Mokmurian. I had, for some reason, not been expecting to encounter him until we reached the library proper, so when I opened this door and found myself face to face with the target of our assassination attempt, I threw myself into a harried frenzy trying to cast spell resistance on our front-liners before he could affect them. Mokmurian filled the room with a thick, solid fog that slowed movement and completely obscured sight. Tenebis and Steranis pressed in and began beating on the stone giant general, while Edyan and I struggled to counter his magic. It seemed that Mokmurian had stored spells in his club, for as it came down upon my allies I saw their faces screwing up not only with pain, but with the effort of resisting magical effects. Mokmurian tried to turn Steranis into stone, and Tenebis into a lizard. With the help of the spell resistance I had imbued them with, both doggedly refused to yield to the magic. As Steranis and Tenebis continued to beat him down, Mokmurian became more desperate. His blows were coming faster now, and he lashed out in anger at me, for I was responsible for his failed spells. Unfortunately for him, he had not done his research. He targeted me with fire, which I laughed off. My mastery over fire had increased, and it did not hurt me any longer. This threw him into an even greater rage, and he dealt a great deal of damage to Tenebis in the last few seconds before Tenebis finally lopped off his head.
I landed on the ground next to the fallen stone giant and picked up his head, which was still dripping with blood. I grabbed it by the hair with both hands before hoisting it up and staring it in the eyes.
Suddenly the dead eyes staring back at me were filled with an eerie green light. His mouth opened in a strange, mechanical way, as if his head were a marionette. The head spoke in a strange, almost human sounding accent that seemed out of place coming from the giant’s mouth.
“So these are the heroes of the age. More like gasping worms to me, soon to be crushed back into the earth when I awaken the armies of Xin-Shalast, when the name Karzoug is again spoken with fear and awe. Know that the deaths of those marked by the Sihedron—the giants you have so conveniently slain for me—hasten my return, just as yours soon will. Fools, all of you! Is this all you could manage in ten thousand years?”
The head began to laugh, and great, noisy, raucous laugh.
“You ain’t seen half of it yet,” I shot back, but by then the green glow in the eyes had already faded, and I’m not sure if he heard me or not. The head moved no more.
◊◊◊
With Mokmurian killed and his study looted, we moved on to the great library. Standing in front of the tall brass double doors, Edyan pulled out the scroll with the passphrase and spoke it, slowly, carefully, quietly, like a prayer. The doors swung silently open on their hinges to reveal the library. The tall, cylindrical room extended upwards nearly to the surface, I thought, its walls lined with bookshelves all the way to the ceiling. It was quite a bit smaller than the university library in Magnimar, but much older, and it promised to hold innumerable secrets about Old Thassilon, the Runelords, and whatever the hell was happening now.
As Edyan took his first steps into his own personal paradise, a strange mechanical creature made of brass lurched into view with a clatter.
“Which volume of lore would you like me to retrieve for you?” It asked in a monotone voice, in Thassilonian, “There are currently 24,491 volumes, scrolls, pamphlets, and unbound manuscripts available. Please indicate which one you wish by author, title, subject, or date of acquisition by the Therassic Monastery.”
Edyan looked over the construct with curiosity, then addressed it in Thassilonian, in kind.
“Subject: Runelord Karzoug.”
The creature turned and clattered away toward the stacks and a wide grin spread across Edyan’s face.
◊◊◊
“So while Edyan’s holed up in his paradise, do the rest of you want to come with me to report back to Conna?” I asked.
We left Edyan with his nose buried in a book, closed the doors behind us, and headed back towards where we had last seen Conna. I carried Mokmurian’s head in front of me. Everyone except for us in the library level was dead, but as we passed through the room with the giant cauldron, we saw that the foul liquid inside was still bubbling. I tried a few mundane ways of putting out the flames under it, and then a few magical ones, but the fire burned on and the cauldron kept bubbling.
“That’s not good,” I pointed out, “we need to figure out what this thing does and how to shut it down. It smells of necromancy and that concerns me.”
I took note to look in the library for anything about it, and we moved on out of the library level. Back in the natural tunnels, we decided to take the Northwest Tunnels that Conna had warned us about. I flew in front with Mokmurian’s head, and I figured if anyone had a problem with us deposing him, they would make that very clear. The first to attack us were a pair of lamias and a pair of small red Dragons. These kept us busy for some time, but eventually we fought our way through and ended back at Conna’s cave. I flew in and landed in front of her, presenting Mokmurian’s head.
“Will you be needing this?” I asked.
Conna looked rather disgusted, but she took the head from me the nonetheless.
“Sadly, that might be necessary. Thank you,” she said.
“We killed Galenmir, Mokmurian, and everyone else on the library level. We also killed the lamias and the Dragons in the northwest passages. Do we need to kill anyone else?” I asked. I purposefully did not mention the dozen or so stone giants that we killed to free the dwarves, for I did not think that she would take kindly to that.
Conna looked stunned for a moment, presumably at the magnitude of the trail of destruction we had left in our wake. After a moment, she answered, “Yes, actually. There is one more that must be taken care of, if you are up for it. Mokmurian’s… experiment. Up this hall and turn right.”
We followed Conna’s directions and came to a set of large stone double doors. The seven pointed star was carved deep into the face of the doors. Tenebis pushed the heavy doors open, and they creaked loudly on their hinges, announcing our presence to the creature within.
Strangely, the room appeared empty. The walls and ceiling of the room were of finely worked stone, but the floor was packed earth, which seemed strange. Seven large tree trunks had been driven into the soil like stakes, and each bore a large iron brazier at its top. Branding irons hung on chains from the stakes, and in the middle of the star formed by the tree trunks, the ground began to move.
Up from the ground rose an immense hill giant, seemingly half melded with the earth below him. Strange blue crystal growths patterned his skin, forming a crude resemblance to Thassilonian runes. The giant strode forward.
“Mokmurian is dead!” I declared in a loud voice, giving the giant a chance to break off its attack. “Cower before your new masters!”
As I spoke, I went through the motions of a fear spell with my left arm and reached out to seize the giant’s mind. I found nothing, as my spell bounced off a hard shell and fizzled out.
Killing the giant took some time, as every time it was close to death, it would meld back into the Earth for a minute, somehow heal itself, and then appear behind us in a different part of the room. It was finally Steranis who used his Druid magic to transmute the packed Earth of the floor to solid stone when the Giant was halfway out, trapping him there and allowing the rest of us to finish him off. When the giant had fallen, I heard Domoki calling my name from the back of the room.
“Urhador, we need to talk,” he said.
Confused, I flew over and landed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“ ‘Cower before your new masters’?” he asked, quoting me. “What was that about?”
“You have a problem with my fear tactics?” I asked. “I hardly think you’re in a position to be taking issue with that. You’re the one that starts fights like a coward by shooting around corners.”
Domoki ignored the insult and pressed on.
“Is that all it was?” he asked. “A fear tactic?”
“Yes,” I answered, confused as to what else it could have been.
“Good,” said Domoki. “It sounded for a minute like you intended to keep that monstrosity as a slave.”
“Domoki, I have no interest in owning slaves,” I reassured him.
“Good,” said Domoki again.
“And I don’t really see why you think you have the right to judge my battle tactics anyways,” I found myself continuing, “You’re the one who wanted to kill an entire tribe of Ogres. You’re the one that kept shooting Galenmir after he dropped his weapon. You’re the one that started a fight we didn’t have to fight by shooting around a corner at opponents who might have surrendered or not even noticed us. So I think you should quit trying to claim the moral high ground here and admit that you’re projecting your own guilt onto me because you don’t want to own it. We’re all monsters, Domoki. Every single one of us. Get over it.”
I had lost control of my volume during that last little monologue, and the rest of the team was staring at me. I turned my back to them and flew back towards the library.
◊◊◊
I returned to the library the way we’d first come, picking up the Dwarven prisoners on the way. Every dead giant I passed, I cremated. I did not want their bodies lying around to be fed into the necromantic cauldron.
Now that we had cleared the library level of threats, I figured we could hide in the library while Edyan scoured it for information, then teleport out when we were finished. Since the library door seemed to be magically protected, and I doubted any of the stone giants still alive knew the password, we ought to be safe there.
Edyan had settled in at a study desk with a large pile of tomes. His eyes briefly left the open tome before him to register my presence, then returned to the book without a word. The dwarves filed in quietly and settled in at a table near the other side of the room. I picked out a book on magic and found a spot to make myself at home. Ten minutes later, the rest of the party entered as well, and they too settled in in silence. When Edyan closed his book and reached for another one, I decided to take the opportunity to ask him a question.
“Edyan, you know that giant cauldron down the hallway? The one that smells of necromancy?” I asked.
“Yes,” said Edyan.
“Do you have any idea what it does?” I asked.
“Not yet,” said Edyan. “Looking into it. I’ll keep you posted.”
I returned to my book.
Several hours later, halfway through his stack of books, Edyan spoke again.
“Urhador, I seem to have an answer to your question,” he started.
“Oh?” I asked.
“It’s bad,” he continued.
“How bad?” I asked.
“ ‘Army of undead giants’ bad.”
“That’s bad,” I agreed. The army of live giants that we were currently facing was bad enough, and they had free will, and presumably something resembling a conscience. Undead, as I had learned, were under the complete control of whoever had raised them. An army of them would entail a mindless force perfectly obedient to whatever vile individual next found the cauldron and figured out how to use it. On top of that, undead tended to be more difficult to kill than the living.
“Can it be destroyed?” I asked.
“Yes…” said Edyan, hesitating to finish his sentence.
“How?” I pressed.
“A giant has to willingly sacrifice himself in the cauldron to destroy it…”
“What if we just collapsed this whole area around it? I’m not sure if the other giants know it’s there, but if they don’t, they wouldn’t likely bother to try to excavate it.”
“I considered that thought,” admitted Edyan, “but artifacts of this power level have a tendency to make themselves known to those who would use them. If we don’t destroy it, then whether it takes a hundred years or a thousand, someone will eventually find it and activate it.”
“…and that would spell the end of Varisia,” I finished for him.
“At the very least,” he agreed.
“Then I suppose I know what I have to do,” I admitted, reluctantly. “You don’t know of a way of turning me into a giant, do you?”
“I do not,” he said.
“Then I shall go speak with Steranis.”
I got up from my chair and walked over to where Steranis was sitting quietly in his half-elf form.
“Steranis,” I said. “Do you know of a way of turning me into a giant?”
“No,” said Steranis, “I can only do that to myself. There are other ways that could be used to make you look like a giant, but they wouldn’t count for your purposes.”
“You were listening to Edyan and me speaking,” I observed.
“I have a very good sense of hearing,” said Steranis.
“Very well,” I said. “If I cannot turn myself into a giant, I suppose I am off to find a volunteer.”
Steranis did not volunteer, and I wasn’t about to press him on it, so I returned to Edyan to ask one more question.
“What exactly is meant by ‘willingly’?” I asked.
“Pardon?” asked Edyan.
“You said a giant must willingly sacrifice himself in the cauldron. What exactly is meant by ‘willingly’?” I repeated.
“As in, he has to know what he’s doing,” answered Edyan, as he realized what I planned to do. “He can’t be under threats or magical compulsion. Coercion is… iffy.” “Can I see that book?” I asked.
Edyan sighed and handed over the book and moved on to another one. I read the section over a few times and considered my options. Convincing a giant to sacrifice his life was something I was fairly confident I could do, with enough time and a combination of natural charm and the judicious use of the magic of suggestion, but I struggled over the ethics of it. It was certainly an evil act that would tarnish my soul, but I was quite certain the alternative was worse. I could not allow my homeland to be trampled by an army of undead. On top of that, there were the souls of the potential undead to consider. Asclepius had explained to me once that raising the dead through necromancy prevented their souls from moving on into the afterlife. Their souls were trapped in their bodies until they were killed again for good. For this reason, killing undead was an act of mercy. I figured if I could prevent them from being created in the first place, all the better.
◊◊◊
That night I sat up for a long time, a glowing orb placed above my shoulder, reading over our contract with the devil again and again. I was no longer searching for a loophole, but instead just appreciating the irony of that fact that I held a signed contract with the devil in my hands, and was still concerned about the state of my soul. Letting Avaxial go hadn’t felt evil, even if objectively it must have been. Playing suicidal mind games with a giant, even if I believed it to be for the greater good, most definitely did feel evil. After a night of fitful sleep, I set off to find my victim. I woke early, before the others, to find myself my own normal size again. I made sure Domoki was still asleep, then turned myself invisible and snuck out through the library doors. As much as I was currently mad at Domoki for his moral double standard, I did not want him to know what I was about to do.
I quietly crept out of the library and back the way we’d come. We had passed a mess hall around there, and that seemed as good a place as any to begin my search. As luck would have it, it was a very quick search. When I arrived at the mess hall, a single giant sat alone at a table, contemplating a tall mug of ale. He looked lonely, and rather young, just passing from adolescence into adulthood. He reminded me a little of myself at that age, and it did not escape my notice that now I was the bully that I had feared in my youth.
Without revealing my presence, I felt for my magic and reached out for his consciousness, brushing it with a calming presence. Not enough to influence his thoughts much at all, I hoped, just enough to keep him from immediately attacking me when I showed myself. Then I appeared before him at the entrance to the mess hall, far enough away that I wouldn’t startle him or seem threatening. He looked up and noticed me.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Urhador,” I said.
“Are you one of the ones who came to kill the chief?”
“I am,” I admitted.
“Good,” he said. “Mokmurian was a terrible chief. I am Gorsch.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Gorsch.”
“Why are you still here?” asked Gorsch.
“Our work here is not yet done,” I said. “Tell me more about Mokmurian. Why was he a terrible chief?”
Gorsch regarded me suspiciously for a moment, deciding whether to answer my question or not.
“The other chiefs always led with inspiring speeches and force of personality. We followed them because we loved them. Mokmurian wasn’t like the other chiefs. He locked himself away in that basement doing who knows what, and word came out that we were at war. Mokmurian sent his closest generals to gather the other tribes, but no one told us what the war was about.
“Well, perhaps I can help you with that,” I answered. I looked around to check that no one was coming. “After we killed Mokmurian, his eyes glowed blue and his disembodied head started speaking to us. Mokmurian was possessed in some way, or at least under the influence of a more powerful being. That being is called Karzoug, and he was once one of the most powerful magi in the world. He hasn’t been heard from in thousands of years, but it appears now that he is returning.”
Gorsch stared at me, judging whether or not to believe my fantastical tale.
“And why does Karzoug want war?” asked the young giant.
“Because he is the Runelord of Greed. And war breeds profit.”
Gorsch nodded and thought over this for a short time.
“What will happen now?” he asked.
“That is up to you, not us,” I said. “We will interfere no further in the running of your tribe. I believe your elder Conna may have had some ideas.”
“Conna is mad,” he said, matter-of-factly, as if this was common knowledge.
“Or perhaps she only wanted you to think that,” I pointed out. “I spoke to her yesterday and she seemed to me to still have all her wits about her.”
Gorsch narrowed his eyes.
“I’ll talk to her,” he said, not yet believing me, but seemingly willing to put in the effort to find out for himself.
Gorsch was naturally very suspicious of me, as well he should be. But I had done what I needed to do on our first meeting – given him some information that he could verify himself. There was no point in telling him anything more until he had had a chance to do that.
“I must go now,” I said. “My companions will be waking soon and I do not want them to know that I was gone.”
Gorsch shrugged and took a swig of his ale. I turned and walked a few paces before turning myself invisible again and making my way back to the library.
Steranis was awake when I returned. I figured showing myself was a better option than letting him think an invisible foe was lose in the library, so as soon as I opened the door and saw him up, I shed my invisibility.
“Were you out doing what I think you were doing?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “You needn’t tell the others, if you don’t mind.”
Steranis didn’t answer, so I figured I’d just have to hope for the best.
◊◊◊
I repeated my stunt the next morning. When I arrived at the mess hall, Gorsch was there again, in the exact same spot as he had been the previous day. I lowered my invisibility as I approached.
“Good morning, again,” I said.
“Hello Urhador,” he replied.
“Mind if I take a seat today?” I asked.
“Go ahead.”
I climbed up onto a stool opposite him (which took some doing, since they were sized for giants).
“Have you been here the whole time, or do you occasionally leave this mess hall?”
“I went and talked to Conna.”
“Ah. And what did you learn?”
“You were correct. She is not mad.”
“It’s nice to have some independent corroboration.”
“What’s down there, in Mokmurian’s secret basement?” asked Gorsch.
“You’ve never been there yourself?” I asked, in turn.
“No. Only his inner circle was allowed down there. The amount of secrecy around it has made me curious.”
“There’s a library, left over from ancient times… and a creepy necromantic cauldron.”
“A what?”
“Do you want to go see?” I asked.
“It’s not allowed…” started Gorsch, then caught himself. “I’d like that.”
I jumped down from the stool and set off back toward the ancient structure, Gorsch following two steps behind. Being eleven feet tall, his gait was considerably longer than mine, and he would naturally have walked much faster than me. But Gorsch must have been rather nervous, for he was walking very slowly toward the forbidden area, and I didn’t think it was in deference to me.
In time, we came to the necromantic cauldron. The unnatural fire still burned under it, and the cauldron bubbled, filling the air with the pungent stink of undeath. “What is that?” asked Gorsch.
“I told you, it’s a necromantic cauldron. You put dead giants in, you get undead giants out.”
“Well that’s all sorts of fucked up,” said Gorsch. “Was Mokmurian planning to use it?” “He already had,” I informed him. “We had to kill an undead giant on the way in.” Gorsch looked saddened by this news.
“Where did you put his body?” he asked.
“We burned it,” I said. “It seemed the best way to keep him from being raised again.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Was it someone you knew?”
“I think so,” said Gorsch. “A friend of mine, Kusich, died about a week ago, and Mokmurian took his body down to his study. I shouldn’t have let him do that. I didn’t know what he planned to do with it, but I knew it couldn’t have been anything good. I should have stopped him. I should have protected Kusich.”
I wanted to comfort Gorsch and assure him that it was not his fault, but I stopped myself. I reminded myself that if my plan was to get Gorsch to sacrifice himself to destroy the cauldron, I should work with every bit of guilt I could find in him. I let Gorsch stew in his own guilt for a minute, then stepped it up a little.
“When a body is raised through necromancy, it prevents the soul from passing into the afterlife. The soul is trapped within the undead creature until it is killed again. They say that undeath is torment for the soul. The undead are robbed of their free will and subject only the will of the one who raised them. To be in there, and aware of what is happening, but unable to do anything about it… I can’t imagine it.”
I saw a tear run down Gorsch’s cheek before he quickly wiped it away.
“But, you killed him again, so his soul is free now, right?” he asked, speaking through the lump in his throat.
“Yes,” I said. “His soul should be on its way to whatever afterlife it was destined for by now.”
“That’s good,” he said. “Thank you for setting him free.”
“You’re welcome,” I said.
I kept walking on towards the library. Gorsch took one last look at the cauldron and followed.
We came next to Mokmurian’s study. Gorsch took a few steps in and stopped. He surveyed the room: the piles of books on the desk, the artifacts displayed on the bookshelves, the bloodstains on the floor.
“Do you mind if I stay here a bit?” he asked, eyeing the books on the desk. “I’d like to find out more about what he was up to.”
“Go ahead,” I said. I turned and left the room, then turned invisible again and came back to stand in the doorway and watch. I had left the book detailing the procedure for destroying the cauldron with several others on Mokmurian’s desk. I could not tell him of my findings myself. I was certain a part of him still considered me the enemy, and he would not commit suicide at the enemy’s bidding. No, he had to discover this part for himself. Still, there was no guarantee he would read the whole book, and he was unlikely to find the important part without a little nudge. I stood quietly and waited. Gorsch first paced all along the perimeter of the room, examining the bookshelves that lined it, and the fireplace on the far wall. When he had done that, he walked slowly over to Mokmurian’s desk and sat down at it. He picked a book at random and began to leaf through it. I gave him twenty minutes without any interference, and he flipped through several books, reading a page or two here and there. The next time he reached for a book, I acted. I reached out with my mind and touched his, planting a simple suggestion on the surface – just a hunch, and inkling, that this one particular book was the one he was looking for. I relaxed my hold a bit as he reached for the right book. He began to flip through, and read a few pages near the beginning. He flipped forward a bit, read another page, and moved to put the book down. Extending my mental probe into his mind again, I pushed: don’t give up yet; there’s something here. Gorsch picked the book back up. He began to flip through every page, not reading the whole page, but quickly scanning for keywords that might jump out. It was not long before he stopped. He had found the right place. I waited with bated breath as he read through the key passage. Then, one last time, I reached into his mind, deeper this time, and planted a thought: I couldn’t protect Kusich; but I can keep it from happening again. Gorsch would believe that this thought was his own.
I left now, and returned to the library. I couldn’t control what Gorsch would do with his new information and his implanted suggestion. But I had done all I could, and now it was time to wait and see if he would do his part.
◊◊◊
I returned to Mokmurian’s study a few hours later to check if Gorsch was still there. He was not. I walked on down the hall to the room with the cauldron.
The cauldron lay cracked in two on the stone floor. The acrid contents had spread across the room and cooled to a sticky mess. There was no sign of Gorsch, but I knew there was only one way this could have happened.
“Thank you, Gorsch,” I said aloud, to the empty room, “for your sacrifice. I’m sorry I had to do that to you.”

About the Game Mercenary Battle Company: The Reapers is a bullet heaven game about killing hordes of Zerg-like aliens with Mecha Robots. The mechs are piloted by a Suicide Squad-esque group of Mercenaries who call themselves The Reapers.
About the Job We are trying to give personality to the pilots using Voice Acting. This is similar to what League of Legends does with their champions. Each character will have several lines of monologues while performing different actions, killing enemies, bosses etc.
Pilots

1. Keshav "The Tactician" Nayar Bio: Born to working-class parents in the planet of Chicarro, Keshav dreamt big since childhood. As a young adult, he joined a gang of rogues and honed his skills as a trickster. A gambler by nature, Keshav left the gang eventually to pursue riskier schemes for grander rewards. After pulling many elaborate cons, Keshav was captured by the Scarlet Syndicate for robbing one of their casinos. He began working for the syndicate to save himself, and thrived on the thrill of high-stakes cons. Keshav faced his ultimate challenge when he was ordered to steal top-secret mech designs of the legendary mechwright, Alexander Savidz, from facilities of the Mercenary Battle Company. Keshav infiltrated the company and earned Alexander’s trust, but his plan failed with Alexander’s execution. During Sarah Lawrence’s rampage on Erysa, Keshav gambled on stealing the mech itself, disguised as a military pilot. However, the deployment of the mech against Sarah raised suspicions against him. With his escape cut off, Keshav surrendered and chose to join the Reaper Division to avoid getting assassinated by the syndicate for his failure. Sample Line 1: "Not everybody's dealt the same hand in life, I understand. But what I can’t accept is people playing their cards without ambitions." Sample Line 2: "And that brings an end to the main event, ladies and gentlemen!" Reference: Sett from League of Legends. Rusty from Ocean's 11.
   
2. Oscar "Captain" Dion Vaux Bio: Heir to Emperor Quentin Dion Vaux, Oscar enjoyed peace till the solar system of Usudia was discovered. Led by the emperor himself, the Vaux Empire’s forces warred for years to dominate Usudia as it contained multiple rich Ether reservoirs. With no clear victor even after a long-drawn war, sentiments against Emperor Quentin incited a rebellion. Thus, while Emperor Quentin returned to the capital to subdue the rebels, Oscar spearheaded the campaign in Usudia. However, Emperor Quentin failed to subdue the rebellion and was assassinated. Witnessing the Mercenary Battle Company’s neutrality and lack of aggressive interests in Usudia, Oscar allied with them to quickly crush all opposition and rush to his family’s aid. He led a fierce assault against the rebels but was ultimately outnumbered and defeated. To Oscar’s surprise, he was bought by the MBC as a company asset in exchange for offering the rebels their support. Realizing that the company acts only in self-interest, Oscar negotiated with them once more for his family’s lives. Convinced that the royal family would serve as the best puppets to control the empire and its Ether mines, the company brokered peace between the rebels and the royalists. With no regrets, Oscar joined the Reaper Division while his family ruled over a reformed Vaux Republic as part of an oligarchy. Sample Line 1: "And to think I cared for caution! Laughable!" Sample Line 2: "For honour and glory!" Reference: Jarvan IV from League of Legends. Garen from League of Legends.
   

Accents: Mostly looking for neutral accents.
Rate: $100 per 1 hour of recording session.
Recommended:

• Quality Mic Setup.
• Experience as a Voice Actor.
• Acoustically treated room.
• Experience using Discord. (We'll be using Discord for the recording session.

Note: We will sign a Freelance Contract and an NDA.
How to Apply: Please email me with a link to your voice work, details about your VO setup and an audition clip with both the sample lines of the character you want to apply for at va@blackmarchstudios.com.
PS: Please feel free to ask any questions here or via Reddit DM.
Edit: The actors have been cast and the lines have been recorded. Thanks again everyone for auditioning!

I cut my teeth on the Slayers in the late 90s/early 00s with the big three of Slayers, Slayers Next, and Slayers Try. Then I went through all of the Lina-and-Naga adventures across the movies and OVAs before dropping out of the fandom because there just wasn't much left. I skipped out on the Tokyopop translations of novels 1 through 8 when I heard that they were A) not very accurate and B) incomplete. I also heard about Revolution/Evolution-R, but I just never got around it.
Then I caught COVID in March and had a lot of time on my hands while I spent about ten days straight laid up in bed. I started a massive marathon of all the old Slayers content I was familiar with (still holds up), Revolution/Evolution-R (fun to see the gang again but a step down from Next/Try), Hourglass of Falces (awful), Medieval Mayhem (great), Knight of Aqualord (mediocre), Light Magic (cut and fun but ultimately forgettable), and the Rev/Evo-R manga adaptations (start off pretty predictable before suddenly getting really good once it starts adding new wrinkles to Lina, Zel, Duclis, Pokota, etc.).
Then I got around to the J-Novel Club translation of Kanzaka's 17 novels. Great stuff. Here are some scattered thoughts:
-I love Lina's sassy, irreverent inner monologue. The anime does a pretty good job of translating this to her dialogue, but it's still something I would have liked to see carried over in short bursts of narration.
-The side effect of so much Lina is so much less of everyone else (except Gourry, but more on him later). For instance, Zelgadis and Amelia become Ra-Tilt factories by the end of the Gaav/Phibrizzo arc. That's pretty much all they contribute past a certain point. They're barely characters.
-It's funny to see how Lina and Gourry go through additional party members like tissues in the novels. Lantz, Aria, Dilarr, Jade, Luke, Mileena, Milgazia, Memphys, and Alaina are an incredibly mixed bag of utility and likability; but it was nice to get such a wide range of voices and perspectives. Comparing and contrasting over-accomplished adventurers like Lina and Gourry with total normies like Lantz and Aria really puts into perspective how special they are, but it was also fun to see them being totally blown away by the two heavyweights, Milgazia and Mephy. Having watched the anime, I thought I had the Slayers formula down to a science: The core four of Lina/Gourry/Zel/Amelia with Xellos popping in and out as a frienemy who alternates between helping and hurting and an extra party member or three to round out the team. Nope. The novels have no such sacred cows. It is the Lina and Gourry buddy cop (buddy mercenary?) adventure, and everyone else is along for the ride.
-Poor Gourry. The guy is scandalously under-written in the show. Even when I was watching Try the first time, I thought it was weird that the guy who inherited the Sword of Light didn't have more to say in the season all about the Sword of Light. Then he just gives it away to Sirius? We couldn't have had even one episode about him wrestling with the Sword's legacy and laying the groundwork for his eventual decision? He's an absolute star in the novels. He's not very brainy in any medium, but I came away with a much stronger sense that he's selectively oblivious rather than the kind of dumb you get from room temperature IQ. He simply chooses his (mental) battles and puts his priorities in places that Lina does not. He knows that Lina handles the magic and planning stuff, so he plays to his strengths and sticks to his animalistic instincts (as her narration constantly reminds us) to pick out what's wrong -- whether that's seeing an ambush ahead of time or perceiving some emotional turmoil that Lina is trying to hide.
-The novel battle scenes were pretty hit or miss for me. They are incredibly repetitive. How many times does Lina detect malice to tip her off to a sneak attack? How many times does she use a Lighting spell like a flashbang to stun her enemies? How many times are we going to see a demon slip away from a big spell by casting off a small fraction of their astral body to take the hit while their main body is unharmed? Lina even calls it something like "the old demonic lizard's tail trick" after having seen it so many times. But it makes sense. A lot of those tricks work out for Lina and her enemies. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Still, it might have been nice to get more than the usual combo of teleportation blinks, spears of light, and shockwaves from the latest demon-of-the-week. So many fight scenes feel like they started with a template. It gets old very, very quickly. The best fights were the ones where the demon has some funky, unique ability that Lina and friends have to outthink and outmaneuver.
-Sylphiel being introduced as Zel's temporary, off-screen adventure buddy was funny for how unexpected it was. They both have something against Copy Rezo, but it's the most random collection of characters.
-Eris playing the part of an incompetent bounty hunter was a trip, too.
-Lina learning Astral Vine in the second half of the novels to power up her melee and to give Gourry an extra edge now that he no longer has a magic sword was a great bit of understated storytelling. She wants to kill demons faster now that she is on their radar, but she presumably wants to keep Gourry both useful and safe at the same time and in her own way.
-Rubia's comeback in novel 15 came out of nowhere, and I loved everything about it. It's a great thematic counterpoint to Luke's decision about what to do with yourself when you are the one left behind, and the whole detour into the greenhouse was hysterical. Readers like me really needed that moment of lightness, and it really reinforced the notion that life goes on even when it feels like it's over. The animation team working on Next had no way of knowing, but killing her off will forever feel like a missed opportunity.
-I really, truly did not like the way Phil and Wizer were introduced in the novels. As users on this sub helpfully pointed out, they both started in Slayers Special and were later imported to the main novels. It feels like watching a Marvel movie or TV series, where you are going to be lost if you haven't done your "homework." Franchises are fine, but homework storytelling has never been my style. I would much rather have those small, passing, funny-if-you-get-it references to Naga than full-blown character reunions with people I, as a reader, am meeting for the first time. It's especially galling when Lina's history with Wizer and adventure in Ruvinagald comes back to haunt her in such a major way in novel 14. It's harder for me to buy into the one-sided blood feud when I have so little context.
-Rod served his purpose well enough, but Zangulus is the superior master swordsman/battle junkie rival to Gourry. Martina has absolutely no basis in the novels, but she gets a thumbs up, too. Man, Next was so good.
-While Lantz served his own purpose as a "working man" adventurer who isn't up to Lina and Gourry's level, freaking out at the flesh curse and needing some extra firepower make himself useful in Sairaag, I'm totally fine with him being one of those forgotten novel characters. He's introduced being a sleaze to Lina, and he jokes about raping Eris when he finds her passed out in a bush. Go and stay gone.
-The novels as a whole are a little too eager to tell rape jokes. It is mostly phased out as it goes along, but I really did not need to read about two thugs debating the pros and cons of raping Lina or Lina getting information out of a burglar by pretending Gourry is a gay predator.
-By the same token, I don't feel the least bit bad about Zolf getting incinerated. Sucks that you lost your friend, Zel, but your friend was a guy who took turns going down the list of every guy he knows and trying to convince each and every one of them that it's time to sexually torture Lina. A similar joke was in the anime with Nunsa the fishman, but it was a tasteless and blessedly brief one-and-done. The novel goes into excruciating detail about why each guy on the team can't or won't play ball with Zolf's sick little game. Rot in Hell, Zolf. Pick better friends, Zel. (At least Rodimus seemed like a decent guy.)
-Speaking of Zel's old posse: Dilgear came back for the Sairaag/Copy Rezo arc, as he should have in the first season. The last we see of the guy, he's swearing revenge on the team. Why not bring him back in the anime, too? Sure, he doesn't stick around for long or accomplish much even in novel 3, but at least Kanzaka thought to bring him back.
-On a lighter note: It was great seeing Aria's growth as a sorceress in the short time we know her. She went from saying her magic is better than nothing to showing off some spells stunts that she had clearly picked up from Lina. I get the sense that she would have been a magical monster if she stuck around.
-I wish we got more insights into Luke and Mileena, such as how they met (how does an all-business shaman meet and halfway-reform a professional assassin with the setting's version of the Devil sleeping his soul?) or how they became such a well-oiled machine with their combination spells, but it's actually a pretty important character beat for Lina to realize how little she knows either one of them. Kanzaka really succeeded in making both Lina and the reader wish we had more time with them.
-On the other hand, it undercuts the notion that they had this great connection to Luke, and he would set the stage for them to kill him. Is he the friend you could not save or is he someone you wish could have called a friend? I guess there is a middle path -- a more distant friend that you wish you could have gotten to know better when you had the chance -- but it still comes off a little bit muddled.
-I'm still not sure if Luke's magic sword was one-of-a-kind after we see him using a bunch of other edged weapons in 14 that can also hold a magic spell. Did Luke find an entire set of special swords with that property? Was that an ability of his that he already possessed and he only pretended that his main sword had that power? Did he find a magic sword and reverse-engineer the ability to store one spell at a time in other blades? Not a huge thing but I found it a little odd
-The prevalence of madmen cooking up chimeras and other magical fusions makes me wonder if they were all pen pals with each other. It's incredibly rampant. The novels already gave us the thread of Sherra's demon sword spreading chaos and creatures, but it might have been nice to string the rest of them together a little more strongly with something like Lavas mentioning that he discovered one of Rezo's old chimera labs. Or insinuate that a character like Sherra may have been feeding Rezo information in order to grease the wheels of his descent into villainy and Shab's awakening. I know novel 1 is written as a single story and only later ballooned into a series, but it might have been nice to get some more play between Rezo and the demons even if it is after the fact. The anime went so far as to imply Rezo was in contact with Phibrizzo or at least researched his style of magic in Revolution/Evolution-R with the green stasis crystals and the Hellmaster's Jar. Wouldn't it be interesting to reveal that someone was pulling on that particular thread?
-As much as I would love to see some of the novel content adapted to screen some day, I just don't see how you could preserve some of the chimera/fusion body horror and the purely tragic elements in the way more light-hearted anime. People already complain about Try being too dark for tackling something as heavy as the ancient dragon genocide in their goofy fantasy comedy anime. The end of the Crimson City arc and the Selentia arcs would be enough to trigger total meltdowns about how it's not really Slayers anymore because Slayers is supposed to be fun. We're never getting the Luke and Mileena story arc in any other format, are we?
-But novel 16 could totally be a movie. (Just remove the lines about Mephy and the Zenefa armor.) It is mostly self-contained, not as dark as a lot of the stuff in 9 through 15, brings back the classic lineup of the core four plus the token newbie and a Xellos cameo, caps off with a big flashy fight scene that would probably be fun as hell to see in glossy bid budget animation, etc. Sure, it's more Zanaffar when we've already seen a bunch of them, but it's actually a minor plot point that the elven armors play by different rules. They could get away with it.
-Novel 17 feels so weird and distinct from everything else, and I mean that in the best way. Kanzaka really thought about how to make this neck of the woods feel alien to Lina and Gourry. Lina worrying about how to read the local script, whether or not they will eat something poisonous, how hard it would be to find a map, currency conversion, etc. Great stuff. It's also funny to see that 17 seems to be setting up a bunch of smug, holier-than-thou dragons with questionable moral fiber as the major villains of this new story. Starting to smell a lot like Slayers Try in here, which is funny when some of the crankier fans like to say that Try doesn't count.
-The novels and anime are pretty evenly matched in their pros and cons for the most part. For every one thing the novels do better, I could come right back and say there is something the animation does better, and back and forth and up and down over and over again. But one thing really stands out to me. Slayers Next absolutely blows novel 8 out of the water for how it handles the end of the Phibrizzo/Giga Slave story. The grand finale of Slayers Next is my vote for the high water mark of the entire franchise, so novel 8 was probably always doomed. Credit to the animation production team for pulling that tour de force out of their hat. I'm normally a "source material is sacred" kind of fan, but Slayers as a whole is a fascinating compare-and-contrast piece as I slowly learned what was cut, condensed, or rearranged in the translation from page to screen.
-But I will say that it makes the Lord of Nightmares out to be a more menacing, insidious character. Next gave me the impression that she is something of a literal genie, giving Lina the power she asked for (even if it cost her, which was part of her wish) and Phibrizzo the destruction he wanted. The Lord of Nightmares even appears to respond to Gourry's pure wish to have Lina restored. She is an overwhelming but ultimately neutral force. Novel 8, on the other hand, seems to suggest that she's proud enough and petulant enough to annihilate Phibrizzo for his disrespect and only accidentally released Lina from her hold. Granted, that's just Lina taking a shot in the dark and making her best guess with the completely unprecedented event of the lord of all creation coming down to possess your body. She could be wrong. Still, 8 makes L look like a cruel and moody god. Slayers Next's concept of L is something that would destroy the world because it is simply her nature as Chaos itself. Novel 8's concept of L strikes me as a being that would destroy the world because it offends her. Maybe the Monsters/demons/Mazoku were right. Maybe she does desire a return for all creation to Chaos.
-I would kill for Novel 18.

For the past week or so I've been cleaning up the data from the 2023 Bingo data. 100% I missed some stuff.
The ideea was to remove typos, match book to authors and authors to books. In case multiple books were mentioned, only 1 was used. If a series was read by a user, i manily used the first in the series as that usually appeared. I also remove incomplete or duplicate responses, remove answeres where an author appears multiple times and in order to ease my work I ignored duplication of authors for square 9. Removed some of the answeres that included books out of sff. Also the author names were not split, so if an author names appears in an antology it will not be counted .
Keeping all that in mind, here we go:
Most read books:

1. The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty - 194
2. Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - 154
3. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots - 114
4. All Systems Red by Martha Wells - 101
5. System Collapse by Martha Wells - 101
6. Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee - 96
7. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - 94
8. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - 93
9. Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater - 89
10. Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson - 85

Most read authors:

1. Martha Wells -390
2. T. Kingfisher - 338
3. Brandon Sanderson - 285
4. Shannon Chakraborty - 253
5. Travis Baldree - 227
6. Becky Chambers - 184
7. Naomi Novik - 165
8. TJ.. Klune - 164
9. Fonda Lee - 163
10. Adrian Tchaikovsky - 147

Most read authors with a single book :

1. Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots - 114
2. The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah - 93
3. Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs - 64
4. 'The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - 45
5. When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb - 39
6. Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura - 37
7. The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao - 31
8. The Cybernetic Tea Shop by Meredith Katz - 31
9. Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah - 30
10. To Shape a Dragon\'s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose - 28
11. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust - 28

The book read across most prompts:

• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - 11 squares (4 - Magical Realism or Literary Fantasy, 6 - Mundane Jobs, 13 - Published in 2023, 14 -Multiverse and Alternate Realities, 16 -Book Club OR Readalong Book, 18 - Mythical Beasts, 19 - Elemental Magic, 20 - Myths and Retellings, 21 - Queernorm Setting, 22 - Coastal or Island Setting, 23- Druids)

The Authore read acorss most prompts: Brandon sanderson (21 squares 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25)
[Dear Brandon Sanderson,
In case you need some propts for your futere secret novels, please take into consideration the following ones : 4 - Magical Realism or Literary Fantasy 8 - Angels and Demons 21 - Queernorm Setting and , as we need a substitution as you are not a PoC author, a book about bees, or where a character is a bee or dreams about a bee, something with a bee in it]
The square with the most diverse no. of titles : 3 -Bottom of the TBR (610 titles)
The square with the least diverse no of titles: 12 - Set in the Middle East/Middle Eastern SFF ( 155 titles)
In how many ways an author name can be spelled: Shannon Chakraborty - 16 N.K. Jemisin - 12 Ursula K. Le Guin - 12 V.E. Schwab - 11
Top 10 reads per square:
1) Title with a Title

• The Blacktongue Thief, Christopher Buehlman, 21
• Paladin's Grace, T. Kingfisher, 17
• The Witness for the Dead, Katherine Addison, 15
• The Captain, Will Wight, 14
• The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison, 14
• Yumi and the Nightmare Painter, Brandon Sanderson, 14
• Assassin's Apprentice, Robin Hobb, 12
• The Justice of Kings, Richard Swan, 11
• Red Sister, Mark Lawrence, 11
• Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, 9

2) Superheroes

• Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots, 106
• Vicious, V.E. Schwab, 47
• The Refrigerator Monologues, Catherynne M. Valente, 39
• Starter Villain, John Scalzi, 31
• Dreadnought, April Daniels, 26
• The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin, 17
• Steelheart, Brandon Sanderson, 15
• Super Powereds: Year 1, Drew Hayes, 14
• Renegades, Marissa Meyer, 14
• The Extraordinaries, T.J. Klune, 14

3) Bottom of the TBR

• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin, 9
• Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien, 7
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin, 7
• Neuromancer, William Gibson, 7
• Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky, 6
• Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay, 6
• Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, 6
• The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu, 5
• Dune, Frank Herbert, 5
• The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien, 5

4) Magical Realism or Literary Fantasy

• Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, 42
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold, Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 40
• Bunny, Mona Awad, 14
• Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield, 13
• The cartographers, Peng Shepherd, 13
• Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, 13
• The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka, 12
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman, 11
• The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde, 11
• Weyward, Emilia Hart, 10

5) Young Adult

• A Deadly Education, Naomi Novik, 21
• A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher, 18
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea, Axie Oh, 13
• Fireborne, Rosaria Munda, 9
• Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas, 8
• Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo, 8
• To Shape a Dragon's Breath, Moniquill Blackgoose, 8
• Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross, 8
• Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, 8
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins, 8

6) Mundane Jobs

• Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree, 90
• A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher, 28
• Elder Race, Adrian Tchaikovsky, 13
• Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, 13
• Divine Rivals, Rebecca Ross, 13
• Going Postal, Terry Pratchett, 13
• The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune, 13
• Bookshops and Bonedust, Travis Baldree, 13
• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett, 9
• Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky, 8

7) Published in the 00s

• His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik, 17
• The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold, 15
• The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie, 14
• Kushiel's Dart, Jacqueline Carey, 13
• Vita Nostra, Marina & Sergey Dyachenko, 12
• The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, 10
• The City and the City, China Mieville, 9
• Perdido Street Station, China Mieville, 9
• Eragon, Christopher Paolini, 9
• A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham, 9

8) Angels and Demons

• Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater, 79
• Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, 73
• Witch King, Martha Wells, 36
• When the Angels Left the Old Country, Sacha Lamb, 32
• Hell Bent, Leigh Bardugo, 20
• Lent, Jo Walton, 19
• Between Two Fires, Christopher Buehlman, 18
• The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis, 17
• Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki, 14
• The Angel of the Crows, Katherine Addison, 13

9) Five SFF Short Stories.

• Exhalation, Ted Chiang, 30
• Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang, 25
• The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories, Ken Liu, 18
• Sharp Ends, Joe Abercrombie, 10
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, Susanna Clarke, 9
• Her Body and Other Parties, Carmen Maria Machado, 8
• How Long 'til Black Future Month', N.K. Jemisin, 8
• White Cat, Black Dog, Kelly Link, 7
• Defying Doomsday, Tsana Dolichva & Holly Kench, 7
• Jade Shards, Fonda Lee, 6

10) Horror

• A House With Good Bones, T. Kingfisher, 28
• What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher, 26
• Dracula, Bram Stoker, 18
• The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson, 16
• Lone Women, Victor LaValle, 16
• The Library at Mount Char, Scott Hawkins, 14
• Between Two Fires, Christopher Buehlman, 12
• Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher, 12
• The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher, 12
• Our Wives Under The Sea, Julia Armfield, 11

11) Self-Published OR Indie Publisher:

• Murder at Spindle Manor, Morgan Stang, 17
• Blood over Bright Haven, M.L. Wang, 15
• The Sword of Kaigen, M.L. Wang, 13
• Orconomics, J. Zachary Pike, 11
• Dungeon Crawler Carl, Matt Dinniman, 10
• Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater, 8
• Unsouled, Will Wight, 8
• There Is No Antimemetics Division, qntm, 7
• Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons, Quenby Olson, 7
• The Lord of Stariel, A.J. Lancaster, 6

12) Set in the Middle East/Middle Eastern SFF:.

• The Stardust Thief, Chelsea Abdullah, 88
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty, 83
• A Master of Djinn, P. Djeli Clark, 39
• The Daughters of Izdihar, Hadeer Elsbai, 37
• The City of Brass, Shannon Chakraborty, 36
• Gunmetal Gods, Zamil Akhtar, 34
• The Bruising of Qilwa, Naseem Jamnia, 30
• Girl, Serpent, Thorn, Melissa Bashardoust, 24
• Throne of the Crescent Moon, Saladin Ahmed, 22
• Shubeik Lubeik, Deena Mohamed, 19

13) Published in 2023

• Ink Blood Sister Scribe, Emma Torzs, 27
• Godkiller, Hannah Kaner, 27
• The Will of the Many, James Islington, 23
• Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, 21
• Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh, 20
• Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson, 19
• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett, 19
• Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, 13
• Weyward, Emilia Hart, 12
• Bookshops and Bonedust, Travis Baldree, 12

14) Multiverse and Alternate Realities

• The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson, 48
• The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi, 37
• The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, Brandon Sanderson, 34
• Piranesi, Susanna Clarke, 28
• This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone, 27
• Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh, 26
• Infinity Gate, M.R. Carey, 26
• Lonely Castle in the Mirror, Mizuki Tsujimura, 17
• The Midnight Library, Matt Haig, 13
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow, 12

15) POC Author

• Dawn, Octavia E. Butler, 29
• An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon, 19
• Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao, 19
• Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler, 15
• Babel, R.F. Kuang, 15
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna, 15
• The Kindred, Octavia E. Butler, 14
• Rosewater, Tade Thompson, 14
• Ninefox Gambit, Yoon Ha Lee, 14
• Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, 13

16) Book Club OR Readalong Book

• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett, 31
• Orconomics, J. Zachary Pike, 30
• The Ninth Rain, Jen Williams, 23
• The Justice of Kings, Richard Swan, 22
• Ink Blood Sister Scribe, Emma Torzs, 21
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty, 21
• Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree, 18
• The Haunting Of Hill House, Shirley Jackson, 16
• The Kindred, Octavia E. Butler, 12
• The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Sangu Mandanna, 12

17) Novella

• This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone, 26
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers, 26
• The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo, 22
• Rose/House, Arkady Martine, 17
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers, 17
• Ogres, Adrian Tchaikovsky, 16
• Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee, 15
• Penric's Demon, Lois McMaster Bujold, 15
• The Deep, Rivers Solomon, 13
• The Cybernetic Tea Shop, Meredith Katz, 12

18) Mythical Beasts

• Untethered Sky, Fonda Lee, 71
• The Last Unicorn, Peter S. Beagle, 53
• Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, 27
• Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett, 18
• A Natural History of Dragons, Marie Brennan, 14
• The Forgotten Beasts of Eld, Patricia A. McKillip, 14
• All the Murmuring Bones, A.G. Slatter, 13
• The Kaiju Preservation Society, John Scalzi, 8
• Circe, Madeline Miller, 8
• His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik, 8

19) Elemental Magic

• The Sword of Kaigen, M.L. Wang, 58
• Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi, F.C. Yee, Michael Dante DiMartino, 38
• The Daughters of Izdihar, Hadeer Elsbai, 29
• A River Enchanted, Rebecca Ross, 16
• The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin, 15
• Fire Logic, Laurie J. Marks, 12
• Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Sue Lynn Tan, 12
• The Queen of Blood, Sarah Beth Durst, 11
• A Darker Shade of Magic, V.E. Schwab, 11
• From Unseen Fire, Cass Morris, 10

20) Myths and Retellings:

• Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, 39
• The Witch's Heart, Genevieve Gornichec, 28
• Circe, Madeline Miller, 27
• Kaikeyi, Vaishnavi Patel, 20
• Thornehedge, T. Kingfisher, 19
• What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher, 19
• Spear, Nicola Griffith, 17
• The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller, 15
• In the Lives of Puppets, TJ Klune, 13
• Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman, 12

21) Queernorm Setting

• Bookshops and Bonedust, Travis Baldree, 41
• Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree, 36
• Saint Death's Daughter, C.S.E. Cooney, 21
• Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir, 21
• A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine, 14
• Godkiller, Hannah Kaner, 14
• A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon, 14
• The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal, 13
• A Taste of Gold and Iron, Alexandra Rowland, 12
• The Mask of Mirrors, M.A. Carrick, 12

22) Coastal or Island Setting

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty, 78
• Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson, 54
• A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin, 36
• The Bone Ships, R.J. Barker, 22
• The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler, 14
• The bone shard daughter, Andrea Stewart, 13
• Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch, 12
• The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune, 12
• The Bone Shard War, Andrea Stewart, 11
• One Piece, Eiichiro Oda, 11

23) Druids

• Dreamer's Pool, Juliet Marillier, 53
• Silver in the Wood, Emily Tesh, 38
• The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri, 37
• Hounded, Kevin Hearne, 33
• The Druid's Call, E.K. Johnston, 23
• This Poison Heart, Kalynn Bayron, 20
• The Children of Gods and Fighting Men, Shauna Lawless, 19
• Sistersong, Lucy Holland, 16
• The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri, 16
• Dreaming the Eagle, Manda Scott, 14

24) Featuring Robots

• All Systems Red, Martha Wells, 88
• System Collapse, Martha Wells, 82
• In the Lives of Puppets, TJ Klune, 46
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers, 36
• Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro, 33
• Network Effect, Martha Wells, 30
• Sea of Rust, C. Robert Cargill, 29
• Artificial Condition, Martha Wells, 22
• A Closed and Common Orbit, Becky Chambers, 19
• The Cybernetic Tea Shop, Meredith Katz, 17

25) Sequel

• The Golden Enclaves, Naomi Novik, 16
• Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir, 12
• Waybound, Will Wight, 12
• System Collapse, Martha Wells, 10
• Children of Memory, Adrian Tchaikovsky, 9
• Jade Legacy, Fonda Lee, 9
• A Power Unbound, Freya Marske, 9
• Light Bringer, Pierce Brown, 9
• Labyrinth's Heart, M.A. Carrick, 8
• Cibola Burn, James S.A. Corey, 7

Preliminary Notes
I realized that u/smartflutist661 hasn’t posted in over a year so decided to whip together some stats for last year’s Bingo! I ‘m not smart enough for scripts so I just used OpenRefine to clean up the data and Excel to calculate.
I’ve also shamelessly copied their stat format from 2022 and notes:

1. Stories were not examined for fitness. If you used Legends & Lattes for Horror, it was included in the statistics for that square. In addition, if you did something like, say, put Spinning Silver as a short story, I made no effort to figure out where it actually belonged.
2. Comics/etc. with multiple “titles” were grouped together the best I could see, either by name or author. Some may be wrong author but count for title and vice versa. I tried my best to separate, see Avatar the Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi.
3. I did No demographic stats but might add to this in the future. (I’ve been compiling info from the recommendation thread, and subsequent threads for this year’s BINGO to helpfully make more robust stats in the future. I may go back and do the same for this.)
4. I used OpenRefine to clean the data. I took the most popular spelling choice in regard to authors and I use the most popular choice for title. I am sorry if the story is A Dowery of Blood and I changed it to **Dowery of Blood—**the people decided for me!

And Now: The Stats

Overall Stats : Squares and Cards

• There were 929 cards submitted (1 less than last year), 83 cards did not obtain blackout or were incomplete. There were 3 cards with the lowest number of squares, 5. Four cards were missing one square! 4781 squares were left blank, leaving 23089 filled squares.
• I also calculated regular BINGO’s. Rightmost down was the easiest to complete with only 52 blank squares and the middle row was the hardest with 70 blank squares. 10 cards did not get BINGO but had an average of 13.8 completed squares. From left to right, top to bottom:
  • 864 (1,2,3,4,5) 65 missing
  • 745 (6,7,8,9,10) 57 missing
  • 859 (11,12,13,14,15) 70 missing
  • 866 (16,17,18,19,20) 63 missing
  • 873 (21,22,23,24,25) 56 missing
  • 874 (1,6,11,16,21) 55 missing
  • 860 (2,7,12,17,22) 69 missing
  • 864 (3,8,13,18,23) 65 missing
  • 861 (4,9,14,19,24) 68 missing
  • 877 (5,10,15,20,25) 52 missing
  • 745 (1,7,13,19,25) 56 missing
  • 864 (5,9,13,17,21) 65 missing
• There were 10921 stories by 8139 authors, of which 7263 were unique stories and 5268 unique authors across the whole bingo card.
• There was a total of 646 blank squares. The top three squares left blank were: Set in the Middle East blank on 47 cards; Druids, blank on 46 cards; and Superheroes blank on 44 cards. On the other hand, Sequel was only blank on 9 cards.
• The three squares most often substituted were: Druids on 58 cards, Superheroes on 34 cards and Bookclub/Readalongs on 31 cards. Sequel and Multiverse/Alternative Realities were never substituted. Meaning Druids was the least favorite, being skipped or substituted a total of 104 times.
• 182 cards claimed an all-hard-mode card, while 32 cards were short by one square. Everyone attempted at least one hard mode, but 8 cards only did 1. The hardest hard-mode was Self-Published/Indie Published with 40.8 % and the easiest, minus square three was Horror with 91.4%. The average number of hard-mode squares per card was 16.9.

Books

The ten most-read books were:

• · The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, 207 times
• · Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, 186 times
• · Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, 124 times
• · All Stems Red by Martha Wells, 103 times
• · System collapse by Martha Wells, 114 times
• · Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee, 106 times
• · Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, 102 times
• · The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, 97 times
• · Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater, 94 times
• · Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, 91 times

The books used for the most squares were:

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, used for 11 squares
• Mother of Learning by Domagoj Kurmaic, used for 10 squares

Tied with 9 squares:

• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
• Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
• Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
• Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
• The Spear Cuts Through Water, by Simon Jimenez
• Mammoths at the Gates, by Nighi Vo

Authors

The ten most-read authors were:

• · Martha Wells, 453 reads
• · T.Kingfisher, 381 reads
• · Brandon Sanderson, 353 reads
• · S.A. Chakraborty, 275 reads
• · Travis Baldree, 270 reads
• · Terry Pratchett, 230 reads
• · Neil Gaiman, 229 reads
• · Becky chambers, 209 reads
• · Naomi Novik, 197 reads
• · TJ Klune, 190 reads

The Ten most-used authors were:

• Brandon Sanderson, 23 squares
• T. Kingfisher, 21 squares
• Terry Pratchett, 19 squares
• Adrian Tchaikovsky, 19 squares
• Naomi Novik, 18 squares
• Leigh Bardugo,18 squares
• Catherynne M. Valente, 18 squares

Tied with 17 squares

• Martha Wells, Ursula K. Le Guin, Seanan McGuire, Marie Brennan, Garth Nix, Stephen King

The authors with the most unique books:

• · Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, 116 reads, 124 reads total, 5 squares
• · Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, 107 reads, 186 reads total, 9 squares
• · All Systems Red by Martha Wells, 103 reads, 120 reads total, 5 squares
• · The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, 92 reads, 97 reads total, 4 squares
• · System Collapse by Martha Wells, 90 reads, 114 reads total, 5 squares

The authors with the most unique book for 1 square

• · Vicious by V.E. Schwab, 55 reads
• · Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier, 54 reads
• · The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Lee, 42 reads
• · Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill, 30 reads
• · Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, 22 reads

Stats for Individual Squares

1. Title with a Title

Most Read Books

• The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, 22 times
• Paldin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher, 18 times
• The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison, 17 times
• The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison, 17 times
• TIE: Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb & Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson 15 times

Most Read Authors
· T.Kingfisher, 35 times
· Katherine Addison, 34 times
· Brandon Sanderson, 32 times
· Christopher Buehlman, 25 times
· Robin Hobb, 24 times
TOTAL: 473 individual books, 320 unique titles, 12 blank, 4 substitutions, 742 Hard mode
373 authors, 236 unique

2. Superheroes

Most Read Books

• Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots, 116 times
• Vicious, V.E. Schwab, 55 times
• The Refrigerator monologues, Catherynne M. Valente, 40 times
• Starter Villian, John Scalzi, 33 times
• Dreadnought, April Daniels, 31 times

Most Read Authors

• Natalie Zina Walschots, 116 times
• V.E. Schwab, 64 times
• Catherynne M. Valente, 38 times
• April Daniels, 34 times
• John Scalzi, 33 times

TOTAL: 324 individual books, 202 unique titles, 44 blanks, 34 substitutions, 763 hard-mode
263 authors, 180 unique

3. Bottom of the TBR

Most Read Books

• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin, 9 times
• Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien, 8 times
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, 7 times
• Necromancer by William Gibson, 7 times
• TIE: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Dune by Frank Herbert, 6 times

Most Read Authors

• Ursula K. Le Guin, 25 times
• JRR Tolkien, 24 times
• Neil Gaiman, 22 times
• TIE: Guy Gavriel Kay, Brandon Sanderson, 13 times

TOTAL: 657 books read, with 501 unique titles. Skipped 26 times. Substituted 7 times, 905 hard-mode (hard if completed) 454 authors, 304 unique

4. Magical Realism

Most Read Books

• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, 45 times
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 41 times
• Bunny by Mona Awad, 15 times
• The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd, 15 times
• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, 14 times

Most Read Authors

• Susanna Clarke, 48 times
• Toshikazu Kawaguchi, 46 times
• Mona Awad, 20 times
• Neil Gaiman, 16 times
• Peng shepherd, 15 times

TOTAL: 450 books read, with 293 unique titles. Skipped 27 times. Substituted 12 times, 753 hard-mode, 366 authors, 241 unique

5. Young Adult

Most Read Books

• A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, 27 times
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T.Kingfisher, 20times
• The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh, 15 times
• TIE: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, Fireborne by Rosaria Munda 11 times

Most Read Authors

• Naomi Novik, 41times
• T. Kingfisher, 23 times
• Leigh Bardugo, 17 times
• Garth Nix, 16 times
• TIE: Axie Oh, Suzanne Collins, 15 times

TOTAL: 522 books read, with 370 unique titles. Skipped 16 times. Substituted 4 times, 645 hard-mode, 366 authors, 229 unique

6. Mundane Jobs

Most Read Books

• Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree, 107 times
• A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, T. Kingfisher, 36 times
• Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree, 16 times
• TIE: Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, 15 times

Most Read Authors

• Travis Bladree, 123 times
• T. Kingfisher, 47 times
• Terry Pratchett, 30 times
• Adrian Tchaikovsky, 28 times
• Becky Chambers,18 times

TOTAL: 413 books read, with 277 unique titles. Skipped 14 times. Substituted 1 times, 553 hard-mode, 336 authors, 226 unique

7. Published in 00s

Most Read Books

• His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik, 19 times
• The Curse of the Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, 16 times
• The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, 15 times
• Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, 14 times
• Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko, 13 times

Most Read Authors

• Neil Gaiman, 34 times
• Lois McMaster Bujold, 27 times
• Terry Pratchett, 26 times
• Joe Abercrombie, 25 times
• TIE: Namoi Novik, China Mieville, 24 times

TOTAL: 495 books read, with 316 unique titles. Skipped 32 times. Substituted 14 times, 666 hard-mode, 312 authors, 180 unique

8. Angles & Demons

Most Read Books

• Small Miracles by Olica Atwater, 84 times
• Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, 87 times
• Witch King by Martha Wells, 40 times
• When the Angles Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, 34 times
• Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, 24 times

Most Read Authors

• Oliva Atwater, 84 times
• Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, 82 times
• Martha Wells, 41 times
• Sacha Lamb, 34 times
• Leigh Bardugo, 24 times

TOTAL: 337 books read, with 202 unique titles. Skipped 30 times. Substituted 6 times, 509 hard-mode, 252 authors, 148 unique

9. Short Stories

Most Read Books: Anthology

• Exhalation by Ted Chiang,34 times
• Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, 27 times
• The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu, 20 times
• Sharpe ends by Joe Abercrombie, 10 times
• The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke, 9 times

Most Read Authors

• Ted Chiang, 61times
• Ken Liu, 30 times
• Ursula K. Le Guin, 12 times
• TIE: Issac Asimov, Jonathan Strahan, Kelly Link, 11 times

Most Read Books: Short Stories
· The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. harrow, 8 times
· Undercover by Tamsyn Muir, 6 times
· Exhalation by Ted Chiang, 5 times
· The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, 5times
· What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo, 5 times
Most Read Authors

• Ted Chiang, 23 times
• Ursula K. Le Guin, 15 times
• TIE: Tamsyn Muir, James S.A. Corey, Martha Wells, Ken Liu, Neil Gaiman, 12 times

TOTAL: 985 books read, with 777 unique titles. Skipped 31 times. Substituted 18 times, 742 hard-mode, 710 authors, 503 unique

10. Horror

Most Read Books

• What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher, 34 times
• A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, 28 times
• Dracula by Bram Stoker, 21 times
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, 17 times
• The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, 14 times

Most Read Authors

• T. Kingfisher,97 times
• Grady Hendrix, 34 times
• TIE: Shirley Jackson, Victor LaValle, 23 times
• Bram Stoker, 21 times

TOTAL: 410 books read, with 268 unique titles. Skipped 17 times. Substituted 12 times, 849 hard-mode, 307 authors, 188 unique

11. Self Published/Indie Published

Most Read Books

• Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang, 17 times
• Blood Over Bright Haven, by M.L. Wang, 16 times
• The Sword of Kaigen, by M.L. Wang, 13 times
• Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman, 11 times
• TIE: Unsouled, Waybound by Will Wight, Small Miracles by Oliva Atwater, The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk, 8 times

Most Read Authors

• · M.L. Wang, 29 times
• · Will Wight, 27 times
• · Morgan Stang, 24 times
• · Matt Dinniman, 16 times
• · J. Zachary Pike, 13 times

TOTAL: 636 books read, with 499 unique titles. Skipped 33 times. Substituted 25 times, 379 hard-mode, 532 authors, 420 unique

12. Set in the Middle East

Most Read Books

• The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah, 92 times
• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, 85 times
• A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark, 44 times
• The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty, 40 times
• The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai, 36 times

Most Read Authors

• S. A. Chakraborty, 135 times
• Chelsea Abdullah, 92 times
• P. Djèlí Clark, 61 times
• Zamil Akhtar, 42 times
• Hadeer Elsbai, 38 times

TOTAL: 200 books read, with 81 unique titles. Skipped 47 times. Substituted 30 times, 485 hard-mode, 166 authors, 102 unique

13. Published in 2023

Most Read Books

• Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, 29 times
• Ink, Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Torzs, 27 times
• The Will of the Many by James Islington, 26 times
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, 25 times
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faries by Heather Fawcett, 22 times

Most Read Authors

• Brandon Sanderson, 48 times
• Hannah Kaner, 29 times
• Rebecca Yarros, 28 times
• James Islington, 26 times
• Emma Torzs, 25 times

TOTAL: 348 books read, with 192 unique titles. Skipped 21 times. Substituted 3 times, 371 hard-mode, 333 authors, 205 unique

14. Multiverse/Alternative Realities

Most Read Books

• The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson, 51 times
• The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi, 45 times
• The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson, 39 times
• This is How You Loose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, 31 times
• Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, 30 times

Most Read Authors

• · Micaiah Johnson, 51 times
• · Brandon Sanderson, 50 times
• · John Scalzi, 47 times
• · Susanna Clarke, 33 times
• · Amal El-Mohtar, 31 times

TOTAL: 390 books read, with 269 unique titles. Skipped 21 times. Substituted 0 times, 672 hard-mode, 275 authors, 182 unique

15. POC Author

Most Read Books

• Dawn by Octavia E.Butler, 30 times
• Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao, 25 times
• An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, 21 times
• Babel by R.F. Kuang,17 times
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, 16 times

Most Read Authors

• Octavia E. Butler, 78 times
• Nnedi Okorafor, 41 times
• N.K. Jemisin, 37 times
• Yoon Ha Lee, 28 times
• Fonda Lee, 27 times

TOTAL: 398 books read, with 245 unique titles. Skipped 20 times. Substituted 3 times, 432 hard-mode, 263 authors, 157 unique

16. Book club/Readalongs

Most Read Books

• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faries by heather Fawcett, 33 times
• Orconomics by J. Zachary Pike, 31 times
• The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams, 25 times
• The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan, 24 times
• TIE: Ink,Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Torzs, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, 23 times

Books That Fit
Books that were only listed once per this square but were a popular choice across other squares

• · All Systems Red by Martha Wells
• · What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
• · Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
• · Soul Music by Terry Pratchett
• · Uprooted by Naomi Novik

TOTAL: 292 books read, with 128 unique titles. Skipped 24 times. Substituted 31 times, 313 hard-mode, 247 authors, 114 unique

17. Novella

Most Read Books

• This is How You Loose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone, 30 times
• To Be Taught,If Fortunate by Becky Chambers, 28 times
• The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo, 24 times
• TIE: Orges by Adrian Tchaikovsky,Rose/House by Arkady Martine, 18 times

Most Read Authors

• · Adrian Tachaikovsky, 53 times
• · Becky Chambers, 52 times
• · Nghi Vo, 38 times
• · Lois McMaster Bujold, 27 times
• · Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone, 26 times

TOTAL: 417 books read, with 273 unique titles. Skipped 18 times. Substituted 2 times, 602 hard-mode, 306 authors, 201 unique

18. Mythical Beasts

Most Read Books

• Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee,79 times
• The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, 58 times
• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, 34 times
• Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, 18 times
• TIE: All the Murmuring Bones by A.G. Slatter, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip, 14 times

Most Read Authors

• Fonda Lee, 79 times
• Peter S. Beagle, 64 times
• Rebecca Yarros, 36 times
• Marie Brennan, 24 times
• Heather Fawcett, 20 times

TOTAL: 451 books read, with 314 unique titles. Skipped 19 times. Substituted 2 times, 584 hard-mode, 335 authors, 217 unique.

19. Elemental Magic

Most Read Books

• The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang, 64 times
• The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee, 42 times
• The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai, 32 times
• TIE: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin, A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross 16 times

Most Read Authors

• · M.L. Wang, 64 times
• · F.C. Lee, 58 times
• · Hadeer Elsbai, 31 times
• · Robert Jordan, 26 times
• · N.K. Jemisin, 24 times

TOTAL: 379 books read, with 219 unique titles. Skipped 40 times. Substituted 20 times, 795 hard-mode, 276 authors, 171 unique

20. Myths & Retellings

Most Read Books

• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, 43 times
• The Witch’s Heart by Genevieve Gornichec, 31 times
• Circe by Madeline Miller, 29 times
• Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, 22 times
• TIE: What Moves the Dead & Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher, 21 times

Most Read Authors

• T. Kingfisher, 57 reads
• Naomi Novik, 49 reads
• Madeline Miller, 47 reads
• Genevieve Gornichec, 32 reads
• Vaishnavi Patel, 22 reads

TOTAL: 400 books read, with 242 unique titles. Skipped 25 times. Substituted 4 times, hard-mode 724, 309 authors, 200 unique

21. Queernorm Setting

Most Read Books

• Legends & lattes by Travis Baldree, 45 times
• Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree, 44 times
• TIE: Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney, Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, 21 times
• TIE: A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland, Godkiller by Hannah Kaner, A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, 15 times

Most Read Authors

• Travis Baldree, 89 times
• Becky Chambers, 38 times
• TIE: TJ Klune, Nghi Vo,Tamsyn Muir, 32 times

TOTAL: 357 books read, with 206 unique titles. Skipped 21 times. Substituted 12 times, 607 hard-mode, 237 authors, 138 unique

22. Coastal/Island Setting

Most Read Books

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty, 83 times
• Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, 59 times
• A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin, 37 times
• The Bone Ships by RJ Barker, 23 times
• The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, 18 times

Most Read Authors

• S. A. Chakraborty, 83 times
• Brandon Sanderson, 65 times
• Ursula K. Le Guin, 48 times
• RJ Barker, 39 times
• Andrea Stewart, 34 times

TOTAL: 399 books read, with 265 unique titles. Skipped 21 times. Substituted 1 times, 642 hard-mode, 311 authors, 205 unique

23. Druids

Most Read Books

• Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier, 54 times
• The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, 39 times
• Hounded by Kevin Hearne, 38 times
• Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh, 30 times
• This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron, 20 times

Most Read Authors

• Juliet Marillier, 85 times
• Tasha Suri, 56 times
• TIE: Kevin Hearne, Emily Tesh, 49 times
• E.K. Johnston, 24 times

TOTAL: 357 books read, with 216 unique titles. Skipped 46 times. Substituted 58 times, 749 hard mode, 276 authors, 191 unique

24. Featuring Robots

Most Read Books

• All Systems Red by Martha Wells, 103 times
• System Collapse by Martha Wells, 90 times
• In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune, 49 times
• A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky chambers, 38 times
• Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, 33 times

Most Read Authors

• Martha Wells, 284 times
• Becky Chambers, 83 times
• TJ Klune, 49 times
• C. Robert Cargill, 43 times
• Kazuo Ishiguro, 33 times

TOTAL: 246 books read, with 437 unique titles. Skipped 32 times. Substituted 4 times, 565 hard-mode, 192 authors, 118 unique

25. Sequel

Most Read Books

• The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik, 19 times
• TIE: Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Waybound by Will Wright, 13 times
• Light Bringer by Pierce Brown, 11 times
• TIE: Jade Legacy by Fonda Lee, A Power Unbound by Freya Marske, Labyrinth’s Heart by M.A. Carrick, 10 times

Most Read Authors

• James S.A. Corey, 31 times
• Naomi Novik, 24 times
• TIE: Martha Wells, Brandon Sanderson, 23 times
• Pierce Brown,22 times

TOTAL: 585 books read, with 441 unique titles. Skipped 9 times. Substituted 0 times, 705 hard-mode, 342 authors, 212 unique

Substitutions

Out of 929 cards, 307 used the Substitution rule.
Books

• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, 4 times
• TIE: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, Ink Blood, Sister, Scribe by Emma Torzs, Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel, Jonathan Strange & Mr.Norell by Susanna Clarke, Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie, The Book that Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence, 3 times

Authors

• TIE: Leigh Bardugo, Ann Leckie, Adrian Tchaikovsky, Brandon Sanderson, 5 times
• TIE: Ben Aaronovitch, Roger Zelazny, Travis Baldree, 4 times

Squares
· Set in Space 2022, Historical SFF 2022, Mystery Plot 2021, subbed 14 times
· Standalone, No Ifs, Ands, or Buts 2022, subbed 13 times
Variety
I used the FarraGini index from prior years. Values close to 0 suggest a square was well-varied; 0 means no book was repeated for a square. Values close to 100 suggest the same books were used repeatedly for a square; 100 means only one book was used for a square.

Square	Book	Author
Title with a Title	41.1	62.4
Superheroes	58.3	67.4
Bottom of the TBR	23.4	53.5
Magical Realism	43.4	55.7
Young Adult	37.0	55.3
Mundane Jobs	48.2	66.8
Published in 00s	59.1	37.8
Angles & Demons	56.6	60.8
Short Stories: Anthologies	35.5	54.4
Short Stories: Individual	16.5	53.6
Horror	46.9	67.1
Self Published/Indie	26.7	52.2
Set in the Middle East	68.6	77.9
Published in 2023	50.7	62.7
Multiverse	51.9	66.4
POC Author	47.3	69.0
Bookclub/Readalong	53.0	54.0
Novella	46.9	66.2
Mythical Beasts	45.4	60.7
Elemental Magic	49.9	61.1
Myths & Retelling	48.6	63.4
Queernorm Setting	50.7	63.5
Coastal/Island Setting	50.5	67.5
Druids	53.5	74.9
Featuring Robots	65.9	84.8
Sequels	31.8	57.5

Most Varied:
· Short Stories: Individual, Bottom of the TBR, Sequels
· Published in the 00s, Bottom of the TBR, Short Stories: Individual
Most Similar:
· Set in the Middle East, Featuring Robots (thanks Murderbot!), Superheroes
· Featuring Robots, Set in the Middle East, Druids
Misc. Shame
I mass edited 17,287 columns for the Title and 28,559 for the Author. Then did a pass through excel for outliers that clusters couldn’t find.

• Worst offense for author S.A Chakraborty, i.e. S.A Chakraborty S.A. (Shannon) Chakraborty, Shannon Chakraborty, etc.
  
• Worst offense for Title Before the Coree Gets Cold, just too many before and after’s
  
• I loath multiple authors and as such the word “and” in-between them!
  
• Thankfully I did not encounter any “yes” title or authors this year!
  
• BUT!!! I’m moving u/smartflutist661 warning out and into Bingo Stats Hell for those who put the title as “last name, first name”
  

This is Antonio Scurati's monologue for April 25th, a national holiday in Italy commemorating the Allies' victory and the Italian resistance movement against Nazi Germany and the Italian Social Republic (Fascists). This text was intended to be read on RAI television, the Italian equivalent of the BBC. However, Georgia Meloni and her government decided to censor this monologue, deeming it dangerous and attempting to manipulate European and Italian history by giving fascism an honorable place in it. Italian far right government claim that what we've learned about Fascism since World War II was concocted by left-wing politicians who manipulated facts. Italian journalists, oppressed by the constant censorship and manipulation of news, are now on a five-day strike in protest.
"Giacomo Matteotti was assassinated by fascist henchmen on June 10, 1924.
They waited for him outside his house, five of them, all squadristi from Milan, professionals of violence hired by Mussolini's closest collaborators. Honourable Matteotti, the secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party, the last one in Parliament still openly opposing fascist dictatorship, was kidnapped in the heart of Rome, in broad daylight, under the sun's light. He fought to the end, as he had fought all his life. They stabbed him to death, then mutilated his body. They bent him over to fit him into a hastily dug grave with a blacksmith's file.
"Mussolini was immediately informed. Besides the murder, he stained himself with the infamy of swearing to the widow that he would do everything possible to bring her husband back. While he swore, the Duce of fascism kept the victim's bloodstained documents in the drawer of his desk." "In this false spring of ours, however, we commemorate not only Matteotti's political murder but also the Nazi-Fascist massacres perpetrated by the German SS, with the complicity and collaboration of Italian fascists, in 1944. Fosse Ardeatine, Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Marzabotto. These are just some of the places where Mussolini's demonic allies massacred thousands of unarmed Italian civilians in cold blood. Among them were hundreds of children and even infants. Many were burned alive, some beheaded." "These two coinciding tragic anniversaries - spring of '24, spring of '44 - proclaim that fascism was throughout its historical existence - not just at the end or occasionally - an irredeemable phenomenon of systematic political violence, murder, and massacres. Will the heirs of that history acknowledge this, once and for all? Unfortunately, everything suggests that it will not be so. The post-fascist leadership, having won the elections in October 2022, had two options: repudiate its neo-fascist past or try to rewrite history. Undoubtedly, it chose the latter."
"After avoiding the subject during the election campaign, the Prime Minister, when forced to confront it by historical anniversaries, stubbornly adhered to the ideological line of her neo-fascist culture of origin: she distanced herself from the indefensible atrocities perpetrated by the regime (the persecution of Jews) without ever repudiating the fascist experience as a whole, she blamed only the Nazis for the massacres committed with the complicity of the Republican fascists, and finally denied the fundamental role of the Resistance in the Italian rebirth (to the point of never mentioning the word "antifascism" on April 25, 2023)." "As I speak to you, we are once again on the eve of the anniversary of the Liberation from Nazism and Fascism. The word that the Prime Minister refused to pronounce will still beat on the grateful lips of all sincere democrats, whether they be left, center, or right. As long as that word - antifascism - is not uttered by those who govern us, the specter of fascism will continue to haunt the house of Italian democracy."
Antonio Scurati (born 25 June 1969) is an Italian writer and academic. A professor of comparative literature and creative writing at the IULM University of Milan, mass media scholar, and editorialist for the Corriere della Sera, Scurati has won the main Italian literary prizes. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Strega Prize for his novel M: Son of the Century (2018), which is part of a planned tetralogy dedicated to Benito Mussolini and Italian fascism. It was at the top of the charts for two consecutive years, was translated into over forty countries, and is set for a television series produced by Sky Original in 2024.
This post isn't a news story or a joke; it's a firsthand account of what's currently unfolding in a European country that's regressing in a troubling direction. I'm sharing it because it's crucial for people to be aware, and I'm genuinely alarmed by the situation. It's deeply offensive to French, Spanish, British, Eastern European, Jewish, American, and all other Europeans, or individuals whose grandparents or family members were victims of Nazi fascism during World War II. I come from a family with ties to Nazi fascism, but unlike others, I don't refer to that era as "the golden era." Instead, I see it as a dark and shameful period marked by the worst atrocities in history. I'm disgusted by the actions of my relatives during that time. If I've violated any rules, I apologize to the moderators, but it's crucial for people to grasp the severity of what's happening once again in Europe.

Hey everyone! I’m back with part 2 of my DCU plan! As we shift focus from the origins of the league and the rise of the Legion of Doom, we instead look at the world post-Justice Day, with the acceptance of metahumans and the rise of people who want to do good!
Quick detail to add, imagine that in my part one post, Cyborg was in the first Justice League movie. This part mentions him having been in that movie but I forgot to include him in the act 1 layout. So just look past that and we’ll be fine!
And for those of you wondering, here is the new order for act 2:

1. Cyborg Season 1 (tv show)
2. Superman: Bizarre (film)
3. Batman: The Hush Conspiracy (film)
4. Wonder Woman: God of War (film)
5. The Flash: Gorilla War (film)
6. Teen Titans (film)
7. Batgirl Season 1 (tv show)
8. The Brave and the Bold (film)
9. Aquaman: Blood Ties (film)
10. Nightwing: Agent Grayson (film)
11. Suicide Squad: Task Force X (film)
12. Green Lantern: Red War (film) 21: Justice League: Invasion (film) 22: Shazam: Rise of the Gods (film)

Without further ado, I present to you: act 2!
Cyborg Season 1 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Cyborg Antagonist: T. O. Morrow, Red Volcano, Red Inferno, Red Torpedo Side Characters: Silas Stone, Red Tornado, Sarah Charles Cameo Characters: The Flash, Professor Ivo
Overall Plot: After finally coming to terms with who he is, and assisting the Justice League in their fight against the Legion of Doom, Cyborg feels comfortable with his new title as a hero and defender of peace. But when a new cyber-criminal hacks into the S.T.A.R. Labs network and hijacks it AND Cyborg for personal gain, he questions just how lost his humanity may be in his new metallic skin. But he is not the only one questioning themselves, as when one of T. O. Morrow’s robots goes rogue, will Cyborg be able to help it find the humanity it craves?
Episode 1 Plot: Cyborg returns to S.T.A.R. Labs to tell his father what he’s done, and in the process, he helps uncover a devastating cyber attack on the network.
Episode 2 Plot: Finding himself hacked, Cyborg races to fix himself before too many of S.T.A.R. Labs’s secrets, as well as his own, are leaked to the cyber-criminal.
Episode 3 Plot: After releasing himself from the “Tomorrow Hack,” Cyborg tracks down the hacker’s signal, only to be met with a dead end... and a trio of deadly robots that are looking to finish the criminal’s job.
Episode 4 Plot: After the attack, Cyborg locates the runaway from the robot group, Red Tornado, who has become self-aware and wishes to find humanity. Meanwhile, Silas, Sarah, and Morrow try to restore the lost and corrupted data at S.T.A.R. Labs, only to be met with a virus that is building itself within their lab.
Episode 5 Plot: As Cyborg is easing Red Tornado into a life of humanity, the robot notices an act of danger and decides to follow Cyborg’s lead to become a hero. Meanwhile, back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Red Volcano has built himself up and enslaved the lab crew, demanding that they steal all of the information they can before he brings the building down on them.
Episode 6 Plot: It’s the season finale, and a race against time—literally! Revealed to be the mastermind and traitor behind the cyber attack, T. O. Morrow finishes his work to create his time machine, and he is not leaving witnesses behind. Cyborg and Red Tornado must hurry to the Labs and defeat T. O. Morrow and his robots, before it is too late for everyone!
Setting: Central City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following being defeated and betrayed by his robots, T. O. Morrow is arrested while a mysterious figure monologues about his failure. This figure is revealed to be Professor Ivo, who believes that his new “Amazo Project” can succeed where Morrow failed.
Superman: Bizarre (Film)
Protagonists: Superman Antagonists: Lex Luthor, Bizarro Side Characters: Lois Lane, John and Martha Kent, Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Supergirl Cameo Character: Superboy
Plot: After showing bravery against the Legion of Doom’s attack on what is now known as “Justice Day,” Superman and other Metahumans have become accepted in the general public as the brave heroes they are. However, Lex Luthor is not ready to let his grudge die just yet. Behind prison walls, he activates a plan called “Project Cadmus,” and unleashes a bizarre clone on Superman. But when the clone begins to show sorrow for his actions, it causes Superman to sympathize with it, and show it that there can be humanity in its soul.
Setting: Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the original clone’s failure, Cadmus dejects Lex Luthor from their organization and focuses on starting over on the clone process. They say that they are mixing the DNA of both Superman and Luthor this time, and this is when we get our first teasing glance at Superboy.
Batman: The Hush Conspiracy (Film)
Protagonists: Batman Antagonists: Hush, Joker, Poison Ivy, Riddler, Killer Croc, Scarecrow Side Characters: Alfred Pennyworth, Catwoman, Nightwing, Commissioner Gordon, Lucious Fox, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon Cameo Characters: Superman, Lois Lane, Batgirl, Zatanna, Bane
Plot: Following the death of Jason Todd in “Justice League: Unite”, Batman has committed to working mostly alone in Gotham, and much more brutally at that. But when a new criminal mastermind comes out from the shadows, Batman must prove himself against a gauntlet of his greatest foes if he wishes to keep his city intact. But how can he keep even himself intact after Jason’s death, especially when Hush begins targeting Bruce’s closest allies. Perhaps it is time for a new kid to don the mask of Robin...
Setting: Gotham City, Briefly Metropolis, Briefly Blüdhaven
Mid-Credits Scene: Upon Hush’s defeat, the city celebrates the victory of Batman and his new Robin, all the while a mysterious man watches the celebration from afar. This man is revealed to be Bane, who is plotting a takeover of Gotham City now that the Batman has been weakened. But he still feels the time is not right, and shall wait until Batman can be properly broken.
Post-Credits Scene: After watching Batman and the new Robin save the day once again and stop the Arkham riot, Barbara tells her father she is going out to study at the library. In truth, she climbs to the rooftops and dons her new identity as Batgirl, prepared to help Batman in his crusade against crime.
Wonder Woman: God of War (Film)
Protagonist: Wonder Woman Antagonists: Ares, Doctor Psycho Side Characters: Hippolyta, Donna Troy, Phillipus Cameo Characters: Circe, Kent Nelson
Plot: After her heroic actions on Justice Day, Diana returns to Paradise Island in hopes of being allowed back in. But when she returns to her home to find it in ruins, she learns of the return of the banished god Ares, and his plot to bring the mortal and immortal realms to war. Wonder Woman now makes it her duty to stop Ares and save everyone, along with the help of a powerful girl who looks a shocking amount like her.
Settings: Paradise Island, Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: After Ares has fallen, an ancient evil awakens from her sleep far away. Circe is revealed to be awake and on a course for Paradise Island, to bring the gods to their knees once and for all.
Post-Credits Scene: Following his brief assistance in ensuring the world is saved, Doctor Fate senses the presence of a new threat emerging, and mentions that he will need to assemble a team to stop it.
The Flash: Gorilla War (Film)
Protagonists: The Flash, Kid Flash Antagonist: Gorilla Grodd Side Characters: Iris West, David Singh, Henry Allen, Rudy West, Solovar Cameo Characters: Reverse Flash, Nightwing
Plot: About a couple months into training his nephew Wally, Barry is thrown for a ride when a nation of super-intelligent gorillas invade Central City and start an uprising. Following the gorillas, Barry learns of their leader Grodd, who has overthrown the old kind Solovar and declared war on all of humanity. Barry must now put Wally’s training on hold while the speedsters try their best to stop the uprising, before all of earth is lost to the gorillas.
Settings: Central City, Gorilla City
Mid-Credits Scene: During a nightmare, Barry begins to see a figure zooming in a yellow blur, who he remembers as the thing that killed his mom. He tries to chase it, but wakes up before he can catch it. He mentions to Iris that he feels closer to catching the figure every time, and that soon, he can find out what really happened to his mother.
Post-Credits Scene: After their battle with Grodd, Barry tells Wally that he isn’t in the best position to be training him. He decides instead to leave Wally with Nightwing, who says that he is organizing his own hero team to train teenage heroes like Wally to become the best they can be. Wally happily accepts, and we get a look at the rest of the Teen Titans team.
Teen Titans (Film)
Protagonists: Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy, Raven, Donna Troy, Kid Flash Antagonists: H.I.V.E. (Leaders: H.I.V.E. Mistress, Damien Darhk, Adeline Kane), H.I.V.E. Five (Gizmo, Jinx, Mammoth, Psimon, Ravager [Grant Wilson]) Side Characters: (Basically none other than H.I.V.E. soldiers) Cameo Characters: Deathstroke, Spyral
Plot: Following in the footsteps of the new, inspiring Justice League, Nightwing has decided to form his own team designed to train young heroes to be the best they can be! But after a group called the H.I.V.E. attacks with their own group of newly-trained supervillains, the Titans must prove themselves as the true heroes of the future, before any innocent lives can be thrown in danger.
Setting: San Francisco
Mid-Credits Scene: Deathstroke is meeting with the H.I.V.E., who have told him about his son’s death. Enraged, he asks for a chance at revenge on the Titans, to which H.I.V.E. offers his son’s contract for him to take up. Deathstroke accepts.
Post-Credits Scene: Nightwing is on a rooftop back in Blüdhaven, monitoring his city, when a mysterious person approaches him from the shadows. The figure says they are a part of an organization called “Spyral,” who claim they need his help for a mission of utmost importance. They reveal they know his real name, and tell him they need his help to bring down the new mayor of Blüdhaven: Blockbuster.
Batgirl Season 1 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) Antagonists: James Gordon Jr., Scarecrow, Killer Moth, the Sons of Joker Side Characters: Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Francine Charles, Alfred Pennyworth, Huntress Cameo Characters: Nightwing, Joker
Overall Plot: Barbara Gordon is only a couple weeks into her new career as Batgirl, and it has not been easy. Between the street thugs, masked criminals, and psychopaths of Gotham City, she hasn’t been able to catch a break. But when a familiar face from her past returns to destroy her life, Barbara must prove that she has what it takes to be Batgirl of Gotham.
Episode 1 Plot: Barbara finally has a chance to prove herself when a mercenary-for-hire calling himself “Killer Moth” puts innocents in danger to get to the Batman. But will the Dark Knight agree to Batgirl’s presence, or will he still let past failures dictate his judgement?
Episode 2 Plot: To test her on the field, Batman tasks Batgirl with scoping out an arms deal taking place at the docks. But when a new vigilante calling herself the Huntress interferes because of a personal vendetta, Batgirl’s priorities and focus begin to shift. Meanwhile, Barbara’s long-hospitalized brother, James Gordon Jr., returns to Gotham City, promising his family he has changed for the better. But can he really be trusted?
Episode 3 Plot: Batgirl’s training is put on hold as Batman demands her help in stopping the Scarecrow, who has been plotting to cripple the city since his disappearance during the Arkham riot. But when Scarecrow reveals that he might have ties to Barbara’s “newly healed” brother, she begins to question if she can really trust those closest to her.
Episode 4 Plot: As her family and trust are thrown into question, Barbara launches her own private investigation to find out just what her brother has been up to while he’s been in “mental recovery.” But she can’t do it alone, and so enlists the help of the Huntress to aid her investigation, not knowing it will lead them both into the crosshairs of danger.
Episode 5 Plot: Finding themselves trapped by a cult following the Joker’s footsteps, Batgirl and Huntress have to battle their way out of a madhouse if they want to earn their freedom. But they aren’t alone, as Nightwing has been hot on the group’s trail for Batman, and has come to help the others escape by any means necessary.
Episode 6 Plot: In the season finale, Batgirl races to find her brother before he can cause any more harm to the people around him. But when the psychopath has taken their father hostage and Barbara’s roommate hostage, Batgirl must decide what kind of hero she wants to be, and what kind she needs to be to keep her city and loved ones safe.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: After her brother has been brought to justice, Batgirl is met by the Huntress once more, who reminisces on how well they’ve worked together so far. She asks if she would like to work closely in the future, perhaps start their own team, to which Batgirl agrees, hinting at the Birds of Prey.
Post-Credits Scene: The Joker pays a visit to the makeshift labyrinth the Sons of Joker created in his honor, disrespecting the place and the cult. However, he learns about the existence of Batgirl while he is there, getting irritated that another sidekick has joined his “game” with Batman, and addressing that he needs to do something about it.
The Brave and the Bold (Film)
Protagonists: Green Arrow, Black Canary Antagonists: Malcolm Merlyn, Lady Shiva Side Characters: both characters’ side characters (sorry for being lazy, I’m just not up to date with the Green Arrow and Black Canary mythos and NO, I did not watch Arrow) Cameo Characters: Ra’s Al Ghul, Cheshire, Batgirl, Huntress
Plot: Star City is a lively and generous city during the day, made better by improvements from its #1 company: Queen Industries. But by night, it becomes a gold mine for crime of all sorts, crime only the vigilantes of the city are brave enough to stand up to. Green Arrow and Black Canary have met almost a year ago, and have made names for themselves as Star City’s beacons of hope, and defenders of peace. But how much good do they really stand for? It is a question that must be asked when the League of Assassins make their mark on the city, seeking to bring down everything Oliver Queen has stood for.
Setting: Star City
Mid-Credits Scene: Ra’s Al Ghul has observed Merlyn and Shiva’s failure, and deems them unfit to be part of the League of Assassins any longer. He then turns to the shadows, where he addresses to his new “star pupil” that it is her time to shine, revealing Cheshire to be the next to attack Star City.
Post-Credits Scene: While alone in a warehouse, Black Canary calls out for the person or people who helped her navigate through the League of Assassins’ base, who hadn’t revealed their identities yet. The people reveal themselves as Batgirl and Huntress, who say they have admired Black Canary’s heroism and want to recruit her into their new team. Canary asks what it is called, to which Batgirl tells her “the Birds of Prey.”
Aquaman: Blood Ties (Film)
Protagonists: Aquaman, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) Antagonists: Black Manta, King Shark Side Characters: Mira, Atlantians Cameo Characters: Amanda Waller, Rick Flag
Plot: It has been almost three years since Justice Day, and Arthur Curry finally sees peace in his life. He is the king of Atlantis, his wife and him have had a child, and relations with the surface world may be steadily increasing. However, this peace is short-lived, as Black Manta has finally returned, looking to finally enact his revenge on Aquaman. However, things are different this time around, as Arthur is not the only one who has established a family. Manta’s estranged son, Jackson Hyde, has returned to his life, and Manta intends to use his family all he can to bring down Aquaman’s.
Setting: Atlantis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his mindless assistance in Black Manta’s plans, King Shark was found on the surface world and arrested by the government. He is approached by Amanda Waller, who offers him his freedom to return to the sea, if he works for her. He thoughtlessly agrees, and is thus knocked unconscious and brought to Belle Reve until he can come in handy.
Nightwing: Agent Grayson (Film)
Protagonist: Nightwing Antagonists: Blockbuster, Spyral, H.I.V.E. Side Characters: Nightwing characters, Julia Pennyworth Cameo Characters: Batgirl, Red X
Plot: Nightwing is no more. For the past few weeks, he has been working for the covert organization Spyral as Agent Grayson, investigating the new mayor of Blüdhaven so that he may be brought to justice. But when his search leads him right back to Spyral, and the organization they are secretly working under, Grayson questions where he has aligned himself, and if he has what it takes to clean his city of evil for good.
Setting: Blüdhaven
Mid-Credits Scene: Following Dick’s death, a public memorial is held for the vigilante at Gotham, Blüdhaven, and San Francisco. But from the shadows, a mysterious figure revealed to be Red X watches, preparing himself for action now that Nightwing is dead.
Suicide Squad: Task Force X (Film)
Protagonists: Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Killer Frost, Rick Flag Antagonists: Amazo, Professor Ivo Side Characters: Amanda Waller, ARGUS team Cameo Characters: New Members?, Lockup (bomb fodder)
Plot: The day has come. After months of making phone calls, requesting favors, and convincing the government for backing, Amanda Waller’s “Task Force X” initiative is a go. And their first mission? Infiltrating Ivo Industries to stop Professor Ivo’s mysterious “Amazo Project.” But will this ragtag team of criminals be able to complete their mission? Or will they end up being worthy of their nickname “the Suicide Squad?”
Setting: Bell Reve, Central City
Mid-Credits Scene: Amanda Waller is speaking with a government official, who claims her task force is cruel and threatens to shut it down. Waller threatens the official with worse, at which point he asks her how much longer the task force will remain operational. She says she predicts it could come in handy in the near future, as she opens a folder containing information on various other possible criminals to join the squad.
Green Lantern: Red War (Film)
Protagonist: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan) Antagonists: Atrocitus, Red Lantern Corps Side Characters: Star Sapphire, John Stewart, Green Lantern Corps, Guardians, Star Sapphire Corps, Blue Lantern Corps Cameo Characters: Justice Leaguers, Brainiac, Black Hand
Plot: Following his bravery against the Sinestro Corps and tales of his involvement in Earth’s “Justice Day,” Hal Jordan is deemed a hero by the Green Lantern Corps, with a ceremony held in his honor. But after the dreaded Red Lantern Corps attacks, Hal finds himself at the lead of another war, this time against a dangerous foe unlike any he has encountered before. Now, teaming up with new allies and old, Hal must do what it takes to save the galaxy once again, lest it be conquered by rage.
Setting: Oa, Ysmault, Coast City, other Lantern planets
Mid-Credits Scene: Back at Oa, Hal is once again celebrated for his heroism at war, along with his partner Jon Stewart. However, the Guardians discuss in private a new, concerning matter. They say that the prophecy they have been dreading is coming true, and that they must act fast. One guardian proves their theory is true, as he shows a holographic recording of a Black Lantern ring shooting through space, and heading for Earth.
Post-Credits Scene: Hal is monitoring the galaxy with Jon when they get a high-energy reading nearby. Neither can find it, until Jon points attention to a large ship right behind him. A large ship, shaped like a skull, with purple energy emitting from it.
Justice League: Invasion (Film)
Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Supergirl, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado Antagonists: Brainiac, Doomsday Side Characters: Lois Lane, the Kents, Jimmy Olsen, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl, Titans, others Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Steel
Plot: Actions have consequences, and with a rise in power, there will always be those who want to take said power. Brainiac, a distant relic from the remains of Krypton, has made his way to Earth to collect the planet for his own ever-growing intelligence. It is now up to the ever-expanding Justice League to stop Brainiac and bring his quest for eternal knowledge to an end. But will the League be able to defeat such a brain? Or will Krypton’s past prove too much for its sole survivor and his team?
Setting: Metropolis, Brainiac’s Ship, briefly other cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Metropolis, in great disarray, makes a public service announcement declaring the invasion over, but also reporting the tragic death of Superman. As the news announces a public funeral for the Man of Steel, a man watching the news at home stands up and heads to his workshop. He finishes construction on his own metal suit, hammer, and gadgets, donning the gear and revealing himself as Steel, the new defender of Metropolis now that Superman is gone.
Post-Credits Scene: In his war room, Darkseid is preparing an attack on Earth, calculating counter measures for the new heroes of the planet. He is interrupted by his servant Desaad, who brings him the news that Superman is dead. Darkseid smirks as he prepares his ships, declaring that Apokalips is going to war with earth.
Shazam: Rise of the Gods (Film)
Protagonist: Shazam Antagonist: Black Adam Side Characters: Shazam family, Wizard Shazam Cameo Characters: Wonder Woman, Mr. Mind
Plot: In the midst of Superman’s death, the world has been rocked and in need of a new symbol of hope. One such kid finding himself lost in this new, dark day is Billy Batson, who for a few months has secretly been the superhero Shazam, having gotten his powers from the wizard by the same name. Billy’s journey has been rough, but he has gotten a sturdy grip on his powers. That is, until the Wizard’s original champion returns, and seeks revenge on his old mentor and everything he has built. Billy must now work to save his city and the family he has come to know and love from Black Adam, proving himself as worthy of being Shazam.
Setting: Fawcett City, Rock of Eternity
Mid-Credits Scene: After his brutal battle against Black Adam, Shazam is flying through the city when he is approached by Wonder Woman. She says she admired his bravery against Black Adam, and says they could use more heroes like him in the world now. She gives him an invite to the Justice League as a part-time member, an offer Shazam happily accepts.
Post-Credits Scene: (Gonna be honest, it’s late and I’m lazy, so just picture that scene at the end of the DCEU’s Shazam with Mr. Mind, but replace Sivana with Black Adam)