Today we are continuing the discussion we started last week about Wooyoung!
We've discussed our many confusions about this moment in the story where the boys finally lose the Cromer, and now we will work to make meaning through some sacred practices! Today, we're doing a sacred reading practice, which is where we attempt to make find new meaning through reading a single line very deeply.

03: Sacred Reading Practice

GD: The line is 4, which I'm interpreting as:

Tired of being chased and running away, we fell asleep immediately, and in the meantime, the girl healed my ankle.

But there are arguably two clauses in that sentence. We could just look at the second one "in the meantime, the girl healed my ankle."
BobbyJ: Not arguably even. There just are two clauses
GD: Lol yes
BobbyJ: Okay. Well. I'm down for whichever
GD: I think let's just do the second clause because it's the part that is mostly on 4. Alright, so, what's happening at a narrative level?
BobbyJ: Ateez have just escaped the guardians for the second time but lost the Cromer in the process because they chose to save Wooyoung. Though that might be conjecture on my part. So just--they escaped but lost the cromer
GD: Yeah, I have so many questions, but there are no answers. So the next step
BobbyJ: Actually it's not even that they escaped
GD: Right--they just left after getting the thing they wanted
BobbyJ: The guardians leave and then the Grimes girl opens up her secret cave entrance to let them in. Is it a cave actually?. . . Yes. A cave in the forest
GD: That's what it suggests. So, what's happening at an allegorical level? What does this remind you of in other stories, other parts of ateez lore, etc.
This is only mildly relevant, but it is what I immediately thought of: my writer friend and I often joke about how someone in our stories always hurts their ankle in third act
BobbyJ: The Grimes girl reminds me a bit of Primrose Everdeen. As like an archetype
GD: Oh! I agree
BobbyJ: The young innocent and trusting girl. I want to talk about how she trusts them immediately
GD: I have two differing thoughts/questions on that, actually. Does she trust them because she too recognizes their faces? Or is it more of an intuit/innocence thing?
BobbyJ: I was just thinking about that--does she recognize them? And my question is, do the people in strictland know what Halateez look like? They wear masks and hats. Like, she never says "wow y'all look just like the Black Pirates.” Not just because she can't. But I'm not sure that Halateez's faces are widely known
GD: Also, thinking ahead, the brother seems to explain a lot of things to Hwa, and he wouldn't need to do that if they assumed they were the Black Pirates
BobbyJ: Right. It's the uniform that is recognizable
GD: Have you read a Christmas Carol?
BobbyJ: Ages ago, but yes
GD: You know the ghost of Christmas present? How he has the two children underneath his robe that are for like want and ignorance? The grimes kids sort of remind me of that, but with like innocence and faith. The opposite side of humanity
BobbyJ: Wow I have no memory of that at all. But, yes. They seem to represent the goodness that is trying to survive
GD: I taught Christmas Carol to 7th graders so my knowledge of it runs bone deep
BobbyJ: I only taught it for one year before I was like "how about we don't?"
GD: LOL. 7th graders do not understand or appreciate it at all
It is, on the other hand, one of my favorite stories of all time, so I do listen to it every year
Anyways, every thing in the story is metaphorical, basically, since it's a parable. And it makes me think about some of the thoughts I've been having as we read this story. Like, the story itself is very streamlined, which you can argue is because they have to fit it into these short diaries
but, I guess I would argue that they're also relying on a shared understanding and metaphor to make the story work despite the streamlining of it. Which is why we are able to so easily connect with it and pull a lot of different meanings. And I do mean streamlined in that they leave a lot of things out and skip over a lot of parts--not that it's simple.
BobbyJ: But back to the original question--I do think that it is innocence that leads the girl to open her home to them. She probably saw that they were being chased by the guardians and likely knows what it's like to run for her life. She's been taken by them at least once before. I still think it's interesting that they chose to take her voice rather than recondition her.
GD: I agree on the innocence, and as an aside, I feel like the girl without a voice is an archetype as well? Like it represents something on a deeper level, and if you think about the story as a metaphor instead of a traditional hero’s journey, the only correct choice was to have an innocent girl with no voice.
I sort of have an interest in the phrase "in the mean time" and the word "heal.” We talked a bit about what does it mean that she healed it so quickly, and I guess looking at those words now, it reminds me of the saying "time heals all wounds"
BobbyJ: I interpret it more as she "treated" his ankle with some herbs or something.
GD: I also interpret it that way
BobbyJ: But it also isn't clear how long they spend in the cave
GD: Gave him some ice or something
BobbyJ: Where would she get ice?
GD: The magic fridge she keeps in the cave
BobbyJ: I can't get over that they just immediately fell asleep. I don't care how tired I was, I would be freaking out. But that makes them also seem very innocent and trusting. Not that they would need to be wary about a young boy and girl.
GD: This is what I mean when I say streamlined. We literally skip over any normal human behavior, and have to interpret their actions based on metaphor for what it tells us about them
They should, absolutely, be demanding answers and losing their god damn mind. But they don't
And I think that's a little similar to what the writers do in the intro when they first arrive? They have the android guardians come immediately so we miss the story beat of the characters interacting and freaking out about what just happened. Normal story beats being streamlined by the use of metaphor so that the story is intuited instead of told
BobbyJ: Like, because we've been armed with so much character knowledge, we're left to interpret or supply all character-based actions and interactions ourselves.
Quick note--I've been editing on the side and last week you mentioned that Strictland might have advanced medicine that can insta-heal. So I'm bringing that back to the table
GD: Yes, I do think that's a reasonable interpretation for how Woo was healed in the meantime
I feel like people are often frustrated by the lack of clear answers in the diaries about some story things--and I guess my whole point today is that I think that's by design. The writers could have easily spelled it out if they wanted to, but being told things clearly doesn't necessarily make for an engaging story.
BobbyJ: Here's what I know about kpop fans (and people in general): they don't like uncertainties. It's why we're so obsessed with numbers. How do we know who's the best if we don't know how many albums they sold or streams they've earned?
GD: The world is an uncertain place--people want answers. Answers often do not exist
BobbyJ: Yes, it's understandable. But I'm not interested in that energy applied to art
GD: I think that's why the word heal is interesting to me. Regardless of what she did or how she did it, the important thing is that this young girl with no voice still made a difference with the skills that she does have, and she has arguably set off a series of events that will lead to the change of the whole world. Because she was kind.
What would've happened if she'd left them out there? Would they have survived? Would they have figured out what was going on? Who knows, you know? The character itself represents the power that a childlike innocence and faith can have against the evils of the world, so who cares if she used an ice pack or actual magic?
BobbyJ: Right. Kindness and hospitality are very overlooked qualities. And it's not just Ateez that she has helped along the way. She and her brother become wrapped up in the story as well and join in on the journey. It leads to Left Eye and the healing he experiences thanks to Yunho
Given what they represent, it makes their end all the more tragic.
GD: But sort of fitting...
It reminds me a little of the ending of the Hunger Games series? Innocence and kindness are values that get lost when evil takes over, and it is sad. We should be sad about that--and that's why you can't ever let evil win long term. It's why everyone has to keep fighting. No one should be silent and let it happen.
BobbyJ: I think too that choosing to do what's good and right doesn't guarantee you protection from evil. I think it's also telling that their deaths (or whatever happens to them actually?) are senseless? Like they don't lead to any grand conclusion. They are just more casualties of the war and of Z's greed or lust for power or whatever his deal is.
GD: Death is often senseless.
BobbyJ: It's dissatisfying on a narrative level, but still important
GD: I read The Inheritance Games recently, and I will probably write a post about this for booktiny, but there's a line from one of the characters about how "moral choices depend solely on the outcome of an action"
And he was talking about how when he's giving to charity, the impact he can make with his money tells him the morality of the giving. So, giving to a single homeless person wouldn't be as moral as giving to a town. And I don't think he was right, but it reminds me of some of the things at play here. A question of scales maybe? Like, if you give to a town, the homeless person there could still die, but maybe someone else wouldn't? Or you could give to the homeless person directly in the town and make sure he survives, but not at all change the suffering level of the rest of the town
BobbyJ: That's a millionaire question
GD: They are in fact millionaires in the book, and that's basically exactly what the main character tells him
Anyways, I don't have any meaning to pull from that and what happens to the Grimes/Left Eye. But I guess both things remind me of the fact that senseless and tragic things happen regardless of what you do, the question is how do you live with yourself and how do you keep going
BobbyJ: We can only do what we each are capable of. There's no amount of money I could give to a town that would make any sort of impact. But I could give $50 to a homeless person for them to eat for a few days. Am I less moral than a millionaire because of the size of my contribution?
But I think that connects to GG because she did what she could with what she had. Sure she just provided shelter for some boys but that relatively small gesture, like you said, created a wave of change
GD: Make a wave. I'm reminded of The Giver a bit too?
BobbyJ: You mean Jonas really only saved Gabriel? Or rather--on the surface he just saves this one child, but it had greater impact than that
GD: Sort of? I guess I'm thinking.. if you ignore the sequels, the end of the book was open to interpretation. And I did interpret it as Jonas and Gabriel dying. So, if you interpret it that way, then they didn't even really save themselves or make that change. But, they did release the memories hoping that the memories would cause the town to wake up one day, which we don't actually see. So it's like, we did this thing that may or may not have an impact because we couldn't sit by and do nothing.
I guess I'm saying something like, evil doesn't win when good people die senseless deaths--evil wins when everyone gives up.
BobbyJ: Mmmm, yes. I'm also thinking of our discussion two weeks about choice. You can only choose the sort of person you will be, not the outcomes of your choices
GD: Yeah, and I think it's just important to show what characters do when senselessly tragic things happen. Are they defeated? Or do they keep going? So story wise, the deaths aren't senseless at all, and they do represent the very real chaos and unfairness inherent in many aspects of life
BobbyJ: Yunho is really a perfect example of this. We don't get to see any of the fallout of his brother's second death, but we know he doesn't give up but he keeps fighting the fight that is arguably the reason his brother died
GD: Oh my god, I realized we still have 2 more steps to our reading practice. Any other thoughts about allegory before we talk about our own lives?
BobbyJ: I don't think so
GD: Okay, then what does this remind you of in your own life?
For me specifically, I keep noting and coming back to the words "in the meantime", and I guess it is making me think about what I'm doing with my "meantime" if that makes sense?
BobbyJ: Right--like it feels like I spend a lot of time waiting for things to happen. But that period of waiting doesn't need to be a stagnant time for me, you know?
GD: My "what is the text inviting you to do?" is related to this. Anything else it reminds you of in your own life before we go to that?
BobbyJ: I think this idea that she did what she could with what she had. It often feels like I could be so much more [fill in the blank] if I could have/be/do this thing.
GD: Yeah, I agree completely. I could be the person I want to be only if [whatever]
BobbyJ: I don't know if this is an internet comparison thing or if it's my inability to measure up to my own standards. But I appreciate that GG didn't have a grand house, but she still offered her humble little cave
GD: We've talked about this before, but studies show that comparison is one of the most natural human things we do. Like even if we don't want to compare ourselves to others, our brains do it without conscious thought. The internet just gives us just more people to compare ourselves with
You're a teacher, and I was a teacher, and I'm thinking about what it was like to be a new teacher. IDK how it went for you, but I was given nothing and had to really figure it out for myself
BobbyJ: Same
GD: Looking back, I feel it would've been nice for someone to give me access to their cave, you know? Even if the cave was humble--it would've been nice
BobbyJ: Everyone told me that year that I did a great job, but I remember telling my mentor teacher (that I rarely spoke to bc she was super busy) that I felt bad for the kids that year because I knew I wasn't doing the best I was really capable of
I wish that I'd had a more developed mentor relationship with that teacher but it just wasn't a priority. And it's something that's very important to me even today where I feel pretty settled into my role. So, I've told my principal and my department chair that if they hire someone new to teaching, I'd be happy to partner with them because I feel like having someone you can just connect with on a regular basis who is invested in your success can really make or break your early teaching career
GD: I felt this way about the students too...
Like I had a list of students that I gave to my principle when I quit and said "all of these kids are kids that I meet with every week to check on. I go to their teachers and ask about their grades, and I talk to the kids in the halls before or after school. Someone has to do that when I go."
Relationships, and feeling like someone is on your side, are just so vitally important
BobbyJ: Yes. Building relationships with the kids is a big deal at my school. Which since I'm at a mid-sized private school is decidedly easier than most public schools. I have 93 students, which is still a lot to get to know, but I also have the advantage of having kids with parents who really care. So it's not like I'm the only adult in their lives who's trying to keep them afloat.
GD: Yeah, this was when I was 504 coordinator at a public school, so genuinely kids who would and probably did fall through the cracks when I left, which I felt soooo guilty about and still do
BobbyJ: But that's not and shouldn't be your responsibility. Which I know you know
GD: Logic and feelings rarely match up, unfortunately
BobbyJ: But the teaching profession really comes with a lot of guilt built in because we deal with children
GD: Teaching in public school, I had 140 students. As a 504 coordinator, I had the whole school
Anyways, if we get side tracked by the failing education system, we will never finish
BobbyJ: Seriously
GD: So, as far as what it's inviting me to do, it is to use my meantime more thoughtfully
My author friend is currently working on a book where the theme is about growth, and we had a 3 hour long conversation about what it means to grow and whether or not we had a moral choice to grow, and I argued that we didn't. And I maintain that change is constant, but growth is a capitalist trick/trap. But with the same breath, I'd say that I am often frustrated with the ways in which I fail to use my own meantime 'well'
Perhaps on the day, 'well' means productively, and perhaps some days it means something similar to healing, and maybe it could also mean something akin to what GG does: helping others, making a difference, etc. So I want to be more cognizant of how I'm using my meantime instead of just letting it pass me by and being frustrated when I get into bed at night thinking about where my day went
BobbyJ: I guess I would argue it depends on your definition of growth, but I disagree that growth is a capitalist trap/trick. There's a person that I want to be, and I don't believe the choices I make to become that person are related to capitalism at all. But if you're saying growth as in increased productivity--which I think is what you mean?--then yes. Capitalism all the way down. The idea that I MUST spend all my minutes productively is nonsense. I'm not a machine
GD: I suppose my real thought is something more like capitalism has invaded our vocabulary in such a way that it is hard to remove the capitalist baggage I associate with the word growth.
BobbyJ: Interesting. The concept of growth is entirely divorced from capitalism in my mind
GD: Perhaps this is why I'm so anti-capitalist. It's ruined me.
BobbyJ: Like I automatically think mental/emotional/spiritual
GD: I call that enlightenment and fulfillment, not growth, but of course it is a type of growth
BobbyJ: You need the specificity to create distance
GD: When I hear growth, I think "more" and "better" and "bigger"
BobbyJ: Huh.
GD: I grew up in a very capitalistic environment, including going to law school, and am really tapped into the hustle culture (like there is no one more likely to monetize a hobby than me) so I think it's just a product of my environment
BobbyJ: There is no one less likely to hustle than me
GD: Even on reddit--I could've just had a nice time discussing ateez, but I turned my hobby into a job (even if it is one I don't get paid for). I took us diving deep into these lore books and decided we should make it into content. I just cannot help myself
BobbyJ: Would bible study be as fulfilling for you if it never left our chat?
GD: I genuinely have no idea. I think it would probably maintain it's fulfillingness, but I think it would lose something else. I don't know what that something else is? We know most people aren't interested in this, but there is something about sharing it that feels Important in the big scheme of things
BobbyJ: I feel you're being too critical of yourself. There's a difference between trying to monetize something and simply wanting to share something with others who might appreciate it.
And I think it goes back to choosing to be the person you want to be? You find the diaries interesting and important and why wouldn't you want to share that?
GD: I think this is where my critique of capitalism comes from though
BobbyJ: That it makes things seem capitalist when they aren't?
GD: I am more likely than anyone to try to monetize things I enjoy, which I think is not so much my own capitalism as much as this feeling in my soul that finds it deeply frustrating that the things that make life worth living for me are not things that I can get paid to do. I think it's me being frustrated at having to play a game I don't want to play. If I knew of a way to monetize our bible studies, believe me, I'd be doing it.
BobbyJ: Podcast. It's right there
GD: The obvious answer is a podcast with ads, but the amount of things I'd need to learn compared to the very little money we would make is the only reason I haven't forced you into it
BobbyJ: Funny considering it's always been my idea
GD: I have made the very capitalist determination that I need to wait for you to learn all the things that need to be learned
BobbyJ: Well, my fatal flaw is inaction, so you will be waiting a good long while.
GD: I mean, it's entirely possible that I will decide enough is enough and this has to bring me some income, but for now, I can wait
BobbyJ: I can't wait to be earning $3 a month from bible study
GD: Incredible you think we'll get 3 whole dollars a month
BobbyJ: I dream big.
Okay, so. . . can I be honest and say that this passage is not inviting me to do anything at all?
GD: Yes
BobbyJ: And I can't say whether it's the passage itself just not fully resonating with me or if it's more where I am in my life right now
GD: We did shorten the passage to a relatively small sentence, but just in general, I think it's okay to be fine with examining something and then putting it back down without letting it really touch you
BobbyJ: I do think that's true. But I'm also in this weird and awkward place where I know something bad is on the horizon and I'm forced to just wait for it to happen without knowing when that might be. So, I'm in a meantime. And during this meantime, intentional growth is not for me.
GD: There is something to be said for not examining our meantime to closely too. We've certainly talked in bible study about living in the present and being grateful for small moments

04: A Closing Hymn

BobbyJ: What is our song for Wooyoung? Or for GG?
GD: Hmmm. This one feels hard to me. Have we used Better before?
BobbyJ: We have not.
Can I make an odd suggestion? Just go right off book
GD: Yes
BobbyJ: I would like to consider dedicating Eden's 'Little Bird' to GG
GD: Well in this household we love Eden. Let me look it up real quick. Remind myself of it
BobbyJ: It's very melancholy but a bit hopeful?
GD: Yes, I like it. So today's bible study song is Eden's Little Bird for GG?
BobbyJ: Yes, if you approve. (A quick note on the lyrics.)
GD: I love that bit about each translator doing it differently, which is why I would like KQ to give me all of their official translations for each song please.
I approve.

05: Closing Rosary

BobbyJ: I think my prayer for Wooyoung is that he will always be surrounded by as much love as he gives
GD: We see this in real life too--his love attracts love. Everyone loves Wooyoung, and I think it's because he gives his love so freely once he's decided you're one of his
BobbyJ: I have a rosary thought--are we ready to close?
GD: Yes
BobbyJ: Never alone
GD: Wooyoung
BobbyJ: Be the light
GD: Halazia
BobbyJ: Well done everybody
GD: High fives all around.
Nice work on the rosary. My brain has stopped braining.
BobbyJ: Wooyoung is an inspiration to us all
------
And that's it for our discussion on Wooyoung! Next week we will be back with the start of Seonghwa's page. Let us know what you thought of Wooyoung's section and whether you had any different thoughts on the quote we looked at today!

Middle-East
A, Adad, Adapa, Adrammelech, Aeon, Agasaya, Aglibol, Ahriman, Ahura Mazda, Ahurani, Ai-ada, Al-Lat, Aja, Aka, Alalu, Al-Lat, Amm, Al-Uzza (El-'Ozza or Han-Uzzai), An, Anahita, Anath (Anat), Anatu, Anbay, Anshar, Anu, Anunitu, An-Zu, Apsu, Aqhat, Ararat, Arinna, Asherali, Ashnan, Ashtoreth, Ashur, Astarte, Atar, Athirat, Athtart, Attis, Aya, Baal (Bel), Baalat (Ba'Alat), Baau, Basamum, Beelsamin, Belit-Seri, Beruth, Borak, Broxa, Caelestis, Cassios, Lebanon, Antilebanon, and Brathy, Chaos, Chemosh, Cotys, Cybele, Daena, Daevas, Dagon, Damkina, Dazimus, Derketo, Dhat-Badan, Dilmun, Dumuzi (Du'uzu), Duttur, Ea, El, Endukugga, Enki, Enlil, Ennugi, Eriskegal, Ereshkigal (Allatu), Eshara, Eshmun, Firanak, Fravashi, Gatamdug, Genea, Genos, Gestinanna, Gula, Hadad, Hannahanna, Hatti, Hea, Hiribi, The Houri, Humban, Innana, Ishkur, Ishtar, Ithm, Jamshid or Jamshyd, Jehovah, Jesus, Kabta, Kadi, Kamrusepas, Ki (Kiki), Kingu, Kolpia, Kothar-u-Khasis, Lahar, Marduk, Mari, Meni, Merodach, Misor, Moloch, Mot, Mushdama, Mylitta, Naamah, Nabu (Nebo), Nairyosangha, Nammu, Namtaru, Nanna, Nebo, Nergal, Nidaba, Ninhursag or Nintu, Ninlil, Ninsar, Nintur, Ninurta, Pa, Qadshu, Rapithwin, Resheph (Mikal or Mekal), Rimmon, Sadarnuna, Shahar, Shalim, Shamish, Shapshu, Sheger, Sin, Siris (Sirah), Taautos, Tammuz, Tanit, Taru, Tasimmet, Telipinu, Tiamat, Tishtrya, Tsehub, Utnapishtim, Utu, Wurusemu, Yam, Yarih (Yarikh), Yima, Zaba, Zababa, Zam, Zanahary (Zanaharibe), Zarpandit, Zarathustra, Zatavu, Zazavavindrano, Ziusudra, Zu (Imdugud), Zurvan
China:
Ba, Caishen, Chang Fei, Chang Hsien, Chang Pan, Ch'ang Tsai, Chao san-Niang, Chao T'eng-k'ang, Chen Kao, Ch'eng Huang, Cheng San-Kung, Cheng Yuan-ho, Chi Po, Chien-Ti, Chih Jih, Chih Nii, Chih Nu, Ch'ih Sung-tzu, Ching Ling Tzu, Ch'ing Lung, Chin-hua Niang-niang, Chio Yuan-Tzu, Chou Wang, Chu Niao, Chu Ying, Chuang-Mu, Chu-jung, Chun T'i, Ch'ung Ling-yu, Chung Liu, Chung-kuei, Chung-li Ch'üan, Di Jun, Fan K'uei, Fei Lien, Feng Pho-Pho, Fengbo, Fu Hsing, Fu-Hsi, Fu-Pao, Gaomei, Guan Di, Hao Ch'iu, Heng-o, Ho Po (Ping-I), Hou Chi, Hou T'u, Hsi Ling-su, Hsi Shih, Hsi Wang Mu, Hsiao Wu, Hsieh T'ien-chun, Hsien Nung, Hsi-shen, Hsu Ch'ang, Hsuan Wen-hua, Huang Ti, Huang T'ing, Huo Pu, Hu-Shen, Jen An, Jizo Bosatsu, Keng Yen-cheng, King Wan, Ko Hsien-Weng, Kuan Ti, Kuan Ti, Kuei-ku Tzu, Kuo Tzu-i, Lai Cho, Lao Lang, Lei Kung, Lei Tsu, Li Lao-chun, Li Tien, Liu Meng, Liu Pei, Lo Shen, Lo Yu, Lo-Tsu Ta-Hsien, Lu Hsing, Lung Yen, Lu-pan, Ma-Ku, Mang Chin-i, Mang Shen, Mao Meng, Men Shen, Miao Hu, Mi-lo Fo, Ming Shang, Nan-chi Hsien-weng, Niu Wang, Nu Wa, Nu-kua, Pa, Pa Cha, Pai Chung, Pai Liu-Fang, Pai Yu, P'an Niang, P'an-Chin-Lien, Pao Yuan-ch'uan, Phan Ku, P'i Chia-Ma, Pien Ho, San Kuan, Sao-ch'ing Niang, Sarudahiko, Shang Chien, Shang Ti, She chi, Shen Hsui-Chih, Shen Nung, Sheng Mu, Shih Liang, Shiu Fang, Shou-lao, Shun I Fu-jen, Sien-Tsang, Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, Sun Pin, Sun Ssu-miao, Sung-Chiang, Tan Chu, T'ang Ming Huang, Tao Kung, T'ien Fei, Tien Hou, Tien Mu, Ti-tsang, Tsai Shen, Ts'an Nu, Ts'ang Chien, Tsao Chun, Tsao-Wang, T'shai-Shen, Tung Chun, T'ung Chung-chung, T'ung Lai-yu, Tung Lu, T'ung Ming, Tzu-ku Shen, Wa, Wang Ta-hsien, Wang-Mu-Niang-Niang, Weiwobo, Wen-ch'ang, Wu-tai Yuan-shuai, Xi Hou, Xi Wangmu, Xiu Wenyin, Yanwang, Yaoji, Yen-lo, Yen-Lo-Wang, Yi, Yu, Yu Ch'iang, Yu Huang, Yun-T'ung, Yu-Tzu, Zaoshen, Zhang Xi, , Zhinü, , Zhongguei, , Zigu Shen, , Zisun, Ch'ang-O
Slavic:
Aba-khatun, Aigiarm, Ajysyt, Alkonost, Almoshi, Altan-Telgey, Ama, Anapel, As-ava, Ausaitis, Austeja, Ayt'ar, Baba Yaga (Jezi Baba), Belobog (Belun), Boldogasszony, Breksta, Bugady Musun, Chernobog (Crnobog, Czarnobog, Czerneboch, Cernobog), Cinei-new, Colleda (Koliada), Cuvto-ava, Dali, Darzu-mate, Dazhbog, Debena, Devana, Diiwica (Dilwica), Doda (Dodola), Dolya, Dragoni, Dugnai, Dunne Enin, Edji, Elena, Erce, Etugen, Falvara, The Fates, The Fatit, Gabija, Ganiklis, Giltine, Hotogov Mailgan, Hov-ava, Iarila, Isten, Ja-neb'a, Jedza, Joda-mate, Kaldas, Kaltes, Keretkun, Khadau, Khursun (Khors), Kostrubonko, Kovas, Krumine, Kupala, Kupalo, Laima, Leshy, Marina, Marzana, Matergabiae, Mat Syra Zemlya, Medeine, Menu (Menulis), Mir-Susne-Khum, Myesyats, Nastasija, (Russia) Goddess of sleep., Nelaima, Norov, Numi-Tarem, Nyia, Ora, Ot, Patollo, Patrimpas, Pereplut, Perkuno, Perun, Pikuolis, Pilnytis, Piluitus, Potrimpo, Puskaitis, Rod, Rugevit, Rultennin, Rusalki, Sakhadai-Noin, Saule, Semargl, Stribog, Sudjaje, Svantovit (Svantevit, Svitovyd), Svarazic (Svarozic, Svarogich), Tengri, Tñairgin, Triglav, Ulgen (Ulgan, Ülgön), Veles (Volos), Vesna, Xatel-Ekwa, Xoli-Kaltes, Yamm, Yarilo, Yarovit, Ynakhsyt, Zaria, Zeme mate, Zemyna, Ziva (Siva), Zizilia, Zonget, Zorya, Zvoruna, Zvezda Dennitsa, Zywie
Hindu
Aditi, Adityas, Ambika, Ananta (Shesha), Annapurna (Annapatni), Aruna, Ashvins, Balarama, Bhairavi, Brahma, Buddha, Dakini, Devi, Dharma, Dhisana, Durga, Dyaus, Ganesa (Ganesha), Ganga (Ganges), Garuda, Gauri, Gopis, Hanuman, Hari-Hara, Hulka Devi, Jagganath, Jyeshtha, Kama, Karttikeya, Krishna, Krtya, Kubera, Kubjika, Lakshmi or Laksmi, Manasha, Manu, Maya, Meru, Nagas, Nandi, Naraka, Nataraja, Nirriti, Parjanya, Parvati, Paurnamasi, Prithivi, Purusha, Radha, Rati, Ratri, Rudra, Sanjna, Sati, Shashti, Shatala, Sitala (Satala), Skanda, Sunrta, Surya, Svasti-devi, Tvashtar, Uma, Urjani, Vach, Varuna, Vayu, Vishnu (Avatars of Vishnu: Matsya; Kurma; Varaha; Narasinha; Vamana; Parasurama; Rama; Krishna; Buddha; Kalki), Vishvakarman, Yama, Sraddha
Japan: Aji-Suki-Taka-Hi-Kone, Ama no Uzume, Ama-terasu, Amatsu Mikaboshi, Benten (Benzai-Ten), Bishamon, Chimata-No-Kami, Chup-Kamui, Daikoku, Ebisu, Emma-O, Fudo, Fuji, Fukurokuju, Gekka-O, Hachiman, Hettsui-No-Kami, Ho-Masubi, Hotei, Inari, Izanagi and Izanami, Jizo Bosatsu, Jurojin, Kagutsuchi, Kamado-No-Kami, Kami, Kawa-No-Kami, Kaya-Nu-Hima, Kishijoten, Kishi-Mojin, Kunitokotatchi, Marici, Monju-Bosatsu, Nai-No-Kami, No-Il Ja-Dae, O-Kuni-Nushi, Omoigane, Raiden, Shine-Tsu-Hiko, Shoten, Susa-no-wo, Tajika-no-mikoto, Tsuki-yomi, Uka no Mitanna, Uke-mochi, Uso-dori, Uzume, Wakahirume, Yainato-Hnneno-Mikoi, Yama-No-Kami, Yama-no-Karni, Yaya-Zakurai, Yuki-Onne
India
Agni, Ammavaru, Asuras, Banka-Mundi, Brihaspati, Budhi Pallien, Candi, Challalamma, Chinnintamma, Devas, Dyaush, Gauri-Sankar, Grhadevi, Gujeswari, Indra, Kali, Lohasur Devi, Mayavel, Mitra, Prajapati, Puchan, Purandhi, Rakshas, Rudrani, Rumina, Samundra, Sarasvati, Savitar, Siva (Shiva), Soma, Sura, Surabhi, Tulsi, Ushas, Vata, Visvamitra, Vivasvat, Vritra, Waghai Devi, Yaparamma, Yayu, Zumiang Nui, Diti
Other Asian: Dewi Shri, Po Yan Dari, Shuzanghu, Antaboga, Yakushi Nyorai, Mulhalmoni, Tankun, Yondung Halmoni, Aryong Jong, Quan Yin , Tengri, Uminai-gami, Kamado-No-Kami, Kunitokotatchi, Giri Devi, Dewi Nawang Sasih, Brag-srin-mo, Samanta-Bhadra, Sangs-rgyas-mkhá, Sengdroma, Sgeg-mo-ma, Tho-og, Ui Tango, Yum-chen-mo, Zas-ster-ma-dmar-mo, Chandra, Dyaus, Ratri, Rodasi, Vayu, Au-Co
African Gods, Demigods and First Men:
Abassi , Abuk , Adu Ogyinae , Agé , Agwe , Aida Wedo , Ajalamo, Aje, Ajok, Akonadi, Akongo, Akuj, Amma, Anansi, Asase Yaa, Ashiakle, Atai , Ayaba, Aziri, Baatsi, Bayanni, Bele Alua, Bomo rambi, Bosumabla, Buk, Buku, Bumba, Bunzi, Buruku, Cagn, Candit, Cghene, Coti, Damballah-Wedo, Dan, Deng, Domfe, Dongo, Edinkira, Efé, Egungun-oya, Eka Abassi, Elephant Girl Mbombe, Emayian, Enekpe, En-Kai, Eseasar, Eshu, Esu, Fa, Faran, Faro, Fatouma, Fidi Mukullu, Fon, Gleti, Gonzuole, Gû, Gua, Gulu, Gunab, Hammadi, Hêbiesso, Iku, Ilankaka, Imana, Iruwa, Isaywa, Juok, Kazooba, Khakaba, Khonvum, Kibuka, Kintu, Lebé, Leza, Libanza, Lituolone, Loko, Marwe, Massim Biambe, Mawu-Lisa (Leza), Mboze, Mebeli, Minepa, Moombi, Mukameiguru, Mukasa, Muluku, Mulungu, Mwambu, Nai, Nambi, Nana Buluku, Nanan-Bouclou, Nenaunir, Ng Ai, Nyaliep, Nyambé, Nyankopon, Nyasaye, Nzame, Oboto, Obumo, Odudua-Orishala, Ogun, Olokun, Olorun, Orisha Nla, Orunmila, Osanyin, Oshe, Osun, Oya, Phebele, Pokot-Suk, Ralubumbha, Rugaba, Ruhanga, Ryangombe, Sagbata, Shagpona, Shango, Sopona, Tano, Thixo, Tilo, Tokoloshi, Tsui, Tsui'goab, Umvelinqangi, Unkulunkulu, Utixo, Wak, Wamara, Wantu Su, Wele, Were, Woto, Xevioso, Yangombi, Yemonja, Ymoa, Ymoja, Yoruba, Zambi, Zanahary , Zinkibaru
Australian Gods, Goddesses and Places in the Dreamtime:
Alinga, Anjea, Apunga, Arahuta, Ariki, Arohirohi, Bamapana, Banaitja, Bara, Barraiya, Biame, Bila, Boaliri, Bobbi-bobbi, Bunbulama, Bunjil, Cunnembeille, Daramulum, Dilga, Djanggawul Sisters, Eingana, Erathipa, Gidja , Gnowee, Haumia, Hine Titama, Ingridi, Julana, Julunggul, Junkgowa, Karora, Kunapipi-Kalwadi-Kadjara, Lia, Madalait, Makara, Nabudi, Palpinkalare, Papa, Rangi, Rongo, Tane, Tangaroa, Tawhiri-ma-tea, Tomituka, Tu, Ungamilia, Walo, Waramurungundi, Wati Kutjarra, Wawalag Sisters, Wuluwaid, Wuragag, Wuriupranili, Wurrunna, Yhi
Buddhism, Gods and Relatives of God:
Aizen-Myoo, Ajima,Dai-itoku-Myoo, Fudo-Myoo, Gozanze-Myoo, Gundari-Myoo, Hariti, Kongo-Myoo, Kujaku-Myoo, Ni-O
Carribean: Gods, Monsters and Vodun Spirits
Agaman Nibo , Agwe, Agweta, Ah Uaynih, Aida Wedo , Atabei , Ayida , Ayizan, Azacca, Baron Samedi, Ulrich, Ellegua, Ogun, Ochosi, Chango, Itaba, Amelia, Christalline, Clairmé, Clairmeziné, Coatrischie, Damballah , Emanjah, Erzuli, Erzulie, Ezili, Ghede, Guabancex, Guabonito, Guamaonocon, Imanje, Karous, Laloue-diji, Legba, Loa, Loco, Maitresse Amelia , Mapiangueh, Marie-aimée, Marinette, Mombu, Marassa, Nana Buruku, Oba, Obtala, Ochu, Ochumare, Oddudua, Ogoun, Olokum, Olosa, Oshun, Oya, Philomena, Sirêne, The Diablesse, Itaba, Tsilah, Ursule, Vierge, Yemaya , Zaka
Celtic: Gods, Goddesses, Divine Kings and Pagan Saints
Abarta, Abna, Abnoba, Aine, Airetech,Akonadi, Amaethon, Ameathon, An Cailleach, Andraste, Antenociticus, Aranrhod, Arawn, Arianrod, Artio, Badb,Balor, Banbha, Becuma, Belatucadros, Belatu-Cadros, Belenus, Beli,Belimawr, Belinus, Bendigeidfran, Bile, Blathnat, Blodeuwedd, Boann, Bodus,Bormanus, Borvo, Bran, Branwen, Bres, Brigid, Brigit, Caridwen, Carpantus,Cathbadh, Cecht, Cernach, Cernunnos, Cliodna, Cocidius, Conchobar, Condatis, Cormac,Coronus,Cosunea, Coventina, Crarus,Creidhne, Creirwy, Cu Chulainn, Cu roi, Cuda, Cuill,Cyhiraeth,Dagda, Damona, Dana, Danu, D'Aulnoy,Dea Artio, Deirdre , Dewi, Dian, Diancecht, Dis Pater, Donn, Dwyn, Dylan, Dywel,Efnisien, Elatha, Epona, Eriu, Esos, Esus, Eurymedon,Fedelma, Fergus, Finn, Fodla, Goewyn, Gog, Goibhniu, Govannon , Grainne, Greine,Gwydion, Gwynn ap Nudd, Herne, Hu'Gadarn, Keltoi,Keridwen, Kernunnos,Ler, Lir, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, Lludd, Llyr, Llywy, Luchta, Lug, Lugh,Lugus, Mabinogion,Mabon, Mac Da Tho, Macha, Magog, Manannan, Manawydan, Maponos, Math, Math Ap Mathonwy, Medb, Moccos,Modron, Mogons, Morrig, Morrigan, Nabon,Nantosuelta, Naoise, Nechtan, Nedoledius,Nehalennia, Nemhain, Net,Nisien, Nodens, Noisi, Nuada, Nwywre,Oengus, Ogma, Ogmios, Oisin, Pach,Partholon, Penard Dun, Pryderi, Pwyll, Rhiannon, Rosmerta, Samhain, Segidaiacus, Sirona, Sucellus, Sulis, Taliesin, Taranis, Teutates, The Horned One,The Hunt, Treveni,Tyne, Urien, Ursula of the Silver Host, Vellaunus, Vitiris, White Lady
Egyptian: Gods, Gods Incarnate and Personified Divine Forces:
Amaunet, Amen, Amon, Amun, Anat, Anqet, Antaios, Anubis, Anuket, Apep, Apis, Astarte, Aten, Aton, Atum, Bastet, Bat, Buto, Duamutef, Duamutef, Hapi, Har-pa-khered, Hathor, Hauhet, Heket, Horus, Huh, Imset, Isis, Kauket, Kebechsenef, Khensu, Khepri, Khnemu, Khnum, Khonsu, Kuk, Maahes, Ma'at, Mehen, Meretseger, Min, Mnewer, Mut, Naunet, Nefertem, Neith, Nekhbet, Nephthys, Nun, Nut, Osiris, Ptah, Ra , Re, Renenet, Sakhmet, Satet, Seb, Seker, Sekhmet, Serapis, Serket, Set, Seth, Shai, Shu, Shu, Sia, Sobek, Sokar, Tefnut, Tem, Thoth
Hellenes (Greek) Tradition (Gods, Demigods, Divine Bastards)
Acidalia, Aello, Aesculapius, Agathe, Agdistis, Ageleia, Aglauros, Agne, Agoraia, Agreia, Agreie, Agreiphontes, Agreus, Agrios, Agrotera, Aguieus, Aidoneus, Aigiokhos, Aigletes, Aigobolos, Ainia,Ainippe, Aithuia , Akesios, Akraia, Aktaios, Alalkomene, Alasiotas, Alcibie, Alcinoe, Alcippe, Alcis,Alea, Alexikakos, Aligena, Aliterios, Alkaia, Amaltheia, Ambidexter, Ambologera, Amynomene,Anaduomene, Anaea, Anax, Anaxilea, Androdameia,Andromache, Andromeda, Androphonos, Anosia, Antandre,Antania, Antheus, Anthroporraistes, Antianara, Antianeira, Antibrote, Antimache, Antimachos, Antiope,Antiopeia, Aoide, Apatouria, Aphneius, Aphrodite, Apollo, Apotropaios, Areia, Areia, Areion, Areopagite, Ares, Areto, Areximacha,Argus, Aridnus,Aristaios, Aristomache, Arkhegetes, Arktos, Arretos, Arsenothelys, Artemis, Asclepius, Asklepios, Aspheleios, Asteria, Astraeos , Athene, Auxites, Avaris, Axios, Axios Tauros,Bakcheios, Bakchos, Basileus, Basilis, Bassareus, Bauros, Boophis, Boreas , Botryophoros, Boukeros, Boulaia, Boulaios, Bremusa,Bromios, Byblis,Bythios, Caliope, Cedreatis, Celaneo, centaur, Cerberus, Charidotes, Charybdis, Chimera, Chloe, Chloris , Choreutes, Choroplekes, Chthonios, Clete, Clio, clotho,Clyemne, cockatrice, Crataeis, Custos, Cybebe, Cybele, Cyclops, Daphnaia, Daphnephoros, Deianeira, Deinomache, Delia, Delios, Delphic, Delphinios, Demeter, Dendrites, Derimacheia,Derinoe, Despoina, Dikerotes, Dimeter, Dimorphos, Dindymene, Dioktoros, Dionysos, Discordia, Dissotokos, Dithyrambos, Doris, Dryope,Echephyle,Echidna, Eiraphiotes, Ekstatophoros, Eleemon, Eleuthereus, Eleutherios, Ennosigaios, Enodia, Enodios, Enoplios, Enorches, Enualios, Eos , Epaine, Epidotes, Epikourios, Epipontia, Epitragidia, Epitumbidia, Erato, Ergane, Eribromios, Erigdoupos, Erinus, Eriobea, Eriounios, Eriphos, Eris, Eros,Euanthes, Euaster, Eubouleus, Euboulos, Euios, Eukhaitos, Eukleia, Eukles, Eumache, Eunemos, Euplois, Euros , Eurybe,Euryleia, Euterpe, Fates,Fortuna, Gaia, Gaieokhos, Galea, Gamelia, Gamelios, Gamostolos, Genetor, Genetullis, Geryon, Gethosynos, giants, Gigantophonos, Glaukopis, Gorgons, Gorgopis, Graiae, griffin, Gynaikothoinas, Gynnis, Hagisilaos, Hagnos, Haides, Harmothoe, harpy, Hegemone, Hegemonios, Hekate, Hekatos, Helios, Hellotis, Hephaistia, Hephaistos, Hera, Heraios, Herakles, Herkeios, Hermes, Heros Theos, Hersos, Hestia, Heteira, Hiksios, Hipp, Hippia, Hippios, Hippoi Athanatoi, Hippolyte, Hippolyte II,Hippomache,Hippothoe, Horkos, Hugieia, Hupatos, Hydra, Hypate, Hyperborean, Hypsipyle, Hypsistos, Iakchos, Iatros, Idaia, Invictus, Iphito,Ismenios, Ismenus,Itonia, Kabeiria, Kabeiroi, Kakia, Kallinikos, Kallipugos, Kallisti, Kappotas, Karneios, Karpophoros, Karytis, Kataibates, Katakhthonios, Kathatsios, Keladeine, Keraunos, Kerykes, Khalinitis, Khalkioikos, Kharmon, Khera, Khloe, Khlori,Khloris,Khruse, Khthonia, Khthonios, Kidaria, Kissobryos, Kissokomes, Kissos, Kitharodos, Kleidouchos, Kleoptoleme, Klymenos, Kore, Koruthalia, Korymbophoros, Kourotrophos, Kranaia, Kranaios, Krataiis, Kreousa, Kretogenes, Kriophoros, Kronides, Kronos,Kryphios, Ktesios, Kubebe, Kupris, Kuprogenes, Kurotrophos, Kuthereia, Kybele, Kydoime,Kynthia, Kyrios, Ladon, Lakinia, Lamia, Lampter, Laodoke, Laphria, Lenaios, Leukatas, Leukatas, Leukolenos, Leukophruene, Liknites, Limenia, Limnaios, Limnatis, Logios, Lokhia, Lousia, Loxias, Lukaios, Lukeios, Lyaios, Lygodesma, Lykopis, Lyseus, Lysippe, Maimaktes, Mainomenos, Majestas, Makar, Maleatas, Manikos, Mantis, Marpe, Marpesia, Medusa, Megale, Meilikhios, Melaina, Melainis, Melanaigis, Melanippe,Melete, Melousa, Melpomene, Melqart, Meses, Mimnousa, Minotaur, Mneme, Molpadia,Monogenes, Morpho, Morychos, Musagates, Musagetes, Nebrodes, Nephelegereta, Nereus,Nete, Nike, Nikephoros, Nomios, Nomius, Notos , Nyktelios, Nyktipolos, Nympheuomene, Nysios, Oiketor, Okyale, Okypous, Olumpios, Omadios, Ombrios, Orithia,Orius,Ortheia, Orthos, Ourania, Ourios, Paelemona, Paian, Pais, Palaios, Pallas, Pan Megas, Panakhais, Pandemos, Pandrosos, Pantariste, Parthenos, PAsianax, Pasiphaessa, Pater, Pater, Patroo s, Pegasus, Pelagia, Penthesilea, Perikionios, Persephone, Petraios, Phanes, Phanter, Phatria, Philios, Philippis, Philomeides, Phoebe, Phoebus, Phoenix, Phoibos, Phosphoros, Phratrios, Phutalmios, Physis, Pisto, Plouton, Polemusa,Poliakhos, Polias, Polieus, Polumetis, Polydektes, Polygethes, Polymnia, Polymorphos, Polyonomos, Porne, Poseidon, Potnia Khaos, Potnia Pheron, Promakhos, Pronoia, Propulaios, Propylaia, Proserpine, Prothoe, Protogonos, Prytaneia, Psychopompos, Puronia, Puthios, Pyrgomache, Python, Rhea, Sabazios, Salpinx, satyr, Saxanus, Scyleia,Scylla, sirens, Skeptouchos, Smintheus, Sophia, Sosipolis, Soter, Soteria, Sphinx, Staphylos, Sthenias, Sthenios, Strife, Summakhia, Sykites, Syzygia, Tallaios, Taureos, Taurokeros, Taurophagos, Tauropolos, Tauropon, Tecmessa, Teisipyte, Teleios, Telepyleia,Teletarches, Terpsichore, Thalestris, Thalia, The Dioskouroi, Theos, Theritas, Thermodosa, Thraso, Thyonidas, Thyrsophoros, Tmolene, Toxaris, Toxis, Toxophile,Trevia, Tricephalus, Trieterikos, Trigonos, Trismegestos, Tritogeneia, Tropaios, Trophonius,Tumborukhos, Tyche, Typhon, Urania, Valasca, Xanthippe, Xenios, Zagreus, Zathos, Zephryos , Zeus, Zeus Katakhthonios, Zoophoros Topana
Native American: Gods, Heroes, and Anthropomorphized Facets of Nature
Aakuluujjusi, Ab Kin zoc, Abaangui , Ababinili , Ac Yanto, Acan, Acat, Achiyalatopa , Acna, Acolmiztli, Acolnahuacatl, Acuecucyoticihuati, Adamisil Wedo, Adaox , Adekagagwaa , Adlet , Adlivun, Agloolik , Aguara , Ah Bolom Tzacab, Ah Cancum, Ah Chun Caan, Ah Chuy Kak, Ah Ciliz, Ah Cun Can, Ah Cuxtal, Ah hulneb, Ah Kin, Ah Kumix Uinicob, Ah Mun, Ah Muzencab, Ah Patnar Uinicob, Ah Peku, Ah Puch, Ah Tabai, Ah UincirDz'acab, Ah Uuc Ticab, Ah Wink-ir Masa, Ahau Chamahez, Ahau-Kin, Ahmakiq, Ahnt Alis Pok', Ahnt Kai', Aholi , Ahsonnutli , Ahuic, Ahulane, Aiauh, Aipaloovik , Ajbit, Ajilee , Ajtzak, Akbaalia , Akba-atatdia , Akhlut , Akhushtal, Akna , Akycha, Alaghom Naom Tzentel, Albino Spirit animals , Alektca , Alignak, Allanque , Allowat Sakima , Alom, Alowatsakima , Amaguq , Amala , Amimitl, Amitolane, Amotken , Andaokut , Andiciopec , Anerneq , Anetlacualtiliztli, Angalkuq , Angpetu Wi, Anguta, Angwusnasomtaka , Ani Hyuntikwalaski , Animal spirits , Aningan, Aniwye , Anog Ite , Anpao, Apanuugak , Apicilnic , Apikunni , Apotamkin , Apoyan Tachi , Apozanolotl, Apu Punchau, Aqalax , Arendiwane , Arnakua'gsak , Asdiwal , Asgaya Gigagei, Asiaq , Asin , Asintmah, Atacokai , Atahensic, Aticpac Calqui Cihuatl, Atira, Atisokan , Atius Tirawa , Atl, Atlacamani, Atlacoya, Atlatonin, Atlaua, Atshen , Auilix, Aulanerk , Aumanil , Aunggaak , Aunt Nancy , Awaeh Yegendji , Awakkule , Awitelin Tsta , Awonawilona, Ayauhteotl, Azeban, Baaxpee , Bacabs, Backlum Chaam, Bagucks , Bakbakwalanooksiwae , Balam, Baldhead , Basamacha , Basket Woman , Bead Spitter , Bear , Bear Medicine Woman , Bear Woman , Beaver , Beaver Doctor , Big Heads, Big Man Eater , Big Tail , Big Twisted Flute , Bikeh hozho, Bitol, Black Hactcin , Black Tamanous , Blind Boy , Blind Man , Blood Clot Boy , Bloody Hand , Blue-Jay , Bmola , Bolontiku, Breathmaker, Buffalo , Buluc Chabtan, Burnt Belly , Burnt Face , Butterfly , Cabaguil, Cacoch, Cajolom, Cakulha, Camaxtli, Camozotz, Cannibal Grandmother , Cannibal Woman , Canotila , Capa , Caprakan, Ca-the-ña, Cauac, Centeotl, Centzonuitznaua, Cetan , Chac Uayab Xoc, Chac, Chahnameed , Chakwaina Okya, Chalchihuitlicue, Chalchiuhtlatonal, Chalchiutotolin, Chalmecacihuilt, Chalmecatl, Chamer, Changing Bear Woman , Changing Woman , Chantico, Chaob, Charred Body , Chepi , Chibiabos ,Chibirias, Chiccan, Chicomecoatl, Chicomexochtli, Chiconahui, Chiconahuiehecatl, Chie, Child-Born-in-Jug , Chirakan, Chulyen , Cihuacoatl, Cin-an-ev , Cinteotl, Cipactli, Cirapé , Cit Chac Coh, Cit-Bolon-Tum, Citlalatonac, Citlalicue, Ciucoatl, Ciuteoteo, Cizin, Cliff ogre , Coatlicue, Cochimetl, Cocijo, Colel Cab, Colop U Uichkin, Copil, Coyolxauhqui, Coyopa, Coyote , Cripple Boy , Crow , Crow Woman , Cum hau, Cunawabi , Dagwanoenyent , Dahdahwat , Daldal , Deohako, Dhol , Diyin dine , Djien , Djigonasee , Dohkwibuhch , Dzalarhons , Dzalarhons, Eagentci , Eagle , Earth Shaman , Eeyeekalduk , Ehecatl, Ehlaumel , Eithinoha , Ekchuah, Enumclaw , Eototo, Esaugetuh Emissee , Esceheman, Eschetewuarha, Estanatlehi , Estasanatlehi , Estsanatlehi, Evaki, Evening Star, Ewah , Ewauna, Face , Faces of the Forests , False Faces , Famine , Fastachee , Fire Dogs , First Creator , First Man and First Woman, First Scolder , Flint Man , Flood , Flower Woman , Foot Stuck Child , Ga'an, Ga-gaah , Gahe, Galokwudzuwis , Gaoh, Gawaunduk, Geezhigo-Quae, Gendenwitha, Genetaska, Ghanan, Gitche Manitou, Glispa, Glooskap , Gluscabi , Gluskab , Gluskap, Godasiyo, Gohone , Great Seahouse, Greenmantle , Gucumatz, Gukumatz, Gunnodoyak, Gyhldeptis, Ha Wen Neyu , Hacauitz , Hacha'kyum, Hagondes , Hahgwehdiyu , Hamatsa , Hamedicu, Hanghepi Wi, Hantceiitehi , Haokah , Hastseoltoi, Hastshehogan , He'mask.as , Hen, Heyoka , Hiawatha , Hino, Hisakitaimisi, Hokhokw , Hotoru, Huehuecoyotl, Huehueteotl, Huitaca , Huitzilopochtli, Huixtocihuatl, Hummingbird, Hun hunahpu, Hun Pic Tok, Hunab Ku, Hunahpu Utiu, Hunahpu, Hunahpu-Gutch, Hunhau, Hurakan, Iatiku And Nautsiti, Ich-kanava , Ictinike , Idliragijenget , Idlirvirisong, Igaluk , Ignirtoq , Ikanam , Iktomi , Ilamatecuhtli, Illapa, Ilya p'a, i'noGo tied , Inti, Inua , Ioskeha , Ipalnemohuani, Isakakate, Ishigaq , Isitoq , Issitoq , Ite , Itzamná, Itzananohk`u, Itzlacoliuhque, Itzli, Itzpapalotl, Ix Chebel Yax, Ixbalanque, Ixchel, Ixchup, Ixmucane, Ixpiyacoc, Ixtab, Ixtlilton, Ixtubtin, Ixzaluoh, Iya , Iyatiku , Iztaccihuatl, Iztacmixcohuatl, Jaguar Night, Jaguar Quitze, Jogah , Kaakwha , Kabun , Kabun , Kachinas, Kadlu , Ka-Ha-Si , Ka-Ha-Si , Kaik , Kaiti , Kan, Kana'ti and Selu , Kanati, Kan-u-Uayeyab, Kan-xib-yui, Kapoonis , Katsinas, Keelut , Ketchimanetowa, Ketq Skwaye, Kianto, Kigatilik , Kilya, K'in, Kinich Ahau, Kinich Kakmo, Kishelemukong , Kisin, Kitcki Manitou, Kmukamch , Kokopelli , Ko'lok , Kukulcan, Kushapatshikan , Kutni , Kutya'I , Kwakwakalanooksiwae ,Kwatee , Kwekwaxa'we , Kwikumat , Kyoi , Lagua , Land Otter People , Lawalawa , Logobola , Loha, Lone Man , Long Nose , Loon , Loon Medicine , Loon Woman , Loo-wit, Macaw Woman, Macuilxochitl, Maho Peneta, Mahucutah, Makenaima , Malesk , Malina , Malinalxochi, Malsum, Malsumis , Mam, Mama Cocha, Man in moon , Manabozho , Manetuwak , Mani'to, Manitou , Mannegishi , Manu, Masaya, Masewi , Master of Life , Master Of Winds, Matshishkapeu , Mavutsinim , Mayahuel, Medeoulin , Mekala , Menahka, Meteinuwak , Metztli, Mexitl, Michabo, Mictecacihuatl, Mictlan, Mictlantecuhtli, Mikchich , Mikumwesu , Mitnal, Mixcoatl, Mongwi Kachinum , Morning Star, Motho and Mungo , Mulac, Muut , Muyingwa , Nacon, Nagenatzani, Nagi Tanka , Nagual, Nahual, Nakawé, Nanabojo, Nanabozho , Nanabush, Nanahuatzin, Nanautzin, Nanih Waiya, Nankil'slas , Nanook , Naum, Negafook , Nerrivik , Nesaru, Nianque , Nishanu , Nohochacyum, Nokomis, Nootaikok , North Star, Nujalik , Nukatem , Nunne Chaha , Ocasta, Ockabewis, Odzihozo , Ohtas , Oklatabashih, Old Man , Olelbis, Omacatl, Omecihuatl, Ometecuhtli, Onatha , One Tail of Clear Hair , Oonawieh Unggi , Opochtli, Oshadagea, Owl Woman , Pah , Pah, Paiowa, Pakrokitat , Pana , Patecatl, Pautiwa, Paynal, Pemtemweha , Piasa , Pikváhahirak , Pinga , Pomola , Pot-tilter , Prairie Falcon , Ptehehincalasanwin , Pukkeenegak , Qaholom, Qakma, Qiqirn , Quaoar , Quetzalcoatl, Qumu , Quootis-hooi, Rabbit, Ragno, Raven, Raw Gums , Rukko, Sagamores , Sagapgia , Sanopi , Saynday , Sedna, Selu, Shakuru, Sharkura, Shilup Chito Osh, Shrimp house, Sila , Sint Holo , Sio humis, Sisiutl , Skan , Snallygaster , Sosondowah , South Star, Spider Woman , Sta-au , Stonecoats , Sun, Sungrey , Ta Tanka , Tabaldak , Taime , Taiowa , Talocan, Tans , Taqwus , Tarhuhyiawahku, Tarquiup Inua , Tate , Tawa, Tawiscara, Ta'xet , Tcisaki , Tecciztecatl, Tekkeitserktock, Tekkeitsertok , Telmekic , Teoyaomqui, Tepeu, Tepeyollotl, Teteoinnan, Tezcatlipoca, Thobadestchin, Thoume', Thunder , Thunder Bird , Tieholtsodi, Tihtipihin , Tirawa , Tirawa Atius, Tlacolotl, Tlahuixcalpantecuhtli, Tlaloc, Tlaltecuhtli, Tlauixcalpantecuhtli, Tlazolteotl, Tohil, Tokpela ,Tonantzin , Tonatiuh, To'nenile, Tonenili , Tootega , Torngasak, Torngasoak , TricksteTransformer , True jaguar, Tsentsa, Tsichtinako, Tsohanoai Tsonoqwa , Tsul 'Kalu , Tulugaak , Tumas , Tunkan ingan, Turquoise Boy , Twin Thunder Boys, Txamsem , Tzakol, Tzitzimime, Uazzale , Uchtsiti, Udó , Uentshukumishiteu , Ueuecoyotl, Ugly Way , Ugni , Uhepono , Uitzilopochtli, Ukat , Underwater Panthers , Unhcegila , Unipkaat , Unk, Unktomi , Untunktahe , Urcaguary, Utea , Uwashil , Vassagijik , Voltan, Wabosso , Wabun , Wachabe, Wah-Kah-Nee, Wakan , Wakanda , Wakan-Tanka, Wakinyan , Wan niomi , Wanagi , Wananikwe , Watavinewa , Water babies , Waukheon , We-gyet , Wemicus , Wendigo , Wentshukumishiteu , White Buffalo Woman, Whope , Wi , Wicahmunga , Wihmunga , Windigo, Winonah, Wisagatcak , Wisagatcak, Wishpoosh , Wiyot , Wovoka , Wuya , Xaman Ek, Xelas , Xibalba, Xilonen, Xipe Totec, Xiuhcoatl, Xiuhtecuhtli, Xiuhtecutli, Xmucane, Xochipili , Xochiquetzal, Xocotl, Xolotl, Xpiyacoc, Xpuch And Xtah, Yacatecuhtli, Yaluk, Yanauluha , Ya-o-gah , Yeba Ka, Yebaad, Yehl , Yeitso, Yiacatecuhtli, Yolkai Estsan, Yoskeha , Yum Kaax, Yuwipi , Zaramama, Zipaltonal, Zotz
Norse Deities, Giants and Monsters:
Aegir, Aesir, Alfrigg, Audumbla, Aurgelmir, Balder, Berchta, Bergelmir, Bor, Bragi, Brisings, Buri, Etin, Fenris, Forseti, Frey, Freyja, Frigga, Gefion, Gerda, Gode, Gymir, Harke, Heimdall, Hel, Hermod, Hodur, Holda, Holle, Honir, Hymir, Idun, Jormungandr, Ljolsalfs, Loki, Magni, Mimir, Mistarblindi, Muspel, Nanna, Nanni, Nerthus, Njord, Norns, Odin, Perchta, Ran, Rig, Segyn, Sif, Skadi, Skirnir, Skuld, Sleipnir, Surt, Svadilfari, tanngniotr, tanngrisnr, Thiassi, Thor, Thrud, Thrudgelmir, Thrym, Thurs, Tyr, Uller, Urd, Vali, Vali, Valkyries, Vanir, Ve, Verdandi, Vidar, Wode, Ymir
Pacific islands: Deities, Demigods and Immortal Monsters:
Abeguwo, Abere, Adaro, Afekan, Ai Tupua'i, 'Aiaru, Ala Muki, Alalahe, Alii Menehune, Aluluei, Aruaka, Asin, Atanea, Audjal, Aumakua, Babamik, Bakoa, Barong, Batara Kala, Buring Une, Darago, Dayang-Raca, De Ai, Dogai, Enda Semangko, Faumea, Giriputri, Goga, Haumea, Hiiaka', Hina, Hine, Hoa-Tapu, 'Imoa, Io, Kanaloa, Kanaloa, Kane, Kapo, Kava, Konori, Ku, Kuhuluhulumanu, Kuklikimoku, Kukoae, Ku'ula, Laka, Laulaati, Lono, Mahiuki, MakeMake, Marruni, Maru, Maui, Melu, Menehune, Moeuhane, MOO-LAU, Ndauthina, Ne Te-reere, Nevinbimbaau, Ngendei, Nobu, Oro, Ove, Paka'a, Papa, Pele, Quat, Rangi, Rati, Rati-mbati-ndua, Ratu-Mai-Mbula, Rua, Ruahatu, Saning Sri, Ta'aroa, Taaroa, Tamakaia, Tane, Tanemahuta, Tangaroa, Tawhaki, Tiki, Tinirau, Tu, Tuli, Turi-a-faumea, Uira, Ukupanipo, Ulupoka, Umboko Indra, Vanuatu, Wahini-Hal, Walutahanga, Wari-Ma-Te-Takere, Whaitiri, Whatu, Wigan
South American: Deities, Demigods, Beings of Divine Substance:
Abaangui, Aclla, Akewa, Asima Si, Atoja, Auchimalgen, Axomama, Bachué, Beru, Bochica, Boiuna, Calounger, Catequil, Cavillaca, Ceiuci, Chasca, Chie, Cocomama, Gaumansuri, Huitaca, Iae, Ilyap'a, Ina, Inti, Ituana, Jamaina , Jandira, Jarina, Jubbu-jang-sangne, Ka-ata-killa, Kilya, Kuat, Kun, Luandinha, Lupi, Mama Allpa, Mama Quilla, Mamacocha, Manco Capac, Maret-Jikky, Maretkhmakniam, Mariana, Oshossi, Pachamac, Pachamama, Perimbó, Rainha Barba, Si, Supai, Topétine, Viracocha, Yemanja (Imanje), Zume

2023 Results (So Far): +18.78 Units
2022 Results: +73.185 Units
All Time: +92 Units

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Me myself, I have watched MMA religiously for more than 10 years and trained for over 4.5 years, I love this sport so I figured why not help bring some insight and analysis to others! Now this isn’t a sales pitch, I know how Reddit works and I really enjoy the opinions shared on this sub-reddit so I genuinely want to help contribute and if you enjoy the output, please feel free to join the team! We are proven to be profitable long-term so if you have some spare change to invest at any level, you love the sport and are interested in improving your knowledge - come over and check us out at providepicks.com. As we have a fair base of paying members, it wouldn’t be fair to them to share every single one of our bets however I want to provide as much value for this betting community as people, hopefully to help you guys see a different angle in terms of MMA betting and long-term profitability and more importantly - sending these bookies broke.
Anyways enough waffle - let’s get into this week’s shenanigans. This is a surprisingly fun fight night card, I love these events that are lower on name value but just full of decent talent and exciting matchups. This is definitely one of them and generally when you have slightly lesser talent stacked fight nights, you have a night full of violence and finishes - let’s see if that continues in this one. Onto the breakdowns!
Maxim Grishin (32-9-2) vs. Philipe Lins (16-5):
Grishin is a tall, orthodox fighter who is just a real good mixed martial artist. He is a big frame for the LHW division, is strong and still has fairly slow, plodding style of movement and footwork. Is good in the clinch, very good at holding position by winning underhooks and using his big head to frame against the neck of his opponent and keep them in position for taxing knees to the body and just wearing on them with his big frame. I like his ability to keep the fight in his range, using slight forward pressure and a decent feint game to his advantage. Can be a little heavy set on the lead leg so should look out for the speedy outside leg kick of Lins in this one - Grishin is also pretty handy at catching the body kick and punishing. Personally, never been massively high on Lins in his career, admittedly he has looked better since dropping to his proper weight class post juice cycle but it is against weak competition. He is OK everywhere but not great anywhere, I do like his hand-speed with his boxing combos especially when pressuring forward. I think he mixes in takedowns well in his game at times but he can also be held against the cage. I probably slightly edge Lins in terms of cardio but I also do think this is a massive watch the scales fight due to Grishin’s size and propensity for bad weight cuts. This is a tough fight to call given both guys are fairly unimpressive. I favour the speed of Lins with the hand-speed and kicks definitely but he doesn’t set them up intelligently. I think Grishin can hold Lins against the cage, wear on him with his size and win minutes. I capped this fight 50/50 and I think we see a close fight, will take Maxim Grishin by UD but with very low confidence.
BET: No bet.
Luan Lacerda (12-2) vs. Da'Mon Blackshear (12-5-1):
I like what I saw on debut from Lacerda - he has a very Muay Thai style of fighting, very flat-footed with a high guard, move forward pressuring with the lead leg ready to pop up and check kicks quickly. He has sharp, fast hands and particularly his hooks to the body are very technically sound. Against Stamann he was able to mix some grappling in when it suited but it is clear he is more of an Aldo style fighter that prefers to stuff takedowns and keep it on the feet. Coming up against Blackshear here who I have been very impressed with even though he is off 2 losses. Da’mon is a super well rounded guy, I like his creative offence on the feet and I also like his offensive grappling ability on the ground too. Defensively, he leave a little more to be desired and can be a little comfortable with fighting off his back which I don’t particularly like. We haven’t seen too much grappling from Lacerda so will be interested to see how he fares in this one but I think the technicality of Lacerda on the feet, the ability to mix his targets to the head, body and legs and just land the more damaging strikes will edge him this one. Taking Luan Lacerda by UD.
BET: No bet.
Jinh Yu Frey (11-8) vs. Elise Reed (6-3):
I would be doing a disservice to everyone who reads this if I honestly told you with any level of confidence that you should put your hard earned money anywhere near this fight. Don’t, simple as that.
Daniel Santos (10-2) vs. Johnny Munoz Jr. (12-2):
This is a super fun matchup between two very efficient grapplers which should make for a exciting scrap here. Let’s start with Daniel Santos, if you knew nothing of this guy and watched him fight and had half a clue on MMA, you would know immediately that he is a Chute Boxe fighter. He has relentless forward pressure, irresponsible boxing defence and is a very kill or be killed style fighter. I like his stalking style, but he has little head movement besides the pull counter really, likes to pressure you until that back foot is up against the cage and then explode in with spinning attacks or elbows from weird angles. He keeps his hands high but then head on centre line and thus far has shown some crazy durability but this can only get you so far. Looks to have solid grappling, not accepting bottom position and constantly looking to invert and throw up submissions. Against Arce he looked good however Arce was able to be elusive with his footwork, stick and move and use angles well to counter in and out of range. I think against anyone who can effectively stay on the outside and use smart, straight shots effectively, he will struggle. I just don’t think that guy is Munoz JR on the feet - he is clunky, doesn’t throw in combinations and looks to parry alot of shots defensively which I really don’t like against a guy who throws wild, unorthodox strikes in Santos. He is a solid wrestler with some good offensive TD numbers but he has to be careful not to shoot unintelligently and throw himself into a submission which will make him hesitant and have to strike. I think Munoz’s wins have been against low level guys who aren’t in the promotion anymore and I think this is a bad stylistic fight for him. I think Santos will land the more damaging shots and I fancy he gets him out of here in under 2 rounds. Taking Daniel Santos via TKO RD 1.
BET: Like the look of the Santos moneyline, fancy Santos Inside the Distance too but will wait to see what price this opens at. If we get anything in the realm of +125 to -120, I would look at a 1.5 unit play. Under 2.5 rounds is an option also depending on price, I think it will probably be around the -200 to -250 play so anything south of that will be a play too.
Andrei Arlovski (34-21) vs. Don'Tale Mayes (9-5):
Huge experience edge to the old-dawg here in Arlovski. Mayes has been everything but impressive thus far in his UFC career and I don’t know how you could be intrigued to play either side in this one. Mayes can hit hard and is reasonably athletic for the HW division but skill for skill outside the boxing, he doesn’t offer a lot. I couldn’t be confident on ever betting him to be quite honest. You know what you’re going to get with Arlovski and that is volume, if his chin can handle what is coming back at him. He is a special for split decisions so if you’re a degen and want action, look to that but for me, no interest here. Will take the side of Andrei Arlovksi via UD using his volume and experience but you couldn’t be more lower confidence.
John Castañeda (19-6) vs. Muin Gafurov (18-4) :
Gafurov taking this on short-notice with Castaneda set to take on Mendonca before that was cancelled and replaced with possibly the furthest opposite style of fighter. The Gafurov gameplan is simple, contest on the feet, use blitz attacks such as looping overhands when moving forward followed by a double leg against the cage and rely on his Sambo capabilities to hold top position and out-work his opponent. Castañeda is a guy that doesnt get a huge amount of spotlight but I like his game alot. He has nice footwork, good striking out of southpaw and orthodox, has good wrestling entries and is able to grapple competitively, just a solid all around mixed martial artist. In this one, I really favour the movement and footwork of Castañeda and I think the speed is going to give Gafurov issues. Castañeda is sitting at a 60% TD Defence rate which is concerning against a guy who will consistently shoot like Gafurov, but I think Castañeda will be hard to find, using the angles in and out of the pocket and throwing quick shots up the middle to dissuade and make Gafurov think. I like John Sexi Mexi Castañeda to win this one by UD.
BET: No lines opened yet but have capped Castañeda as a 60% winning chance.
Elizeu Zaleski (23-7) vs. Abubakar Nurmagomedov (17-3-1):
Zaleski is an interesting fighter to me. Good sprawl, solid TD Def against the cage, good balance and strength to win underhooks. Quite a flat-footed striker, not a massive amount of footwork but I like his rear leg power kick, he hits the body well and switches levels nicely. Relatively low volume and works single shots mainly without a massive amount of feinting. The frequency that he fights worries me but it has been the story of his career. Abubakr is the typical Dagestani fighter, limited stand up basically a quick overhand right and other single shots, tied in with a grinding, gruelling wrestling pace. He seems on the lower end of the Nurmagomedov scale in terms of skill, often leaving himself open to submission when in top control whether it’s knee-bars or even the common triangle. He is able to hold a good pace over 15 mins which is good given how top heavy and smothering he can be at times. He fights out of both stances, looks more comfortable out of OD but if he fights SP, I think he will lose this fight. Zaleski is too sharp on the feet especially with the body kicks and straight shots which will only be accentuated in the opposite stances. I also think the knees for Zaleski are going to be huge here, he throws them with bad intentions in the centre and against the cage which tied in with his teeps and front kicks are a dangerous sight for Abubakr. Abubakr is a good chance at smothering the fire power of Zaleski and just wearing on him but I think he is dangerous enough off his back to survive and challenge at times and I expect the damage will start to add up on the Zaleski side and I think we see a finish. Taking Elizeu Zaleski via TKO RD 2.
BET: Zaleksi ITD will be a play if over +200. Moneyline odds are probably bang on.
Guram Kutateladze (12-3) vs. Jamie Mullarkey (16-5):
Guram has a K1 kickboxing background and it shows, very high level on the feet with good head movement and sharp, unpredictable strikes set up with a smart feint game. He has really good distance management, uses great fundamentals and is super quick with his hand-speed and he finishes combos with kicks which I love, its that kickboxing mentality. He fights out of All Stars which shows in his TD Defence especially against the fence, he is clearly strong but has very good wrestling and counter wrestling technique. He has had a super high level of competition and performed very well in wins and losses, we just don’t see him active enough due to injuries and bad luck. Mullarkey is an absolute junkyard dog, pushing the pace and moving forward with intense pressure making you fight every second of that 15 minutes. He like to engage in the pocket, for better or worse, and in recent times we have seen his wrestling really shine through some of these tough scraps. He has a nice jab which I expect to be pumping prior to every combo and entry for Mullarkey. I just think at this point in his career this is quite a tough fight for Mullarkey. Guram is a super high-level striker with a good base for stuffing takedowns and keeping the fight in kickboxing range. I expect Mullarkey to want to close distance and engage, I just don’t think defensively he is strong enough to absorb and adapt to the speed and combinations of Guram and I think we see that chin tested for Mullarkey. I think this is a bit of a step down in competition for Guram although if Mullarkey can get some early takedowns it will be interesting to see the gastank of Guram tested. The activity is always a question mark but at this point I think Guram should win this handily, will be taking Guram Kutateladze via TKO RD 2.
BET: Wouldn’t touch Guram at -350 but he should win.
Karine Silva (15-4) vs. Ketlen Souza (13-3):
Silva should win here but at that price, even blind Freddie could see that this is a pass on the moneylines. Silva actually has a high finishing ability in terms of WMMA, so if we can get a good price on a fight doesnt go the distance line, that could be an option here.
BET: Wait for round lines to drop.
Tim Elliott (18-12-1) vs. Victor Altamirano (12-2):
Altamirano is a SP fighter, fairly unusual style of striking with sort of a Tony Ferguson style mixed in with some well timed takedown attempts. He has very little power in his strikes but OK volume. Defensively, he leaves a lot to be desired with a modified sort of philly shell style where his lead hand is low and near the hip, he does get hit and often but he has shown very good durability. His takedowns worry me at times because he is very content to dip his head to an advancing opponent and run a double or single leg, he is very open to knees and front kicks up the middle. Tim Elliott lives up to his nickname of “Awkward” extremely well. He has bizarre head movement, footwork and feints that all tie in to his sort of herky jerky style of fighting. He is able to tie his wrestling game in very well, I’d say technically he is far more technically sound than Victor. He does put himself into submission opportunities with some of his entries but im not too worried about that in this fight. This has the potential to be one of the worst fights we have seen TBH and only because of how weird and unorthodox these guys are, the awkwardness really has the potential to make this fight a strange one. I am pretty confident that Tim has the grappling/wrestling edge and also the more diverse and comfortable striker, the recent occurrence with Tim and Gina Mazany in the media does give me pause that he might be coming into this too emotional but I think it may fire him up to really perform. I think Tim is under his value here and can win in a multitude of ways, going to take Tim Elliott via UD.
BET: Tim Elliott Moneyline -175 (2 Units to win 1.14 Units)
Jim Miller (35-17) vs. Jared Gordon (19-6):
I will keep this one short and simple, Gordon is a really bad stylistic matchup for Miller and would win probably 7/10 times currently BUT he is returning way too soon after getting KO’d by that headbutt from Bobby Green. Gordon has good wrestling and generally good durability with a knack for pushing these grinding paces and outworking and outlasting his opponent. Pair that up with good submission defence and thats a horror fight for A10 Miller. But you can never count Jim out, he hits hard for a vet, he is unorthodox and he has the potential to catch you. For me, Gordon should roll here but I love to play Jim Miller round one given that is his money round - have cashed plenty on this through his career! Short breakdown and not a thorough one, I think Jared Gordon should win this fight but I think it is too soon. I will take Jared Gordon via UD**,** but take it with a pinch of salt.
BET: Jim Miller wins round 1 (price not available yet, .75 units)
Alex Caceres (20-13) vs. Daniel Pineda (28-14):
Haven’t had time to break this one down yet but will update if any bets come off it!
Kai Kara-France (24-10) vs. Amir Albazi (16-1):
KKF is a kickboxing fighter who we have seen develop nicely through his career in the UFC. He has worked tirelessly on his takedown defence and it shows in his huge improvement in ability to not only stuff shots but his ability to use the cage and his excellent balance to keep his feet underneath him. I think KKF’s hands are still fairly rudimentary and not necessarily in a bad way, he uses the jab decently well and relies on the 1,2 sometimes too much. For his weight, he has good power and one area I really like are his leg kicks, he has solid rear leg power kicks that he lands very efficiently off the back of his straight shots. Albazi is more of a grappler in nature with a majority of his victories by submission but I have liked what I have seen from him on the feet also. He has a sharp, snappy jab which he works off the back of and allows to dictate the fight. He has a pretty limited kicking game and in terms of kick defence, I expect KKF to really try and exploit the lack of checking and the heavy set stature of Albazi. In the grappling realm, I don’t think it’s close. Albazi has some elite scrambles on the mat and if you’re content to sit in his guard, he has some really damaging ground and pound in which he will equally target your head and body and punish you and wear on you. Albazi is far superior in terms of grappling but the question is will he be able to get it down to the mat? I think his timing going under the big right hand will be an option and I think he will be able to use his strength advantage when in close to muscle certain movements. This is a big step up in competition and his first venture into main event rounds which is a worry. This is going to be a fun fight and I am really looking forward to it but I think as long as everything looks good after weigh-ins, I will be on the Albazi side. He is improving with every fight and I think we see him get this fight to the ground and wear on KKF, eventually finding a submission, probably a RNC. Taking Amir Albazi via SUB RD 3.
BET: Will wait to see what round lines are set at. Will be looking at the Albazi Inside the Distance line also.
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And that wraps up the breakdowns for this week! We send our followers the full betting cards on Saturday morning here in Australia, post weigh-ins. Nothing worse than betting on a fighter pre weigh-in, just to see him look like complete shit on the scales. We will post some of our betting card here incase anyone is interested!
Good luck, always gamble responsibly and remember to hang around long-term because there will be ups and downs but trust the process and we will build some bankroll. Would love to know if you agree or disagree anywhere and let us know who you are riding with below. Enjoy the fights! - Dylan.

A bit late to the party and I know this sub is a lot of memes, but I wanted to see what people felt about TP and SM past just kind of “it’s good” or “it’s bad”.
They’re two books I really, really wanted to like. They touch on a lot of topics I’m independently interested in like the history of science and a little philosophy and they do this pretty well, but after finishing them I almost get a half baked quality to them.
The Passenger does lead by quite a bit in my opinion and I think that relates to our lead characters a bit. Bobby is, by all accounts, a profoundly intelligent man. He’s knowledgeable about a vast range of subjects, he has a (mostly) “perfect recall”, but he remains still sociable and well liked. He is in many ways a stand-in for Cormac McCarthy himself, including perhaps some sense of isolation due to this intelligence separating him from many others.
Alicia shares these traits but takes them to an extreme. She is intelligent not just to a profound degree but essentially a supernatural one. Reading 10,000 books by age 20 (and remembering all of them), graduating college at 14, and solving ancient mathematical problems in her teens is such a Doctor Manhattan level of genius it often wraps back around and feels dumb more than it probably should.
And I think it’s because at its core, these novels are closer to memoirs than anything else. I don’t care at all that the narrative “goes nowhere” in TP because it feels like that’s never Cormac’s true intention. His true intention with these books is to ruminate on several topics he’s no doubt been very interested in and reading about for several decades himself. In The Passenger this is works to some degree. Bobby listens more than he talks, but he does talk quite a bit, and he’s at a fairly “mortal” level of intelligence. He and his friends are perfect stand-in’s for McCarthy himself.
Alicia feels like McCarthy biting off more than he can chew in a sense. He’s no doubt interested in mathematics but Alicia’s monologues frequently delve into name-dropping various cool sounding theories and concepts used In the most vague sense to construct a metaphor. There isn’t quite as much depth as all the names of dead Physicists and Philosophers would suggest and it almost feels pretentious at points, which is an insane thing to say about Cormac McCarthy.
Both books are victim of this a bit and it makes me feel disappointed because they also have some wonderful sections and beautiful prose. It’s just hard for me to shake that I would have loved to get a memoir out of McCarthy with all these thoughts of his, but I’m having to suck them out of a straw from the other side of the room. The narrative ends up weighing them down and doesn’t offer much in return.
Of course, these are just my thoughts. I’m really curious what you lot think, and I’m hoping to hear some quality back and forth. No hard feelings on any takes.

In a scene that still is very hot on raw and music being faster and harder than ever I find that euphoric, ironically, has become a refreshing change to listen to nowadays. I tend to lurk a lot on soundcloud and I've noticed there are some (relatively) obscure euphoric producers out there that aren't just bringing great quality productions but also some really fresh sounds - so I figured I'd make a post showcasing some of my findings. If anyone else would like to share some artists, feel free to drop a comment :D

• Quickdrop

Waste Your Love

• ION

MYRKUR
MINNINGAR

• NAD

Ashley Wallbridge & John Weber Feat. Bodine - Flashing Lights (NAD Bootleg)

• Phazon

Chris Avantgarde ft. Red Rosamond - Inside (Phazon Bootleg)

• Essence

Time

• RE-PULZE

Beyond The Sky

• Artimaze

Find The Way
Illenium & Tori Kelly - Blame Myself (Artimaze Bootleg)

The parade was about to commence and all of the tributes gathered in the holding tunnel to prepare themselves. The District 6 entourage arrived at their chariot on time and walked down the tunnel. Jack was surveying the competition and felt intimidated by the career tributes up front. The side eye given by Andrei (2) and the vacant, empty stare of Vista (3) certainly didn’t help matters. He complained about the nut costume looking similar to Olivine (1)’s ballerina costume while Cat commented on the tightness of her bolt costume. Phoebe assured them that they were more than the costumes and just had to deal with them. She added that if the costumes are poorly received, that would be all the comeuppance Sasha needed.
Thankfully, Sasha wasn’t present, having passed out drunk an hour ago. Morrana met them at the chariot and advised them to play into the absurdity of their costumes. Cat said she had some ideas and asked what Jack thought. Jack wasn’t listening as he was watching some more tributes enter the tunnel. He shuddered at the sheer size of Wolvthorne (7) and chuckled watching Wren (5) slap her district partner Terry (5) and get reprimanded by her mentor Ashley Chen (victor of the 13th Hunger Games). However, he was perplexed by the arrival of the District 4 tributes coming from the opposite direction. Cat snapped him back to reality and asked what was going on. He pointed towards the District 4 tributes and swore one of them looked familiar.
Gill led his mentees down the tunnel to their chariot. Pearl was overwhelmed by the mix of emotions displayed on the tributes’ faces. She felt sorry for little Logan (11), who was struggling to hold it together. She glanced at the tall John (9), who yelled “What are you looking at!” at her. Mortimer, who was ignoring everyone at that point, asked if he had a problem. The two were about to butt heads, but Gill and Tris Plummer (victor of the 8th Hunger Games) pulled the two apart. The three arrived at their chariot and reunited with Minerva. She asked the two if they were ready to which both said yes. In a sudden change of character, Mortimer thanked Minerva for the tattoo work, describing her new addition as “worthy of the Kraken”. Pearl asked if she could get a sneak peek before the show to which Mortimer obliged. When he opened his shirt, he happened to look up behind him and spot Wolvthorne (7) giving Mortimer a hard stare. He didn’t hear Pearl and Gill’s compliments to the stylist as he returned the stare.
Gill snapped him out of it, reminding him not to make enemies too early. Mortimer simply pointed him out, asking his mentor if he looked like the Wharf Village troublemaker Adrian Carrack if he was buff. Gill squinted and annoyedly said, “Wow. The resemblance is uncanny.” Pearl said she lived in the Anchor Square, but claimed the name sounded familiar. Gill explained he was one of the bad apples he mentioned earlier. He was described as a tall muscular ginger boy with freckles and three front teeth missing. Mortimer commented how he would occasionally steal from the more affluent families as well as his boat and constantly hit on his girlfriend while also giving himself credit for two of the missing teeth. Pearl recalled Adrian’s identity, claiming to have seen him skulking around both the Slippery Shell and The Brine, guessing that’s how Gill knew of him. Mortimer commented how he wouldn’t mind killing Lionel (1) in the games as well, but Gill warned him not to antagonise him during training.
The parade finally began and the tributes’ chariots rolled out. Surprisingly, the District 1 sported elegant ballroom costumes Ulysses Blanco himself considered mediocre, but gave props for Olivine and Lionel (1) trying to sell it. He was greatly impressed with the District 3 costumes, which resembled smartphones but considered the despondency of the tributes’ faces a buzzkill, commenting on Shoya (3)’s flimsy hand waving. When District 4 was revealed to the world, Pearl and Mortimer stood proud and strong as the audience ate up their outfits. Pearl waved her hand and flipped her hair around, wowing the audience with her grace. Mortimer twirled his fake trident in the air and tipped his crown to the ladies in the audience. Suddenly, Mortimer ripped his shirt off, exposing the newly polished Kraken tattoo with a new open treasure chest tattoo on his chest with the tentacles attached as if holding it. The crowd went wild for the art etched on his skin, even more so when Pearl leaned against him and pointed at the Kraken.
Soon enough, the District 6 chariot rolled out and reception towards Cat and Jack’s costumes were mixed at best. At first, Cat and Jack simply smiled and waved but weren’t receiving much love. Suddenly, Cat asked Jack to trust her and to get on his shoulders. Jack hesitantly relented and allowed her to climb on. The audience were confused at first, but noticed the bolt costume perfectly lined up with the nut costume as if it was being inserted in the other. Jermaine Blanco admitted they utilised their painfully mediocre costumes well. However, at the end of the parade, the title of Blanco Fashion Magazine’s Best Dressed was awarded to District 8 for their bright and colourful mix and match outfits.
In the District 4 apartment, Minerva felt slightly dejected by her loss but was reassured by Pearl that the audience still enjoyed her work. Gill poured her a drink and ordered some Capital cake. Mortimer thanked Minerva for the improved look of his tattoo, wishing his girlfriend Meridia thought of it sooner. He caught himself after blurting this out. Everyone had confused looks on their faces. Pearl deduced Meridia was the one who drew the initial tattoo. Mortimer’s silence confirmed this, Gill exclaiming, “I knew it!” Mortimer felt embarrassed and stormed off to his room, Minerva yelling that she had good steady hands. Pearl asked Gill how her partner could ever nab a girl with his sullen and abrasive attitude. Gill knelt down and explained that Meridia is the only girl who was kind to him and only one he let in. Gill further explained that she assisted in taking care of Mortimer’s father and usually spent time with him after work hours, despite her father’s protests. Before Pearl could ask more questions, the Capital cake arrived. Pearl walked to Mortimer’s door and apologized for putting him on the spot, asking him to come and join them. After several minutes, he obliged.
Two stories above them, the District 6 entourage returned to see a disheveled Sasha standing in the middle of the room. She blamed Morrana and Phoebe for the near disastrous parade performance. Jack insisted this was all her fault, accusing her of laziness while Cat simply stood with her fists balled up. Sasha raised her hand, but Cat was quicker and slapped Sasha clean across the face. Cat yelled at Sasha, going into detail of how much at fault she was over the preceding events, citing Jack’s laziness point and bringing up her alcoholism. She praised Morrana for stepping up to care for them, give them advice, and make them feel at home. All this while Phoebe watched on with a proud smile on her face. Cat finished it all off by declaring they will be more than happy to complain about her any chance they got. Sasha didn’t dare to try again as Phoebe and Jack stepped closer to Cat. Sasha snatched a whiskey bottle and left the room, crying “Good riddance you little brats!”
Everyone applauded Cat’s bravery and Phoebe ordered some room service. Cat and Jack sat down on the couch with some fruit punch and discussed the parade. Jack claimed to have seen the District 4 male before, during the fated smuggling operation he was arrested for. Cat asked if he thought the boy recognized him, but Jack was unsure. He didn’t want an alliance with him, claiming he appeared untrustworthy. Cat shrugged and pointed out he was able bodied and would be a more viable option compared to Districts 1 & 2. She suggested they approach and talk to them during training after they watch them for a bit. Jack hesitantly agreed. With a new plan in order, everyone in the District 6 apartment relaxed and enjoyed the remainder of the day.
The next morning, all of the tributes dragged themselves out of bed to prepare for their training session. There was an incident at the penthouse apartment when Jassy (12) tripped over her partner Neutron (12) and slammed her head on the floor. Her mentor Andrew “Corpse” Beckford (victor of the 10th Hunger Games) put a bandage on her head and gave her aspirin. As soon as everyone gathered in the training room, Training Master Feldman gave the routine rundown and twirled his water cannon. All of the mentors gathered in the mentors lounge at the corner of the room, conversing with each other. When he was listing reasons for him to use it, he noticed Horace (10) concealing a middle finger directed towards him. Feldman sprayed him and warned all tributes of offending him. He eventually dismissed the tributes.
Jack and Cat both gravitated towards the survival station and began working together in the shelter building section. The two spent the first hour crafting a tent while simultaneously surveying their surroundings. A half hour before lunchtime, they were quizzing themselves in the plant identification section. Cat was spying on Carnelia (11), who had successfully started a fire, taking in her technique. She had to avert her eyes as soon as the muscular Laurel (7) began staring her down from the second fire station. She asked Jack if he found any potential allies, claiming District 7 was off the table after Laurel’s disapproval of her watching the same tribute. Jack claimed he had only been watching the District 4 male, finally learning his name to be Mortimer. He explained he had now recognized him as part of the District 4 crew who had smuggled Tobias Stephens and some warmweed into their district. Cat asked if he did anything noteworthy, but Jack shook his head saying he was quiet and strangely the only one not immediately putting his hands on the contraband. Cat asked where he was, volunteering to talk to him. Jack pointed at the chemistry station, where he was spotted using a dropper of glowing green liquid on a petri dish. Cat admitted to being surprised by someone as big as him spending time in that particular station.
Jack asked if her therapy skills told her anything about the other tributes. Cat made only two observations: Ryetta (9) was most likely the weakest tribute and Wolvthorne (7) was arguably the most dangerous. Jack asked how they would find allies to combat him. Cat suggested she talk to Mortimer. Jack objected at first, but Cat pointed out how he must be skilled at chemistry, otherwise he wouldn’t be there at the station. She added that from a therapeutic standpoint, she found him fascinating and difficult to read. Jack relented and also made clear his intentions to practice camouflage. She told him to look after himself and then walked over to Mortimer. Jack stayed put for a few more minutes before transitioning to the camouflage station. He first attempted a tree background and had trouble with the intricate details of the bark. He tried a few more times and slammed his fists in the wall in frustration. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see Ryetta (9). She offered to show him some tricks to which he begrudgingly accepted. She worked with him until he was able to successfully blend in with the tree.
The first station Pearl set her roots in was the aquatic station. She started off by swimming laps, enjoying the solitude of being the only tribute there. While she was timing her breaths, Andrei (2) walked into the station and slipped into the pool. Pearl didn’t notice his presence at first, but was able to pick up his splashes as he freestyled towards her. Pearl didn’t want to be alone in the station with a career, so she climbed out of the pool and discretely went to the craft table to practice fishing lures. As she fashioned a makeshift fishing pole, she watched Andrei as he struggled to keep form. He hit his head on the pool’s tiled wall while doing the backstroke. Pearl involuntarily giggled to herself, but unfortunately for her, Andrei heard her. He hopped out of the pool and marched towards her, asking if anything was funny. She muttered out a meek apology before trying to leave. He followed her at first, but was dissuaded when he noticed Feldman watching from the mentors lounge with his water cannon visible. Andrei backed off while Pearl retreated to the plant identification simulator. Coincidentally, she arrived seconds after Jack had left, so she had the entire station to herself. She excelled at the memory simulation for an hour, but was unable to surpass Carnelia (11)’s high score. During lunch break, she visited Gill and began to converse with him about training. Gill told her she was off to a good start, but urged her to choose a weapon to try. Pearl didn’t feel safe going to any weapon station with the careers nearby, notably Andrei. She decided to find Mortimer and ask him to accompany her. Gill said it was a good idea. He commented on how strange it was that he hadn’t approached the weapons station either.
Mortimer’s day was relatively uneventful. He started off in the newly implemented yoga studio doing some stretches on the mat. He paid no heed to the confused looks of some of the tributes and mentors but was surprised and relieved to have Peggy (8) join him in the studio. She tried asking for an alliance, but he silently rebuffed her. After a relaxing stretching routine, Mortimer made his way to the chemistry station. He spent the next few hours at this station, brewing some experimental potions. He also used his time analyzing Olivine (1) and Nikita (2), both of whom were in the archery station. When Wolvthorne (7) entered the axe throwing station, Mortimer diverted his scanning eyes to him. He watched his masterful target practice all the while inching his way closer to his first successful healing potion. Suddenly, he heard, “Who are you looking at?” Mortimer nearly dropped his flask and looked up to see Cat standing on the other side of the table. Embarrassed and annoyed by the surprise, he asked what she wanted. Cat guessed he was watching Wolvthorne, claiming to not blame him as she considered him the greatest threat as well. Mortimer was confused by the out of left field accurate assumption and told her to mind her own business. Cat apologised and made her intentions clear to him. She asked for an alliance with her and Jack, commenting how he had seen him before. Mortimer found Jack in the corner of the camouflage station and stared back down at his work. He guessed he told her about the “exchange program” the two districts had. Cat confirmed this. She also relayed Jack’s description of his demeanour and hesitance to gorge on warmweed. Mortimer simply stated he wasn’t a junkie. Cat defended herself, “I didn’t say that. I mean, based on the station you’re in, I assume you know how to separate the SHC and the TBA.” Mortimer stared at her with wide eyes, asking how she knew that. Cat introduced herself and said she was a therapist working under Phoebe’s tutelage. She asked if they could have an alliance, arguing that they could be a great team against Wolvthorne and their careers. Mortimer was surprised for a moment, but refused the offer, claiming that trusting people in a death game was for fools. Cat put her hands up and apologized for bothering him and to find her if he changed his mind. Before she left, she said, “By the way, I recommend boiling the moldroot before mixing it with the plasma.”
Mortimer continued his attempts at a healing potion, each time met with failure. He sat annoyed with himself for a few moments. He then recalled Cat’s suggestion and decided to try it. He was surprised to see the finished potion successfully clear the training dummy’s discolored skin. He sat in disbelief for nearly an hour when Pearl walked up to him. She came to check on him, asking what he learned. Mortimer showcased his successful healing potion, choosing to neglect Cat’s recommendation. Pearl asked if he could accompany her to the weapons station because she wanted to practice a weapon and didn’t feel comfortable going by herself. Mortimer groaned and relented, replying how he needed to pick up the trident anyway. The two spent the remainder of the training session in the trident section, with Mortimer giving Pearl some pointers on the proper swing. He became aware of Cat entering the sword station next door and waving to him. He ignored her and continued to instruct Pearl. The two sparred with each other after the proper stance was established. It took until the final five minutes of training day before Pearl was able to nab her first win.
The next day, the training assessments began. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm cut off the power as Lionel (1) entered the assessment room. The Capital’s finest technicians were in a scramble to fix the power while Lionel proceeded to showcase his swordsmanship. The fix was predicted to take longer than expected, so Head Gamemaker Grimstone was ordered to commence with the assessments as planned and simply have the activities and scores be announced later on. It wasn’t until three hours before the tribute interviews that all of the scores were announced. The highest score was 11, which was awarded to Wolvthorne (7) for his deadly axing skills and brute strength. Lionel (1) and Nikita (2) both scored 10 for their swordsmanship and archery skills respectively. Mortimer scored a 10 as well for his trident skills and his unexpected chemical gifts. Pearl nabbed a 5 for her lackluster attempts at the trident, but impressive underwater breath holding time. Jack scored a 6 for his camouflage skills and decent shelter construction. Cat surprised the gamemakers by scoring a 7 for her impressive campsite construction and decent 7/13 sword duel score.
Back in the District 4 apartment, Gill Henderson congratulated Mortimer for his high score, making him a Powerful Pina Paradise. Pearl felt dejected over her low score, but Gill assured her that what mattered is that she tried her best. He also disclosed that Dolan (D4 tribute of the 12th Hunger Games) had a lower score of 3. The three began discussing the interviews and Gill asked them what they would say. Pearl suggested she disclose some waitress stories and maybe divulge some behind the counter secrets. Gill appeared satisfied by this answer, but reminded her to continue playing into her cuteness like at Darius Dock. Mortimer begrudgingly asked if sob stories were really necessary, admitting his life wasn’t as interesting. Gill argued that it was interesting, reminding him of his smuggling pastime. He warned him that both hosts are provided information by the Capital’s top journalists and peacekeepers. Mortimer said, “So, my personal life will no longer be personal.” Gill sadly confirmed and suggested he use his life story to his advantage and lean into the fact he was caught smuggling. Mortimer admitted how as much as he didn’t want to, he had no choice as he knew the importance of sponsors. He dismissed himself to his room to change. A stunned Gill asked Pearl why the sudden change in character. Pearl recalled spotting Cat talking to him, but was too far away to hear their conversation.
Phoebe was happy her tributes scored very well for her district and ordered Capital cake for them. Jack felt relieved for his 6, but expressed how nervous he was for the interview. Phoebe did remind them this was their last chance to make an impression before the arena. Jack complained how easy it would be for Cat as she had a bounty of therapy stories to pull from. Cat told him to not sell himself too short as he did have his girlfriend to talk about. Jack felt better hearing this. He changed the subject, asking if she convinced Mortimer of an alliance. Cat said he rejected the offer but had a strong feeling he would reconsider. When asked to elaborate, Cat explained how she corrected his healing potion and how it led him to a 10. She theorized that behind the standoffish persona was a smart and compassionate man who needed help in more ways than one. Phoebe patted her on the back, claiming to have taught her well. Jack cautiously hoped she was right as he wasn’t planning on confronting the careers or Wolvthorne (7) by himself. Cat jokingly responded, “When all else fails, just do what Oslo did. There will be no lions to stop you.”
The three ate a light dinner before Morrana arrived with their new outfits. She told them the great news of her promotion to Hunger Games designer after Sasha’s suspension from the Hunger Games fashion industry after drunkenly admitting to neglecting her duties. The four celebrated with some fruity nonalcoholic drinks. Jack excused himself and went to the bathroom. He pulled his tiny contraband pouch from his shoe and contemplated taking it. Against his better judgement, he swallowed its contents and flushed the pouch down the sink before rejoining the others.
The interviews came later that evening. Artemis and Luther were giving their opening monologue, quipping back and forth. Luther kept his fingers crossed for this year to give them their next Golden Victor. Artemis played off this, revealing there to be a newly erected council of gamemakers and President Rain himself who would together discuss whether the victor is Golden Victor material. The first round of interviews started off as normal. District 1’s tributes were strong if not slightly cocky. Andrei (2) bragged about his swordsman skills and said he couldn’t wait to cut down certain tributes. He refused to elaborate, claiming it to be a surprise. Vista (3) was a nervous wreck, rattling on about her job of scrapping tech, thus making the audience uncomfortable and wishing the interview over.
The Juicy Tidbits podcast revealed a notable backstage story that took place during the opening monologue. Pearl walked back and forward nervously backstage, prompting Cat to go over to her and assist her in calming her nerves through breathing exercises, introducing herself as a friend of Mortimer. Jack felt immense relief as he had been avoiding her and Phoebe once the warmweed started to kick in. Mortimer skulked in the background picking at the appetizers, watching the interaction with fascination, shutting down Ryetta (9) when she tried talking with him. Fortunately, Cat's breathing exercises worked so when Shoya (3) was applauded, Pearl was ready to jump on to the stage, nearly doing so before she was introduced.
When Capricorn Luther introduced Pearl, she pranced onto the stage wearing a flowing blue dress that started with darker shades at the top with them becoming lighter as they descended down the dress. Artemis complimented the design of the dress, Pearl returning the favor by praising her zebra print dress and Luther's antelope suit. Artemis wondered where her manners came from, calling her the nicest tribute from District 4. Luther attributed this to her waitress job and asked how long she had been working. Pearl explained she waited tables for The Brine ever since she was eleven, assisting her parents in pulling in more customers of her age demographic. Artemis asked whether they find themselves rivalling the Slippery Shell, despite not selling liquor. Pearl confirmed The Brine was labelled as a liquor free zone, which is why it came close to their high revenue. She commented on the lengths her parents went to keep her from the negative influence of alcohol. She went on to share some lighthearted waiting stories, most of them comedic by nature. The audience were entranced by Pearl’s youthful spark and fascinated by the ongoings of the restaurant business in the districts. Luther asked Pearl what she felt about her partner, remarking how he seemed like an interesting character. Pearl agreed he was different from the teens she interacted with, but still regarded him as a good man. She said he could’ve easily snapped at any time, but showed restraint, telling her there was a misunderstood soul under there who needed help in more ways than one. Artemis opened her mouth but caught herself and closed it. A couple analysts spotted this and speculated that she nearly repeated the controversial question she gave Mihika (D10 female tribute) the previous year. Luther thanked her for her time and wished her luck, dismissing her to moderate applause.
Artemis appeared excited to interview the next guest. She described him as a mystery man sporting a sexy frontal tapestry. Mortimer entered the room wearing a seagull grey three piece suit with a capri tie and his once wavy hair gelled and combed back. Audience members noticed an ever so slightly upbeat step in his walk as opposed to his slow trudge. Artemis welcomed him to the stage, saying he made quite the entrance at the train station. Mortimer quipped, “While it wasn’t my choice, I’m still happy to entertain.” Luther decided to get to the point and bluntly asked why his girlfriend Meridia was the only person he interacted with in District 4 besides his father, whispering to the audience she was the one who etched the tattoo. Mortimer said she followed him around for a couple weeks, asking to help him and he let her as he started to fall for her. Artemis remarked, “Makes me sad that her father and half of District 4 thinks you’re a hoodlum.” Mortimer retorted that enough people have screwed him over for him to share common courtesies. Luther diverted the topic to his impressive training score, wondering where his chemistry skills came from. Mortimer said, “Before you bring it up, I will say it outright” admitting to assisting in the smuggling of fish and hooks across the Orkney Stretch in exchange for warmweed, joking “Getting caught wasn’t the highlight of my day either”. He assured everyone he didn’t ingest the drug himself, but learned to separate the SHC (medical component) from the TBA (psychoactive compound) through trial and error, feeding the SHC to his father to relieve his pain. Artemis read a document, stating his father Edward Beckett was a former Faroe Island Base engineer who fractured his back in a work accident and was medically discharged. Luther asked what he would do if he won the games. Mortimer pondered over this and declared he would give his father the proper care he needed and prove to Meridia’s father and all of District 4 he was more than a delinquent with a chip on his shoulder. Artemis said she was rooting for him, dismissing him to rapturous applause, cementing him as a new favorite.
After a mediocre interview with Terry (5), Artemis and Luther welcomed Cat to the stage, using her full first name Catalina. Cat revealed herself, wearing a sparkling amber dress with laced high boots, tiara, and a pair of glasses she specifically requested. As she sat down, she told everyone to call her Cat. Artemis first asked what the glasses were for, Cat playfully saying they made her look smart. Luther brushed past the “How is the Capital?” pleasantries and brought up her job back home. Cat explained to the audience she was a therapist working at her mentor’s Kento Rehabilitation Centre under her tutelage. She considered Phoebe an amazing role model and attributed her people reading skills to her. She even added how her games inspired her to practice the sword. Artemis asked her to tell them something about Phoebe nobody else knows. Cat disclosed that Phoebe’s platinum blonde hair is in fact natural, despite the rumors spread in District 6 and the Capital. She proceeded to highlight her occupation by relaying some patient stories, choosing to not reveal any names for confidentiality purposes. Audience members noticed she never portrayed her patients in a negative light, understanding her compassion for the lowly members of District 6’s society. Artemis commented how her initiative and compassion must attract some cute boys. Cat mentioned how she regrets never asking out one of her coworkers. Luther said she could do so if she wins. Cat made clear she would receive her therapy licence and improve the rehabilitation centre first before worrying about “relationship quarrels”. Artemis remarked, “Go get the bag sis!” Luther dismissed Cat to great applause, many calling her a dark horse.
Jack was the next to be called onto the stage. He stumbled out from under the curtain wearing a basic black and white suit and buckled shoes with the golden chain and top hat being the standouts. While wandering onto the stage, he nearly fell forward but fortunately caught himself. He sat on the chair and told Artemis and Luther to call him Jack. Artemis remarked how much a coincidence it was for two tributes in a row to have nicknames for themselves. Luther appeared slightly suspicious of Jack being unable to keep his head still, noticing it slowly nodding back and forth. He asked him about his life back home, bringing up his refinery work in the hovercraft warehouse. Jack simply stated, “It gets hot in there.” The audience was put off by his demeanor and began to whisper amongst themselves whether he was high despite his previous moments of clarity. Artemis, who was also having second thoughts, diverted to the topic of his girlfriend Tyre. Jack tiredly said she was the only light in his bleak existence. He called out his parents for always being absent and leaving him to his own devices to go get high on warmweed. Luther asked if this was the reason he smuggled warmweed to the Orkney Stretch with the older kids before getting caught. Jack bitterly said someone had to put food on the table, catching his drooping head while saying that statement. Artemis expressed her hopes that he could make it back to Tyre and be together. Jack gave her a death glare and told her he didn’t believe she cared whether he died or not. He boldly stated that if she wanted him to be with Tyre so badly, then he wouldn’t have been reaped in the first place. The second he finished that statement, he threw up all over her shoes, narrowly missing Luther’s. The crowd began booing him and calling for his death in the games. Luther quickly dismissed the boy as he was carried away by peacekeepers. A quick investigation unearthed the flushed pouch and a blood warmweed count (BWC) of 0.05%.
The rest of the interviews went along swimmingly, with Wolvthorne (7) becoming a Capital favorite. Things also became emotional when Mishti (10) cried about missing her pet dog. While Head Gamemaker Grimstone expressed his hopes for a successful games, the tributes returned to their apartment.
Gill congratulated Pearl and Mortimer on their interviews, favorably comparing them to the previous year. Pearl had hopes this would translate to more sponsors, but Gill told her there was no guarantee and it was up to the Capital. Mortimer responded, “Where have I heard that before?” Gill was slightly offended and asked what he meant. Mortimer said he did nothing to help his dad after his accident on the Faroe Island Base. Gill claimed he tried, but he didn’t have jurisdiction outside of the application process. He added that he did offer him independent compensation out of his own pocket but was angrily turned away. Pearl added how her father also wanted to help, calling Mortimer arrogant and selfish. Mortimer tried to object, but Gill warned him to be careful of his words. He claimed to know more about what he’s going through than anyone, citing his former Azores Island Base employed father, once disapproving father-in-law, and self-bestowed status de facto man of the house as proof. Gill then declared, “I admit I haven’t endured the same trials as you, but don’t you dare say I don’t have even a hint of what is going on inside that head. I know exactly who you are, boy! Because you’re me!” Mortimer and Gill stared each other down for what felt like an eternity, the latter standing in absolute shock and silence before responding with, “What a pair we are.” He stormed off into his room and never came out for the remainder of the night. Pearl asked if he would be okay, Gill answering that he’s done all he could for him. Pearl thought there was still hope for him, remembering that he didn’t shut his girlfriend Meridia out.
Back in the District 6 apartment, Phoebe was berating Jack for lying about having warmweed. She revealed he made an absolute fool of himself and was now the least liked tribute of the year. Jack, who was now in withdrawal, tried to apologise in between puking fits. Phoebe said he destroyed his chances of sponsorship and hoped he didn’t ruin Cat’s. Cat pleaded with her to calm down and knelt beside Jack. She patted his back as he returned the last of his dinner. When he was finished, he apologised to everyone and expressed how difficult it was to stave off warmweed. Phoebe’s demeanour softened and assured him she understood more than anyone. Cat told him that regardless, she will be more than happy to fight by his side in the arena. Jack thanked her before retiring to the bathtub. Phoebe expressed her worries about him experiencing withdrawal in the arena. Cat said that he had something she didn’t in her games: someone to watch over him. The two embraced, Phoebe saying she will miss her terribly if she doesn’t make it. Cat promised she would fight her hardest to ensure one of them would make it out. The two were unaware of Jack listening in from behind the cracked door of his room.
The next morning, all tributes were escorted to the holding rooms located in the underbelly of the arena. This year’s arena attire consisted of dark lycra suits with the district numbers on the right breast with black plimsolls for their feet. When Minerva entered Pearl’s holding room, she spotted her staring at her teal blue district number. Minerva assured her everything would be alright and that she believed in her. Pearl shrugged, saying it would be nice to give the Capital another fourteen-year-old victor. Minerva exclaimed, “That’s the spirit!” reminding her she had an excellent ally to help her along. The two gave a final embrace before Pearl entered her tube. Mortimer was visited by Gill and the two were silent for half of the allotted two minutes. Mortimer said he thought everything over and admitted that they were in fact very similar. He commented how he probably should have at least accepted his help. Gill expressed how glad he was for them to have worked things out, commenting how the two could’ve been good friends. Mortimer swore he would try to win, but asked him to promise to kick Adrian Carrack’s ass for him. The two shook on it and Mortimer stepped into his tube.
Phoebe visited Cat in her room, stepping in to see her doing breathing exercises. The two immediately embraced, both shedding some tears. Phoebe lamented not having her good friend let alone her best therapist leaving her. Cat promised she would use everything she taught her to bring herself and Jack to the end. She added that she had someone else who will help her out, hinting at Mortimer. Phoebe promised to take care of her patients and keep an eye on her brother. Cat thanked her and stepped into the tube but not before she said “Avskedslärare’, which in the old Swedish tongue translated to “Goodbye teacher”. As for Jack, he was visited by Morrana. He seemed resigned to the fact Phoebe didn’t visit him, saying he didn’t blame her. Morrana assured him she would’ve come if it were allowed. Jack lamented his newfound infamy, stating how he would have to do something great to redeem himself. Morrana told him he had nothing to prove and that he should focus on trying to win regardless of what other people thought. Jack sighed and thanked her for trying, but he remained unconvinced. He promised to do right by Cat and help her make it to the end. He hugged Morrana, thanking her for stepping up. He stepped into the tube. When all tributes were in the tubes, they all rose into the arena.

The weeks leading up to the 17th Hunger Games were especially eventful as the Capital was still reeling from the previous year’s spectacular games. Sherpa Kapoor, with the help of his lion friends, had proven himself to be the most popular tribute in Hunger Games history since Ashley Chen (victor of the 13th Hunger Games)’s revenge plot. The Capital was kept satisfied with reruns as well as the continuing increasing sales of 16th HG merchandise. This consisted of Kapoor Pride plushies, replica gaffi sticks, and the most sought-after item: the latest in the line of Panem Champion Funko Pop. Every year, a new action figure is made for the latest victor of the Hunger Games. It was the most popular collectible in the Capital. In fact, since the Golden Victors concept was introduced, a new line of Funko Pop was released, separating the first ten victors (called the First Champions) and the Golden Victors by changing the color of the clothes and weapons to gold.
Hunger Games mania had started once more a week before the reaping cycle. Artemis Radcliffe interviewed Head Gamemaker Grimstone on her morning show Good Morning Panem, expressing relief that the Sherpa craze had died down. Grimstone responded that that kind of excitement was the nature of the Golden Victors and he hoped he would be able to replicate that level of success. However, he did admit it was up to the tributes to decide that. As usual, Artemis pushed for details only to receive tight lips from the gamemaker. She responded to herself, telling the audience she'll never learn the futility of getting spoilers from a gamemaker.
A week later, Sherpa had to put his restaurant endeavors on hold as he was called for the reaping tour. His entourage consisted of his brother Zacharie, Cassandra (his mentor), and surviving Kapoor Pride member Parth. After a depressing reaping at his home district, Cassandra had to separate from the group to take care of the first half of mentoring his tributes Mishti and Horace. So, Troy van Stomm (victor of the 5th Hunger Games) volunteered to tag along, mostly in hopes to become Sherpa’s friend. A notable incident happened during the District 8 reaping, when the younger brother of Asaad (D8 tribute of 16th games who was killed by Sherpa), Burlap, was reaped and attempted to assault Sherpa on the stage. Parth tackled him to the ground but was stopped by Sherpa before he could injure him further.
After witnessing the reaping games of District 2 sire Nikita and Andrei, Sherpa and his entourage arrived in District 6. He was given a tour by Mayor Bengtsson and District 6’s only victor Phoebe Bentley. They introduced to Sherpa a recently completed construction project, the Luxury Viking Cruise. This week-long cruise trip would sail the seas of Districts 4 and 6, even granting a tour of the Faroe Island Base. Despite being a victor for nearly a year, Sherpa was shocked by the fancy architecture and opulence. The remainder of the tour was a bit of a downer, Sherpa seeing firsthand the combined effects of poverty and the warmweed epidemic. His spirits were lifted when Phoebe enthusiastically showed him the Kento Rehabilitation Center. Both Sherpa and Troy decided to inject some of their money into the community, buying a variety of the local liquors outside of the Johnson Jazzy Juices brand. During lunch, Phoebe introduced them to her husband, local piloting legend Jackson Williams, and her “arena baby” Mirabelle. Sherpa allowed Mirabelle to pet Parth while he asked Jackson some piloting questions.
After lunch, everyone headed over to the reaping square where he was greeted by the mayor. He chatted for about ten minutes as the oil and vomit stained amber clad youths filed into the enclosure, the process taking longer as peacekeepers had to round up inebriated youths who tried to ditch the process. Sherpa made his victor’s speech more lively, bringing up his restaurant business and performing a couple tricks with Parth. Some of the youths enjoyed the show and applauded him. After his speech, Phoebe urged him to pull out the first name from the female reaping bowl. Sherpa took a deep breath and shoved his hand in the bowl. He unfolded the paper and announced eighteen year old Catilina "Cat" Verter as tribute.
Cat was a tall medium built woman with ginger curls and round glasses and was known as one of the assistant instructors at the Kento Rehabilitation Centre, so she knew District 6’s sole victor Phoebe Bentley quite well. Phoebe apparently was funding Cat's scholarship to become a licensed therapist. Phoebe put her hand over her mouth in shock when Cat’s name was called. Cat walked up to the stage, with a tightness in her chest and tears streaming down her face. She shook hands with Sherpa and said his pet lion was cute. She turned towards the cameras, forcing a smile in an attempt to convince Capital audiences she wasn’t unhappy with her situation. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis fell for the fake smile, commenting how she must be excited to represent her district. Her co-commentator Capricorn Luther rolled his eyes in annoyance and told her to just keep watching.
Sherpa walked over to the male reaping bowl, feeling slight relief the first wasn’t a drugged out zombie. He shuffled to the male reaping bowl and pulled out the name of fifteen year old Jackknife "Jack" Clutch. Cameras found Jack in the middle of the horde of inebriated youth. Jack was a short brown haired lad who was ragged looking from head to toe due to a recent warmweed binge. Despite this, he was less skinny and pale looking than his peers to the surprise of Artemis and Luther. Luther pulled some notes and revealed Jack had managed to stay sober for 10 months, recently relapsing after the Good Morning Panem interview. He read further and discovered that Jack was one of the young refinery workers in one of the hovercraft warehouses. Artemis read the remainder of the notes and found it interesting to hear he was imprisoned four months ago after getting caught trying to smuggle warmweed across the Orkney Stretch, a stretch of water fashioned as an aquatic border separating the two districts. Despite the previous soberness, he was in too much of a trance to notice being reaped and was dragged to the stage by peacekeepers. He limply shook hands with Sherpa and absentmindedly walked into Parth before finding his place to the left of the stage. Mayor Bengtsson indifferently congratulated this year’s tributes before dismissing them to their waiting rooms. Phoebe dismissed herself to the hoverjet, kissing her husband and Mirabelle goodbye. Sherpa and his entourage also left for their next stop in the reaping tour: District 4.
Cat was visited by her older brother Tank and a coworker Pedal. The Juicy Tidbits podcast disclosed that her mother had passed away two years ago and her father was passed out drunk at the Kjellberg Brewery. The group embraced and shared in the sorrowful moment. Tank and Pedal tried to cram as much advice as they could into the session, but Cat was feeling overwhelmed. She assured them she had a great mentor who would surely help her win. Cat told Tank to sell her belongings and drew a map to the location of her pocketed earnings and her will. She thanked him for always being there and becoming sober for her. She turned to Pedal and thanked him for being her best friend, regretting never asking him out. She asked Pedal to take care of her patients, attempting to make a list of important details. However, the peacekeepers arrived before she could finish and escorted her to the hoverjet.
Meanwhile, Jack was visited by Tyre, his only friend who was one of the few who managed to stay sober during the sudden uptake of drugs and alcohol at reaping week. She consoled him as he began to cry and reassured his other friends would come if they weren't also high. Jack claimed to not care about them, but instead expressed disappointment in his parents for not coming. Tyre assured him that she believed in him. Jack shrugged and said, “At least I’ll die knowing I had one friend.” Tyre responded with “If that nervous wreck Oslo could make it as far as he did, then I'm sure you can get that little bit extra and win." She kissed him on the lips before giving him a final embrace, promising a surprised Jack that she would wait for him. Jack then made her promise that if he doesn’t make it to not wait so long to find someone else. The peacekeepers arrived and brought him to the hoverjet.
When Jack and Cat got on the hovercraft, Phoebe was already waiting at the dining table. She asked Jack to hand over any contraband warmweed he may have before they got started. He initially refused, arguing that he would need them to not break down during training. Cat reminded him that his best chance at winning would be staying sober, recalling Phoebe telling her about last year’s tributes ruining their pregames chances due to them being high. She offered to help him stay calm during the following events, bringing up her training in therapy. This seemed to persuade him to hand over the warmweed he kept in his pocket. Little did they know, he was secretly concealing a teeny fraction in the sole of his shoe. The group spent the next few hours discussing strategy. As opposed to most mentors, who would explain the upcoming events before having them watch previous games, Phoebe crafted a presentation with a slide show. The slideshow touched on the topics of the pregame events, finding water sources, creating makeshift weapons and making and handling alliances. In previous years, Phoebe used pictures and videos from previous games but this year she replaced them with stop motion animation and drawings depicting the scenarios.
When the presentation was over, Phoebe asked her tributes to tell her what their strategy for training would be. Cat was the first to answer, detailing how she would use her time to learn survival skills. However, she was indecisive on what weapon to choose. Jack, on the other hand, decided he would learn to use a knife and try his hand at camouflage. Phoebe appeared satisfied with their initial answers and instructed them to mull over their indecision. She gave them the time of noon tomorrow to come to her with their final decision. Phoebe attempted to retire her tributes to their quarters, but Jack asked if he could watch her games. Phoebe was taken aback by this. She was about to refuse, but Cat expressed her desire to see it as well. Phoebe relented and turned on the 3rd Hunger Games. While watching, Jack commended the swordsmanship of Kento (the D3 tribute and Mirabelle’s biological father) before considering practicing with a sword instead. Cat repeated the praise while condemning Carson (Phoebe’s district partner)’s brutality, even going as far as comparing him to one of the unruly patients in the mental asylum ward at the Kento Rehabilitation Centre. She turned to hear Phoebe’s thoughts, but saw her tearfully struggling to refrain herself from grabbing a bottle of whiskey. Cat rushed to her and put the bottle down, embracing her as she cried. She ordered Jack to turn off the games, which he did after seeing the climactic battle between her and Carson. Phoebe eventually calmed down and ordered her tributes to bed for the night. Night cameras showed that Cat did some light reading on a book about lizards and amphibians she found before sleeping. Meanwhile, Jack mulled over whether or not he should consume his contraband. He ultimately decided to ask the peacekeeper outside his door to bring him a strong tasting but nonalcoholic drink. He learned from him that all of the drinks in the District 6 apartment were nonalcoholic, leading him to accept a lemon vodka.
The next morning, the tributes woke up to a light breakfast and were asked to clean up quickly and select clothes provided in their wardrobes. This became a tradition Phoebe picked up for her tributes after Jase Toliver tried it for the District 8 tributes of the 2nd Quinquennial Quell (15th Hunger Games). The tradition became handy that year as the Capital was going through a heat wave. Due to being farther north and experiencing the harshest winters of Panem, District 6 wasn’t used to the warmer climate. This was brought up when Jack opened one of the windows, which blew a humid draft in. Phoebe instructed them to dress for the heat, Cat choosing a V neck tank top with cutoff denim shorts while Jack wore a henley shirt with board shorts.
The tributes were greeted by a respectable sized crowd despite being on the lower end of the visitation numbers. District 6 usually ended up with the second or third lowest turnout. depending on the sobriety of their tributes with this year having the fifth lowest turnout. Many of the crowd members flocked to Phoebe, either calling her by name or as “The Philosopher”. Many asked how Mirabelle was doing, knowing she turned thirteen not long ago. Phoebe graciously answered their questions, but urged them to meet her tributes. Jack took surprisingly well to the crowd, shaking hands with people his age and charming an elderly woman with flattery. She pinched his cheeks, telling him how adorable he was and promising to sponsor him if he keeps it up. Cat was nervous at first, but the people skills she learned from her job quickly took over. She gave pleasantries and charmed the crowds with her manners. She even managed to convince a few Captalites to open up about their personal lives so she could get them to relate to her. Jack walked over to her while she was advising a certain young man to tell his crush how he felt. Jack put his arm around her shoulder and assured them she could be everyone’s shrink if she could. Cat piggybacked off this, declaring that they would be missing out if they didn’t sponsor them. When Phoebe finally managed to escape the paparazzi, she ushered her tributes into the limousine. Phoebe thanked them for behaving and making a good impression. Cat commended Jack’s people skills, wondering where they were before. Jack simply stated he realized the gravity of the situation while he was dressing and decided to do his best to make it home to his friend Tyre.
When the group arrived at the apartment, they were greeted by this year’s stylist Sasha Grasseed. Phoebe became annoyed upon recognizing her. It was rumored that Sasha had only achieved her position by sleeping with pregame event organizer Dermont Toolly. Cat and Jack attempted to introduce themselves, but Sasha cut them off. She claimed to be on a tight schedule and barked at them to stand in place for their measurements. She then ordered her assistant Morrana Cloudveil to do the measurements. Phoebe questioned if having an assistant was allowed, but Sasha brushed this off claiming it made things easier. Phoebe mumbled to herself, “Yeah because everything comes easy for you.” The Juicy Tidbits podcast had a five-minute discussion over this particular comment, wondering if there was unspoken beef between the two. Phoebe asked to see some of the design, but Sasha said she already decided on a mechanic outfit covered in nails. Phoebe tried to speak again but was rudely interrupted. An exasperated Sasha growled that her design was final, and she was going to leave to get started and to "find an actual drink".
By the time she left, Morrana apologized for Sasha's behavior and remarked that she tried to tell her she was thinking of the nuts, bolts and nails used for construction. Phoebe said that it was fine and suggested to her tributes to try and play into the peculiar nature of the designs. Jack asked what her problem was, calling her a “high strung bitch queen”. Cat suggested Sasha thought the position was above her talents and only accepted to hopefully win the title of Blanco Fashion Magazine’s Best Dressed. Phoebe considered the theory plausible and suggested they throw Sasha under the bus in interviews if the parade doesn’t work out. Morrana agreed, explaining that the only way to bring down a stylist is if they screw up and enough people talk about it. Cat and Jack promised to do so. Phoebe decided to turn on replays of the reapings and advised her tributes to study their opponents.
Immediately after leaving District 6, Sherpa and his entourage arrived in District 4. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis and Luther revealed that District 4 was also going through a heat wave, which forced the refrigeration system to work overtime to protect the latest catch and produce. Three freezer boxes, two containing salmon and one squid, had to be emptied and their contents disposed of when the insulation failed. As Mayor Phillip gave Sherpa a tour, people would stop and stare at Parth as he trailed along. Little kids ran up and asked to pet him, to which Sherpa happily obliged. Sherpa showed much interest in District 4’s naval and fishing industry, especially the latter. Much to Sherpa's dismay, especially after seeing mass poverty across the other districts, he complained about some of the fish being thrown away despite still being good to eat. He claimed that some citizens across Panem would be willing to eat it, buying some various fillets on the spot. He did a cooking demonstration for Mayor Phillip, creating sushi with salmon and serving it as their lunch.
On their way to the reaping square, they stopped to pick up District 4’s victor Gill Henderson at the Slippery Shell, the most popular pub in District 4 where Dolph Masterson (ally to Bacchus Johnson of the 9th Hunger Games) dreamed of the many cocktails now sold under the Johnson’s Jazzy Juices brand. When they arrived at the reaping square, the blue clad potential tributes were already lined up and waiting. Sherpa noticed that the majority looked unfazed due to District 4 generally performing quite well, many holding onto the hope of their next victor coming very soon. So much so that the district had the honour of having the Capital’s third fan group, the Buccaneers, always ready to support them.
Sherpa gave a pre-translated speech that he read very well due to improvements in his English. He asked the women if they had any volunteers. Receiving no reply, he stepped towards the female reaping bowl. He pulled out the name of fourteen year old Pearl Riverstone. Cameras zoomed in on a short tanned girl with dirty blonde pigtails wearing a sky blue skirt and white shirt. Pearl loudly cried over her name being called and begged anyone to volunteer for her. As she sombered forward, protests were heard across the crowd. Luther pulled up a note card and revealed that Pearl's parents ran one of the many pubs across District 4. Her family’s pub The Brine was one of the more popular amongst working class people, attendance sometimes rivalling the Slippery Shell. Pearl would normally be found waiting tables at The Brine or playing with her friends on the riverwalk. Sherpa felt sorry for the girl and forgoed the hand shaking in place of letting her hug Parth. Pearl thanked Sherpa and proceeded to take her place to the right of the stage.
Sherpa took a deep breath and reiterated the volunteer question to the men. He again received no reply and went towards the male reaping bowl. He pulled a name from the bottom and pulled it out, nearly dropping it when a gust of wind blew through. He read the name of eighteen year old Mortimer Beckett. Many members in the enclosures and outside audiences began whispering amongst themselves. Gill Henderson appeared surprised, clueing Capital viewers that he was familiar with him. In the commentator’s booth, Artemis urged the cameras to find this person, wondering what made him so known. Cameras circled around the area for a moment until spotting a muscled man with sunkissed brown wavy hair and hazel green eyes. The most interesting thing about him was the shackles on his hands and being accompanied by two peacekeepers.
Mortimer cursed to himself upon hearing his name and grumbled to his guards to get it over with. While he shuffled to the stage, Luther pulled some notes together. He revealed to the audience that Mortimer was a shiphand who worked on the same dock Gill Henderson manages. The chains were as a precaution as two weeks ago, Mortimer was caught smuggling a small supply of warmweed and District 6 professor Tobias Stephens into District 4’s waters. Tobias was seeking asylum in District 4 and was given a fake ID, but was caught hours after landing. He was executed in District 4’s town square. Artemis thought he looked handsome and wanted to see the muscles underneath his thin white undershirt. She was confused by the black eyeliner encompassing his right eye, wondering if he tried to paint a tattoo there. She also swore she could see something blue etched into his skin, wondering if he had a back tattoo. Mortimer didn’t want to shake Sherpa’s hand, but was intimidated by Parth’s cold black eyes and relented. Mayor Phillip congratulated this year’s tributes before dismissing them to the waiting rooms in the Town Centre.
Pearl was visited by both parents and her older sister Henrietta. Pearl couldn’t stop crying, her parents trying her best to calm her down. It was eventually Henrietta that temporarily ceased her hysterics. She asked her little sister to listen to her mentor and try her best. She implied she could remind Gill of the district partner he lost in his games and get extra attention. Pearl asked, “What about my partner? He could protect me.” Henrietta’s face furrowed into a frown. She insisted she not trust him, claiming he would only look out for himself like he always did. Pearl lamented that she couldn’t possibly win and was scared. Her mother assured her that a fourteen year old girl from District 7 won before, reminding her of Vixen Furtherson (victor of the 14th Hunger Games). Pearl asked if they thought she could have the chance to meet her, to which the parents thought she would. The four had a final embrace before peacekeepers arrived. Pearl resumed her hysterics the second the first peacekeeper grabbed her and she cried as she was dragged to the Speedy Submarine.
Meanwhile, Mortimer was initially all alone in his room. He was pacing back and forth, a couple tears falling from his eyes. Suddenly, the door opened and his girlfriend Meridia Vilewater entered. She embraced him and apologised for not coming sooner. Mortimer said it was alright, simply glad someone showed up. Meridia said, “I’m sorry your father couldn’t make it. I promise to look after him.” Mortimer thanked her and expressed how grateful he was for her being there when the entire town wasn’t. He joked how her father didn’t have to worry about him poking around anymore, but Meridia began to tear up upon hearing this. He apologised and assured her he would try his best to win and not only bring honour to the district, but possibly help his father. He then snarkily said, “Who knows? Maybe your dad will accept me?” Meridia betted he would and gave him a final embrace, knowing their time was short. Mortimer whispered to her the location of his secret stash of “medicine” before being dragged out of the room and to the Speedy Submarine.
Pearl and Mortimer found themselves in the lounge area. Pearl nervously sat on the couch and waited for their mentor to show. Mortimer gave her a stare before silently resigning himself to the bar. He was downing a Woeful Whiskful cocktail from Johnson’s Jazzy Juices when their mentor Gill Henderson entered the room. He gave a momentary glance to Mortimer before introducing himself to Pearl. Pearl claimed to know him from his shanty performance during the Saint Patrick’s Day celebration at The Brine. Gill appreciated the sentiment before diverting the conversation. He point-blankedly asked what skills she had. She shrugged and simply stated she was a waitress. Gill pondered over this and asked how many orders she handled on average. Pearl answered she would normally keep track of the orders of 4-5 tables simultaneously, even recalling a day she juggled eight tables at once. Gill explained she was an effective communicator and a multitasker, two skills that could prove crucial to her survival. He caught her nervously glancing at the despondent Mortimer sitting on the barstool. Gill walked over to him and greeted him. Pearl asked if he knew him, to which Gill confirmed. Mortimer dejectedly stated that everyone knew him and that he was infamous. Gill argued that he didn’t help himself with the image he projected and asked what his father would think. Mortimer snapped that he didn’t know anything and to drop it. The tone in his voice scared Pearl, but Mortimer was kind enough to apologise to her for his outburst.
Gill took this opportunity to give them the routine rundown of the events to come. He recommended they devise ways to get the Capital to like them, reminding them of the importance of sponsors. Gill looked down at Pearl and said she was adorable and could use that. Pearl decided to better improve her look to play into the cute persona. Gill turned to Mortimer, who was still sipping from his glass but paying close attention. Gill said that his criminal record and standoffish attitude wouldn’t help matters, suggesting he lighten up. He also explained that he knew some of his stories that could be used as sob stories for the audience. Mortimer claimed those to be private. He grumbled that he didn’t need any help before resigning himself to the training room. Gill hollered back to at least consider using his strength as an asset. Pearl asked what his deal was, claiming to have only heard the story of him smuggling “the professor from 6’ in. Gill sighed and asked her to sit down. He decided to disclose that Mortimer’s mother abandoned him and his disabled father when he was six, leaving him to become man of the house. He had some traumatic experiences with a few of District 4’s bad apples and had trust issues, enough to turn away those who genuinely wanted to help, including Alexander Riverstone. Pearl, hearing her father’s name dropped, wanted to know more, but Gill decided it was a story for another time. He instead called the dinner cart in and turned on the TV. He turned on the 13th and 14th Hunger Games, both erecting Ashley Chen and Vixen Furtherson, the youngest victors in history. Gill asked Pearl to take notes on their performances in hopes of settling on a strategy.
While she took notes, Gill visited the training room and approached Mortimer who was lifting weights. Gill notified him of the dinner cart and pleaded with him to join them. Mortimer relented and dropped his weight. Before they entered the lounge area, Gill put a hand on Mortimer’s shoulder and told him there was no shame in wanting to talk as he didn’t want him to die in the arena with things remaining unsaid. Mortimer hesitated before wordlessly filling his plate. He brought his plate to the couch and began watching the finale of the 14th games with Pearl. When the games ended, Pearl got up to make her plate while Mortimer turned on Gill’s games and made notes of his own. Pearl sat down to watch and chuckled at the iconic “Bye Felicia” tagline but averted her eyes when Gill’s district partner Angel was killed. When the finale showdown between Gill and Furler (D12 male tribute) came up, Mortimer paid close attention. Pearl asked if he was studying his trident fighting style to which he confirmed, stating his desire to practise the trident. After dinner, Gill broke into song and began improvising a sea shanty. Pearl began to dance to the melody while Mortimer nodded his head and slipped a smile in. Gill sent his tributes to bed and spent an extra few minutes at the bar, drinking a Huma Hurricane.
The next morning, the Speedy Submarine arrived at the Darius Dock on the Capital docks. Gill ordered his tributes to brush their hair and teeth as well as put on nice clothes. He even loaned his aftershave to Mortimer when there wasn’t any found in his room. Gill inspected them head to toe and reminded them to make an impression, telling Pearl to stay adorable and Mortimer to lighten up. The hatch opened and the three were bombarded with the cheers of adoring Buccaneers (avid fans of District 4). While most of the attendees swarmed around this year’s tributes, there was a small zealous group who called for the Brotherly Sailor, asking him to sing. Gill refrained from doing so, knowing it would take away attention from his mentees. Pearl played into her cuteness, flashing big smiles and waving her hands. She took pictures with many of the young girls, some even asking to touch her pigtails. One blushing boy walked up with a golden tiara and asked to put it on her head. She nodded and bowed, letting him place the tiara on her head. She thanked her “prince charming”, telling him she will go on a date with him if she wins.
Meanwhile, Mortimer didn’t say much but received much attention regardless. He took pictures with many of the teens in the crowds, one even giving him a prop trident to pose with. He also allowed the girls to squeeze his biceps and fawn over his wavy hair. Mortimer was beginning to feel annoyed and tried to find an excuse to step away. It came to a head when one eager girl asked if he had a girlfriend. He wretched himself away from the girls’ grasp, but another girl still had a hold of his shirt. The shirt tore to shreds in her hands, exposing the massive back tattoo on his back. Cameras got a close look at the illustration of the fabled Kraken inked onto the majority of his back, some of its tentacles stretching up his neck and around his chest. This unexpected turn of events becomes its own fiasco with more girls putting their hands all over his back. Pearl pushed some of the girls away and took pictures with the Kraken. Gill noticed this and quickly ushered his tributes to the limousine.
The three arrived at their apartment to see their stylist Minerva Panson waiting for them. Minerva was a tattoo artist who applied for the position of Hunger Games stylist to expand her business. This was Minerva’s second year as a stylist, having been District 11’s stylist the previous year. She greeted Gill and his tributes, excited to talk parade costumes with them. She knelt down and told Pearl how adorable she was, pinching her cheeks. She stood up and was slightly put off by Mortimer, who still felt humiliated by what happened at the parade. Minerva said she loved his tattoo, but it needed some polishing. Mortimer grunted a thanks and went into his room to find a shirt. Pearl was excited to see what outfit she had planned, begging to see her sketchbook. Minerva flipped through the pages with Gill, pointing out her favourites. Gill asked about her most recent sketch of an underwater king and mermaid costume. Minerva explained that she was inspired after a recent tattoo she gave a Buccaneer and the idea was reinforced by Mortimer’s Kraken tattoo. Pearl liked her mermaid outfit and asked if she could have her hair wet.
Mortimer came back in to see their final decision. Minerva said he would have to showcase his tattoo some more to go with her costume idea, revealing that it went viral on the Capital Internet. Mortimer was against it at first, but relented when Minerva offered to polish it and add a new one of his choosing at the ends of the tentacles on his chest. Interested, he agreed. She wondered aloud about the eyeliner around his right eye, rubbing her thumb on it. She inspected the residue and revealed to the room’s occupants it was fake. Mortimer sighed and admitted it was, but insisted he only applied it to spite those who dislike him and that he would never etch an actual tattoo on his face. While Minerva worked, Pearl complimented Mortimer’s tattoo, remarking how if she won, she would get a tattoo of her own. Mortimer chuckled, saying, “Just remember, real tattoos are permanent.”

LPL Summer Power Rankings
Just one person’s opinion. WE diehard so I’ve seen more or less all of their games, but I’ll catch other games here and there. Did a lot of Oracle’s Elixir and Leaguepedia digging as well and followed/consulted @DJJohnnymeister on twitter (must follow IMHO if you care at all about the up and comers of the LDL) for thoughts on lower-level prospects. Will probably make me look stupid when it’s all said and done, but that’s part of the fun right?
Top Contenders
1) JDG
Top – 369
Jungle – Kanavi
Mid – Knight/lzq
ADC – Ruler
Support – Missing
Was the best team on paper last split and lived up to the hype. Coming off of a dominant MSI championship run, they are the slam dunk pick to top not just the LPL power rankings, but the World power rankings.
369 is perhaps the best he’s ever been, easily 1st team All Pro. Kanavi has re-established himself as the best jungler in the world at MSI. Knight’s mechanical talent finally shone through on the international stage. Lzq is an 18-year-old who somehow skipped the LDL altogether and isn’t really relevant to the narrative, but he's on the official roster so I have to mention him. Ruler inserted his name in the GOAT conversation and proved his mettle out of the Samsung/GenG sphere, doing his thing of blending solid damage output with consistent safety. When Missing is the worst player on the team by default and yet still the Spring 2nd All Pro Team support you’re in golden shape.
They get a sentence each because I shouldn’t need to tell you about this team. They’re really just complete without any exploitable holes. Adding Knight and Ruler to China’s best squad in 2022 feels similar to the off-season where the Golden State Warriors added Kevin Durant, with the added bonus that Boogie Cousins is still in his prime. I suppose that makes Yagao into Pro LOL’s Harrison Barnes (I actually like this comparison, down to Yagao receiving blame for the blowing it when it mattered most) and GenG into Pro LOL’s Sacramento Kings (pretty bad, but if we equate the playoffs to making world finals?… ehh still really bad). We’ll see who (if anyone) can rise up to challenge them, but at this point they have to be considered the odds-on favorite.
2) LNG
Top – Zika
Jungle – Tarzan
Mid – Scout
ADC – GALA
Support – Hang
This team had one hole in the roster going into the summer and filled it. LP didn’t have a bad rookie split and showed mettle but he was clearly the odd man out on a team built to compete today. After looking at IG’s ADC Ahn, they chose to spare no expense and traded LP and a boat load of cash for RNG’s GALA who more than fills that hole. GALA will be paired in the bottom lane with Hang, who was a key partner for LP’s surprisingly competent debut, earning an All-LPL 3rd team shoutout in the process.
Scout meanwhile had a downright incredible split that fell by the wayside due to LNG’s immediate playoff exit at the hands of OMG, but it appears that even away from the EDG machine, he’s still one of the LPL’s premier stars at a very competitive position. I mean he put up a mind numbing 17 MVPs individually. To put it in perspective, ThunderTalk Gaming, who were the 8 seed in the LPL Spring Standings, had 18 wins in total. With teams like EDG and JDG sharing the MVP load among their members, Scout downright ran away with it.
Zika didn’t have a super flashy split, but was low key very strong. The team devoted a lot to making sure LP wasn’t exploited and you would think Zika, who was heavily strong-side suited as a rookie on IG last year, would flounder because of it. However, he quietly flourished in the role, even though he only picked up a single MVP performance all season. Putting up strong CS numbers and showing some good weakside ability on top of his typical array of more damage centric tops. Honestly, he might be the most underrated player in the league since he’s overshadowed by his much more resource heavy teammates, but that weakside ability might be even more key with GALA joining the team and needing the resources as well.
Tarzan meanwhile continued as a standout in the regular season, best jungler KDA, strong kill participation basically the rest of the regular season MVP performances, but was perhaps the primary factor in their playoff disappointment. Similar to JDG’s situation with Missing though, when Tarzan (specifically in the playoffs) is the team’s biggest concern, you know you have a roster ready to compete.
3) EDG
Top – Ale
Jungle – Jiejie/Monki
Mid – Fofo/Fisher
ADC – Leave
Support – Meiko
Despite losing their key Korean carries, EDG barely missed a beat last split, finishing 3rd in the Spring Split. It’s a pretty good result all things considered, but it does feel like they have holes in their game. Still, I think that between their core veterans still at the peak of their game and the overall consistency, they are in very good shape for the Worlds slots, even if they feel a step behind the likes of JDG right now.
Even without Scout and Viper, they still have a great veteran core that starts with Meiko, who with Ming’s absence/retirement(?) stands alone as only active LPL’s all-time top 10 support. As part of the EDG core for over 9 years now, and the team’s primary shot caller for a huge part of that span, his presence alone means that EDG will have one of the best macro games in the league. Combo that with Jiejie, who has served in the EDG system for a huge period of time and grown into a top level jungler in his midst of his prime and you immediately have a team that has championship aspirations even before the other 3 members are considered, as both players were 1st Team All Pro for the Spring Split.
The 3 other members were where a lot of the concern lied going into the season, but they exceeded expectations as EDG was the number 2 seed going into playoffs. While the least talked about of the three, it was a great bounce back split for FoFo who was one of the most disappointing players on 2022’s most disappointing team BLG, eventually losing his starting job to mid-season acquisition Icon. On EDG though, he looked revitalized and fairly close to his form on RA 2021, though admittedly he was flanked by better players with EDG. It was a commendable, low drama, stable split for a player who needed it bad.
Similar to FoFo, Ale was coming off of a rough 2021 as well where a talented by troubled LNG team didn’t completely flop by the results, but completely missed the high expectations set. This included a benching for PandaC halfway through the split that really hurt the team in key series down the stretch amid talk about attitude issues. He’s always been a talented pair of hands though and EDG did well to keep him focused and on his game, as he stepped up big time, particularly when given non-tank champions while piloting tanks well enough, earning 2nd team All Pro honors. Obviously, Ale isn’t always the most stable player, but so long as EDG has him on the straight and narrow, he’s going to be a net positive for the team.
Finally, we come to the rookie of the split Leave, who came in with some serious LDL hype and lived up to it for the most part, working well as EDG’s damage carry and showing a flashy mechanics style. Being flanked with the likes of Meiko helps of course, but EDG handed the reigns to Leave and he seemed up to the task. Unfortunately, going up against the likes of Ruler and Elk in the playoffs did prove to be that freshman wall for Leave, but as MSI showed they’ve been folding everyone, so it’s not too shameful. Still as the least experienced player in this top 4 group, it’s going to be a lot of pressure on the youngster. It’s crazy that this super mechanically skilled star of his rookie class could be the weakness of the team, but that’s just the level of the competition among the top teams of this league.
I do want to give brief mention to EDG’s substitute players, who are both very talented youngsters. Monki is a 19-year-old LDL promote jungler who was strong at the lower level and warranted a promotion. Fisher meanwhile had been a standout Korean trainee from Shadow Corp (the same team they picked up About, the new Korean bot lane trainee Ale was talking about) and directly went onto the EDG main roster at 18 years old. Neither will likely see play given this team’s veteran tilt and the championship ambitions, but they’re worth keeping an eye out for down the road whether they’re future EDG starters or purchases for other LPL teams.
4) BLG
Top – Bin
Jungle – XUN
Mid – Yagao
ADC – Elk/Baiye
Support – ON
Given BLG’s penchant for big expenses for early playoff exits, it would be easy to write off their latest roster as yet another flailing attempt to microwave a team into stardom, turning over basically the entire 2022 roster they reportedly spent top dollar for. And yet, it felt different this time around. While the players they picked up weren’t exactly household names, they were talented mechanical players on the rise. They looked genuinely strong in the pre-season tournaments, which admittedly doesn’t count a whole ton, but was interesting to note. And when it was all said and done, it resulted in the best split BLG has ever put up. And while they couldn’t outgun the JDG machine in any of the many shots, it was a great season. While I have them below LNG for their sheer top to bottom power and EDG out of respect for their veteran track record, I’m still very impressed by this BLG squad.
Bin, as somehow the longest tenured BLG member of 2 splits, was the face of the team’s turnaround, and a far cry better from the rocky 2022 he endured swapping between 2 dysfunctional teams. 2023 was where he re-established himself as the premier mechanical top in the league. Always known for his excellent hands since his debut on Suning in 2020, he was able to back up those skills this split, while furthering his profile in the west with his fun trashtalk and gigachad persona. Furthermore, when the chips were down at MSI, he even showed a willingness to pick up tanks, which has always been the clear hole in his game.
As for the free agent additions, the one who most established himself was Elk. If I can put on my hipster hat on, I was an Elk fan before it was cool, given he’s always shown an ability to put up eyepopping damage numbers since his debut which continued this season as he topped the tables far and away leading the league with the number 1 DPM and damage share. However, it was the finer points of the game where Elk struggled on back in the day. Off positioning, hit or miss laning, occasional overextensions trying to maximize damage were all issues for Elk on WE. On this BLG squad though, that has largely ironed itself out, with only occasional blowup performances every so often. An unknown on the World stage going into MSI, everyone now knows the name of this fearsome player. They also added a name that nobody knows, that being Baiye an LDL ADC to the main roster as well. Having just debuted on BLG.J last split and playing all of 7 games in the LDL, it’s tough to take this promotion seriously at all, let alone as a threat to Elk’s seat.
A major part of supporting Elk’s rise was the acquisition of the best young support in the LPL, ON. One of the big pain points of LPL teams is that LDL promotions are just so difficult, and none so more than support, where the talent pool is shallow and the transition is just an absolute killer. So many of the highest profile LDL supports have floundered on promotion, and ON was no exception on Suning back in 2021. That being said, he’s improved an incredible amount since that first rocky season, and the mechanical ability he has as a support and his young age (only 20 years old despite debuting in 2021) makes him perhaps the most valuable long-term asset on the BLG roster. As EDG has shown with Meiko and his cavalcade of ADC pairings, great ADCs can be acquired in the LPL but great supports when kept are backbones to long term success.
XUN was an acquisition much like Elk and ON, a young mechanical standout who BLG scooped up with projection in mind. He arrived into IG in 2021 as a highly touted rookie, and was mentioned alongside the likes of Bo and Xiaohuangren, the 2 super prospects junglers as the next generation. He joined right at the tail end of the Rookie-TheShy era of the team and while he had early struggles then, by the time the next season rolled around, he was IG’s standout player. Even after arriving at BLG, he’s still a very volatile player, and hasn’t solidified his play the way Elk and ON have, but at his best, he’s capable of getting bot rolling, which is exactly what BLG is want to do.
Finally, the Harrison Barnes of the LPL, Yagao, who was the typical blame target for BLG in their losses. It’s true, he’s older and certainly doesn’t match up great against the top of the table mids that he’ll need to beat, but the bottom line is that for the most part he’s fine enough. Just like Barnes, he’s certainly not the team centerpiece, and he occasionally has baffling performances, but he’s usually stable enough to not get in the way. Honestly, he’s probably the weakest individual player among these top 4 teams and the predominant reason (along with coinflippy XUN) that I have the MSI runners up 4th on this list, but to be clear I’m not huge Yagao hater, it’s just that these top teams are so stacked that every potential available weakness makes a difference. I mean, you don’t see Harrison Barnes on the All-NBA teams or anything.
Playoff Expectations
5) OMG
Top – Shanji
Jungle – Aki
Mid – Creme
ADC – Able
Support – PPGod/Jerry
OMG returns with the roster that brought them to their highest playoff finish since Spring 2017 (!!!), finishing a highly impressive 4th in the split. On paper, I still think their roster is lacking in marquee raw talent, but it’s clear at this point that they’re more coordinated than some of their flashier opposition and that they’ve cultivated 2 young stars that have now shown some serious killer instinct.
Without any doubt, this is a team that is defined by the play of their solo lane talents. Starting from the top Shanji had a standout split primarily as one of the most effective K’Sante/Sion tank players the large majority of the time, but occasionally busts out Kennen and his signature Rumble, and been incredibly impactful when he gets them. Furthermore, this synergizes perfectly with OMG’s other star laner Creme, who is afforded the ability to fit AD assassins like Yone. Assassins have continued to be Creme’s calling card and while his control mage play is lackluster, OMG has tailored their gameplans around his champion pool and have reaped the benefits of the young mid laner.
On top of these two really clicking simultaneously, a big hat tip must be given to their teammates as well. PPGod in particular proved to be the right ingredient to bring OMG playoff glory as he continues his ability to accent teams into playoff threats even if he hasn’t been quite been able to reach the Finals at any of his stops. I’ll give him some additional props once we reach the NIP write up. Given PPGod’s late arrival to the team last spring, LDL promotion Jerry sat on the bench for the season, and looks to do so again. Able meanwhile has a pretty non-descript year, taking a back seat to his solo lane teammates but showing some stability that he’s usually lacked. Certainly not a masterful split, but credit where it’s due, he reigned it in and was steady for OMG’s best squad in ages.
Finally, Aki deserves a big hand for his role in OMG’s success as well. A solid vet who isn’t considered a mechanical master by any means, he was steady at the wheel throughout the season, and was even able to out jungle Tarzan of all people in their shock upset win over LNG. Despite taking the most MVPs for OMG in the regular season, it was rarely for single handed domination and I’d point that more as a credit for his facilitation of the team’s coordination in general where they were able to get over the competition where it counted.
I don’t think this team has the ceiling of the others in this tier, but they have a known formula that works. While the others in this group have more talent on an individual level, it’s clear that they have serious questions to sort out that OMG really doesn’t, so I’m considering OMG the safe team in this particular group, but without the upside to challenge the tier above.
6) WBG
Top – TheShy
Jungle – Karsa/Weiwei
Mid – Xiaohu
ADC – Light
Support – Crisp
This team and the one after it were the teams with close to the highest expectations in the League and yet fell flat in spite of talented rosters. Both have largely decided to run it back, with new coaching staffs in an attempt to fix the tactical side where they came short. WBG went big game hunting for their next coach after sacking Easyhoon and was attempting to court Kkoma before he opted to focus on Korea’s efforts at the World Games. They settled for an Kkoma adjacent coach in Daeny, formerly part of the Damwon and T1 programs. A controversial coach in his own right, he’s drew criticism for his pick/bans and his questionable roster decisions, but he still has that Worlds title under his belt, so WBG is out here shooting for the moon. Born to wintrade or whatever.
TheShy is as always, a pretty good representation of the team. Perpetually on top of the damage charts due to his confidence in his mechanics and his propensity to fight constantly, it leads to the coinflippy hit or miss results you so often see from TheShy and his teams in general. He’s certainly not at his peak form where he dominated on the Worlds stage, but he’s not at his worst either near the end of his IG tenure when that whole team looked out of gas, TheShy is an LPL icon, even if that icon is occasionally the death notification on the side of the UI.
Purchasing Xiaohu out of his RNG contract was one of the big stories for this team going into the off season and a large reason for optimism for their future results. In actually he was rather middling by all accounts. Not a total disaster of course, it felt like he was fine for the most part, but not the immediate plug and play mechanical players that Scout, Knight or Rookie serve as. Maybe a second season to mesh is what they need to comeback.
Light for my money was the most dependable member of the team in the regular season, being just a generally stable force in the otherwise chaotic team structure. I wouldn’t call him the best at any individual thing: Ruler is a much safer ADC and Elk is a better pure damage pump, but light is good enough at both of those things to be a consistent plus for WBG, which can’t be said for the rest of the team. Supported by the veteran Crisp, you have to expect them to anchor the team in general, though Crisp was particularly bad in the playoff series against BLG, where his hooks on both Thresh and Naut were off point. It’s just one series of course, but the play needs to be better than that in crunch time next time.
Finally, the jungle situation for Weibo. Karsa continues to be the perpetual punching bag when the team struggles. It’s been a major decline since his Flash Wolves and early RNG days and frankly it might be time to just bucket him as not able to get it done at the highest level at this point. He can still work enough in the regular season to make the playoffs, but the form is just not where it needs to be at this point. In a fascinating move, scooped up Weiwei, who went from BLG’s star jungler to league washout over the course of a single year. The biggest victim of BLG’s 2022 catastrophe, the last look of Weiwei we got was not a flattering one as the team fell flat on it’s face amid roster instability and play not matching up to the expected standard. Still, we’ve seen a number of comebacks for players leaving the BLG ecosystem, such as PPGod and FoFo returning to form after splitting wit the team. Of course it’s not always a winning formula as Doggo and Biubiu (shudder) can attest to, but there’s enough of a strong track record from Weiwei during 2020 V5 and 2021 BLG to say that trying to get that level out of him is worth the attempt.
7) TES
Top – Wayward/Qingtian
Jungle – Tian
Mid – Rookie
ADC – Jackeylove
Support – Mark
Reuniting 2/5ths of the legendary IG core was supposed to lead TES to their Worlds destiny. Yet going into the Summer split they are another team running it back with the exact same roster, though unlike teams like JDG, BLG or OMG, the Spring split was an unmitigated failure for TES. There was not glory, but a collapse down the stretch of the season and shameful defeat at the hands of OMG, a team that is probably running a budget less than Jackeylove’s individual paycheck (note: The previous statement was hyperbole. I do not actually know how much OMG pays their players.) With some of the flashiest names in the LPL, finishing without at least challenging JDG would have been a disappointment, let alone the 7th/8th that they actually managed.
The big obvious question for this team is what exactly they do with the top lane because the decision making around it was seemed heavily stilted. They chose to run Qingtian basically the entire regular season, and then yanked the rug on him with a single series to go? Sure, he was largely a hit or miss top laner who was missing against the better teams (and LGD’s because rookie Xiaoxu was feeling it) but pulling the plug on him and swapping to Wayward literally at the last second heavily sabotaged both of them. Congratulations, Wayward crushed Biubiu in round 1 of playoffs, like basically everyone else who played top lane in the LPL. Up against Shanji (a player TES bypassed as a rookie to pick up Qingtian), Wayward was not up to it, and it was a big part of what ended their season. Even though both top laners are limited, I find it hard to place the blame on them directly given this awkward setup and how they approach top lane in the Summer with both players still on the roster remains to be seen.
The bot lane continues to be the same story as always. Jackeylove is still super high ceiling but there are still sometimes these baffling efforts where he’s playing off of his game, which has been a repeating trend for a while now. Mark did well to stabilize him at the beginning of their shared tenure but it’s been rough going as of late for this bot lane in general.
Moving to the big free agent swap they made, adding the legendary Rookie to the team, and it wasn’t all bad. It’s not like he was an abject disaster, he had his share of good games, such as dominating against Shanks in the first round of the playoffs, it’s just that there were too many series where he didn’t lift the team when things weren’t clicking elsewhere… like the 2nd round against OMG. It felt like too often he wasn’t meshing with Tian who was also off his normally solid domestic game. People joke that it was his Worlds performance showing up and frankly, I’d have to agree.
I don’t know with this team. The on-paper talent is on there as usual but there’s something missing… Normally with teams, the question is: how can this team coordinate together and be more than the sum of their parts, which OMG showcased best? I don’t get that vibe from TES, where the question I’m asking is: do they feel like playing up to their talent, or are they going to let go of the rope and lose in shocking fashion? Just weird vibes. I’d say maybe the coaching swap could help, but bringing in the guy who was overseeing BLG during their moneybag disappointment era doesn’t fill me with confidence. I still think they still should be fine for the playoffs off of their sheer talent running over enough teams when they do hold it together, but I just don’t see them as a viable challenger for the LPL crown unless something flips in them, particularly given how good the top 4 seem.
Playoff Bubble
8) TT
Top- HOYA
Jungle – Beichuan/xiaohuangren
Mid – Ucal
ADC – Huanfeng/1xn
Support – yuyanjia/Yaoyao
A pleasant surprise last split, making their first LPL playoffs since they were known as Sinodragon, TT has shed their bottom feeder status and actually have some breakout potential. They’ve formed a decent core to build off of and collected some of the most exciting young talents in the league. How they split their starts between the young guns and the vets they played last split is quietly one of the most interesting storylines in the league as those talented swing pieces could push them up into contendership or down out of the playoffs depending on how they handle the LPL stage.
We’ll start with the boring part of the team in their now solidified Korean solo lane pairing, HOYA and Ucal. After spinning solo laners basically their entire existence, the duo has been locked in for basically 4 splits now. Neither blow anyone’s socks off (though I maintain Ucal in particular is pretty underrated), but you know you’re gonna get a playoff worthy performance but not much more. Together they provide the solid foundation for the rest of the roster, where it really gets interesting.
Starting with jungle, Beichuan had effective but flawed split. He output damage well and did much to incite action, but he also died a whole ton, with the highest death share of any jungler in the league last split. This volatility has been his modus operandi this TT squad as he manages to lead TT in MVPs and I’m sure would have also led the team had an “Most Un-valuable Player” award been given to the biggest inter on the losing team, so he’s pretty core to the TT identity as they’re constructed. However, the clearly more intriguing option has to be Xiaohuangren, who is likely the youngest player in the league right now, and the most hyped LDL jungler since Bo. Debuting in LDL at just 16, XHR was immediately one of the best mechanical junglers in the lower level, and even when the age limit was placed, he took to dominating the Korean ladder with multiple accounts in his excess time. Promoted in the middle of the Spring split days after he turned 18, he hasn’t seen a stage since that age limit was placed, but eyes will be watching to see if TT put the hyper-talent on the rift.
Their other young hyper-talent TT acquired is at the ADC position where they are bringing JDG’s LDL bot laner 1xn. Highly touted by LDL experts, 1xn doesn’t have a mechanical flaw to speak of, putting out insane damage and CS numbers on the regular. The one thing to note was that the JDM team surrounding him didn’t have the skills to back him up, so he never really got the accolades his performance deserved. How he splits time with Huanfeng, who was pretty ineffective last season, and just clearly is no longer the do-everything ADC we saw at 2020 Worlds with Suning is the other big question. It’s weird to see him morph into a rather conservative low-risk low-reward player, and honestly, if they gave out a “Least Valuable Player” award to the winning team, he’d probably be the among League’s leaders in that sketchy credential.
Finally, the support situation is less exciting but lowkey just as important as the other 2 positions as they’ve opted to add Yuyanjia to the roster to which I’m fairly confused. A lackluster veteran (25 years old?) who has never really helped a roster even at his “peak”, I’m not sure what he brings to the table for TT. It’s even more confusing since incumbent support Yaoyao has been the rare promoted LDL support who has actually looked good in his initial LPL stint, which is some sort of minor miracle given the typical LDL support struggles. Trying to fit XinLiu in last split probably cost them some series, so I’m not sure why they seem so interested in these mediocre at best support players when they have a solid one in hand.
9) WE
Top – Cube/Demon
Jungle – Heng
Mid – Shanks
ADC – Hope
Support – Iwandy
I see WE as the LPL’s gatekeeper team. Last split they were great against the lower ranked teams (exception AL), and awful against the higher ranked teams (exception BLG) and managed to sneak playoffs thanks to the likes of IG being just a bit more volatile. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about them as the season goes on, so I’ll keep things brief here.
They managed to do this with an essential deadweight in the top lane. Cube doesn’t completely alter the equation for WE, as he’s coming off of his worst split to date where he was largely stuck on tank duty, but he does turns the top lane for WE from being a ceiling capper into a floor raiser for the team. Worst case is that he continues his middling tank form and he serves as a rich man’s Biubiu who can actually lane competently. The best-case scenario is that the change of scenery (where he was on RA for 4 years) works to revitalize him towards more of the damage top lane champs he played in his earlier years. Either way, the best part of this addition is really the subtraction of Biubiu, which adds much needed flexibility to a team that desperately needs it. Meanwhile, Demon also augments the team’s flexibility by adding his skills of doing promotional videos when Chinese New Year rolls around. So yeah, you can say this is a much-improved top lane situation.
Otherwise, the team remains the same as their gatekeeper-selves. Iwandy quietly had a very solid season as WE’s most consistent player and a foundation as a support. Hope had a mid-season swoon that showed his deficiencies particular as a laner and on less focused champions, but was able to showcase his carrying skills as the season concluded. Both are what they are: usually net positives for a team, but not really able to take you to a top 6 seed independently. That is going to have to come from their teammates, speaking of which…
Heng was up and down as a rookie jungler, but for the most part demonstrated a willingness to be proactive and facilitate his lanes via early ganks, even if it didn’t always work out as planned. And of course, Shanks who had his best regular season to date, relying on consistently strong lane performances. While capitalizing on those leads remains a hit or miss affair and a particular bad playoff series against TES are marks against him, I still have those high expectations for him and continue to see this as a prove it year. Outside of Cube unlocking something additional, which shouldn’t be counted on, this jungle-mid pair are the key for WE to climb higher than the lower playoff spots. Both are usually strong early, but they’ll need to clean up their mid/late game play for the team to be a contender against higher caliber teams.
10) IG
Top – YSKM/neny
Jungle – Tianzhen
Mid – Cryin/Dove
ADC – Xiaoyueji/Ahn
Support – Wink
Putting IG too low was a big miss for me in Spring and despite narrowly missing out on playoffs and making some pretty major roster changes, they do make sense as a team as a whole to the point where I can see them in playoff contention.
YSKM was the breakout player for them, as his mechanical prowess was legit right out of the gate though I do think he’s a tad overrated as his DPM isn’t as high as you would expect for a player that almost exclusively plays damage top laners. You have to assume he starts over neny who is just perpetually going to be on this roster as a break in case of emergency/illness weakside player.
Their other returning player is Wink, who has proven to be a successfully above average support and revitalized his career in the process after floundering at ADC for IG. Wink is reunited with his former mid laner Cryin, as both were teammates on a Estar team that vastly exceeded expectations on their debut year. While being the low econ mid laner in a Xiaohu-GALA centric RNG didn’t flatter his talents, Cryin had a pretty good year all things as UP’s best player last season, and he’ll get another shot this year. The expectation is he starts over Dove who is still on the roster? He wasn’t awful but was certainly less exciting than his jungle counterpart and I assumed he would be leaving along with GIDEON and the Korean coaching staff.
This is Xiaoyueji’s second shot at the big leagues given he was tried and passed by Ahn last season, but he’s coming off of an LDL Season MVP where he was clearly above the lower level. We’ll need to see if he can step up with the tougher competition ala Photic, or if he’s just a quadruple-A player (too good for LDL, not good enough for LPL) like Asura. It might not even matter though as it’s worth noting that Ahn remains on the roster, even after the promotion of XYJ and a tryout from LNG (who clearly have contending in mind). He’s coming off of a quietly strong split and likely has the inside track in the battle for the starting role as in a repeat of LPL Spring 2022, these 2 will duke it out for the spot again.
Despite not being the LDL MVP, Tianzhen might be the more exciting prospect actually and notably doesn’t have any veteran to compete with. At only 18 years old, he’s going to be one of the LPL’s youngest players and has an eclectic champ pool that is highlighted by his signature Rengar. It will be interesting to see if these LDL standouts can continue the momentum in the LPL. The promotion isn’t easy, but both of them are in position to excel.
11) RNG
Top – Breathe
Jungle – Wei
Mid – Tangyuan
ADC – LP
Support – LvMao/Lele
It’s crazy to think this time last year, RNG were celebrating their 2nd consecutive MSI championship. Obviously, this team has more or less completely shattered from the Golden Road-seeking team that once ruled Spring and faltered at Worlds on a regular basis. I mean it’s been years of speculation that RNG was actually in a NA-esque perpetual financial meltdown that was held together by unfair streaming contracts and bobby pins, but with the departure of GALA and in particular, Ming, who has more or less been on RNG since the start of the era, finally puts RNG on the backfoot. Still, even with the exodus of more or less everyone on those famous teams, there’s a window at the playoffs.
Wei is the final piece of the MSI 2022 team, which is wild to think about because as I mentioned, it's been just 1 year. Now the longest tenured player on the roster, it’s a weird situation as there’s no longer an obvious lane to play into. While he wasn’t always bad, he had many questionable moments and his weakest split to date, and now without GALA in the bot lane there’s no clear place to focus for this team. He’s demonstrated he can be effective without the likes of Xiaohu, GALA and Ming back when he was on EStar in his debut season in 2020, but it’s been a long time since then, so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.
Similarly, Breathe is also coming off of a split where he failed to meet expectations. It feels like ever since he left WE, he just hasn’t really found his footing as the good flex top laner, first on that weird 2022 BLG failed “superteam” and then on RNG where he never fit in to the Xiaohu-GALA puzzle. This last split he was basically relegated to weakside tanks and was subsequently pretty inconsequential as either a positive or negative factor. The few forays he took towards more carry champions were bad last split and it’s not a great sign for a player once considered so promising. I guess it’s the WE fan in me talking that he still has that upside to be among the best in the league. Maybe I’m lending him too much leeway given he was maybe WE’s best strongside top ever (which for the record is more about WE perpetually playing bot-centric). With out any of those other major carries on RNG, I’m interested to see if Breathe is placed back in that role.
The rest of the team is a smattering of cobbled pieces who aren’t without upside, but don’t exactly scream playoffs. GALA was exchanged for a large bag of cash and LP, who was the only consistent starter of the new cohort. he was heavily cared for as the rookie bot laner on LNG’s otherwise star-studded group, he was able to deliver in that capacity. Notably, he narrowly had the 2nd highest DPM in the split, though admittedly there was a large gap between 1st place damage monster Elk and a much smaller one to the following ADCs of JackeyLove, Assum and Leave. However, he certainly wasn’t perfect as he managed the lowest CS per minute among ADCs in the league, and he didn’t wow the way rookie of the split Leave did. Still, it was a relatively promising start, though the downgrade from Hang to one of RNG’s supports looms large as needless to say, the “cash considerations” RNG received with LP are most likely not being used for his lane partner.
With Angel departing after a pretty rough split, where the highlight was creating a meme after defeating his former team Weibo Gaming, RNG were rumored for a number of domestic mid laners but ultimately just stuck with the player they seemed intent on before they picked up Angel at the last second. Tangyuan is an LDL promote who has been flatout bad in the few stage performances he got in with the main roster, struggling both in the pre-season Demacia Cup and then to open the proper LPL season while Angel got up to speed. He’s at least known to have good Korean solo queue ranks, but you have to imagine there’s going to be a lot of handwringing over his inevitable growing pains as he starts for one of the country’s most popular domestic teams. There’s not zero upside here, for example Xiaoxu came from the same LDL team and vastly overperformed expectations, but I’d lean towards a year of hard knocks for the youngster.
Ming’s departure is the biggest loss for RNG as they now go from one of the rare franchise defining supports to… not that. LvMao spent the split unsigned for the most part before latching onto BLG as ON’s backup to end the season. Reportedly he served a coaching-esque role for the team as they went on their impressive MSI run but LvMao’s play has left a lot to be desired. Now with over 3 years removed from his standout performances in Spring 2020 and no Bard patch coming in sight, it’s tough to see what LvMao brings to the table as a player outside of an experienced hand. The other option they brought in was Lele, the young rookie support FPX promptly benched for Qiuqiu, which is never a great sign, and you know my stance on LDL supports: they bad. Funnily enough Lele was originally a pretty hyped RNG prospect the team once spent 300K yuan signing out of the yearly rookie camp. Needless to say, he’s been an okay LDL support but hasn’t lived up to that price tag at all, though now it seems they could at least get some games out of their failed investment.

Original Prompt
"911, what's your emergency?"
Mark stared in disbelief at the payphone, the receiver held loosely in one hand. He had done it as a joke, a stupid little mockery of the civilization that once-was before he tore the payphone down for scrap metal and wiring. Instead, it was the first human voice beside his own that he had heard in months.
"Um, I think that's what I'm supposed to say, anyways. Not like I can send a police car your way, or anything," the voice on the other end said, laughing. "Um, there is someone there, right?"
"Y-yeah," he spluttered out, terrified that she would hang up. His voice was low and gravelly from thirst and disuse. "Yeah - I'm here, don't hang up."
"Oh it's been forever since I've heard another person," the other voice gasped, saying exactly what he was thinking. "Are you alright out there?"
"I'm surviving," he said, in return. "It's been hell."
"I bet," the voice on the other hand clucked. "I've been holed up in an old police station. Nice and reinforced, and not too many crawlers."
"Ah, I was on the West Side when everything went to shit," Mark said. Were they seriously making small talk about the apocalypse? "And it keeps getting worse."
"Yeah, and the bombs too," she responded. "Surprised you made it through that."
It was ridiculous. It was surreal. They weren't supposed to chat this casually about eldritch horrors and their government bombing their own citizens. But it was comforting in its own way. Who could have guessed that the one thing people would miss from the old world was the small talk? No one really had the chance to grieve in the years since the Quake - and that went double for Mark, who until this moment hadn't even been sure there was anyone left alive in the city. Only the planes flying overhead told him people still lived - and they never stopped for him, no doubt just making a supply run for rich assholes between some tropical island and a farm.
"What's your name?" he asked, clasping the old and slimy telephone receiver to his face. "I'm Mark."
"Heidi," she replied. "It's nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too," he said, one fist against the payphone. It was like a weight had lifted off his chest, that he hadn't even realized he was carrying.
"I was worried when you didn't call yesterday," Heidi said.
"Sorry. Apparently the payphones here need me to pay, and I didn't think to keep loose change around," he chuckled. Shards of glass crunched under his boots as he shifted nervously in place.
All the conventional wisdom about fighting the crawlers said he shouldn't be here. A telephone booth was noisy, and offered him little cover should they start to swarm. But Mark hadn't even considered the possibility of not calling again. So here he was, leaning his shotgun up against the payphone and whispering into the receiver.
"No, no, I'm just glad you're still alright. Shoot any more of the bastards?"
"One or two," he said, grinning. "Gotta be careful about how many shells I use though."
Heidi was a surprisingly upbeat girl - perhaps because she had been relatively sheltered from the effects of the apocalypse, holed up as she was. And the way she put it, there wasn't much of a family to lose in the chaos either. She had been eating instant noodles and drinking instant coffee while the world went to shit around her - which meant that she seemed to romanticize what Mark was doing a little too much.
"I still haven't got the weapons locker open," she said. "All I've got is a dinky little pistol here."
"Oh, I'm sure you can handle yourself with that pistol, though. You've survived this long, haven't you?'
"Haha," she chuckled nervously. "Oh, I don't know about that. I've only really fired it twice, and that was out a window."
"Hey, that's still pretty good," Mark said. "... hey. You don't suppose I could start making my way over to the station where you're at? Not just to meet you, but... maybe we could get out of here together. Some of the farmlands out there might still be alright - and the crawlers don't have the tunnels to work with out there."
"Oh that'd be lovely, I really want to meet you," Heidi said, excitement entering her voice. "Wait, wait, wait... you should really know-"
"Hang on," Mark said, as he heard a chittering noise behind him. "I'm gonna have to call you back."
With the receiver tucked into the crook of his neck, he grabbed his shotgun and racked a shell.
"You gonna be at the same number?" he asked, smiling to himself.
"Always," Heidi confirmed.
"Talk to you later."
"I'm only a few miles out already. I can't wait to see you in person," Mark said.
"And hear you. These payphones have the worst sound quality," Heidi said.
The cell towers were among the first things to go down, so only the landlines still worked. Mark had to navigate from payphone to payphone (and he had never once given them a second glance in his pre-Quake life). While most of the payphones were broken, he honestly had to be thankful to the Coyote City Municipal Town Council for being so shoddy at building infrastructure. Any semi-competent city officials would long-since have torn down the payphones and put the money somewhere else instead.
"You manage to pop the lock yet?" he asked.
"No - I think your whole bobby pin lockpicking thing is a lie."
"It's real, I swear!" Mark responded indignantly.
"Oh yeah? And where did you learn about this?"
"Juvie."
"Wait... Okay, that tracks."
Getting into the police station had been tricky. The raison d'etre of the building, its most useful quality up to this point, was that it was impervious to entry. That made it difficult for Mark to get in now. All the normal entrances were piled full of furniture, cars, and other assorted debris to create makeshift barricades. The windows had been boarded over, both inside and outside. Heidi had told him over the phone to try a specific window on the second floor, but he hadn't been able to locate it. Eventually, he resorted to the old reliable trick - taking a crowbar to the obstacle. He hopped inside the police station, careful to drag a bookcase in front of the window so a crawler didn't follow him in.
"Heidi!" he called out. "Don't shoot me with that pistol!"
"Mark!" he heard her call back. "I'm over here, in the main office!"
Her voice was muffled from bouncing off the walls, but it was clearer than he had ever heard her before. There was that same lilt , but it was sharp and beautiful without the distortion over the phone lines. He quickened his pace.
"Wait, wait, hold on a moment, don't open the door yet!" she yelled, and he paused, hand hovering over the door.
"Why, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I've um, been wanting to tell you something, but the time was never quite right... don't be mad?"
"What? What're you talking about?"
"Look, if you see this and you just walk away after... I'd get it. Okay? No hard feelings. I'm just sorry for not saying sooner."
"Heidi, it's gonna be fine," Mark insisted. "Can I come in?"
"Wait, wait, wait," she said. It was the same thing she always said when she got nervous over the phone. He heard her take a deep breath. "Okay, now."
He opened the door and the woman he saw sitting there was beautiful, with long black hair going down to her shoulders and bright green eyes. He had no idea what she could possibly be worried about... until his gaze panned down and he looked carefully at what she was sitting on. Heidi was in a wheelchair.
"So... about that farm," she said, giving him a soft, pained smile.

this is meant to be a general post, but i had bestdressed and emma chamberlain in mind while writing it.. p sure there are many more.
i watched both emma and ashley when they had their yt high 2018-2019ish. i learned a lot from them and looked forward to their videos. with emma, i always thought she’d never lose the self she presented in videos and i by no means thought that she’d yell about not showering forever, but i really liked her honest and authentic vlogs, which gave an insight into her life. now, both of them are not as present anymore with ashley most likely never returning to youtube. i don’t want to sound like a bitch, but whats the mental development in influencers suddenly deciding they’ll leave the platform they grew on, which made them all their money… which also is like saying goodbye to their fans in a way? yes, emma and ashley are brand ambassadors and now have different ways of earning money but they’d never be there without their fans and my personal opinion is that they owe us something, yeah. no thank yous were spoken, they just leave and do better - and as for being a brand ambassador- easier things than yt while seemingly forgetting they’re big because of us. the thing is, i watch youtubers which express their thankfulness constantly which makes some others look arrogant.. and yeah if i was an influencer which is one of the easiest jobs ever, you’d be sure i’d be on my knees thanking the people that made me big. i don’t want them to do half-assed youtube videos, but whenever someone is doing the thing ashley and emma did, i instantly no longer find them relateable nor likeable.

So with AEW: Fight Forever being about one month away from release and more information about the game coming to light, a major factor I've been thinking about is what the full roster of the game will look like. I made a comment a few days ago doing a bit of a breakdown of all the confirmed names, but I've gone further down the rabbit hole with updated info and thought to formulate a very close-to-complete list. As a point of reference, the base roster size is assumedly somewhere between 51-59 playable characters (confirmed to be 50+).

• Cover Athletes: Adam Page, Britt Baker, Bryan Danielson, Chris Jericho, Jade Cargill, Jon Moxley, Kenny Omega, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Sting (10)
• Official Press Material Images: Abadon, Hikaru Shida, Thunder Rosa, Yuka Sakazaki (4)
• Official Gameplay Trailers: Adam Cole, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, Kris Statlander, Nyla Rose, Pentagon Jr (6)
• Convention Gameplay Footage: CM Punk, Paul Wight, Ricky Starks (3)
• Achievement List Photos: Christian Cage, Christopher Daniels, Chuck Taylor, Dustin Rhodes, Lance Archer, Matt Hardy, Matt Jackson, Miro, Nick Jackson, Owen Hart, Pac, Sammy Guevara, Trent Barretta (13)
• AEWGames Livestream Confirmation: Rey Fenix (1)
• Kenny Omega SI Interview Confirmation: Cody Rhodes (1)
• Apparent Fightful Confirmations: John Silver, Ruby Soho (2)
• Potential Fightful Confirmations *: The Bunny, Keith Lee (2)

* There was a Fightful report a while back that The Bunny, Keith Lee, and Ricky Starks were scheduled to record content for the Road to Elite mode, but they were seemingly nixed for at least the time being. I don't know if that 100% confirms that they are on the roster, but with Starks now outright confirmed, it seems more likely they'll be in.
So that gets us to 40 (or potentially/probably 42) total confirmed roster spots at this point and around 10+ still remaining unconfirmed at this time. Before speculating on who the remaining spots will be, it'd be worthwhile to go over who is confirmed to not be part of the initial base roster for Fight Forever.

• Confirmed Non-Base Roster Members: Anthony Bowens, The Blade, The Butcher, Cash Wheeler, Claudio Castagnoli, Danhausen, Dax Harwood, Evil Uno, Isiah Kassidy, Jake Hager, Jamie Hayter, Marq Quen, Max Caster, Ortiz, Santana, Stu Grayson, Toni Storm (17)

I believe I've figured out that Toni Storm (and Jamie Hayter) are not on the initial roster because Thunder Rosa is apparently the default AEW Women's Champion in the game, and I'd assume they'd have the most recent champion available as the default (i.e. MJF is the default AEW World Champion). With that in mind, I'm going to make the assumption that anyone who debuted after Toni Storm will also not be in the base roster and instead will be part of roster updates / DLC.
In addition, I'm going with the assumption that legends that haven't wrestled in AEW (i.e. Arn Anderson, Jake Roberts, Mark Henry, Taz) sans Owen Hart will not be playable on the initial roster, and will instead be saved for some sort of "Legends of Wrestling" DLC down the road. I could very well be wrong, but it'd make my remaining speculation that much easier lol.
So in terms of the remaining potential base-roster spots, I've formulated a list of people I'd most likely expect to see on the roster.

• Alex Reynolds - Tag partner of John Silver
• Brodie Lee - AEW Legend
• Eddie Kingston - Main evented a PPV in a World title match + was a main player in the Exploding Barbed Wire Death Match (I'd be most disappointed if he wasn't in the game)
• Frankie Kazarian - Inaugural AEW Tag-Team Champion + was partners with Christopher Daniels
• Luchasaurus - Tag partner of Jungle Boy (at the time of game development)
• Powerhouse Hobbs - Tag partner of Ricky Starks (at the time of game development)
• Riho - Inaugural AEW Women's Champion
• Scorpio Sky - See Frankie Kazarian

Assuming all of these names are included in the base roster (it's not guaranteed, but I feel relatively confident about most of them), then that would put the roster total to 50. That would then leave us with seemingly under ten more spots to fill. I've kinda formulated lists of who I think could be those names. Most of them won't be in the game initially in theory, but I'd expect most who aren't to be added down the road.

• Potential Roster Inclusions: Andrade el Idolo, Bobby Fish, Brian Cage, Ethan Page, Jay Lethal, Kyle O’Reilly, Malakai Black, Penelope Ford, Serena Deeb, Shawn Spears, Tay Melo, Wardlow (12)
• Dark Horse Roster Inclusions: Anna Jay, Billy Gunn, Brandi Rhodes, Brody King, Buddy Matthews, Daniel Garcia, Dante Martin, Emi Sakura, Hook, Jeff Hardy, Kip Sabian, QT Marshall, Swerve Strickland, Wheeler Yuta (14)

We'll ultimately find out the full roster soon, but wanted to form together this thought experience for the heck of it anyways lol.

1985:
Elisabeth Shue as Cher Horowitz
Robin Givens as Dionne Davenport
Molly Ringwald as Tai Frasier
Jim Carrey as Josh Lucas
Kadeem Hardison as Murray Duvall
Kelly Preston as Amber Mariens
Keanu Reeves as Travis Birkenstock
John Stamos as Elton Tiscia
Emilio Estevez as Christian Stovitz
Bob Newhart as Melvin "Mel" Horowitz
Dom DeLuise as Mr. Wendell Hall
Lily Tomlin as Miss Toby Geist
Jane Curtin as Coach Millie Stoeger
Director: Howard Deutch
​
​
1995:
Reese Witherspoon as Cher Horowitz
Lark Voorhees as Dionne Davenport
Soleil Moon Frye as Tai Frasier
Mark Wahlberg as Josh Lucas
Marlon Wayans as Murray Duvall
Alicia Witt as Amber Mariens
Giovanni Ribisi as Travis Birkenstock
Jerry O'Connell as Elton Tiscia
Tobey Maguire as Christian Stovitz
Scott Glenn as Melvin "Mel" Horowitz
Danny DeVito as Mr. Wendell Hall
Laraine Newman as Miss Toby Geist
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Coach Millie Stoeger
Director: Amy Heckerling
​
​
2005:
Blake Lively as Cher Horowitz
Jurnee Smollett as Dionne Davenport
Alexandra Daddario as Tai Frasier
Chris Evans as Josh Lucas
Robert Ri'chard as Murray Duvall
Ashley Tisdale as Amber Mariens
Emile Hirsch as Travis Birkenstock
Garrett Hedlund as Elton Tiscia
Frankie Muniz as Christian Stovitz
Bruce McGill as Melvin "Mel" Horowitz
Martin Short as Mr. Wendell Hall
Bonnie Hunt as Miss Toby Geist
Tina Fey as Coach Millie Stoeger
Director: Mark Waters
​
​
2015:
Dakota Fanning as Cher Horowitz
Keke Palmer as Dionne Davenport
Chloë Grace Moretz as Tai Frasier
Austin Butler as Josh Lucas
Keith Powers as Murray Duvall
AnnaSophia Robb as Amber Mariens
Ansel Elgort as Travis Birkenstock
Will Poulter as Elton Tiscia
Tom Holland as Christian Stovitz
Stanley Tucci as Melvin "Mel" Horowitz
Rob Schneider as Mr. Wendell Hall
Sarah Silverman as Miss Toby Geist
Jenny Slate as Coach Millie Stoeger
Director: Jason Moore
​
​
2025:
Mckenna Grace as Cher Horowitz
Yara Shahidi as Dionne Davenport
Addison Riecke as Tai Frasier
Ty Simpkins as Josh Lucas
Niles Fitch as Murray Duvall
Caitlin Carmichael as Amber Mariens
Finn Wolfhard as Travis Birkenstock
Jack Dylan Grazer as Elton Tiscia
Jacob Tremblay as Christian Stovitz
Jason Lee as Melvin "Mel" Horowitz
Seth Green as Mr. Wendell Hall
Amy Schumer as Miss Toby Geist
Abby Elliott as Coach Millie Stoeger
Director: Olivia Wilde
View Poll

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Mod Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/18287?tab=files

[!] Found: [5F] LEGENDARY MODIFICATION - Old mod plagued with all kinds of bugs and crashes, can conflict with some modded weapons.

Better Alternative: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/67679?tab=files

[!] Found: [FE:0DF] RUSTY FACE FIX - Make sure you have the latest 2.0 version installed or try the REDUX Version instead. Original Rusty Face Fix: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/31028?tab=files

Alternative REDUX Version: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/64270?tab=files

[!] Found: [XX] THUGGYSMURF QUEST MOD(S) If you have Depravity, Fusion City Rising, HOTC, Outcasts and Remnants and/or Project Valkyrie install this patch with facegen data, fully generated precomb/previs data and several tweaks.

Patch Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/56876?tab=files

AUTOSCAN FOUND PROBLEMATIC MODS WITH SOLUTIONS AND COMMUNITY PATCHES

[Due to limitations, CLAS will show warnings for some mods even if fixes or patches are already installed.]

[To hide these warnings, you can add their plugin names to the CLAS Ignore.txt file. ONE PLUGIN PER LINE.]

FOR FULL LIST OF IMPORTANT PATCHES AND FIXES FOR THE BASE GAME AND MODS,

VISIT THIS ARTICLE: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/3769

CHECKING FOR MODS PATCHED THROUGH OPC INSTALLER...

[!] Found: [1E] Wasteland Imports (Mojave Imports)

• FOR PATCH REPOSITORY THAT PREVENTS CRASHES AND FIXES PROBLEMS IN THESE AND OTHER MODS,*

* VISIT OPTIMIZATION PATCHES COLLECTION: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/54872 *

CHECKING IF IMPORTANT PATCHES & FIXES ARE INSTALLED

❌ CANARY SAVE FILE MONITOR IS NOT INSTALLED OR AUTOSCAN CANNOT DETECT IT

This is a highly recommended mod that can detect save file corruption. Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/44949?tab=files
✔️ High FPS Physics Fix is installed.
✔️ Previs Repair Pack is installed.
✔️ Unofficial Fallout 4 Patch is installed.

❌ VULKAN RENDERER IS NOT INSTALLED OR AUTOSCAN CANNOT DETECT IT

This is a highly recommended mod that can improve performance on AMD GPUs. Link: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/48053?tab=files

SCANNING THE LOG FOR SPECIFIC (POSSIBLE) CULPRITS...

LIST OF (POSSIBLE) PLUGIN CULPRITS: - MojaveImports.esp : 1 - QualityTacticalGear.esp : 1 - SatelliteWorldMap.esp : 1 - HDR - Health Done Right.esp : 1

- PRP-Compat-DesperadosOverhaul.esp : 1

[Last number counts how many times each plugin culprit shows up in the crash log.] These Plugins were caught by Buffout 4 and some of them might be responsible for this crash.

You can try disabling these plugins and recheck your game, though this method can be unreliable.

LIST OF (POSSIBLE) FORM ID CULPRITS: Form ID: 00000007 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 00000014 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 00000034 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0000003C [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 00002CF0 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0000E18B [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0000E18D [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 000210B4 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 00023736 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0002D9D8 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0004C834 [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0006E46C [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 000FD39D [00] Fallout4.esm Form ID: 0100FEAC [01] DLCRobot.esm

Form ID: 54000F9A [54] QualityTacticalGear.esp

These Form IDs were caught by Buffout 4 and some of them might be related to this crash.

You can try searching any listed Form IDs in FO4Edit and see if they lead to relevant records.

LIST OF DETECTED (NAMED) RECORDS: File: HDR - Health Done Right.esp : 10 File: MojaveImports.esp : 2 File: PRP-Compat-DesperadosOverhaul.esp : 7 File: QualityTacticalGear.esp : 8 File: SatelliteWorldMap.esp : 7 Full Name: Ashley : 1 Full Name: Commonwealth : 8 Full Name: Crye Precision JPC : 8 Full Name: Forfeiture Terminal Password : 1 Full Name: Gunner : 4 Full Name: Intel Room Key : 1 Full Name: Stimpak : 1 Name: AircraftStingRayDeluxe02 : 2 Name: Component_Fiber:0 : 4 Name: Materials\Props\Components\ComponentFiber.BGSM : 3 Name: Materials\Props\SmithingTools\SmithingToolTongs01.BGSM : 1 [ 7] 0x7FFDF9617827 HHS.dll+0037827 : 1 [ 8] 0x7FFDF9617CCF HHS.dll+0037CCF : 1 [ 9] 0x7FFDF95F0E4C HHS.dll+0010E4C : 1 [10] 0x7FFDF95EE057 HHS.dll+000E057 : 1 [11] 0x7FFDF95FB606 HHS.dll+001B606 : 1 [12] 0x7FFDF95F4BB1 HHS.dll+0014BB1 : 1 [13] 0x7FFDF95F66D6 HHS.dll+00166D6 : 1 [14] 0x7FFDF95F4AF8 HHS.dll+0014AF8 : 1 [RSP+128 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+1B0 ] 0x2B14F1AD270 (char) meshes\armor\qualitytacticalgear\jpc\jpcfemale_engineer.nif : 1 [RSP+1D0 ] 0x7FFDF969E718 (void -> HHS.dll+00BE718) : 1 [RSP+1D8 ] 0x7FFDF9617827 (void* -> HHS.dll+0037827) : 1 [RSP+1F0 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+208 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+240 ] 0x2B14F1AD270 (char) meshes\armor\qualitytacticalgear\jpc\jpcfemale_engineer.nif : 1 [RSP+278 ] 0x7FFDF9617CCF (void -> HHS.dll+0037CCF) : 1 [RSP+288 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+2A8 ] 0x7FFDF9654CF7 (void* -> HHS.dll+0074CF7) : 1 [RSP+2B8 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+328 ] 0x7FFDF95F0E4C (void* -> HHS.dll+0010E4C) : 1 [RSP+340 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1 [RSP+398 ] 0x7FFDF95EE057 (void* -> HHS.dll+000E057) : 1 [RSP+3C8 ] 0x2B14F1AD3B0 (char) armor\QualityTacticalGear\JPC\JPCFemale_Engineer.nif : 1 [RSP+438 ] 0x7FFDF95FB606 (void -> HHS.dll+001B606) : 1 [RSP+4D8 ] 0x7FFDF95F4BB1 (void* -> HHS.dll+0014BB1) : 1 [RSP+4F8 ] 0x7FFDF95EDC20 (void* -> HHS.dll+000DC20) : 1 [RSP+510 ] 0x7FFDF96BC870 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC870) : 1 [RSP+538 ] 0x7FFDF95F66D6 (void* -> HHS.dll+00166D6) : 1 [RSP+5D8 ] 0x7FFDF95F4AF8 (void* -> HHS.dll+0014AF8) : 1

[RSP+F0 ] 0x7FFDF96BC810 (void* -> HHS.dll+00DC810) : 1

[Last number counts how many times each named record shows up in the crash log.] These records were caught by Buffout 4 and some of them might be related to this crash.

Named records should give extra info on involved game objects, record types or mod files.

FOR FULL LIST OF MODS THAT CAUSE PROBLEMS, THEIR ALTERNATIVES AND DETAILED SOLUTIONS,

VISIT THE BUFFOUT 4 CRASH ARTICLE: https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/articles/3115

END OF AUTOSCAN Author / Made By: Poet#9800 (DISCORD) 140423 CONTRIBUTORS evildarkarchon kittivelae AtomicFallout757 CLAS https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/56255
Any ideas? I got nothing