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https://preview.redd.it/ahl29u0mu73b1.jpg?width=453&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=cc1b571612182aff5e4cef882d9095a7be6f2375
Hello Bully it's me again, The Bully soundtrack composed by the genius Shawn Lee is pretty rad, so as a music enthusiastic, i want to share this post for people really obsessed with the Bully songs like me, tried to include every song in the game like as puzzle pieces getting together with the greatest amount, most accurate and similar as possible in one sitting, with some help around the internet, personal discoveries and songs already mentioned for yourselves so thank you nonetheless, and sorry for the repetition. Unfortunately some will still be missing so "a little help"/hits for these unreferenced sounds are very welcome.
Some songs are pretty obvious but others looks well hidden, but that's the fun of it, not every song is a sample, they just sound alike or has interpolations.
I know it would be boring to reading all of this so also dedicated this YouTube playlist in details for, so that you can check thoroughly for a more accurate comparison: 😎👍 - Have Fun! https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtZ1VivcLOsiTtYHUrK-xw8OHZZAeOzRf
★ Main Storyline
·Welcome to Bullworth (Menu theme): Suspiria Theme - Goblin
·This Is Your School: The Duck - Shawn Lee
·The Setup/Bait/The Gym is Burning: Organ Donor - DJ Shadow
·Slingshot/Revenge on Mr. Burton "Part 3" (Fun): My Sweet Lord - George Harrionson the ex-Beatles & Billy Preston
·Save Algie: Love My Way - Psychedelic Furs
·Defend Bucky/The Eggs/Weed KilleStronghold Assault (Action): Shake, Shake, Shake - KC & The Sunshine Band, A Little Less Conversation - Elvis Presley, Hocus Pocus - Focus
·That B****/The Diary/Jealous Johnny/Paparazzi: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads
·The Candidate/Cook's Date: Oh Yeah - Yello
·Halloween/The Big Prank: The Chase - Shawn Lee, Burning Bridges - The Republic From The Getaway Game - Shawn Lee
·Help Gary: Cannonball - Breeders (it also reminds me the "X-Files Theme - Mark Snow" but this is overthinking)
·Character Sheets: Agent Woodrow - The Woodies
·Hattrick vs. Galloway: Cat Blues - Seatbelts (Drum Patterns)
·Movie Tickets (Sneaking On A Date): All Mine, Glory Box - both by Portished
·Carnival Date (Romance): Kiss The Sky - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra (also features in "Tales from the Bordelands Episode 2")
·Prep Challenge/Boxing Challenge: Drums on Phasing - Joe Ufer (Sample)
·Race the Vale/Lola's Race: Casio VL-1 Tone (Sampler) *a lot of songs use this instrument for samples, for Bully this is predominant in bike races, it also reminds the iconic song "Funkytown - Lipps inc."
·Beach Rumble: Tenebre 12 mix - Claudio Simonetti
·Tad's House: Billie Jean (Bass Only) - Michael Jackson
·Tagging/Making a Mark (Wildstyle): Chic - Good Times
·Wrong Part of Town/Busting In, Part I: Prog Punk, Psyche Drums (*After The Release!) - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
·The Tenements/Norton Boss Fight: Human Fly - Cramps, I Wanna Be Your Dog - Iggy Pop & the Stooges
·The Rumble/Defender of the Castle (Epic Confrontation): Matador - X Mal Deutschland (as the "wildstyle" music many songs are similar to this, i listed the most accurate or the most fun imo, at least)
·Nerd Challenge/Consumo Arcade (Menu): Sakura, Sakura - Traditional Japanese Folk Song
·Nerd Challenge/Consumo (Main): Four Thousand Years of Chinese History - SNK Sound Team from Fatal Fury: King of Fighters Game
·Glass House/Smash It Up (Destruction/Vandalism): Rapture - Blondie, The Breaks - Kurtis Blow
·Nice Outfit: Odetta - Hit or Miss (Drum Patterns), Dig Your Own Hole - Chemical Brothers (Drum Patterns)
·The Big Game (Nerds "Agent")/Revenge on Mr. Burton "Part 2": Big Bad Wolf - Shawn Lee
·Rats in the Library: You Rock My World - Michael Jackson, Spies In The Wires - Cabaret Voltaire
·Preppies Vandalized (Punishment): D12 40 Oz. - Mr. Stan
·Busting In, Part II/Paper Route: Identity - X-Ray Spec, Mongoloid - Devo
·Showdown at the Plant (Overture): "Saracens Theme" - The Warriors Game
·Complete Mayhem (Street Fight): Criminal - Fiona Apple (also resembles "All Caps - Madvillain-Madvillainy or MF Doom" and "Intermezzo 2 - Mr. chop" but this was released in 2009)
·School's Out (End Credits): Walk On The Wild Side (Bass and Rhythm Pattern) - Lou Reed by Velvet Underground
\Christmas is Here, Small Offences, Discreet Deliveries, The Collector, Mailbox Armageddon and Go See The Principal doesn't feature a unique theme or has any song.*
★ Miscellaneous, Ambience & Shop themes
·Chase Prefect and Police: The Shaft intro and end themes - Isaac Hayes, Beat Dis (12 Version) - Bomb The Bass
·Chase Adults/A Little Help: Take California - Propellerheads, Secret Agent - Bjorn Lynne
·Detention/Mowing Laws - Unused track from The Warrior Game (it doesn't have an actual name, sorry)
·Bike Race 1: Casio VL-1 Tone (Sampler)
·Bike Race 2: Sonic CD Game - Wacky Workbench Zone - Bad Future
·Kart Race (Main) or "Lowrider": You Baby - The Turtles
·Kart Race (Beta): Baba Hya - Lafayette Afro Rock Band
·General Store "Yum Yum Market": Cover Girl - Gabriele Ducros
·Hair Saloon (Poor) "The Final Cut": Punky Dragster - Tele Music
·Hair Saloon (Rich) "Old Bullworth Vale": Dance Feeling - Tele Music
·Clothing Store (Poor) "Worn In Used Clothing": Disco Revisited - Tele Music
·Clothing Store (Rich) "Aquaberry Outlet" (*After The Release!): Now That Is Jazz - Charlie's Bistro Ensemble
·Janitor's Room: Lonesome Heart Swing - Dennis Caplinger
·Carnival Ambience "Billy Crane's Traveling Carnival": Golden Brown - Stranglers
·Box Club Ambience "Glass Jaw Boxing Club": Icy Nation - Tele Music
·Preppie's Hideout Beach "Lighthouse" (*After The Release!): With My Maker I Am One - Chill Coffehouse Drip
·Dragon's Wing Comic Store (*After The Release!): Daniel Loves Singing - C. Allocco
·Nerd's Hideout "Dragon's Wing Comic Store" (Under): Soaring Song - Tele Music
·Jock's Hideout "Jock's Clubhouse": Grand Theft Auto (Song) - Craig Conner
·Monkey Fling (Menu): it reresemble Super Mario World Overworld theme
·Future Street Racer (Main): The Doom - Shadow The Hedgehog 2005 Game
★ Xmas Themes
Holiday themes features various artists, this list is based on the ones made by Shawn lee itself for his album "A Very Ping Pong Christmas: Funky Treats form Santa's Bag", The original composers is on the song description.
·Balls of Snow: Carol of the Bells - Mykola Leontovych
·Miracle on Bullworth St.: Jingle Bells - James Lord Pierpont
·Rudy the Red Nosed Santa: O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) - John Francis Wade & Frederick Oakeley
·Nutcrackin': Deck The Halls - Thomas Oliphant, Little Dummer Boy - Katherine Kennicott Davis, Harry Simeone & Henry Onorati
·Bike Shop (Xmas) "Shiny Bikes": Let it Snow! - Gary Hoey (Dean Martin is the original composer) (Most famous by Frank Sinatra)
·Clothing Store (Poor) (Xmas) "Worn In"/Clothing Store (Rich) (Xmas) "Aquaberry": Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator) - Dean Martin, *the Aquaberry outlet uses a different tone in jazz
·Janitor's Room (Xmas)/Hair Saloon (Poor)(Xmas) "The Final Cut": Up On The House Top (Ho, Ho, Ho) - Gene Autry
·Dragon's Wing Comic Store (Xmas)/Hair Saloon (Rich)(Xmas)"Old Bullworth Vale": We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Traditional English (Britain) Folk Song
·Xmas Tree: Dance Of The Sugar-Plum Fairy - Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovski
\The General Store "Yum Yum Market" reuses a song collage of various themes as Deck the Halls, We Wish You a Merry Christmas and Jingle Bells in that order on looping.*
★ Classes
·Music classes features American Folk and American March Songs since the game takes place in USA
Class 1: Turkey In The Straw
Class 2: Masterpiece Fanfare
Class 3: She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
Class 4: Liberty Bell March (also known as "Monty Python Theme")
Class 5: The Washington Post March (also sounds similar to "Willian Tell Act" by Charlie Chaplin)
·English Class: Piéces de Clavecin en concert; La Timide - Jean-Philippe Rameau
·Art Class: Come With the Night (Drum Patterns) - Sugar Stick (also resembles "Test Area - Broadcast" or "Serpent Magique - Tangerine Dream")
·Photography Class/BMX Park (*After The Release!): Automatic - Shawn Lee & AM (for observation, the Bike Park and Photography theme are slightly different, not the same)
·Biology: Dara Factor One - Weather Report Music, Heist in Helsinki (*After The Release!) - Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra
\Geography class uses a medley of characteristic instruments and sounds of world nations*
★ Cliques & Boss fights
·Vendetta Non-Clique: Ode To Billie Joe - Lou Donaldson
·Vendetta Bullies: Skin Therapy - Mr. Dibbs (also features in Tony Hawk's Underground 2003 Game), And on the Sixth Day - Pat Williams
·Vendetta Nerds/Stronghold Assault (Nerd Boss Fight): Casio VL-1 Tone (Sampler), Da Da Da - Trio (not only the song but the nerds cliques itself looks heavy inspired by the movie Revenge of the Nerds, some themes would also fit for Nerds in particular "Burning Down The House by Talking Heads")
·Vendetta Preppies: Billie Jean - Michael Jackson, Whip it - Devo
·Vendetta Greasers: Play For Today - The Cure, Private Idaho - B-52's, Disorder - Joy Division
·Vendetta Jocks: Amen, Brother - The Winstons, Drums Away - The Simon Song (Drums Intro), The Assembly Line - Commodores (this one use one of the most famous samples in music the "Amen Break" by Winstons as initially mentioned)
·Vendetta Dropouts/Townie Challenge: Tédio - Biquíni Cavadão, I Love Rock 'N Roll - The Arrows (Original Composers) *the guitar riff and bass pattern is extremely similar to "Pretty Fly by Offspring" but the song "Tédio" is alot older and still more accurate to the townies theme
·Russell in the Hole: Firestarter (Drum Patterns) - Prodigy, Devotion (Voice of Paradise) - Ten City
·Dishonorable Fight: Eye of the Tiger, Burning Heart - both by Survivor
·Fighting Johnny Vincent: Boogie Woodie - The Beach Boys, Caldonia Boogie - Louis Jordan (also covered by James Brown) *this song line is also referred as "The Walking Bass" featured in many Classic Rock songs
·The Big Game (Jock Boss Fight): Just Like Heaven, A Forest - The Cure, Harmonia - Dino
·Showdown at the Plant: Headhunter - Front 242, Are You Red..Y - The Clash
·Final Showdown: Underwater March - Klaus Badelt, 2001 NBA Ultimate Player (Film Score) *God of War (2018) Game also has a similar tone in "Spartan Rage" overture by Bear McCreary
★... Uncertain? ...Suggestions
·Bully Main Theme (Running Theme): Maniac - Michael Sembello, the synthesizer effect looks an interpolation of the xylophone effect used in the game.
·Overworld (Walking Theme) - The Phantom of the Opera Motion Picture Overture (this also resambles "echoes" by pink floyd but that peculiar melody is more predominant in this theme), Let's Ge Started (Bass Only) - Black Eyed Peas, it looks heavily inspired by Dario Argento movies (as the overall soundtrack).
·Here's to you Ms. Philips/Last Minute Shopping/Cook's Crush/Discretion Assured/Finding Johnny Vincent/Revenge on Mr. Burton "Part 1" (The Search): Sounds similar to "Tenant - Siouxsie And The Banshees", people often confuse this theme to "Cheating Time" but the track is named "Here's to you Ms. Philips" as does the mission, it also resembles a Giorgio Gaslini piece an italian jazz pianist or the american compositor Henry Mancini the creator of Pink Panther iconic theme.
·Panty Raid/Galloway Away/Cheating Time (Stealth): Love Theme From "The Godfather" or "Speak Softly, Love" or just The Godfather Theme from Nino Rota a renowned italian composer, written by Larry Kusik, also resembles the song "Hey by Pixies".
·Comic Klepto: Where’d You Go - Fort Minor e Jonah Matranga (interpolation), also resembles Gramatik, Transplants, Flobots or X-Ecutiornes style of song.
·Funhouse Fun/ Funhouse (Ambience): Carnival of the Animals; Introduction and Royal March of the Lion ("Marche Royale du Lions") - Camille Saint-Saëns (interpolation)
·Funhouse Graveyard "Carnival Funhouse Graveyard" (Unused/Beta): Lux Aeterna - Clint Mansell & Kronos Quartet; Requiem For A Killer Movie Score
·Shop Class "Auto Repair Shop": Sounds similar to Star Guitar - Chemical Brothers, Cities in the Dust - Siouxie And The Banshees
·Math Class (Beta): Sounds similar to Nightmare on Elm Street Theme
·Gym Class/Lockpicking/Jocks Challenge: Sounds similar to "Resucitó" an old catholic song
·Bike Shop "Shiny Bikes": Sounds similar to Billy Club - Junkie XL, Horndog - Overseer
·Greaser's Hideout/Greaser's Challenge "Blue Balls Pool House" "Tattoo Parlor" & "The Happy Mullet": Sounds similar to In-Cut Overdrive - Tomonori Sawada; Sega Rally 2006 Game
·Townies/Dropouts Hideout "Dropout Hangout": Sounds similar to Babel - Covenant
★ Still Missing... Unknown?
·Chemistry Class: although i can't find a matching song it doesn't sound like music per se
·Math Class (Main): definitely a funky/soul tune, unfortunately i couldn't find a corresponding song for it
·Nut Shots: resembles Gradius songs a game by Konami or AiAce Combat a Namco Game
I REALLY LOVE BUNNIES, THEY'RE SO NICE!
I Hope you like it 😎👍

First Previous
Wiki RoyalRoad
Cover Art & Travis Portrait by Pedro Puglisi
Journal Entry #8
I left the village today. It will never be my home again.
I managed to muster enough dignity to at least walk out with the hunters and witch. I've seen plenty of sad sacks that needed to be hog-tied and thrown onto a wagon before, so I knew there was no escaping my fate.
We walked and walked and walked, until my exhausted body fell to the ground when we camped that night. The sky was clear, and the largest moon Porta shone brightly.
I wonder... Do the gods even care that my life as I know it is over?
Travis
Mattius and I escaped the rapidly filling cafeteria with our precious cargo of sandwiches, then stood at one of the outdoor tables between the main walkway and green space, hoping to catch Drozuk or someone else before our mission briefing.
Well, Arc was looking, I was busy trying to console Mattius while he routinely kept rechecking the squad assignments between bites of sandwich, the dread on his face growing more and more pronounced as it refused to change who he was going to be in a squad with. From what I've been able to gather, Mattius took the advice I relayed from Arc to heart and hasn't done anything stupid. However, he hasn't done anything bold either. The only communication between each other so far have been short conversations during specialized weapons training a couple of times per week, meaning that they've barely gotten past basic introductions at this point.
"Isn't this your chance to get to know her better?" I cautiously asked, "You'll be in the same squad, so you'll have plenty of opportunities to talk."
Mattius didn't bother to finish his last bite of sandwich, opting instead to mope about, "Please, like she'll give me the time of day when there's a pair of twins to flirt with."
I sighed in response to my friend's pessimism, and to Arc hinting with his snickering that he knew more than he was willing to divulge. I didn't even know how to empathize with Mattius' situation. Here he was with a golden opportunity, but all he could do was sulk. Exchanging letters with Caldia has been nice, but it couldn't hold a candle to how wonderful it was to spend the day with her.
Well... it was, until our... sort-of-date got hijacked.
"Hey! Professor Quinsandoral is approaching with an elven Ice Mage. How much do you want to bet that's his son?"
Welcoming the interruption, I perked my head up in time to see my Wind Spells professor walking along the main path with a young elf who, despite some obvious attempts to look different, was clearly his son. Unlike his dad who normally wore traditional high elf robes of varying colors and only carried a wand for spellcasting assistance, he was wearing the same uniform I was. Albeit his arming jacket was blue instead of forest-green, and had an additional leather bandolier across his chest filled with throwing knives that must have also acted as a mount for the oddly shaped shield on his back.
The faces were what truly confirmed they were father and son, not just because they had nearly identical sharp and angular faces topped with platinum blonde hair, but because they both had matching looks of irritation furrowing their brows. The younger also had a dozen silver piercings to differentiate him, the most notable ones being a spike in each eyebrow, a pair of studs in his nose, and two more in his pointed ears. Something I haven't once seen in any of the other elven students, although I'll be the first to admit I've barely interacted with the non-humans on campus.
Raising my hand in greeting, I shouted out to Professor Quinsandoral, who to my delight, smiled upon seeing Mattius and I by the outdoor bar table. His son, however, visibly sighed and dragged his feet as they moved towards us.
"Young Master Mattius, Travis," Quinsandoral greeted us with a gleeful tone, "I was hoping to meet you before my son's mission briefing." He gestured to his scowling child, "This is Vesril, future Lord of Vörðuhálsmýrdalsjökull, or as you may know it by it's poorly translated name, Glacier-cut Edge."
Raucous laughter violently erupted from Arc in my ears so loud that I instinctively brought both hands up to my ears and winced in pain. My obnoxious sword at least had the decency to quiet down, but a hand on my pauldron and worried look from Mattius made it obvious that I needed to think of an excuse fast.
"You okay?"
"Yeah..." I massaged the sides of my head and back of neck to stall, "just... uh, tweaked my neck is all..." I made a show of relaxing my shoulders to help sell the lie, then secretly vowed to test Arc's heat resistance at the spell range later tonight.
Vesril watched our interaction with his violet-colored eyes, completely cold and expressionless throughout, then in a sudden shift, looked over my shoulder and smirked, "That's a gnarly looking axe."
Professor Quinsandoral tensed up, then spoke through clenched teeth, "Yes, Travis does have an eccentric choice of weaponry..."
Vesril huffed, "Figures, it's perfectly fine for your pet human to wield a unique weapon, but if I want to---"
"Travis isn't an elf!" Quinsandoral barked. "And he doesn't have the legacy of his forebears to uphold."
Vesril rolled his eyes, "Monsters haven't attacked the mountain pass in over six eras, that's hardly a legacy. Why do I need to use the same weapon my great-great-something wielded while cowering behind a wall and never using the thing?"
My professor grabbed his son by the shoulder in a tight grip and cut into him with his glare, "You are on the narrowest of branches boy. Your mother still sees you as a child, and your uncle may only be indifferent as of now, but I have final say on whether you can attend this academy. And let me tell you boy, self-expression isn't looked upon kindly at Krisneirous University. They'll rip out those piercings, burn away your tattoos, and snap that ridiculous thing you call a weapon in half before you take a second step on school grounds."
The tension in the air was near to boiling as the two stared each other down in defiance. Mattius looked just as scared as I was to say anything, knowing that this kettle was only a single bump away from exploding.
Ironically, it was a student bumping into Professor Quinsandoral that broke the tension as they rushed by in a hurry, barely able to spurt out an apology. The father and son broke off their staring contest, and in unison with matching faces, cringed upon realizing they just had a very public argument.
Mattius, showing way more initiative than me, pulled out his pocket watch to check the time, "We should probably get to our meeting." He forced a smile towards Vesril, "Want to join us?"
Vesril shrugged his shoulders while rolling back his eyes, "Sure, I'm heading there anyways."
Arc
As the Ethics & Law building came into range, I decided to scout ahead with my focus and see if I could eavesdrop on anyone coming to the mission briefing or at least figure out where Drozuk was. I found him already in the room, seated with his arms crossed, and looking especially grumpy.
Hmm... I'm guessing he's not too thrilled about getting teamed up with Travis, a princess, and an edge lord.
I watched for a few seconds, but after determining that no one in the room was saying anything of substance, I flung my focus over Travis as he entered the building and back outside to watch Princess Seleyna approaching with Sir Asher and another unknown knight. To my surprise, she looked just as grouchy, completely ignoring the unknown knight behind her as they quietly whispered to Asher.
"So, what's got her kindling snapping in the hearth?"
Asher let out a tired sigh, "She's convinced that I'm the one who put her on a team with Travis and Reidar, and flat out refuses to believe I didn't submit anything."
The unknown knight raised her eyebrow, "You didn't? I'm surprised, even I requested a roster change."
Asher chuckled as they approached the building, "Didn't have to, someone already did." He then spoke louder to ensure Princess Seleyna could hear as well, "Honestly, she's being a bit of a hypocrite, given that she submitted a request of her own."
Seleyna ignored the gossip as she stormed in and made her way to the meeting room. By this time, Travis had already sat down in the front row between Vesril and Drozuk, and Mattius took a seat in the second row next to the Creeksmith twins Thaddeus and Zaccheus, so when Seleyna saw Travis' smiling face and friendly wave at her upon entry, she noticeably relaxed and put on a royal smile of her own.
Vesril nodded to the princess as she took the seat next to him, "Princess Seleyna."
"Young Lord Vesril, it's been a while... last year's Spring Gala?"
"Sounds about right." He gestured to Travis, "Your parents pay off the general to put you on the same team with him too?"
Seleyna stifled a laugh, "Not sure, no one's admitted to it yet, but it's safe to assume. That shadow show about us does need a sequel after all." She leaned forward to get a better look at the surly orc, "Drozuk, it was quite the surprise to see that your father was elected Jarl of Coldwater Spring Fortress. Has he been able to settle into his new role?"
"Don't know," Drozuk growled, "he hasn't told me a thing..."
Jarl? Huh... I'm surprised Drozuk never spoke about that, unless... ah, I'm guessing Travis isn't the only one with a dad keeping secrets from them.
The door opened to permit a dozen people in Logistic Corps uniforms, Mattius' crush Treblana, and a tall burly half-orc wearing half-plate. He stepped up to the unknown knight who walked in with Seleyna and reached to shake her hand.
"Captain Adaline, pleasure to finally meet you."
The Royal Knight took the offered hand, "Same as well, Captain Aguk, it's nice to have a face and voice to put to your correspondences."
My focus drifted back towards Mattius, who looked just as nervous as ever whenever he tried talking to Treblana, but at least managed to hide it well and produce a semi-stoic nod of acknowledgement when she took the seat next to him.
"Looks like I'll get to see you fight up close now." Treblana spoke cautiously.
Mattius smiled, "Same here, umm... I'll be counting on you to help overwhelm the opponent, since... you're much more talented at Earth Magic than me. I don't even have the needed mana to mimic the [Earth Wall Slide] you used a couple of weeks ago to shove that muledeer into the arena wall."
"Really? I think you're the talented one. Even from the stands I can tell every repeated structure you build is identical in dimensions and spaced out the same distance."
As usual, their conversation was cut short, right as they were about to build momentum, when Brigadier General Jonas called the meeting to order.
"This looks to be everyone, so let's begin." The general reached to pick up a box in front of him, "Your mission will be twofold; monster eradication in the Coldwater Spring Fortress' territory, and diplomatic relations with the fortresses you'll be harboring at during your journey." He opened the box to pull out a very familiar looking baseball sized sphere infused heavily with Order Mana and a Wind Mana gem embedded in its core. "This is a Master Message Stone. Unlike the private ones some of you carry or the inscriptions in your helmets, this does not vibrate or create sound. Its construction does have a unique advantage though..."
General Jonas grinned madly as he let the orb roll off his hand and crash onto the stone floor with a loud bang, causing all the students to flinch. He softly chuckled as he reached to pick the extremely valuable artifice back up, "It can maintain its paired frequency for a minimum of twelve years, despite how roughly its treated. Princess Seleyna will be presenting one of these to each fortress you visit, partially to build positive public relations with the populace outside of the capital, but also as part of a test run for the Queen's proposed long-range communication improvements."
Twelve years! Holy gods and God, I know the gift Travis received from the queen was expensive but... wow! The inscriptions in Travis' helmet require daily resynchronizations for the private and squad channels to ensure they don't randomly cut out, the battalion channel needs a weekly reset (assuming normal amount of chatter), and the emergency channel can maybe last two months if he doesn't take a blow to the head to rattle the inscription.
Travis must have had the same thought since I caught him stiffening up and gently placing his hand over the valuables pouch on his belt.
The general continued with the mission brief, starting with introductions to the battalion's leadership, "Captain of Squad 1, Royal Knight Adaline will have general command of the battalion's diplomatic and over all mission, Spartan Captain Aguk of Squad 2 will be acting lead for combat operations, and Raven Four will provide scouting and logistics security with their squad." He paused to gesture to the back row of people wearing the double-breasted jackets of the Logistics Corps, "Staff Sergeant Julien and his team, along with six horses, will manage supplies, field maintenance, and the camp. Keep in mind that they will be outnumbered three to one, so you will be expected to assist when needed."
I continued to listen in on the dry presentation, taking notes so Travis could consult me if needed, but I did take time to enjoy watching the corpsmen and mages struggle to stay awake as the general droned on and on. Honestly, two hours to basically state that everyone will take a gun boat down and up the rivers, stopping occasionally to overnight at some of the more prominent riverside fortresses on the way, then coordinating with the Jarl of Coldwater Spring Fortress to kill as many monsters as possible after arrival seemed like overkill, but maybe that's just because all Travis really needs to do is whatever his squad captains tell him to do.
Eventually, the torture session... err, I mean meeting... ended, and Travis was preparing to leave with his friends for a late lunch when one of the logistics corpsmen called out to him.
"Sir Travis, can you spare a moment of your time."
Travis whirled around to face the approaching man and nervous teenager accompanying him, "Uh... sure, what do you need sergeant?"
He saluted Travis, then reached into his satchel, "This morning, during our preparations, we discovered to our dismay that one of the horses assigned to our mission will not be fully recovered in time from an injury to be cleared for deployment. As a result, we need a last-minute replacement, and Private Tomas has kindly informed me that your horse, 5751054, enlisted last night."
Heh, he almost makes it sound like Travis' nameless horse enlisted on his own.
Travis pondered the request, "Doesn't he need training?"
The Staff Sergeant glanced towards the private, until the social pressure forced Tomas to speak, "Sir! 5751054 is already trained to ride, haul, and self-navigate. He will not be required to know more for this mission given the limited need for equine support."
Travis shrugged, "Well, if he's willing... then I guess I am too."
Sergeant Julien smiled, then handed Travis a document, "Just need your final approval."
Travis signed the sheet, handed it back, then addressed the private, "Will you be in charge of the horses?"
The corpsman saluted, "Yes sir, I'm Private Tomas, my main duty will be to act as stablemaster and coachman."
Travis nodded, then spoke in a stern voice, "5751054 is precious to me. My parents saved up for two years to purchase him for my eighteenth birthday, and still had to do so on credit from my village's horse breeder. If something were to happen to him..."
Tomas gulped, "Understood sir, I will ensure he's properly cared for."
Super serious Travis gave another nod, but broke character instantly after taking two steps away, "Oh, wait! When does he need to report in? I was going to take him to run a few errands this afternoon and might need to make a run to get some last-minute supplies tomorrow."
Staff Sergeant Julien smirked, "As long as he's in his stable when you drop off your personal supply crate tomorrow night, you should be fine."
Travis exhaled a sigh of relief, noticed that his friends had already left for lunch proper, then rushed out the door to go catch up.
Julien gave Tomas a firm slap on the back, "See, I told you he'd be amenable. Most mages are too preoccupied to fuss over small details, so the trick is to make it seem like you're doing them a favor, instead of trying to save your own ass."
Tomas grumbled, "I still can't believe 5640161 did something so stupid."
"Meh, it's probably for the best. You know how primes can be when told to pull carts in a team."
"I know, but still... prancing backwards down the exit ramp?"
The Staff Sergeant could only shrug their shoulders in reply.
Travis
"Your left one's drifting again."
I paused the warmup routine Reidar taught me to check over my [Water Bracer] enchantment and scowled. This spell was proving much more difficult to maintain than [Earth Cleat] or the [Message] enchantment I created on my helmet's dust filter.
It seemed so simple when I got the spell at first too. Basically, just a trio of condensing arrays on the inside of my forearm to collect Water, and six evenly spaced lines at 60-degrees on my outer vambrace to create a thin layer of fast-moving water capable of deflecting small objects down and away from my face. I didn't even stumble much on the diagram's mentioned tricky part of getting the Water to jump over the gaps between my forearm plates, just having difficulty keeping the parallel lines evenly spaced and at the correct angle.
"Hmm... it's a lot harder to keep my formation consistent without a flat surface, and I don't have anything to act as guidelines..." Trying to puzzle out a solution, I thought back to the serving pots Ansel's family used. They were rounded as well but had decorative indentations and ridges to help with spacing and line shape, similar to how I could use my boot treads as a reference for forming [Earth Cleat].
"Ah, I think I understand now why the inscriptions senior students use are so different from the one on Lancel's sword and other knight weapons. When I got a good look at that shield Vesril carries, I noticed it had a lot of directionless Water inscription lines running along it. I'm guessing any enchantment he casts will use the inscription as a skeleton to keep it from falling apart in combat."
I nodded along as I cast a cloud of Fire Mana off my palm and tried to squeeze it into as tiny of a ball as possible, allowing some of my frustration to bleed out, "That makes sense. It'd be like using graph paper to write out a formation. I bet it's a lot easier to invert or neutralize the direction of a line too if the core is made up of mana dust or gems."
"Thramreat mentioned that dwarves used to paint spell formations on their bodies, maybe you can do something similar with your bracers?"
"Good idea." I tossed the ball of Fire Mana above my head, reshaped it into a [Fire Orb], then nodded to Arc sticking out of the ground down range, "Okay, I'm ready."
Light and Shadow Mana pools around Arc as he starts playing music, until a wireframe statue of a bull's head emerges from the ground. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the creature appears, starting with a wattle, pair of giant chicken feet, bull's body and hind legs, and a chicken's tailfeathers.
Bullcock, a single element monster, this stable hybrid of a bull and rooster is well known for their aggressive charges, fast swipes with their spurs, and ability to spit Fire from a distance, but mostly for their excellent tasting meat and valuable leather.
I froze for a moment, eyes locked onto its claws... this is the monster that nearly killed my dad...
Anger floods my body with battle lust, and I nearly forget to dodge when it starts rushing towards me, not even leaving a full foot between us. It digs one of its oversized claws into the ground after it misses me, then swings the rest of its body around in a 180 to quickly about face. I raise my hand to cast [Fire Bolt], but a horn screeches loudly in my ear, disrupting my concentration.
"You want friendly fire? Because that's how you get friendly fire."
I swear as the bullcock makes another charge. Idiot! You can only launch spells downrange! I'll get my boat axed if I damage the building or accidentally lob a spell into another person's private spell range.
The bullcock angles his charge, so I can't safely launch a spell after dodging again, but that doesn't stop it from doing so. The wattle underneath its chin swells up, and a trio of [Light Bolts] fly towards me after the bullcock opens its mouth. I bring up my forearms to block, and manage to deflect the first projectile, but the second and third harmlessly splash against my chest, prompting Arc to start taunting me.
"Oh, c'mon! I've seen children with better reflexes than that."
Clenching my teeth, I try to block out all outside distractions, and focus solely on the task at hand. Using [Earth Cleat] to give my side-steps an extra burst of speed on top of my mana reinforced strides, [Water Bracer] to allow me to forgo a shield and deflect the spit attacks, and at every opportunity, I launch as many Bolt spells as I can downrange.
Like usual, Arc keeps increasing the difficulty, first by making the bullcock move slightly faster, then having it extend a claw to try and swipe at me during its charge, and finally varying the number of Bolts he spits back at me. We keep fighting, long past the point where the monster or I would have died, only allowing short pauses for me to fix my bracer enchantments, but without any warning or fanfare, Arc abruptly stopped the music and dispersed his controlled mana.
Confused as to what happened, I darted my head around, until I spotted Hector entering through the door.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you again."
I released the breath I was holding in, then reached up to take off my helmet and shake away the sweat from my face, "It's alright, just... wasn't expecting company is all. You're the first person to come visit me here."
The bearded Packer made a nervous chuckle as he looked back towards the door, "Yeah, I think the only reason the rangemaster let me pass was because I'm your drill instructor."
My eyes perked up after finally noticing what was on his back, "You got your poleaxe made!"
Hector grinned as he handed it to me for inspection, "Yep, did the final assembly with the polearms club this afternoon, and even demonstrated what I've been teaching you."
I groaned with guilt after taking his weapon. I definitely could have made time this afternoon to visit the club, it's not like I didn't know when they were meeting this week. Looking down despondently, I began to inspect Hector's re-creation of my weapon, seeing quite a few differences before even looking with my mana sight.
Overall, the material quality and mana density was much lower, using the same mid-grade dwarven steel my armor was made of and ironwood, but it did have some good quality leather wrapping around the middle of the shaft and part way up the langets.
"What's with the leather?"
"That's what I'm using right now as a workaround to improve my attunement connection to the weapon heads. Tristan and Percy are heading up north for their Fall Expeditions, so they promised to try and win an elmek horn or something similar to replace the shaft with."
I nodded along, checking over the structural build to see if there were any errors, "Speaking of, I'm surprised you're not at the Hopkins' estate. Aren't you on leave until classes start again now?"
Hector scratched the back of his head, "I... uh... didn't have any brothers growing up, so... those three can get a bit too... rowdy for me."
"Ha, I can relate, I'm an only child." I finished my inspection, not finding any obvious flaws in the build, "Alright if I attune to it?"
"Go ahead."
The mana inside the poleaxe ramped up to match mine in only a fraction of the time it took me to sync with mine, and unsurprisingly, I was able to maintain the attunement when I tried using mana reinforcement. It did feel a little strange however, like I was squeezing my body through a narrow gap in the fence each time, so I must have been near my limit for how large and mana dense an object can be for me to attune with.
Hector watched me test out his new toy, but cocked his head when he noticed Arc planted in the dirt near the back wall, "What's your sword doing down there?"
"Oh, umm..." I turned towards my best friend and had a spark of inspiration, "Since it's indestructible, I like to use it for target practice."
Target practice? What do you---
Arc's words cut-off right as I hit his blade with a [Fire Bolt].
"Ouch! That actually hurt a little..."
Hector barked a few laughs as he placed a hand on my pauldron, then suddenly wrapped his fingers around the edges to dig painfully into my deltoid, "Initiate, when in uniform, you are expected to keep your sword sheathed and on your person when not in use. I strongly advise you to do so in the future."
I gulped, "Yes sir."
The pain stopped, replacing it with an affectionate pat as he gave me a sly grin, "Now, when you say indestructible, do you really mean indestructible? Because I've heard the stories and rumors about these blades, but never quite believed them."
Arc began to moan. "Ugh, I knew this was going to happen eventually."
Arc
Snowsday, the 32^{nd^} of Eighthmonth
Travis looked down at his directions, then back up to the intersection in the artificer burrow and sighed.
"It just says left, not left-left or first left?"
My bestest buddy in this whole world shook their head and frowned. We'd come up to another intersection, but instead of the usual four-way cross, the left side hallway entrances were spaced 60-degrees apart.
"Well, logic would assume they mean the first left..."
"Yeah, but that one is newly constructed. There's no scuff marks or scratches on the walls, unlike the second one on the left."
I mentally groaned. That does it, I'm putting a pin in the auto-translator upgrade on my soul's patch and am going to implement a mapmaking feature. Not like Travis really needs the translator anyways, humans all speak the same language, despite originally being four distinct cultures, and common is used as the international trade language between the three kingdoms.
I still don't get how that's possible. I mean, nowadays you have the military shuffling soldiers all over the kingdom and congregating every year for the Spring Flood to help spread and reinforce the language, but according to Travis' history books, humans all spoke the same language before the four tribes united. Maybe the alphabet being phonetic helps prevent regional dialects from forming? These guys don't even have a word for homophone. Although, I don't get how that's possible either... elves are the ones who invented paper, humans had to use good old-fashioned leather scrolls before Oskar made contact.
"Arc?"
"Oh, sorry, got lost in my head. Uh... just pick a direction, if it's not right, I can replay my memory and help you backtrack."
Travis nodded, then took the first left, walking down the tunnel for a full minute before a couple of familiar looking dwarves, plus a human and an elf, came into view.
Thramreat was pacing in full armor with an anime-sized war-pick on their back, glaring occasionally at what I now recognized was the entrance to Durinn's workshop as the elf held her ear up to the tumbler lock. The beardless dwarf kept mumbling, eventually letting their thoughts be heard. "I still don't feel comfortable doing this..."
Orebeck, also decked out in full plate, but with an extra bandolier of glass vials across their chest and a heavily modified crossbow on their back, was looking completely fed up, "Well... I didn't feel comfortable making an aphrodisiac so you could seal the nest with my best friend. So, we're all just going to have to pound sand for a while."
The brawny knight (who might have been a goliath, I couldn't tell for sure), looked down at the two dwarves with a completely baffled expression, then leaned towards the elf to whisper, "Umm... I thought he just mixed up a thing of beard oil?"
The elf stopped her lockpicking attempt to lightly pound her head against the door and sigh, "Yes, they did. But dwarves... work differently when it comes to mating." She snapped her head towards Travis as he approached and hissed at the party, "Quiet! Someone's approaching."
Travis waved to the group, blissfully unaware of who they were at first until Thramreat began to panic.
"Travis! Umm... it's not what it looks like!"
Orebeck and the bow wielding elf both facepalmed, unlike the knight who grinned and waved back, "Hi Travis! Are you coming back to the estate for the training camp?"
"Uh... no, I'm going on a Fall Expedition... Do I know you?" Travis gave the Darius-sized knight a second glance.
The knight padded their chest, "Oh, sorry, don't have my tabard on. Thramreat said it would get dirty." He extended a cheerful hand forward, "I'm Knight Lieutenant Evan Raycraft. You have a really pretty singing voice."
Travis shook the offered hand, "Thank you." He turned to look at Thramreat, but abruptly stopped part way to look at the door, "Oh, this is Durinn's workshop... Wait, why are you guys here?"
Thramreat, still looking as guilty as a rat in a grain bin, quickly spoke first, "Just passing through. That's all."
Orebeck rolled their eyes at the dwarf's pitiful attempt to lie, "We're trying to break-in to Durinn's workshop. I know where they keep their hidden files, so we can use them to help prepare while we ride out to the nesting grounds."
Travis still looked confused, "Umm... why would you need that? Also, why are you all fully decked out and armed to the teeth?"
"Always smart to use protection when approaching a bearded's nest." Thramreat replied, then grumbled, "And as for the former... Durinn is apparently a sinner in the eyes of the bearded."
Orebeck finally lost their temper, and unloaded on the beardless, "Oh, would you quit being such a self-righteous beaver you orthodox piece of slag! Every bearded does it. It's perfectly natural."
"Enough!" The elf shouted, forcing the argument to stop. She glared at each dwarf to ensure their silence, let out a huff of frustration, then smiled at Travis, "Apologies, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Watcher Ariawyn Famaris. Was there a reason you came to visit Durinn's workshop?"
"Oh, umm... actually, I was looking for Thramreat." Travis turned towards the dwarf, "I've been having troubles with a Water enchantment for my bracers and was wondering if dwarves still used monster paste to help assist with their spellcraft."
Orebeck let out a chuckle as they dug through one of their pouches to toss something dense with Water Mana towards Travis, "Here, catch. Monster paste will just wash away after a few minutes. We use mana-infused wax nowadays for Water Enchantments. Just heat it up a bit to apply, but be careful not to let it melt off in combat, oh... and make sure you wipe your armor clean every night. It'll corrode the rust protection if you don't."
"Thanks," Travis gave a nervous wave goodbye, "umm... tell Durinn I said hi."
Travis
A pair of golden eyes stared up at me, catching the sunlight from the patio door in my dorm's living room just right to make them look like they were glowing. I reached forward to tickle the baby's tummy and started grinning like a madman when Boris started to giggle and smile back.
"Ugh, I can feel my soul getting stretchmarks just from looking at the cute little guy."
I leaned back to relax in my chair, enjoying the sight of Gramps completely taking over not just the packing of my crate, but Drozuk's too.
"Waterproof cards, dice set, blank notebooks, charcoal sticks, barbecue sauce, sandals..."
Caldia, to my surprise, came with her dad, but she was busy designing the family crest that Drozuk wanted to submit for reservation before leaving tomorrow and decorating our crates so they'd be easy to identify.
Oh, and Barry was here too. He brought up a crate of "essentials" that every soldier needs, including a pair of paperback "adventure novels" that he told me not to worry about if they get ruined or misplaced. I think my face was still red from blushing when he snuck those into the bottom of my crate.
Everything was just so... peaceful. With Gramps taking charge, I had absolutely nothing to do at the moment (other than anger Caldia by getting to hold the baby). The care package I spent my afternoon assembling yesterday was already sealed and labeled to ship to Aelder Creek, the aelderwood scraps I received from Father Viburnum were secured in my lockbox, and Gramps already agreed to store it in the Hopkins' vault while I'm away.
My respite eventually ended though. Gramps finished off the checklist that he brought, and closed the lid on Drozuk's crate, but stopped before doing the same for mine.
"Drozuk, would you mind taking the baby for a moment?"
Not sure what was going on, I stood up so I could approach my roommate, and smiled as he went as stiff as a statue when I handed Boris to him. I then turned back to see that Darius was holding a blanket in his hands.
"Travis, if you don't mind, there's an old Packer tradition that my family would like to conduct with you, given how you're technically a former ward of our house. It's a very old one that dates back long before the kingdom was founded and is observed whenever a young man comes of age. It originally started as the final parting gift of a mother to her son before he went to become a spartan, a reminder of which clans he and his ancestors were descendant of, but over time, as our values changed, so has this tradition."
I nodded my head, not even considering the possibility of saying no, especially with how emotional he and Barry were becoming.
Darius unfurled the blanket, allowing me to see the majestic work of art it was. It was a deep black, but the fabric shimmered with a swirling mix of violet, silver, pink, and blue light. The moons and stars were stitched into it, arranged into the constellations of the Elemental Eight greater monsters. Thunderhawk, the screeching death. Thunderhoof, the raging bull. Sunbeaver, the mountain shaper. Copperdillo, the invulnerable force. Diamondback, the walking fortress. Bushtail, the forest tender. Dark Drake, the unexpected disaster. And Icefang, the sun eater.
"In the Southern Plains, it's easy to get lost after fighting countless battles in the seemingly endless expanse of grass and gentle hills. Should you ever find yourself alone and in need of comfort, let the stars guide you, and eventually you'll find your way home."
I gazed up at Gramp's blubbering face through my own welling tears and reached forward to receive one of his legendary hugs.
"It's beautiful. Thank you so much."

THE MAN WITH BLACK HORNS
Part 1.
The Man in White
The visitor sat inside of a dingy strip club in a working class borough of the claustrophobic city. It was a dark and dirty city, a metropolis hidden in shadows even during the day. It seemed to the visitor that the city didn’t even belong on this planet, perhaps even in this universe. Though populated by over nine million people, this brooding, gothic city seemed to be a stranger to the reality which the visitor was accustomed. Still, he had a mission to complete. He had a man to kill. A man which the New York law firm of J. White and Fisk was willing to pay twenty-million in cash to see dead and buried forever.
Strangely, even though his line of work brought him to every corner of the world, the visitor had never been here. The beautiful young intern who worked for the law firm, Miss Petrova, said that she originally came from this city of thieves which teetered on the brink between prosperity and anarchy, but left with her former boyfriend when it became too dangerous for them to stay. For some reason, Petrova recommended this shit hole of a nudie bar as the best place to start his hunt for his elusive and dangerous prey.
“No. Her name wasn’t Petrova. She said that her real name was Quinn. And I told her that my real name wasn’t Pool, but Wilson. I’m not sure why I felt the need to lie twice.”
The visitor was a muscular man in his late 30’s with wavy brown hair, pale grey eyes, and five o’clock shadow. He stared at his own reflection in the mirror behind the bar, ignoring the four naked women moving listlessly and without motivation on the stage behind him. He had chiseled facial features which could have easily mistaken him as an action star of low budget b-rated movies. Still, though considered handsome, all that the man saw in the mirror was ugly. He detested how he looked, but for some reason, he didn’t know why. Surprisingly, the low class strip club had bottles of $500 dollar Blanton’s Gold Edition bourbon which was reserved for those few special customers who could afford it. The man was sipping a tumbler of the bourbon while Queensryche’s “Eyes of a Stranger” played in the background.
It was late in the afternoon, about that time when the working class stiffs would be coming in to unwind with a few drinks and perhaps indulge in a little extra entertainment from one of the many tattooed dancers with the pregnancy stretch marks and cocaine habit in the back rooms laughably known as the VIP lounge.
The man wasn’t dressed as one of the usual customers, instead being dressed in a pure white business suit which stood out like a beacon in the dark, musty bar which smelled of sweaty vaginas and disappointment. He looked like he had money. Not pimp money or drug money, but actual money earned legitimately. Still, the man ignored all of the dancers who approached him, rubbing the prime parts of their naked bodies on him while enticing him to come back with them to the VIP lounge. He turned them all down until they finally left him alone.
“Probably gay or a pedo,” the women said as they took their rotation on the stage, barely moving up and down the pole in the middle of the floor as ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” played in the background.
“There’s a gay bar about a block from here if no one here fits your taste, sweetheart” said the bar tender. She wasn’t fully naked, but she was topless, displaying her well endowed tattooed breasts and nipples pierced with gold rings.
The man smiled mirthlessly. “Thanks, but I’m just here to meet someone.” The man pushed his tumbler across the bar, and the bartender refilled it with the expensive bourbon.
“Suit yourself, baby. Care to donate to the juke box?”
The man in the white suit passed her a fifty, which the bartender took, eyeing it as if she thought it was a fake.
“Anything you want to hear, baby?” she said, putting the fifty in her thong and pulling a ten out of the cash register to put in the juke box.
“Play what you like,” he answered. “Just play it loud.”
Soon, the door opened letting the fading late afternoon light into the dimly lit bar. A tall, muscular man with wavy brown hair and pale grey eyes entered, wearing a worn dingy jacket of one of the cities many cab companies. The name on the cabbie’s jacket said ‘Jake’ and the cab driver took a seat next to the man in the white suit. The cab driver glanced at his own reflection in the mirror, wincing slightly at what he saw.
“Care for a drink?” said the man in white. “Bourbon?”
“I’ll take a beer,” the cabbie said.
“Bud Light?” said the man in white.
“Do I look like a woman to you?” said the cabbie. “Bartender, I’ll take a Corona.”
The bartender was a few feet away washing glasses and seemed not to hear the cabbie. Shaggy’s song “It Wasn’t Me” played loudly over the speakers.
The man in the white suit said, “Excuse me. My friend here said he’d like a Corona.”
The bar tender looked at him, an uncertain expression on her face.
“Oh, uh, sure,” she answered. Looking at the man in the white suit, she saw that his tumbler of bourbon was still full, but she reached into the ice cooler and passed him a Corona anyway.
The man in white took the Corona and passed it to the cabbie.
“Okay, what have you got?”
The cabbie took a sip of his beer, then said, “This is a big city, but I don’t think that you’ll have a hard time finding the man with the black horns. If you ask any of the big time players in this city, that guy is nowhere and everywhere at the same time. There is a deep state underworld that secretly runs this city, sort of the same way the deep state runs the country. The police commissioner seems to be on the up-and-up, but at least a quarter of the force are on the take. The only thing that’s keeping this city from turning into the shit show that San Francisco and Chicago has become is the guy with the black horns.”
“And his real identity? Is the billionaire playboy secretly running around at night dressed as some kind of black bat?”
The cabbie shook his head. “No one really knows. I mean, the billionaire and the guy in the black bat costume have been seen and photographed together, but with the black bat wearing a mask, it could easily be a body double to throw people off. Whoever the guy is, he’s extremely clever and effective. So much so that I hear that even that stupid clown criminal has left town to form a law firm up in New York.”
The man in the white suit shifted uncomfortably in his seat, then took a long gulp of his bourbon. “Quinn said that she has very intimate knowledge that the billionaire is the target, so I’m going to go on that assumption. I’ll need to flush out the black bat. If he’s as dangerous as everyone says he is, I’ll need to throw him off his game.”
The cabbie also took another swig of his beer. “What about your other friend? You know, the billionaire with all the fancy white colored vehicles and gadgets? Why don’t you get him to help you track down the black bat?”
“You mean Steven? No,” said the man in white. “Two billionaires in the same city with practically the same fancy helicopters, boats, and vehicles? Too suspicious. Like the US and Russia, the two biggest bullies on the block are sure to notice each other. If the billionaire playboy really is the black bat, another billionaire coming to town with a white colored versions of his black colored shit would be like a signal beacon to the black bat screaming, “I’m coming to get you!”
“So how do you plan to handle this one then?” replied the cabbie. “From what I understand, this guy will probably be the most dangerous target you’ll face, even though he’s also physically the weakest. Why else would they be paying you twenty million to take him out? That’s far more than what they paid you to off the thunder god.”
“The thunder god?” said the man in white, chuckling. “He was easy, even easier than offing the kid who thought he was some kind of man-spider. That so-called “thunder god” was a self loathing alcoholic. It was an easy thing to trace him to his favorite whore house in Vegas and slip something in his drink. After that, all I had to do was dodge his hammer until the poison took effect. From what I understand, the thunder god’s brother found it extremely hilarious that he was found naked and dead in a Vegas whore house still sporting a wooden fence post!”
“Well, be careful with this one, man,” said the cabbie. “He’s taken out some pretty big players, including the Boy Scout with the blue spandex and red cape. Not to mention that the black bat has a few associates who also run around with him wearing the same gay-looking red and green colored battle suits.”
“Really? How many sidekicks does the target have?”
“Currently, he has two,” answered the cabbie. “Though originally there were three. The original sidekick seems to have parted ways with the black bat and is off doing his own thing.”
“Is he in a relationship with anyone? I’ve seen pictures of him with a Greek historian.”
“Diane?” replied the cabbie and the man in white nodded.
“It’s strictly a plutonic relationship. They seem to be business partners. Nothing more. She works in Washington DC and only travels here occasionally. But rumor has it that the billionaire is smitten by a woman who really fancies cats.”
The man in white nodded, taking a sip from his tumbler.
The cabbie got up to leave. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work, but I’ll keep my eyes and ears open. I’ll let you know if I hear anything new. Thanks for the beer.”
As the cabbie left, the man in the white suit called over the bartender.
“That’s going to be one hundred and six dollars,” said the bartender. “One hundred for the two tumblers of bourbon and six for the Corona.”
The man in white handed over a five hundred dollar bill and said, “Keep the change,” before leaving the strip club.
The cabbie had given him a lot to think about. The black bat would be too dangerous to take out right now. The Boy Scout in the blue spandex who wore his red underwear on the outside was probably stronger than the thunder god, and the black bat defeated him, though they seem to be on good terms now. The man with the black horns had to have a weak spot, and to be able to kill him, that weakness had to be found and exploited.
One of the naked dancers, a black woman with thick thighs, long artificial eyelashes and a wig of gold colored hair, sauntered to the bar, looking enviously at the bar tender holding the 500 dollar bill. “What was his issue?”
Noticing that the second tumbler was still half filled with the expensive bourbon, the dancer picked it up and finished it off. “Was that guy gay?”
“I don’t think so,” answered the bartender. “But I do know that he’s probably crazy. He just spent the last ten minutes talking to himself in the mirror.”
Picking up the untouched Corona, the bar tender put the full bottle back into the cooler.
Part 2:
The Man in Black
Too much. This was too much. First it was his longtime butler.
No, he wasn’t just a butler. He was his friend, his confidant, and his only father figure since his parents had been murdered in that dark alley when he was just a boy. His butler had recently reunited with his estranged daughter Julia and this event seemed to fill his butler with a youthful joy and excitement that he’d never seen before. Julia was home from college, spending as much time with her father as she could before the semester started again. They had just finished dinner and Julia was going to treat her father by taking him to see the latest Batman movie, a grossly fictionalized Hollywood take on the life of the real black bat. They were riding in Julia’s brand new Tesla, which she proudly boasted of paying for using her own money, despite the fact that her father pleaded with her to allow him to purchase the vehicle for her. They hadn’t known of each other’s existence for over nineteen years, but now? Now they had a lifetime to get reacquainted.
The Tesla exploded the second Julia started the vehicle.
The man watched with a cold, stoic expression as the second of two caskets were being lowered into the soggy ground. He was just shy of six feet tall, with cold blue eyes and dark brown hair. Muscular and lean, he wore a black $16,000 dollar Brioni suit which was quickly being drenched in the rain. Though he carried an umbrella, he declined to open it. He was oblivious of the rain, as well as the words which the priest was saying as the caskets were being lowered into the ground. There were others in attendance including Diana, Clark, Hal, and even Richard, but the man in black felt completely alone and empty.
This wasn’t the funeral of his beloved butler and his daughter. They had been laid to rest on a hill overlooking his sprawling estate over three months ago.
The man with black horns had spent weeks trying to track down the person who murdered his butler and his butler’s daughter, scouring every grimy, corrupted inch of the city for a clue, but he’d come up empty. The man in black was considered the greatest detective on earth, and with his vast intellect and resources, he’d discovered and brought to justice the culprits responsible for countless bombings and assassinations around the world. But when it came to this, an event which hit so close to home, he’d come up frustratingly short. Likewise, his associates worked tirelessly to find the killer, but despite their uncharacteristically violent threats against the gothic city’s underground, they too came up with no answers.
Then, less than two weeks ago, he received a text message from Jason saying that he’d found and battled a person that he suspected to be the murderer. “I found the murderer and engaged him in combat. He’s got some kind of white colored battle suit. He’s dangerous, but I managed to hurt him. I’ve got him trapped in the...”
The text message ended there. Jason was one of the black bat’s sidekicks, but as he grew older, Jason grew restless. He reminded the black bat of his first sidekick, Richard, only Jason was much more wild and untamable. He had grown dangerous and unpredictable.
Still, Jason had proven to be a very capable vigilante and crime fighter, and if he’d found the person who murdered his butler, the black bat would certainly have to be there. Jason’s phone had a geo-locater, and the black bat tracked Jason having moved in an erratic pattern within a one mile radius for over an hour from one in the morning to two o’clock. Jason’s actions clearly indicated that he had been in some kind of highly fluid running battle. Jason’s movements suddenly stopped atop the roof of a dilapidated ghetto building where he remained stationary for about another hour. It was here where the black bat and his new side kick, a college aged female named Carrie arrived. Carrie sported short, light brown hair and oversized amber colored glasses in place of the traditional black mask donned by the black bat’s sidekicks but kept the traditional red and green colored battle suit complete with a yellow cape.
The pair arrived on location in a black, bat-shaped stealth aircraft with hover capabilities, the two heroes then leaping from the jet to the roof of the building. Though the black bat had several sexual encounters with the much younger Carrie, he knew that Carrie was Jason’s girlfriend and lover, so he was not surprised that after they landed on the roof, Carrie ran towards Jason, calling out his name.
Jason had his back turned to the two heroes, standing on the ledge of the building and staring down upon the filthy neighborhood where he had just fought a running battle with the killer. Jason wore a gun-metal grey armored battle suit, a ruby red helmet covering his entire head. Though somewhat out of style with the rest of his ensemble, Jason also wore a tan, tactical vest which had several pockets in which he carried various hand thrown weapons.
Strangely, however, tonight Jason also wore a long flowing white cape, something which he’d never worn with his battle uniform before. In fact, Jason had previously told the black bat that he’d never wear a cape, as he’d always thought them to be a sign of arrogance and excess within the super hero community. As the wind blew, Jason’s cape fluttered in the breeze, revealing a sturdy metal rod bolted to the roof top and extending up Jason’s back. A rod which held Jason’s dead body upright.
Before the black bat could yell a warning to Carrie, the explosives which were implanted within Jason’s abdominal cavity exploded.
The man who was the black bat, the man who wore the black horns on the cowl of his black battle uniform, shut his eyes as the caskets of Jason and Carrie were lowered into the sodden ground. They were once his sidekicks, now reduced to shredded bits of flesh encased within a closed casket. Besides her head, left arm and right leg, there wasn’t much left of Carrie to bury and there was practically nothing left of Jason except his head still encased within his red helmet.
It rained well into the evening, finally stopping just before midnight. The brooding man sat in the darkened study of his mansion, sitting in a well padded leather chair and staring at the dying embers in the fireplace. Diane, Kent and the others offered to help him find the killer, but this was something that the black bat insisted on doing alone. Besides, the league never felt the same ever since the water-breathing hero was incinerated on the Hudson River over a year ago. His killer had never been caught.
Selina also offered to come by to keep him company, but he wasn’t interested in any company. Maybe after this was all over, but not now. The killer seemed to know who the people were that the black bat was close to. He had to stay away from everyone who was closely associated with him.
Jason’s killer had obviously chosen the place of battle, a one square mile area of a part of the city that was so run down that calling it a slum would be a complement. The war torn ghettos of Mogadishu were in much better shape. Here, in this dilapidated and abandoned section of decaying buildings, and crumbling neighborhoods haunted by the zombie-like, drug addicted homeless, there were absolutely no CCTV cameras anywhere as there was absolutely nothing of value here worth stealing. Aside from the way-markers on Jason’s phone, there was no visual evidence of his battle against what the newspapers and news media was calling “the hero killer.”
The perimeter motion sensors which surrounded his estate flashed on, a dim blinking red light above the entrance to the study alerting him that someone was approaching the main entrance to the front lobby. Activating a device embedded in his left gauntlet, a small heads up display projected the image of three figures walking up to the entrance.
“They’re here,” he thought. Though the three could have easily entered the premises without tripping any alarms, they instead chose to approach on foot in a deliberate manner that alerted the black bat of their presence. He met them at the door, wearing his black battle suit and cape, though he kept his horned mask off. He knew two of his three visitors and worked with them extensively, though he was not nearly as close to them as he was to his butler and his two murdered associates.
“Good evening, doctors,” said the black bat. Then, nodding to the muscular man wearing the gold feathered helmet who had great hawk wings sprouting from his back, the black bat added, “Carter, I’m glad you could make it.”
“We came as soon as we could,” said the winged hero, a massive battle mace slung from a loop on his belt. “I’m sorry for your loss, my friend.”
“How can we be of assistance?” said one of the doctors, a lean man with a pencil thin moustache and close cropped hair wearing a large golden amulet and a lavish, flowing red cape. Though the mystic operated out of Greenwich Village in New York, it only took a second for him to open a passageway to the billionaire’s mansion in New Jersey.
“Follow me downstairs to the cave where there’s more privacy and security,” said the black bat.
“I have some idea why you summoned us three specifically,” said the other doctor, a tall man wearing a blue battle suit, a long gold colored cape, and a golden helmet shaped like a Spartan warrior’s which completely covered his entire head. “There is something odd about the killer, but I’ll explain more my suspicions once we get down to the cave.”
The black bat’s cave was actually a highly sophisticated underground lair which housed a motor pool for his various black painted combat vehicles, an armory for a myriad of debilitating though non-lethal weaponry, a wardrobe for various incarnations of his black battle suit tailored to meet specific mission parameters, as well as one of the most advanced AI computers on the planet, even rivaling the ones used by Stark Enterprises. It was here where the black bat solved an endless list of unsolvable cases. But now, he was loathe to admit that he had struck a dead end. Absolutely every method and technique that he used to figure out the identity and location of the killer was unsuccessful.
“And that’s why, I presume, you called me and Kent to assist you?” The mystic with the flowing red cape sipped the tea which the bat had made for him.
“That’s correct, Stephen,” replied the bat, a tinge of shame and defeat in his voice. “Absolutely everything that I’ve tried has led me to a dead end.”
“Kent, you said something earlier about something being odd about the killer?” The muscular man with the giant hawk wings had removed his own winged helmet and was sipping on a coffee.
“Yes, I did,” replied Kent. The mystic had also removed his golden helmet so that now all four identities of the heroes were revealed. “Forgive me, but I took the liberty of using my fateful helmet to search the mystic realms looking for clues that might the identity of the killer.”
“Indeed,” added the mystic named Stephen. “I also travelled the astral planes to identify and locate the killer and found my way blocked by a wall of immense power that even the all Seeing Eye is blind to what is on the other side. Only a god has the power to do that, and an extremely powerful one at that.”
“But why would a god want to hide a murderer from detection?” speculated the black bat. “Presumably, a god would have better things to do.”
“Unless the killer was some sort of avatar of the god,” said Carter, the winged hero. “I, myself, am the living avatar of an Egyptian entity, though I refuse to use the term god.”
“In any case,” said Kent. “A god may be powerful enough to hide its activities from either Stephen or me, but together, we should be able to destroy the astral wall it created and discover its identity. That is, after all, why you brought the two greatest mystics on earth you.”
The black bat simply nodded.
The mystics named Kent and Stephen knelt facing each other, Kent now wearing this golden helmet once again. His log golden cape flowed as a supernatural wind began to swirl around them, though Stephen’s red cape remained still. A fiery circle of flame appeared above them, within a black hole of whirling clouds spinning like a nightmarish black pool. A portal to the astral world inhabited by the gods themselves. Unseen by the black bat and the winged warrior, the astral forms of Kent and Stephen emerged from their physical bodies and leapt into the black maelstrom of swirling black clouds, Kent going first as Stephen held the portal open. As their spirits left their bodies, the physical forms of Kent and Stephen collapsed to the floor.
Carter, the winged hero gasped suddenly.
“What’s wrong, Carter?” grunted the black bat.
“That’s never happened before. In the past, when Kent’s astral body left him, he was still able to maintain his seated position. He maintained a connection between his astral spirit and his physical body.” A look of sheer panic appeared on Carter’s face. “We need to pull them out of the astral plane! Their souls have been totally separated from their bodies! They’re going to die!”
Suddenly, the circle of fire flared to life again, only this time the flames were pitch black and the musty, moldy odor like that of a crypt long decayed in a haunted swamp filled the air. The bat and the hawk watched in horror as a long boney hand reached down from the portal and snatched up the bodies of both Kent and Stephen, lifting their unconscious forms into the astral plane.
“We have to stop it,” screamed the hawk warrior, flying up and slamming his battle mace into the skeletal wrist of the being. “If their physical and astral bodies are united in the astral plane, and they die in the astral plane, they’ll die in reality!”
The black bat hurled a half dozen tungsten steel black blades in the shape of stylized bats, all of which struck the wrists and forearms of the giant clawed arm. A sinister, crackling laughter filled the stale air as the arm lifted the bodies of the two mystical heroes into the swirling black void above and taking with it Kent and Stephen but leaving the lingering scent of death.
“NO!” yelled the black bat, quickly retrieving a gun-shaped device from his belt which launched a length of rope towards the rapidly closing portal. However, in the blink of an eye, the portal closed and the length of rope, minus the grappling hook at the end, dropped to the floor.
“Impossible! That’s impossible!” screamed Carter, the eyes of the fearless warrior wide with genuine fear.
“Carter, what was that?” yelled the bat.
“That is the brother of the Egyptian deity whom I serve. But that’s impossible! The thing that took Stephen and Kent is the Egyptian deity of retribution and retaliation against evil! Like the one I serve, he’s supposed to be a force for justice and order!” ”
“Well, whatever it is, we have to get into the astral plane,” said the bat.
“We can’t! It takes a mystic of tremendous power like Stephen to open a portal like that!”
“Then we’ll find a way, dammit!” yelled the bat, running into his massive armory to search for a weapon to use against a god. “Stark, Reed, hell, even Luther! One of them must know how to...”
The man with the black horns was cut short as the circle of flames suddenly appeared above the room. Once again, it was bright and red. Kent’s body fell through the portal first, his golden helmet falling from his head with a ‘clunk’ as he hit the floor. Kent’s blonde hair was now a wispy thin white, he was skinny and emaciated, and his once blue eyes were now grey. His skin was white and wrinkled, the once young and lean hero now old and fragile.
Stephen fell through the portal next, or, what was left of him. His blue robes and flowing velvet red cape were relatively unscathed, though they were smoking as if singed in a fire. As for Stephen himself, he was nothing but a charred skeleton which crumbled to dust as soon as his remains hit the ground. The all seeing-eye amulet which he had worn around his neck was pierced through, as if by an unbreakable claw. It was closed forever.
The bat and the hawk warrior ran to Kent’s side, kneeling next to him and carefully turning him over. The bat cradled Kent’s head in his arms, the mystic hero now looking as if he were well over a hundred years old.
“Kent,” whispered the bat as gently as he could. “It’s me! You’re safe now. What happened Kent? What happened to you and Stephen?”
“It’s a god,” croaked Kent weakly. “It was a god that protects the ghost. That’s why we couldn’t find him. The white ghost. That’s why we couldn’t find him.”
“Who Kent?” the bat persisted. “Who is the white ghost?”
“He’s the avatar of an Egyptian god. The god used to be like one of us. A hero in the pantheon of Egyptian gods. But it went mad. The god went mad.” Kent’s voice was fading. “Stephen summoned the last of his power to open a portal, just as the raving mad god tried to incinerate us. How is he? How is Stephen? I... I can’t see.” Kent’s sightless eyes searched for the other mystic.
“He’s... he’s fine, my friend.”
Kent laughed miserably. “You’ve never been a good liar, Bruce.”
“Carter? Carter, are you there?” Kent’s life force was fading fast.
“I’m here.”
“You are the key, Carter. You and the white ghost both serve Egyptian deities. The god whom you serve is still good and just. Even now, he battles his brother, who has been driven insane. But the mad god is stronger, and the deity you serve will not win unless you can defeat his earthly avatar. Your god has given you the ability to locate him. Together, you and Bruce may be able to defeat the white ghost.”
Kent exhaled, then went limp, his sightless eyes still open as his spirit left his body for the last time.

Legendlore: BANE THE BLACK HAND, GOD OF TYRANNY IN THE FORGOTTEN REALMS:
Lore & History Appearing way back amongst the other classic gods in 1st Edition, Bane is the Faerunian god of ambition, control, tyranny, and conquest, with his primary epitaphs being the Black Hand, the Strife Emperor, and the Lord of Darkness. In 5th Edition, Bane primarily holds the domains of Order and War, carries an alignment of Lawful Evil, and is primarily worshiped by warmongers, conquerors, and those with ambitions towards power and authority through strength. Bane’s favored animals include bats, corpse-scavenging vultures, black cats, especially those with green eyes, and black dogs, while on the flip side, his favored monsters include devils, beholders and death tyrants, chromatic black and green dragons, nagas, shadow mastiffs, and hellhounds. Bane’s favored minerals are black sapphires to show approval, powdered red carnelian to show disapproval, as well as hematite, emeralds, and bloodstone. Bane’s holy colors are black, green, and red, which are often used to replace the background for the heraldry of the nations and places he conquers. Bane’s holy symbols are either a simple black handprint, a pair of eyes surrounded by green or red flames, or a flail that is formed completely of chains. This varies depending on if the culture views him from a place of pure strength, tactical superiority, or tyrannical authority and control respectively. And lastly, Bane was one of the few gods who did not have a designated divine weapon, choosing instead to wield his own spiked gauntleted hand. Now I don’t know about you, but it’s gotta take a pretty badass god to choose the pimp hand as his holy weapon. Appearance In terms of appearance, Bane has been known to take on a couple of different forms. The two most common are a hulking shirtless male humanoid with small horns, black skin, and gauntleted hands with talon-like fingers, and the other is that of a huge, ogre-like warrior in heavy black plate covered in spikes, eyes glowing as the heads of his enemies dangle from his belt. Most depictions of Bane have him emulating the race that worships him, possibly in the belief that anyone or anything can embody his ideals. I’m also not including K-Pop Idol Bane from the Dungeons and Dragons Magic Card series, because by god do I hate it. For my own personal depiction of Bane, I prefer the visage of a Spartan-like warrior wielding spear, sword, and shield, and I trade in the heads on a belt for a cloak made from the tanned, moaning faces of those he has killed in his conquest, possibly wearing other trophies like a dragons’ head pauldron, or a helmet made out of demon horns. He strikes me as a bit of a trophy taker at times, but wouldn’t just let the components from these legendary kills just sit on a wall; why not make weapons and armor out of them to become stronger?
Personality In terms of personality, Bane’s about as much as what you would expect from a warmonger: speaking in absolutes, commanding with utmost respect, fear, and authority from his underlings, and carrying an overall intimidating presence. Despite this, Bane has some inclination towards teamwork and playing on the strengths of others to cover his weaknesses, otherwise he and the Dead Three never would have succeeded in cutting their way to reach Jergal. However, this is still a means to an end, with Bane swiftly cutting off from them after his goals were achieved. All this is to say that Bane is focused on strength, control, and is out to win, with the belief that the strong not only have the right, but the duty to govern over the weak, as the weak will lead those below them to inevitable ruin. Whereas someone like Asmodeus is more about deception, cunning, and control through bureaucracy and deals, Bane seeks conquest through military might, effectiveness, and through the use of deadly force if needed. In comparison to someone like Tempus or the Red Knight, Bane does not keep to the limiting concepts of honor or rules of engagement. Whatever is most effective and gets the most results is good enough for him, even if it requires deceit or refusal to meet someone on the same playing field. One on one duels and holding mercy for the wounded and captured are anathema to his tenets, as compassion is a weakness he cannot afford in his quest for control.
Abilities In terms of Bane’s abilities, his most obvious one is that he is a cunning and dangerous warrior and tactician, unrestricted by morals or concerns for the innocents who will inevitably suffer in war. They are collateral after all. Bane could also use and create any weapon at will for use on the battlefield, and history has shown that Bane as a god has died before, only to eventually emerge in a spectacular resurrection. Beyond that, Bane hasn’t been known to have performed any other great divine act or infused any of his followers with any special powers beyond the norm, keeping a distant watch over his faithful on the promise that they will rise and earn their way through their own actions and strength. However, there are stories of times where Bane would possess an individual in order to confront say a deity who decided to intervene in his course of action, this possessed person taking on a twisted, spiked form with black leathery skin and talon-like claws. Furthermore, Bane would gain the natural powers of the possessed for his own use and also carried distinct immunity to psionic control, one of the few things that could be used to bypass possession or other forms of magical influence.
Allies & Foes In terms of Bane’s relationship with other gods and entities, as I had previously said, Bane was one of the few dark gods who was willing to form alliances and work with others, even those who he would seem vehemently opposed to. This is most apparent in his alliance with the Dead Three, a group of three legendary villains who tore through all manner of realms and extraplanar creatures to make their way to Jergal, god of death, from whom they demanded pieces of his power. The other two members: Bhaal and Myrkul, would become gods in their own right alongside Bane in a fateful game of knucklebones, and while they each initially took domains in order to try and spite and one up each other, they ended up creating a loop where they permanently must interact and work with one another in the system of transference from life to death. As such, the three keep a tense but forcibly amicable relationship to one another, which I see as akin to powers engaged in a cold war, their agents working behind the scenes to try and transfer power to their respective patrons. Other gods who Bane aligned through both fear and mutual interest included Loviatar, Talona, and Mask, as well as the dark dwarven god Abbathor, the goblinoid gods Maglubiyet and Hruggek, and the most monstrous deities Tiamat and Malar. Then there’s also the seldom mentioned half-demon son of Bane named Iyachtu Xvim, who served as a lesser deity of the same portfolio as Bane before the god used his body to resurrect himself after being slain by Torm. In terms of enemies, Bane’s greatest foes included gods like Melora, who stood against his war engines’ destruction of nature, Mystra, whose command over magic he coveted for his own goals, and the good-aligned Triad of Torm, Tyr, of Ilmater, the first of which was responsible for Bane’s first godly death. Bane was also known to have frequent conflict with the god Cyric due to the latter’s penchant for killing Bane’s followers and stealing the domains and worshipers from other gods. Amaunator, Oghma and Helm were also thought to be amongst his distinct foes.
Clergy & Worship The Church of Bane has ebbed and flowed in terms of size and power, due to both the death of its god at one time, and its suffering of purges by the hand of the opposing Church of Cyric. Despite the ups and downs however, the Church of Bane has always been dedicated to its cause and unified in its order, holding a strict hierarchy where the strong rule and the weak serve. Higher ups in the church were shown respect by their subjects via kissing of their rings, hands, and even feet depending on how distant they were rank-wise, The High Imperceptor was the most powerful priest in the church’s hierarchy, having earned this position through constant service and devotion to the Black Lord. Below him would be other ranks such as the Vigilators, Dreadmasters, Vigilants, Blackfangs, the Watchful, and finally Slaves, who were the new-blood acolytes who just joined and had to prove their worth. Worshipers of Bane did not hide their devotion unless it was done in the service of bettering their god’s reach or gaining an advantage in war time, and were often seen wearing black and red while always ensuring they were armed with at least one weapon. Warriors wore spiked armor and full plate while mages wore black, red, and sometimes green robes, the more zealous of which would enchant them to give off the visage of stars or flowing blood within their details. In a more subtle manner, worshipers of Bane would wear a simple black gauntlet on one hand in place of all of the fanfare. Worshipers of Bane were also known for their penchant for facial tattoos, which often gave themselves away when discovered by the more religiously educated. Furthermore, Banites as they were called would often carry special “Baneswords”, which were specially made +1 longswords that dealt additional damage to creatures of chaotic alignment.
Clerical Orders In terms of canon distinct Cleric Orders of Bane that exist, there are two. The first would be commonly known as the Zhentarim, which is more of a mercenary company and criminal organization than an actual divine order, originally being formed by the archwizard Manshoon and comprising a great deal of Bane worshipers. They mostly deal in the trading of illicit goods and building of mercantile properties, recruiting many monstrous races and outright monsters to protect and serve in their army’s ranks. This is a monstrous glossing over of the organization as a whole, which deserves its own video, and I highly recommend checking it out as a great source of villains and campaign plots. Then there are the Knights of the Gauntlet, an order of Bane worshiping crusaders known for having Helmed Horrors serve in their ranks, either by creating the constructs themselves or discovering them in some ancient ruin. The Knights of the Gauntlet were most well known for use of extraplanar travel in their crusades, as well as being one of the only churches to maintain faith during both the time that Bane had died at Torm’s hand, and during the purging of Bane’s faithful by the church of Cyric. This speaks to both their devotion and their sheer survivability, with most of its members being made of recruited mercenaries, and they are also credited with the creation of one of Bane’s artifacts: The Scepter of the Tyrant’s eye, which we will cover later on in this video.
Rituals In terms of divine rituals that the church of Bane takes part in, most were conducted by higher up senior members of the clergy, but held little correlation to things like seasons, moon phases, or any other traditional events that most churches used to mark their devotion. As such there are no holidays or distinct times where the worship of Bane is “strongest” or “at its height”. Instead, these rituals were made with distinct purposes and conducted for specific reasons, such as sacrifices to ensure victory or the swearing of oaths of devotion to the cause of expanding Bane’s influence. This was often accompanied by the creation of a Black Altar, which was a plain stone block sometimes formed of obsidian that was then painted or draped in black, accompanied by either a floating stone sculpture of the Hand of Bane, or an empty throne that faced the space of the ritual. From there, services would include rhythmic chanting, drums, and sometimes ritualistic torture to either extract pain from the victim, or to expunge and dull one’s reaction to pain in order to better serve the Black Hand. Banite casters were also known to prey for their spells at midnight.
Artifacts In terms of canon artifacts of Bane that exist, here are a couple I was able to dig up. The Hand of Bane is a special artifact created by the Church as an instrument in order to resurrect him should he ever be killed, carved from a chunk of obsidian and studded with diamonds, its fingers being formed from sharp spikes of red garnet. While it is believed that this item once resided within the multiplanar city of Sigil, it is said to have since been destroyed by a priestess of Bane, either due to no longer having use of it, or in order to make sure his enemies could never use it against him.
Next, there is the Scepter of the Tyrant’s Eye, a +3 heavy mace created by one of Bane’s High Imperceptors, Teldorn Darkhope. Used as both a weapon and a badge of rank within the church, the scepter could trap the souls of those it killed, sap the strength of non-Banite creatures who tried to wield it, and most notably, grant the wielder immunity to all forms of Beholder eye rays. I think from this, we can gleam exactly why this scepter was made and what it can be used to fight against. The scepter could also be used to cast the following spells without requiring material components: Fly, True Strike, Hold Monster, Circle of Death.
Next is the Black Lord’s Cloak, an artifact that wasn’t created by the church, but was instead worn by Bane during his mortal life. Upon ascension, it was also infused with divine power and could forcibly constrict someone and absorb their blood before leaving them a desiccated husk. It’s an oddly specific power, but I imagine it does help to actually have your cape watch your back. Fourth, from the deep recesses of Issue 333 page 48 of Dragon Magazine, we have the Rod of Clenched Fists, which was a +2 light mace that was literally formed of four fists stacked on top of one another.
The rod could be used to cast the spell Bane at will, the spell Vampiric Touch three times a day, and the spell Dominate Person once per day, all using your own spell save DC. It was also priced at a hefty 425,000 gold, and required the wielder to be a worshiper of Bane, lest the spells on it be used against those who tried to use it and didn’t hold the proper faith. And finally, from the more modern iterations of the game, we have the Bloody End, an adamantine morningstar with a blade on the pommel and foot-long spikes at its head. This weapon could be found on the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount on page 278, as exemplifying it here might sadly get Pinketon Agents knocking at my door. Bane At The Table When running NPCs, cultures, militaries, or nations that worship Bane, make sure to take his favored colors, symbols, and monsters into account. Have soldiers walk with black gauntlets to mark their devotion, have defeated nations change their heraldry to back black, red, or green as their backgrounds to signify their defeat and fealty to their new rulers. Bane’s view of strength and strife can inspire those who struggle through life to push and persevere through the hardship, eventually becoming worthy of his attention. This can range from simple peasants working their hands to the bone on a harvest to survive the winter, to soldiers who are pushing through a great war in the name of their faction or kingdom. Bane has also had a strange affiliation with the orcish and goblinoid races, both in the base lore and in Critical Role’s most recent adaptation. This could emerge from the unfortunate fact that both goblins and orcs are portrayed as predominantly warmongering races, so let's add some new ancestries to the mix for some more diversity. High elf Bladesingers who master the dance of death in Bane’s honor, Halfling and Gnome warlords who have forsaken their hospitable ways in order to become stronger and defend their often oppressed people. There’s tons of interesting stories to be told of how the many different people of your world found their way to the worship of Bane the Black Hand. Likewise, when roleplaying Bane himself, I suggest showing him as larger than life whose mere presence commands respect. He is deadly and as a god of strife, has known the harshness of life and struggled since his days as a mortal and even now into his time as a god. He toils and works and pushes through all resistance to ensure that his will and the will of those who follow him is done, and as such Bane will speak matter of factly and in pure absolutes. He is not afraid of war and battle and his followers are more than willing to fight tooth and nail to the bitter end, and from this he exploits the fear that other gods have for their faithful and their worship, as the loss of worshipers means a loss of power. Sometimes that threat is enough to get an enemy to back down, but other times, either by arrogance or a genuine thought that they can win against him, a war will be started with the Black Hand, and Bane will be allowed to unleash his full brutality. This refusal to compromise and lack of mercy for his enemies is what generates such fear of Bane and his ilk. Someone like Asmodeus will see the use in anything and everything, Vecna will sit on a throne of the defeated out of arrogance, but Bane will just gut them and keep on walking without a second thought, because to him, you’re only useful if you’re strong and your loyal, and the second one of those waivers, you’re gone. Aligned Classes Artificers Artificers fit Bane well in the conceptualizing and development of war engines and setting the precedent for modern warfare. The things Artificers created can be incredibly useful on the battlefield, and great big guns or sets of living armor are more than enough to intimidate a nation to bend the knee. A Battle Smith with a Helmed Horror-like steel defender at its side could make for a remarkable visage. Barbarians Due to the Barbarian’s focus on instinct over discipline, their role within the ranks of Bane would have to be carefully tended to. Berserkers and Battleragers can rely on their sheer physical might and spiked armor, Ancestral Guardian Barbarians can conjure and lead spectral warriors to fight even beyond death, and Zealot Barbarians can channel his divine power directly whilst in the midst of combat. Bards When it comes to Bards, heroic stories and fluttery songs don’t benefit Bane much, but the performance of war ballads and use of propaganda can motivate armies to overcome all manner of overwhelming odds. Those of the colleges of Swords and Valor can do battle right alongside their warrior brethren, whilst Bards from the colleges of Whispers and Eloquence can influence those on the enemy side to surrender or even betray their own in the hopes of holding higher rank in Bane’s new order. Clerics For Clerics, 5th Edition has Bane holding the domains of Order and War, but I would also include those of Arcana, Death, Forge, Grave, Knowledge, and Twilight under his belt as well. His coveting of Mystras’ domain of magic can reflect in the creation of his own Arcana clerics, Death, Twilight, Grave, Order, and War Clerics can rend the battlefield asunder or prevent their own forces from perishing, and Knowledge Clerics can provide divinely-powered tactics, intelligence, and approaches to combat when it comes to leading his forces. Druids Druids would be one of the harder classes to match to Bane’s tenets, especially given his opposition to Melora, but that's not to say that all hope is lost for the hopeful Bane worshiping Druid player. The Circle of Spores views the cycle of life and death, birth and decay, and creation and destruction as an often overlooked part of the natural world, and could join Bane’s legions in order to help curve the balance via cleaving wild, overgrown nature through rot and blight, sort of like trimming branches and roots so they don’t grow and infest through the rest of the world. Then of course, there’s the Circle of Wildfire, whose innately destructive tendencies and healing capabilities can be immensely useful for Bane’s purposes, given the frequency of burning down cities during sacks and sieges. Fighters Almost all Fighters can find a place within the ranks of Bane’s legion, from Echo Knights serving as armies of one, Battlemasters and Champions cleaving through the battlefield on skill and discipline alone, and Arcane Archers, Rune Knights, and Eldritch Knights wielding destructive magic across the entire war front. Monks Monks, due to their frequent neutral stances and focus on the development of the self, may have a hard time aligning with Bane’s largely self-serving, tyrannical ideology, but those who believe that what the Black Hand is doing is right can mediate, study, and beholden themselves to discipline in his name. As such, Monks who follow the Way of Mercy can both heal their allies and harm their does, while those who follow the Ways of the Long Death, Open Hand, and Shadow can work as specialized martial and scouting forces, studying the weaknesses of the body in order to better target and exploit them in combat. Perhaps Bane’s monastic forces identify themselves by only wearing one piece of armor: the distinctive spiked gauntlet of the Black Hand. Paladins For Paladins, Oath of Conquest is the easiest one to select, but those who swear Oaths of Devotion to the cause, Oaths of the Crown of a Bane-worshiping nation, or Oaths of the Watchers to kill and subjugate extraplanar foes can also fit very well. And of course, Oathbreakers who forsake their old gods to follow the Black Hand can make great additions, along with their newly acquired legions of undead. Rangers Rangers aren’t as tied down to the world of nature as Druids are, offering them a degree of flexibility that allows them to find a place within Bane’s fold. They can map the wilderness and scout enemy territory in preparation for invasion, and all of the subclasses can add their own flavor into the mix, such as Beast Masters having black hunting dogs or Horizon Walkers working to battle distinctly extraplanar enemies like angels or fey. Furthermore, look at Bane’s favored animals for Ranger companion ideas such as bloodhounds or bat swarms for Swarmkeepers. Rogues Rogues of all sorts make for great infiltrators, spies, and scouts in wartime, each one able to find a use in the Black Hand’s efforts to bring the world to heel. Thieves can steal intel or magic items to turn the tide, Masterminds can work as tacticians and spymasters, Phantoms and Scouts can infiltrate to learn about enemy forces, and Arcane Tricksters and Assassins can do what they do best. Sorcerers In terms of Sorcerers, most of those with magical bloodlines would easily be conscripted into the service of Bane’s armies, but I find the Clockwork Soul strangely matches the Black Hand’s want for cosmic order under his own banner. Then of course there are Divine Soul sorcerers who carry direct ties to the gods, so one of either Lawful or Evil alignment can surely be of use, maybe even flavor their wings as being black like those of a carrion bird, or made completely out of metal in reference to Bane's armored visage. Warlocks When it comes to Warlocks, the Fiend’s penchant for resistance and destruction and the Celestial’s healing utility both are great for opposite roles within the Black Hand’s forces, but nothing for me fits more than Bane creating a sentient weapon for a Hexblade to carry into battle. Cutting down foes and resurrecting them as specters to fight for you sounds like exactly something Bane would approve of, allowing one to wield both magic and martial prowess as the ultimate soldier of tyranny. Wizards And finally, Despite Bane’s penchant for physical warfare and combat, almost all manner of wizards could match and serve under him from an intellectual and tactical perspective. One must be well-read and educated to even have hopes of being a wizard, and each school has something to offer that will give Bane’s forces strength and leverage on the path to conquest. Bane NPCS & Quests In regards to quest hooks aligned with Bane, most of them would be concerned with the simple expansion of Bane’s influence, which can be done in a variety of different ways. Your party can be tasked with taking over a stronghold for a Bane-focused faction or nation, warring on the frontlines as hired mercenaries, or they could acquire a specific magic item that would help the efforts of a current conflict. The simplicity of Bane’s ideology makes it easy to adopt a number of different quests to match, and a group can spend an entire campaign fighting in a war to expand the Black Hand’s territories to new horizons, or on the flipside, they can fight against these forces in the name of an opposing god or group. Melora-worshiping druids or the Emerald Enclave from Faerun make for great enemies to Bane’s forces, as well as other dark gods such as Asmodeus or the other members of the Dead Three. They would love to see him depowered in order to fill that spot on the chain Jergal had set them on. In regards to NPCs that are aligned with Bane, they can range from classic warmongering zealots to cunning tacticians and politicians who seek to grow their own personal power. It doesn’t have to always be about the whole, as people who worship Bane can be both noble and self-serving. In terms of monsters, Bane has no problem making deals with devils and other outsiders to fill his armies: Redcap shock troops, Death Knight generals, Fire Giant warsmiths, Gnoll berserkers, Deathpact Angels created by Bane or recruited from other faiths, Hobgoblin captains leading Goblin infantry while riding on Wargs and Nightmares, Dark Elf Oathbreakers who forsook Lolth’s ways of political intrigue in favor of Bane’s brute strength, the options are vast and almost infinite for the cool things you can do. In terms of his favored monsters, scouts and soldiers can have black dog, hellhound, or shadow mastiff companions, and armies forming alliances with Green and Black Dragons can be devastating for the enemy side. Perhaps one can wield the Scepter of the Tyrant’s Eye in order to bend a Beholder or Death Tyrant to their whims. Magic Items In terms of magic items, Bane isn’t exactly that picky. He’ll find the use in most things but often favors weapons, armor, staves of power, and other things that make his people physically stronger and more difficult to fight or resist. Aesthetically, black metal, obsidian and other black or red stones, emeralds, and carnelians are great to use for theming your magic items, especially if they’re taken off a Bane-worshiping foe they defeated or gifted by a Black Hand NPC: +1 to +3 Weapons +1 to +3 Armor and Shields Rakdos Riteknife (GGR p180) Ironfang (PotA p224) Armor of Invulnerability (DMG p152) Blackrazor (DMG p216) Sword of the Paruns (GGR p181) Staff of Striking (DMG p203) Staff of Power (DMG p202) Staff of Defense (LMoP p53) Piercer (AI p121) Mace of Terror (DMG p180) Wreath of the Prism (EGW p274) Bloodaxe (EGW p266) Blood Fury Tattoo (TCE p122) The Bloody End (EGW p278)
Homebrew Magic Item: The All-Gauntlet This +1 spiked gauntlet can be used as a martial weapon dealing piercing or bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 plus your Strength and Dexterity. Additionally, the gauntlet can be activated as a Bonus Action to be turned into any simple or martial melee weapon, while also turning from a +1 weapon to a +2 weapon. Make An Example: As a bonus action, you may choose one enemy within 60 feet that you can see to target with this ability. For 1 minute, all attacks you make against this enemy are made with a +1d6 bonus, and if you reduce the enemy to 0 HP during this time, this ability replenishes and you may choose a new target as a Reaction. If you do not have a new enemy to choose within range, or you do not use your Reaction to recast this ability, it ends and cannot be reused until your next Short Rest.

So, I have a tattoo of the Spartan badge with "If not we, then who" in Russian below and I'm wondering if anyone knows of and in particular has pictures of others from the game? Or fan made ones?
Many thanks

My Fave, Zack:
You only have the benchmark of yourself. You don’t know how anyone else is gonna feel. You have to go: “Okay, do I find that emotionally real? Do I find that interesting? Those are the questions you ask yourself constantly.”
I’ll start with this: One time, Zack Snyder drew a sword on the floor of his gym with a scroll wrapped around it saying “The Land and the King are One.” Beneath the sword, he drew the Holy Grail.
I know this because – and I wish to make this clear at the beginning for those it may concern – I am a Zack Snyder fan. A pretty big one since I know stuff like how his favorite movie of all time is John Boorman’s Excalibur. He is obsessed with it. How Boorman is one of his favorite directors.
Maybe, I’m one of Zack Snyder’s biggest fans. I know that there’s an inscription on his gym drawing of the Holy Grail. HG 1886. Maybe I’m his number one fan, in fact, because I know that H.G., whilst also standing for Holy Grail, are Henry George’s initials. A one-time famous American economist who ran for NY governor in 1886. His platform: a form of land-first socialism that proposed abolishing private land-ownership entirely as it was the foundational means of production.
The Land and the King are one. Get it?
Anyway, the above translates to: This “essay” might not be for you.
I, its author, have seen all of Zack Snyder’s movies multiple times. I have watched Michael Jordan’s Playground, a small featurette Snyder directed at 24. I have seen dozens of his commercials. His music videos. I’ve read just about every interview he’s participated in. Stuff that’s not online. Stuff that you can only find if you search really hard. So long as it is possible, I’ve heard almost every word he’s spoken publicly.
I even know things I won’t tell you because I’m not sure I should know them.
Dawn of the Dead
”I’ll kill each and every one of you to stay alive, you hear me?” - C.J.
The first time I saw Zack’s debut feature, I liked it, but thought it was his weakest film. A journeyman entry. A little too devoid of his “flourishes”. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve always thought it was very well made. Slick, bold-looking, well-paced. Appropriately gory. It’s a nice genre movie, made by people who seem very knowledgeable about nice genre movies.
There was this [executive] at the screening, and he asked like “Would the zombies really do that? [Would they pause for a dramatic beat at the staircase, as they do in the film?]
And I said, you know what? [In real life,] they wouldn’t.
But I’ve actually come around on it. (I still think it’s the worst of these, beside the Owl film. But I’ve never been a big horror fan, and am even less of a fan of zombies.) Dawn’s a real part of his filmography, as much a part as any film he’s made. Thematically, most of all and most importantly.
Here's an excerpt from my Letterboxd review on one of my rewatches.

Dawn's got a great heart. At any point everything you've got going on right now can just stop. And a lot of stuff ceases to matter, a lot of social structures, and differences, and your job and all that. This film's like "Maybe think of the things that still matter regardless. And the “why” of that."

And from an earlier rewatch:

Sarah Polley's Ana has her generic suburban life shattered by the apocalypse, and soon it becomes clear how little everyday shit matters in the face of something as true as death.
The film argues that in the end, the thing that remains, that matters, is our connection to each other, and things like empathy and selflessness. These matter even in death. Cool.

It’s a pretty basic arc, most exemplified in CJ’s character. Who starts out, paranoid and selfish, but winds up accepting the group and ultimately sacrifices himself for the others. Another character literally starts out saying “Better them than me!” but obviously goes through the same arc.
CJ’s self-sacrifice is very important though. So is Jake Weber’s character’s. Because it is the first time in Snyder’s feature work that one of his most repeated tropes shows up.
His protagonists will always sacrifice themselves.
I’ll come back to that later.
Anyway, the movie ends with Down With the Sickness, a song by Disturbed. It’s the sort of thing Snyder calls a “rock and roll” ending.
[Unrelated: I’ve seen directors like Michael Bay and Marty Scorsese end their movies in similar manners, I believe that much like the Gunslinger firing into the audience in The Great Train Robbery, the “rock n’ roll ending” is intended in a way to disconnect the audience from the film’s reality. Wake them up.]
(Marty’s another one of Snyder’s all-time favorites, and according to him, his biggest influence.)
Anyway, the song is used twice in the movie actually. First, an ironic cover sung by comedian Richard Cheese (who would go on to further collaborate with Snyder multiple times), then the original. As we all know, Getting “down with the sickness” could mean accepting people for who they are, so that we can all be better. So, it’s fitting that it plays right as the gang, first of untrusting strangers, become close friends – and also as the gang gets assimilated by a horde of sick (get it?), infected, people.
”We start letting people in here, we’re gonna let the wrong ones in—”
”Who are the ‘wrong ones’, CJ?”
300
It's almost like Excalibur where you feel like it happened, but it still exists outside of the reality we know -- what's possible to us.
Snyder likes to point out that literally the first shot in 300 is the Spartans murdering their own kids, throwing them off a cliff.
The striking image of the valley of skulls is not in the comic. Literally the first shot of the movie, Zack likes to say.
Frank likes to create an abstract narrator… in some ways it becomes the viewer.
One of my favorite comics is Elektra Lives Again… he makes pictures inside of pictures.
Zack Snyder likes to talk about mythology, and is a huge fan of the sword and sorcery of the 70s and 80s. He loves the subjectivity in Miller’s work.
I'm watching fantastic things happening, like a guy flying... but also in that same moment: I'm seeing myself. I'm seeing my world.
In 300, as the Spartans brutally execute injured and prisoners, King Leonidas, eating an apple, running a spear through a Persian’s ribcage, quips “There’s no reason we can’t be civil!” – and he’s a hundred percent serious.
Snyder, up until he did Man of Steel, used to claim to have never made a “serious” movie. They were all “ironic”.
He says of this scene, that if at this point you don’t see what he’s going for; that if you’ve missed the ridiculous things the characters in this movie have said and done, and how they’ve said and done these things, then you’re probably missing the whole movie.
The scene itself brings to mind a moment in the comic Watchmen (not the film) where Nite Owl and Rorsharch share a genuinely touching moment, and then Nite Owl says he’s looking forward to some “nice brutality” – and he’s a hundred percent serious. I see in 300 gripping hyper-stylization, that’s also kind of tongue-in-cheek like an old sailor regaling his younger crew mates with the time he met a mermaid.
The changes Snyder makes to the comics, I think, reveal his intent with this adaptation. The characters, the Persians, the Spartans, have become myth. The Immortals, for instance, a group of elite soldiers in the comics, have become zombie ninjas in Snyder’s film. There’s an Uber Immortal who’s a giant. There are more fantastical elements. All the villains are monstrous, (more so than in Miller’s comic) dehumanized. The heroes are ripped. This probably never happened.
It's a story about the power of myth. Xerxes issues one serious threat to Leonidas, which is to wipe his stories from the history books, make it be that the Greek myth dies. But in the end, it is Xerxes who loses his mythical status (as a god, when he bleeds), his “Immortals” are killed by the thousands, his arrows that blot out the sun are a joke.
A story about the power of myth. And it’s told as myth. It’s basically propaganda commenting on itself.
”It is not the lash they fear. It is my divine power!” – Xerxes.
Pretty simple. Even the Spartan villain invented for the film is a cowardly rapist.
Some other things missing: the narration in the comics is not from Dillios as in the film. It’s no one. And lines like “Training can make a man a good warrior-- but a great warrior is crafted by the gods" are notably missing.
Very important to note is a line not in the comic “Before this ends, the world will know that even a God king can bleed.” In the comic, it’s tragic that Leonidas misses Xerxes with his spear. Xerxes just shrugs it off.
In the film, he is stunned and scared. The thing he threatened them with. It’s come upon him. His myth is broken.
However you feel about Herodotus, he wasn’t about to ruin a really great story with the truth. -- Z.S.
Watchmen
One of Zack Snyder’s favorite films is The Wild Bunch (1969), directed by one of his favorite directors, Sam Peckinpah. The influence s clear on Snyder’s work from Peckinpah’s slow-mo, stylized, deconstructionist western.
Here’s something Zack once said about Watchmen: I really wanted to show that the violence is real and that people get hurt and it's not fun or funny.
Here’s something Roger Ebert, popular American film critic, once said about The Wild Bunch: An important act of filmmaking, the film presents death and violence in such definitive (indeed, even excessive) terms that it becomes, paradoxically, a statement against violence and a reaction to it.
I remember an interview, from Watchmen’s promo tour, in which Zack Snyder talked about the pop depiction of violence in media. He thought it was “irresponsible”.
His Watchmen is often erroneously said to be a panel-to-shot adaptation. It doesn’t actually reference the compositions in the comic all that much. When he does, Snyder is translating a device Gibbons and Moore use in their very formally presented comic, wherein there are giant “comic book-y” splash images of key moments amidst its rigid nine-panel layout. Snyder, as you know, uses slow-mo.
A couple loose thoughts:
Ozymandias reminds me Snyder’s Lex Luthor.
There is a scene in the comic book wherein Rorsharch spares a woman who has wrong him because he sees himself in her small child. Moore says Rorschach has the most ferocious integrity, even if he’s insane. Moreso on both counts than the other characters.
He’s psychopathic in his pursuit of ‘justice’, whatever that is to him. He is a vigilante with a sort of black and white code – the world is not black and white. -Z.S.
Dan, in my opinion, is the character that gets the (mild) adaptational short stick. Perhaps due to runtime commitments, less emphasis is placed on his infantile mindset, which has him view the real world in simplistic comic book-y, pop-culture, terms. He is just as dangerous as any of the vigilantes. Moore says Nite-Owl’s mindset is a harbinger of fascism in a society. People call him an old man yelling at clouds, but he wasn’t that old in the 80s. Snyder frames almost every key relationship moment Dan experiences behind glass. One that comes to mind is when he has trouble getting it up with Silk Specter. Almost like to show how he can’t really form any real connections outside of the suit. But when he’s in it, we get scenes like when he finally gets mad at Rorsharch, and the camera tracks out from behind the glass as Dan lets his true feelings out.
Ozymandias says he only really relates to Alexander the Great. In a later Snyder movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex Luthor is also compared to Alexander. The story of Alexander’s solution to the Gordian Knot is told. When faced with a complicated problem, Alexander resorted to violence. He cut the rope. (Now, what’s the point then? BvS nudges.)
On Watchmen: Anytime you start to worship gods without reason, you have to break that down and look at what are the consequences of that.
I’m pretty obvious. It’s not like: ‘Zack Snyder weaves his web so subtly. He’s the most subtle filmmaker of our time.’ - Z.S.
”The message here is not subtle, but then Sam Peckinpah was not a subtle director.” - Roger Ebert.
”Noble intentions had lead me to atrocity.” - Ship Captain in The Black Freighter..
*”In the dream, they took me to the light. A beautiful lie.” – Batman, BvS: Dawn of Justice.
**
I really like how Watchmen opened. The fight scene with the Comedian and his murderer. It’s really well-directed, well-choreographed. The beats efficiently flowing, one to another, and you know these are trained fighters, and one of them is older, one is young. The old man knows this young guy has him beat. But he’s not going down without a fight. Dave Gibbons points out as much in his Watchmen Blu-ray commentary.
Having the story open on that scene is unique to the film. So, it the montage that follows, which consists almost entirely of shots and scenes not seen in the comic at all. And which is such a well-crafted sequence: the way it communicates the film’s themes, the pace of it, the way it’s a run through history, jumbled, yet ordered and coherent. It's modern, like a lot of Alan Moore’s work actually.
Take for instance, this thread: How the film cuts from the first A-bombing (and the plane is called the Ms. Jupiter, thus definitively linking the concept of the superhero to what the bomb represents), cuts from the first A-bombing to a shot of a newspaper declaring: JAPAN SURRENDERS. Everyone cheers. But soon, the RUSSIANS HAVE A-BOMB comes on screen, and the cold war is in full swing, you see that things are a little bit complicated. And it is followed later on by the image a pacifist monk, Quang Duc, ablaze, and a voice-over trails into our hearing saying: “that violence is not the path to peace.” All these amidst the lives, back and forth, of these superheroes. Running through pop history. You see the century go by. These characters bleed into mass media.
I'll be 100% honest. Sometimes I do get frustrated. I'm categorized as basically this visualist whose movies don't mean anything--
To me, one of the most striking differences between the comic and the movie is one of the least noticed. In the film, the Minutemen start to dress in costumes “to fight crime” because the villains did it first. It’s so telling. It fits with Moore’s point of view on it, but it’s been presented differently, in a way that reinforces story shared across both mediums.
This is a picture about unilateral violence. The idea of it, which permeates pop culture. Superheroes represent an almost celebratory idea of it. What Ozymandias does at its end, shows you the logical conclusion of it. It’s like that Rorsharch line that you can only find on posters “I wish all the criminals in the world had one neck. And that I had my hand around it.” Somewhere in the back of my mind, Sarah Polley is asking “Who are the criminals, Rorshach?”
"You haven't idealized mankind. You've mutilated it. Deformed it!"
Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’Hoole
I wanted to take the world a hundred percent seriously. Yes, it's a kid movie; the drama and the relationships all that we have to take it seriously.
“It's not glorious, it's not beautiful, it's not even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again, even if someday, you look like this.*
Snyder’s next film was an adaptation of a children’s book series. A band of misfit owls struggle against villainous fascists. Personally, this is my least favorite of his films. (I still like it.)
Though, Snyder’s obsession with mythology is present here. So is his approximate visual style, something close to his dad-type humor. But this a film that’s maybe a bit too talky, and violent, and slow paced for the kids, and too whimsical for the adults.
It’s about believing in the great stories, and chasing that dream of them. They’re not exactly representative of reality, but there’s still lessons you can draw from them. I’m seeing myself. I’m seeing my world.
Sucker Punch
”My dance is personal. It says who I am.” - Baby-doll.
Very, very, Moulin Rouge-inspired (with a dash of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil), Sucker Punch is Zack’s most controversial film. It’s also his film with the biggest fanbase outside of his usual demographic. The girls love it.
It’s a simple story, Baby tries to take her life back, as out of her control as it seems; her image, how she’s perceived, her name, her sexuality.
“The world you control,” Carla Gugino’s Madam Gorsky tells her; “it can be as real as any pain.” It’s about escaping into the mind. It’s his darkest film ever perhaps.
Ultimately her freedom comes, only when she gives herself up [for another patient/prisoner]. “It’s the only way we win,” she says.
The girls say Sucker Punch comments on a culture that values a woman only as an object of titillation, they say it comments on itself as well. Zack once said the film was a “fuck you, to some people who might’ve watched it”. He’s the one who encouraged the movie’s misleading marketing campaign, touting it as escapist. He says the titular “Sucker Punch” is when the viewer finds that the movie isn’t a breezy riff on Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.
At a post-screening Q&A around the time of the film’s release, Zack spoke about how he thought the way genre films portrayed women was akin to a brothel. That they were objectified. About the movie he said:

The women take back the power from the men, best they can, and maybe by the end, you accept they are powerful and that they can succeed. But my belief was that in the end, that’s an illusion created by Hollywood. Sorta like in the genre [film] world, and best we can hope for is to be lobotomized. It’s horrible. I apologize.

Personally, I’ve seen Sucker Punch quite a number of times. Sometimes, it’s the greatest thing on Earth. I find it very affecting, regardless of structural problems what may exist. After all, this is the one Snyder film with the most unresolved studio-driven changes to his intended vision.
Sucker Punch was me asking myself, what is the why of all this? In a way, I was parodying my own style – that sounds crazy.
Man of Steel
”You were afraid the truth would come out?”
No. The truth about you… is beautiful.”
I’ll start with something a little funny, and completely irrelevant. In 2009, Larry Fong, Snyder’s close collaborating cinematographer and best-friend, talked about the three major things Zack didn’t like in his movies. They were zooms, hand-held camera, and POV shots. Man of Steel is almost entirely made up of snap-zooms, and it’s shot hand-held, and we constantly cut to Kryptonian POV shots.
To me, Superman represents the spirit of volunteerism and self-sacrifice. I think that’s a good thing for everyone – I hope it’s not gotten to the point where that’s “uncool”. - Z.S.
“The only way for you to disappear is to stop helping people altogether,” Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams, says; “I sense that’s not an option for you.”
“The truth about you is beautiful. One day, the whole world will see it.”
Considering the above as presented, I’ll try and be brief here.
Man of Steel is a simple coming-of-age story about the importance of letting a child be who they want to be, and are. The parents nurture the child, protect them, support them. Trusting all the while that a time will come for the good inherent in that child to shine. That flight is in their nature.
In fact, this bit where altruism and good are considered intrinsic to our nature is a huge part of the philosophy behind Zack’s Dawn of Justice “trilogy”.
I will speak more on this now.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Like everyone else, I have four favorites listed on my letterboxd. 1961’s West Side Story, Gravity, Batman v Superman, and Larissa Shepitko’s The Ascent. There is no order, I regarded them all as the films closest to my heart.
I saw BvS the same year I first saw Ivanovo detstvo and Citizen Kane. And thus, I’ll admit: Yes, I was rather young. But even back then, I’d found it unique even among Snyder’s DC films. Transporting, engrossing, and sincere, and operatic.
At a time, I’d only just begun to pay a different attention to the film’s I watched, I could see that MoS was about choice, that BvS was about consequence.
A deconstruction of the superhero most associated with weaponized fear. A weapon he’s inherited from his father. That we see can turn into nightmarish paranoia that has consumed him.
Everyone’s spotted the similarities shared with Watchmen. One of the more obvious ones being the genius billionaire villain, descended from Germany. Who believes himself worthy of unilateral power because of his intellect.
There’s also the alien monster bioweapon. And being inspired by Alexander of Macedonia, and referencing the Gordian knot.
“The bittersweet pain among men,” Lex says, in a rare moment of sincerity; “is having knowledge without power.”
Anyway, BvS is a story about empathy triumphing over paranoia.
“Words don’t stop him,” Clark Kent is told about Batman. “You want to know what stops him? A fist!”
This is a story wherein, time and time again, the Gordian Knot is cut and cut again. Foregoing nuance, the CIA drone-strikes a rebel general’s compound rather than get caught brokering with him. We know how that ends. The US President nukes Doomsday almost on a whim, and because of this, the creature grows powerful enough to kill Superman. Japan Surrenders. It’s always the unilateral violence.
The only comic book films that show torture to be an inefficient method of interrogation are this and ZSJL. To my best knowledge, at least.
They say only a fist can stop him. Yet it is a word, his mother’s name, that does. More importantly, it is Superman’s willingness to sacrifice himself that is the turning point for Bruce Wayne. Later we find out he was even moved to tears.
It is direct reproach to Lex’s question. Both he and Bruce believed that because Superman (or just about anyone) might be capable of evil, that it is almost a certainty that they’ll act in that capacity once they get the chance. [This is illogical actually, social animals don’t work like that.]
“The truth about you is beautiful.”
Zack Snyder’s Justice League

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world.

Zack loves this quote. “I tend to leave out the bad part of it,” he says. [To me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—nor woman neither.]
“Honor us,” an Amazonian calls out with her final breath. With a good death, she means. Batman sends the Justice League into battle, so that they’ll be to preoccupied to save him when he attempts suicide yet again. This film opens with Snyder’s most repeated trope: Superman, his protagonist, fucking dies. Sacrifice.
It's almost like Zack’s riffing on himself. It’s in the name. It is a film about parenthood from a father of eight children. About myth, by the lover of myth. About that view of humanity, Cyborg is told that flight is his nature. That the truth about him is beautiful. It is about kids who’ve been raised by complicated parent figures. It is about a band of misfits uniting to struggle against a fascist. It is about grief. It is dedicated to his daughter. We hear Distant Sky by Nick Cave, which he wrote as he mourned his child, which plays over Lois’ quiet hurt at Superman’s memorial.
Ray Fisher’s Cyborg has an arc that mirror’s Superman. About a boy who’s good in a society that doesn’t yet always appreciate being so, that doesn’t always support it, that sometimes punishes it. He gets in trouble with the principal for helping a struggling classmate out. “Victor has a good heart,” his mother says.
And I just want to say, that as an autistic person, I really, really, related to the Flash for some reason. There are so many little things in that portrayal. Like the others, he does not fit in; he breaks the glass, his shoes, the laws of physics.
Diana in ZSJL reveals that she inherited a hatred for Atlanteans from her mother. She has a small arc in the movie where she actually meets one, and he is actually a really good guy who saves her life, acts nice to her, and reveals that their cultures even have some shared sayings.
Same with Arthur, whose mother abandoned him. But to be a hero to her people. Now he has to live up to her, but he also resents her. She’s gone.
By the end of the film, Diana stares off longingly into the sea, wishing to reconnect with her mom.
I gave maybe more of myself than I should have to the movie… that can be painful, because someone can stomp on it and crush you. Or they can embrace it and love it,… I didn’t think it was possible – I gotta be honest.
Army of the Dead
”What if we did something just for us?”
”We could die.”

• Scott and Maria.

The thing is, they were always going to die. “This is crazy. you all are going to die,” a character yells as he storms away from the heist plan. Zack winks at us. They’re going to die. It’s inevitable. When the heist crew reaches the casino they’re supposed to rob, they find their own corpses. It is right in their faces. From a certain point of view, because of how inevitable their ironically unexpected demises are, they’re already dead.
Characters muse about this inevitability a lot in Snyder’s films. Jor-El speaking to a council in denial as Krypton collapses on itself. Rocket in Sucker Punch in another bit of dramatic irony. Scott Glenn for some reason. The vigilantes in Watchmen brood under the constant tick, tick, ticking of the Doomsday Clock.
“Our days are numbered,” the Comedian says in the movie, and not the book.
The 300 know they’re on a suicide mission.
Those are people who died, died, died, the needle-drop cheerfully chimes intercut with images of the “surviving” characters in Dawn.
The Justice League saves the day, but five years later, the world is dead anyway.
What’s interesting about AotD is how clueless the characters are to their fate. That’s the whole movie actually. They all die. So, what have they been doing with their lives?
They lose the money, they die.
Bautista’s Scott is a father trying to make up for his absence with his daughter. He thinks if he can give her all this money, maybe she’ll forgive him. He doesn’t realize until it’s too late that all he’s had to ever do was *be there.
In his final moments, before he succumbs to the bites, as he stares at his daughter, as she stares back, savoring these precious few seconds; it comes to him. This is all that matters.
I think it’s a little noteworthy that Zack often with a tinge of sadness and regret repeats a question his daughter asked him after getting old enough to watching Dawn of the Dead. “This is what you missed my childhood for, dad?”
I don’t want to make any assumptions. But this is his first feature made after his family tragedy.
In DotD, the characters, faced with death, realize what’s truly important. In AotD, most of them don’t. At least not until the last second.
It’s tragic. It’s absurdist. Maybe a good death is its own reward. Sometimes, the only respite, when it seems too late to truly connect with others, is sacrifice. Maybe it is not too late.
I feel like my life is just in the pursuit of this aesthetic, and I used to wonder about the "why?" of it. [But I don’t anymore]. Now I feel like, when I'm making an image or a shooting a picture, if I like the way it feels... that's enough. I mean, they're still stories and you can derive lessons from them, I hope. That's cool. But in the moment to moment…
At a fan event, Zack once talked about the influence cinematographer Matt Leonentti (Breaking Away, Poltergeist) had on him when they worked on Dawn together. It was just Zack’s debut, and the veteran Leonetti had taken him under his wing. One day, a couple weeks into shooting, as Zack dutifully implement new incoming studio notes to his script, Leonetti asked him “What the hell are you doing? It’s not like they can fire you now.”
Interview with ifmagazine.com on shooting Watchmen:

The way I do it, I rewrite the script when I draw out a movie. Then I have a storyboard. I basically set up page one of the script and the graphic novel and I go “what’s the first frame going to be?” Then I start drawing. Then later, I’ve got this big book of 3000 drawings and that’s the movie. That’s the way it will be shot. I had to rewrite the script after that, because I changed the script so much with the drawings. I had to rewrite the dialogue. Whenever you make a movie, you get a copy of the script and that’s the movie. [The studio] knew from 300 that the script doesn’t really matter [to me]. It’s a document. It has nothing to do with what we’re shooting.

He's explained now, that the studio can make whatever notes they want to the script. They’ll put them in. He might even shoot them. But everyone on his crew works off his incredibly detailed storyboards, and they’ll shoot that too. [This is how he got away with a four hour cut of Justice League, despite two producers on-set specifically to enforce the mandate to keep the movie under two.]
When he draws, it’s months of solitude, as he dreams the movie out in its entirety. His dances are personal to him. Usually, he listens to what will become the film’s soundtrack. They say who he is.
Zack’s a dad. He has tattoo representations of his eight kids drawn all over his body. More than half of these kids are adopted. So is Superman.
His Dawn of Justice movies have, as part of their central drama, dealing with your parents’ complicated legacy.
“This is my legacy,” Bruce Wayne literally says of his vigilantism. There’s a really cool shot in the opening sequence, (borrowed from F. Miller), where Zack frames Thomas’ hand turning into a fist over Bruce’s face. Swinging at a gun.
The parents on their part, flawed as they may be, often jut want the best for their kids. Just want that they be themselves.
When Superman returns to life, his mother’s first question is not “Is it really you?” but “Are you really you?” Barry’s dad asks him to forget him, if he’s the one causing to hold back so much. Victor’s dad sacrifices himself, hoping to atone.
“Show them who you are. Fly, son.”
”Flight is its nature.”
“Give them hope. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief in the potential for every person to be a force for good.”
He wears his heart on his sleeve. You can tell he loves Frazetta and Conan the Barbarian. He thinks his movies can feel a little “jagged.”
You can’t make a movie on consensus because someone always going to go “I’m offended by that by that thing!” I don’t want to see those kinds of people in the movie and then suddenly…, You know we need the artist to take us on a journey. I wanna see a movie with a transgender lead. Take me there. That’s what being alive is about.
We have to stand up for the disenfranchised. That’s how I feel.
Sometimes, he builds sand “mandalas” at the beach. A reminder for him to be mindful of death and impermanence. Once he’s done building the thing with sand, the ocean comes and washes it away. It’s gone. I think he got the concept from Buddhism.
”Our days are numbered.”
He says to remember what’s “really” important. The “why” of it, he calls it.
You’re just gonna be chasing something that’s not real if you don’t enjoy the journey. The “thing” is fleeting.
You know he means life.
The movies as a combination of pictures and design and acting and music can create an experience that is outside of the experience that you can actually have in reality. Which gets to my motion picture philosophy.
This essay’s about to end rather abruptly. If you ask, “So, why’s he your ‘fave’?” I might respond, “Why does anyone love anything? First because it is there. That's obvious. I saw BvS the same impressionable year I saw Citizen Kane.
But also, because of something I can't put to words. The true “why” of it. Maybe this is what I've been writing about all this time."
https://tenor.com/view/tar-lydia-tar-gif-27121110
Have you noticed that characters in Zack’s movies don’t like ranged fighting? WW hates people who kill those “they cannot see”. Superman really hates drone warfare. The Persians are called cowards for using arrows. Zack begs his DPs every movie to let him operate the camera. He says he’d rather be in the thick of things. Hands on.
I’ve noticed too.
People are like: ‘Aren’t you trying to make the movies as real as you can?’
I’m like, I’m really not. Reality’s its own thing. And I’m not really into reality that much. I’m into this cinematic stylized reality that can comment on reality. It’s like the most beautiful parts of reality and the saddest parts, but it’s none of this middle ground.
TLDR
“Speak the truth before God. We know this fellow is a sinner.”
“Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know,” the man replied.
“All I know is this: once I was blind, and now I can see.”
The Land and the King are One.

My Fave, Zack:
You only have the benchmark of yourself. You don’t know how anyone else is gonna feel. You have to go: “Okay, do I find that emotionally real? Do I find that interesting? Those are the questions you ask yourself constantly.”
I’ll start with this: One time, Zack Snyder drew a sword on the floor of his gym with a scroll wrapped around it saying “The Land and the King are One.” Beneath the sword, he drew the Holy Grail.
I know this because – and I wish to make this clear at the beginning for those it may concern – I am a Zack Snyder fan. A pretty big one since I know stuff like how his favorite movie of all time is John Boorman’s Excalibur. He is obsessed with it. How Boorman is one of his favorite directors.
Maybe, I’m one of Zack Snyder’s biggest fans. I know that there’s an inscription on his gym drawing of the Holy Grail. HG 1886. Maybe I’m his number one fan, in fact, because I know that H.G., whilst also standing for Holy Grail, are Henry George’s initials. A one-time famous American economist who ran for NY governor in 1886. His platform: a form of land-first socialism that proposed abolishing private land-ownership entirely as it was the foundational means of production.
The Land and the King are one. Get it?
Anyway, the above translates to: This “essay” might not be for you.
I, its author, have seen all of Zack Snyder’s movies multiple times. I have watched Michael Jordan’s Playground, a small featurette Snyder directed at 24. I have seen dozens of his commercials. His music videos. I’ve read just about every interview he’s participated in. Stuff that’s not online. Stuff that you can only find if you search really hard. So long as it is possible, I’ve heard almost every word he’s spoken publicly.
I even know things I won’t tell you because I’m not sure I should know them.
Dawn of the Dead
”I’ll kill each and every one of you to stay alive, you hear me?” - C.J.
The first time I saw Zack’s debut feature, I liked it, but thought it was his weakest film. A journeyman entry. A little too devoid of his “flourishes”. Don’t get me wrong though, I’ve always thought it was very well made. Slick, bold-looking, well-paced. Appropriately gory. It’s a nice genre movie, made by people who seem very knowledgeable about nice genre movies.
There was this [executive] at the screening, and he asked like “Would the zombies really do that? [Would they pause for a dramatic beat at the staircase, as they do in the film?]
And I said, you know what? [In real life,] they wouldn’t.
But I’ve actually come around on it. (I still think it’s the worst of these, beside the Owl film. But I’ve never been a big horror fan, and am even less of a fan of zombies.) Dawn’s a real part of his filmography, as much a part as any film he’s made. Thematically, most of all and most importantly.
Here's an excerpt from my Letterboxd review on one of my rewatches.

Dawn's got a great heart. At any point everything you've got going on right now can just stop. And a lot of stuff ceases to matter, a lot of social structures, and differences, and your job and all that. This film's like "Maybe think of the things that still matter regardless. And the “why” of that."

And from an earlier rewatch:

Sarah Polley's Ana has her generic suburban life shattered by the apocalypse, and soon it becomes clear how little everyday shit matters in the face of something as true as death.
The film argues that in the end, the thing that remains, that matters, is our connection to each other, and things like empathy and selflessness. These matter even in death. Cool.

It’s a pretty basic arc, most exemplified in CJ’s character. Who starts out, paranoid and selfish, but winds up accepting the group and ultimately sacrifices himself for the others. Another character literally starts out saying “Better them than me!” but obviously goes through the same arc.
CJ’s self-sacrifice is very important though. So is Jake Weber’s character’s. Because it is the first time in Snyder’s feature work that one of his most repeated tropes shows up.
His protagonists will always sacrifice themselves.
I’ll come back to that later.
Anyway, the movie ends with Down With the Sickness, a song by Disturbed. It’s the sort of thing Snyder calls a “rock and roll” ending.
[Unrelated: I’ve seen directors like Michael Bay and Marty Scorsese end their movies in similar manners, I believe that much like the Gunslinger firing into the audience in The Great Train Robbery, the “rock n’ roll ending” is intended in a way to disconnect the audience from the film’s reality. Wake them up.]
(Marty’s another one of Snyder’s all-time favorites, and according to him, his biggest influence.)
Anyway, the song is used twice in the movie actually. First, an ironic cover sung by comedian Richard Cheese (who would go on to further collaborate with Snyder multiple times), then the original. As we all know, Getting “down with the sickness” could mean accepting people for who they are, so that we can all be better. So, it’s fitting that it plays right as the gang, first of untrusting strangers, become close friends – and also as the gang gets assimilated by a horde of sick (get it?), infected, people.
”We start letting people in here, we’re gonna let the wrong ones in—”
”Who are the ‘wrong ones’, CJ?”
300
It's almost like Excalibur where you feel like it happened, but it still exists outside of the reality we know -- what's possible to us.
Snyder likes to point out that literally the first shot in 300 is the Spartans murdering their own kids, throwing them off a cliff.
The striking image of the valley of skulls is not in the comic. Literally the first shot of the movie, Zack likes to say.
Frank likes to create an abstract narrator… in some ways it becomes the viewer.
One of my favorite comics is Elektra Lives Again… he makes pictures inside of pictures.
Zack Snyder likes to talk about mythology, and is a huge fan of the sword and sorcery of the 70s and 80s. He loves the subjectivity in Miller’s work.
I'm watching fantastic things happening, like a guy flying... but also in that same moment: I'm seeing myself. I'm seeing my world.
In 300, as the Spartans brutally execute injured and prisoners, King Leonidas, eating an apple, running a spear through a Persian’s ribcage, quips “There’s no reason we can’t be civil!” – and he’s a hundred percent serious.
Snyder, up until he did Man of Steel, used to claim to have never made a “serious” movie. They were all “ironic”.
He says of this scene, that if at this point you don’t see what he’s going for; that if you’ve missed the ridiculous things the characters in this movie have said and done, and how they’ve said and done these things, then you’re probably missing the whole movie.
The scene itself brings to mind a moment in the comic Watchmen (not the film) where Nite Owl and Rorsharch share a genuinely touching moment, and then Nite Owl says he’s looking forward to some “nice brutality” – and he’s a hundred percent serious. I see in 300 gripping hyper-stylization, that’s also kind of tongue-in-cheek like an old sailor regaling his younger crew mates with the time he met a mermaid.
The changes Snyder makes to the comics, I think, reveal his intent with this adaptation. The characters, the Persians, the Spartans, have become myth. The Immortals, for instance, a group of elite soldiers in the comics, have become zombie ninjas in Snyder’s film. There’s an Uber Immortal who’s a giant. There are more fantastical elements. All the villains are monstrous, (more so than in Miller’s comic) dehumanized. The heroes are ripped. This probably never happened.
It's a story about the power of myth. Xerxes issues one serious threat to Leonidas, which is to wipe his stories from the history books, make it be that the Greek myth dies. But in the end, it is Xerxes who loses his mythical status (as a god, when he bleeds), his “Immortals” are killed by the thousands, his arrows that blot out the sun are a joke.
A story about the power of myth. And it’s told as myth. It’s basically propaganda commenting on itself.
”It is not the lash they fear. It is my divine power!” – Xerxes.
Pretty simple. Even the Spartan villain invented for the film is a cowardly rapist.
Some other things missing: the narration in the comics is not from Dillios as in the film. It’s no one. And lines like “Training can make a man a good warrior-- but a great warrior is crafted by the gods" are notably missing.
Very important to note is a line not in the comic “Before this ends, the world will know that even a God king can bleed.” In the comic, it’s tragic that Leonidas misses Xerxes with his spear. Xerxes just shrugs it off.
In the film, he is stunned and scared. The thing he threatened them with. It’s come upon him. His myth is broken.
However you feel about Herodotus, he wasn’t about to ruin a really great story with the truth. -- Z.S.
Watchmen
One of Zack Snyder’s favorite films is The Wild Bunch (1969), directed by one of his favorite directors, Sam Peckinpah. The influence s clear on Snyder’s work from Peckinpah’s slow-mo, stylized, deconstructionist western.
Here’s something Zack once said about Watchmen: I really wanted to show that the violence is real and that people get hurt and it's not fun or funny.
Here’s something Roger Ebert, popular American film critic, once said about The Wild Bunch: An important act of filmmaking, the film presents death and violence in such definitive (indeed, even excessive) terms that it becomes, paradoxically, a statement against violence and a reaction to it.
I remember an interview, from Watchmen’s promo tour, in which Zack Snyder talked about the pop depiction of violence in media. He thought it was “irresponsible”.
His Watchmen is often erroneously said to be a panel-to-shot adaptation. It doesn’t actually reference the compositions in the comic all that much. When he does, Snyder is translating a device Gibbons and Moore use in their very formally presented comic, wherein there are giant “comic book-y” splash images of key moments amidst its rigid nine-panel layout. Snyder, as you know, uses slow-mo.
A couple loose thoughts:
Ozymandias reminds me Snyder’s Lex Luthor.
There is a scene in the comic book wherein Rorsharch spares a woman who has wrong him because he sees himself in her small child. Moore says Rorschach has the most ferocious integrity, even if he’s insane. Moreso on both counts than the other characters.
He’s psychopathic in his pursuit of ‘justice’, whatever that is to him. He is a vigilante with a sort of black and white code – the world is not black and white. -Z.S.
Dan, in my opinion, is the character that gets the (mild) adaptational short stick. Perhaps due to runtime commitments, less emphasis is placed on his infantile mindset, which has him view the real world in simplistic comic book-y, pop-culture, terms. He is just as dangerous as any of the vigilantes. Moore says Nite-Owl’s mindset is a harbinger of fascism in a society. People call him an old man yelling at clouds, but he wasn’t that old in the 80s. Snyder frames almost every key relationship moment Dan experiences behind glass. One that comes to mind is when he has trouble getting it up with Silk Specter. Almost like to show how he can’t really form any real connections outside of the suit. But when he’s in it, we get scenes like when he finally gets mad at Rorsharch, and the camera tracks out from behind the glass as Dan lets his true feelings out.
Ozymandias says he only really relates to Alexander the Great. In a later Snyder movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Lex Luthor is also compared to Alexander. The story of Alexander’s solution to the Gordian Knot is told. When faced with a complicated problem, Alexander resorted to violence. He cut the rope. (Now, what’s the point then? BvS nudges.)
On Watchmen: Anytime you start to worship gods without reason, you have to break that down and look at what are the consequences of that.
I’m pretty obvious. It’s not like: ‘Zack Snyder weaves his web so subtly. He’s the most subtle filmmaker of our time.’ - Z.S.
”The message here is not subtle, but then Sam Peckinpah was not a subtle director.” - Roger Ebert.
”Noble intentions had lead me to atrocity.” - Ship Captain in The Black Freighter..
*”In the dream, they took me to the light. A beautiful lie.” – Batman, BvS: Dawn of Justice.
**
I really like how Watchmen opened. The fight scene with the Comedian and his murderer. It’s really well-directed, well-choreographed. The beats efficiently flowing, one to another, and you know these are trained fighters, and one of them is older, one is young. The old man knows this young guy has him beat. But he’s not going down without a fight. Dave Gibbons points out as much in his Watchmen Blu-ray commentary.
Having the story open on that scene is unique to the film. So, it the montage that follows, which consists almost entirely of shots and scenes not seen in the comic at all. And which is such a well-crafted sequence: the way it communicates the film’s themes, the pace of it, the way it’s a run through history, jumbled, yet ordered and coherent. It's modern, like a lot of Alan Moore’s work actually.
Take for instance, this thread: How the film cuts from the first A-bombing (and the plane is called the Ms. Jupiter, thus definitively linking the concept of the superhero to what the bomb represents), cuts from the first A-bombing to a shot of a newspaper declaring: JAPAN SURRENDERS. Everyone cheers. But soon, the RUSSIANS HAVE A-BOMB comes on screen, and the cold war is in full swing, you see that things are a little bit complicated. And it is followed later on by the image a pacifist monk, Quang Duc, ablaze, and a voice-over trails into our hearing saying: “that violence is not the path to peace.” All these amidst the lives, back and forth, of these superheroes. Running through pop history. You see the century go by. These characters bleed into mass media.
I'll be 100% honest. Sometimes I do get frustrated. I'm categorized as basically this visualist whose movies don't mean anything--
To me, one of the most striking differences between the comic and the movie is one of the least noticed. In the film, the Minutemen start to dress in costumes “to fight crime” because the villains did it first. It’s so telling. It fits with Moore’s point of view on it, but it’s been presented differently, in a way that reinforces story shared across both mediums.
This is a picture about unilateral violence. The idea of it, which permeates pop culture. Superheroes represent an almost celebratory idea of it. What Ozymandias does at its end, shows you the logical conclusion of it. It’s like that Rorsharch line that you can only find on posters “I wish all the criminals in the world had one neck. And that I had my hand around it.” Somewhere in the back of my mind, Sarah Polley is asking “Who are the criminals, Rorshach?”
"You haven't idealized mankind. You've mutilated it. Deformed it!"
Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga’Hoole
I wanted to take the world a hundred percent seriously. Yes, it's a kid movie; the drama and the relationships all that we have to take it seriously.
“It's not glorious, it's not beautiful, it's not even heroic. It's merely doing what's right, and doing it again and again, even if someday, you look like this.*
Snyder’s next film was an adaptation of a children’s book series. A band of misfit owls struggle against villainous fascists. Personally, this is my least favorite of his films. (I still like it.)
Though, Snyder’s obsession with mythology is present here. So is his approximate visual style, something close to his dad-type humor. But this a film that’s maybe a bit too talky, and violent, and slow paced for the kids, and too whimsical for the adults.
It’s about believing in the great stories, and chasing that dream of them. They’re not exactly representative of reality, but there’s still lessons you can draw from them. I’m seeing myself. I’m seeing my world.
Sucker Punch
”My dance is personal. It says who I am.” - Baby-doll.
Very, very, Moulin Rouge-inspired (with a dash of Terry Gilliam’s Brazil), Sucker Punch is Zack’s most controversial film. It’s also his film with the biggest fanbase outside of his usual demographic. The girls love it.
It’s a simple story, Baby tries to take her life back, as out of her control as it seems; her image, how she’s perceived, her name, her sexuality.
“The world you control,” Carla Gugino’s Madam Gorsky tells her; “it can be as real as any pain.” It’s about escaping into the mind. It’s his darkest film ever perhaps.
Ultimately her freedom comes, only when she gives herself up [for another patient/prisoner]. “It’s the only way we win,” she says.
The girls say Sucker Punch comments on a culture that values a woman only as an object of titillation, they say it comments on itself as well. Zack once said the film was a “fuck you, to some people who might’ve watched it”. He’s the one who encouraged the movie’s misleading marketing campaign, touting it as escapist. He says the titular “Sucker Punch” is when the viewer finds that the movie isn’t a breezy riff on Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.
At a post-screening Q&A around the time of the film’s release, Zack spoke about how he thought the way genre films portrayed women was akin to a brothel. That they were objectified. About the movie he said:

The women take back the power from the men, best they can, and maybe by the end, you accept they are powerful and that they can succeed. But my belief was that in the end, that’s an illusion created by Hollywood. Sorta like in the genre [film] world, and best we can hope for is to be lobotomized. It’s horrible. I apologize.

Personally, I’ve seen Sucker Punch quite a number of times. Sometimes, it’s the greatest thing on Earth. I find it very affecting, regardless of structural problems what may exist. After all, this is the one Snyder film with the most unresolved studio-driven changes to his intended vision.
Sucker Punch was me asking myself, what is the why of all this? In a way, I was parodying my own style – that sounds crazy.
Man of Steel
”You were afraid the truth would come out?”
No. The truth about you… is beautiful.”
I’ll start with something a little funny, and completely irrelevant. In 2009, Larry Fong, Snyder’s close collaborating cinematographer and best-friend, talked about the three major things Zack didn’t like in his movies. They were zooms, hand-held camera, and POV shots. Man of Steel is almost entirely made up of snap-zooms, and it’s shot hand-held, and we constantly cut to Kryptonian POV shots.
To me, Superman represents the spirit of volunteerism and self-sacrifice. I think that’s a good thing for everyone – I hope it’s not gotten to the point where that’s “uncool”. - Z.S.
“The only way for you to disappear is to stop helping people altogether,” Lois Lane, played by Amy Adams, says; “I sense that’s not an option for you.”
“The truth about you is beautiful. One day, the whole world will see it.”
Considering the above as presented, I’ll try and be brief here.
Man of Steel is a simple coming-of-age story about the importance of letting a child be who they want to be, and are. The parents nurture the child, protect them, support them. Trusting all the while that a time will come for the good inherent in that child to shine. That flight is in their nature.
In fact, this bit where altruism and good are considered intrinsic to our nature is a huge part of the philosophy behind Zack’s Dawn of Justice “trilogy”.
I will speak more on this now.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Like everyone else, I have four favorites listed on my letterboxd. 1961’s West Side Story, Gravity, Batman v Superman, and Larissa Shepitko’s The Ascent. There is no order, I regarded them all as the films closest to my heart.
I saw BvS the same year I first saw Ivanovo detstvo and Citizen Kane. And thus, I’ll admit: Yes, I was rather young. But even back then, I’d found it unique even among Snyder’s DC films. Transporting, engrossing, and sincere, and operatic.
At a time, I’d only just begun to pay a different attention to the film’s I watched, I could see that MoS was about choice, that BvS was about consequence.
A deconstruction of the superhero most associated with weaponized fear. A weapon he’s inherited from his father. That we see can turn into nightmarish paranoia that has consumed him.
Everyone’s spotted the similarities shared with Watchmen. One of the more obvious ones being the genius billionaire villain, descended from Germany. Who believes himself worthy of unilateral power because of his intellect.
There’s also the alien monster bioweapon. And being inspired by Alexander of Macedonia, and referencing the Gordian knot.
“The bittersweet pain among men,” Lex says, in a rare moment of sincerity; “is having knowledge without power.”
Anyway, BvS is a story about empathy triumphing over paranoia.
“Words don’t stop him,” Clark Kent is told about Batman. “You want to know what stops him? A fist!”
This is a story wherein, time and time again, the Gordian Knot is cut and cut again. Foregoing nuance, the CIA drone-strikes a rebel general’s compound rather than get caught brokering with him. We know how that ends. The US President nukes Doomsday almost on a whim, and because of this, the creature grows powerful enough to kill Superman. Japan Surrenders. It’s always the unilateral violence.
The only comic book films that show torture to be an inefficient method of interrogation are this and ZSJL. To my best knowledge, at least.
They say only a fist can stop him. Yet it is a word, his mother’s name, that does. More importantly, it is Superman’s willingness to sacrifice himself that is the turning point for Bruce Wayne. Later we find out he was even moved to tears.
It is direct reproach to Lex’s question. Both he and Bruce believed that because Superman (or just about anyone) might be capable of evil, that it is almost a certainty that they’ll act in that capacity once they get the chance. [This is illogical actually, social animals don’t work like that.]
“The truth about you is beautiful.”
Zack Snyder’s Justice League

What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world.

Zack loves this quote. “I tend to leave out the bad part of it,” he says. [To me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me—nor woman neither.]
“Honor us,” an Amazonian calls out with her final breath. With a good death, she means. Batman sends the Justice League into battle, so that they’ll be to preoccupied to save him when he attempts suicide yet again. This film opens with Snyder’s most repeated trope: Superman, his protagonist, fucking dies. Sacrifice.
It's almost like Zack’s riffing on himself. It’s in the name. It is a film about parenthood from a father of eight children. About myth, by the lover of myth. About that view of humanity, Cyborg is told that flight is his nature. That the truth about him is beautiful. It is about kids who’ve been raised by complicated parent figures. It is about a band of misfits uniting to struggle against a fascist. It is about grief. It is dedicated to his daughter. We hear Distant Sky by Nick Cave, which he wrote as he mourned his child, which plays over Lois’ quiet hurt at Superman’s memorial.
Ray Fisher’s Cyborg has an arc that mirror’s Superman. About a boy who’s good in a society that doesn’t yet always appreciate being so, that doesn’t always support it, that sometimes punishes it. He gets in trouble with the principal for helping a struggling classmate out. “Victor has a good heart,” his mother says.
And I just want to say, that as an autistic person, I really, really, related to the Flash for some reason. There are so many little things in that portrayal. Like the others, he does not fit in; he breaks the glass, his shoes, the laws of physics.
Diana in ZSJL reveals that she inherited a hatred for Atlanteans from her mother. She has a small arc in the movie where she actually meets one, and he is actually a really good guy who saves her life, acts nice to her, and reveals that their cultures even have some shared sayings.
Same with Arthur, whose mother abandoned him. But to be a hero to her people. Now he has to live up to her, but he also resents her. She’s gone.
By the end of the film, Diana stares off longingly into the sea, wishing to reconnect with her mom.
I gave maybe more of myself than I should have to the movie… that can be painful, because someone can stomp on it and crush you. Or they can embrace it and love it,… I didn’t think it was possible – I gotta be honest.
Army of the Dead
”What if we did something just for us?”
”We could die.”

• Scott and Maria.

The thing is, they were always going to die. “This is crazy. you all are going to die,” a character yells as he storms away from the heist plan. Zack winks at us. They’re going to die. It’s inevitable. When the heist crew reaches the casino they’re supposed to rob, they find their own corpses. It is right in their faces. From a certain point of view, because of how inevitable their ironically unexpected demises are, they’re already dead.
Characters muse about this inevitability a lot in Snyder’s films. Jor-El speaking to a council in denial as Krypton collapses on itself. Rocket in Sucker Punch in another bit of dramatic irony. Scott Glenn for some reason. The vigilantes in Watchmen brood under the constant tick, tick, ticking of the Doomsday Clock.
“Our days are numbered,” the Comedian says in the movie, and not the book.
The 300 know they’re on a suicide mission.
Those are people who died, died, died, the needle-drop cheerfully chimes intercut with images of the “surviving” characters in Dawn.
The Justice League saves the day, but five years later, the world is dead anyway.
What’s interesting about AotD is how clueless the characters are to their fate. That’s the whole movie actually. They all die. So, what have they been doing with their lives?
They lose the money, they die.
Bautista’s Scott is a father trying to make up for his absence with his daughter. He thinks if he can give her all this money, maybe she’ll forgive him. He doesn’t realize until it’s too late that all he’s had to ever do was *be there.
In his final moments, before he succumbs to the bites, as he stares at his daughter, as she stares back, savoring these precious few seconds; it comes to him. This is all that matters.
I think it’s a little noteworthy that Zack often with a tinge of sadness and regret repeats a question his daughter asked him after getting old enough to watching Dawn of the Dead. “This is what you missed my childhood for, dad?”
I don’t want to make any assumptions. But this is his first feature made after his family tragedy.
In DotD, the characters, faced with death, realize what’s truly important. In AotD, most of them don’t. At least not until the last second.
It’s tragic. It’s absurdist. Maybe a good death is its own reward. Sometimes, the only respite, when it seems too late to truly connect with others, is sacrifice. Maybe it is not too late.
I feel like my life is just in the pursuit of this aesthetic, and I used to wonder about the "why?" of it. [But I don’t anymore]. Now I feel like, when I'm making an image or a shooting a picture, if I like the way it feels... that's enough. I mean, they're still stories and you can derive lessons from them, I hope. That's cool. But in the moment to moment…
At a fan event, Zack once talked about the influence cinematographer Matt Leonentti (Breaking Away, Poltergeist) had on him when they worked on Dawn together. It was just Zack’s debut, and the veteran Leonetti had taken him under his wing. One day, a couple weeks into shooting, as Zack dutifully implement new incoming studio notes to his script, Leonetti asked him “What the hell are you doing? It’s not like they can fire you now.”
Interview with ifmagazine.com on shooting Watchmen:

The way I do it, I rewrite the script when I draw out a movie. Then I have a storyboard. I basically set up page one of the script and the graphic novel and I go “what’s the first frame going to be?” Then I start drawing. Then later, I’ve got this big book of 3000 drawings and that’s the movie. That’s the way it will be shot. I had to rewrite the script after that, because I changed the script so much with the drawings. I had to rewrite the dialogue. Whenever you make a movie, you get a copy of the script and that’s the movie. [The studio] knew from 300 that the script doesn’t really matter [to me]. It’s a document. It has nothing to do with what we’re shooting.

He's explained now, that the studio can make whatever notes they want to the script. They’ll put them in. He might even shoot them. But everyone on his crew works off his incredibly detailed storyboards, and they’ll shoot that too. [This is how he got away with a four hour cut of Justice League, despite two producers on-set specifically to enforce the mandate to keep the movie under two.]
When he draws, it’s months of solitude, as he dreams the movie out in its entirety. His dances are personal to him. Usually, he listens to what will become the film’s soundtrack. They say who he is.
Zack’s a dad. He has tattoo representations of his eight kids drawn all over his body. More than half of these kids are adopted. So is Superman.
His Dawn of Justice movies have, as part of their central drama, dealing with your parents’ complicated legacy.
“This is my legacy,” Bruce Wayne literally says of his vigilantism. There’s a really cool shot in the opening sequence, (borrowed from F. Miller), where Zack frames Thomas’ hand turning into a fist over Bruce’s face. Swinging at a gun.
The parents on their part, flawed as they may be, often jut want the best for their kids. Just want that they be themselves.
When Superman returns to life, his mother’s first question is not “Is it really you?” but “Are you really you?” Barry’s dad asks him to forget him, if he’s the one causing to hold back so much. Victor’s dad sacrifices himself, hoping to atone.
“Show them who you are. Fly, son.”
”Flight is its nature.”
“Give them hope. Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief in the potential for every person to be a force for good.”
He wears his heart on his sleeve. You can tell he loves Frazetta and Conan the Barbarian. He thinks his movies can feel a little “jagged.”
You can’t make a movie on consensus because someone always going to go “I’m offended by that by that thing!” I don’t want to see those kinds of people in the movie and then suddenly…, You know we need the artist to take us on a journey. I wanna see a movie with a transgender lead. Take me there. That’s what being alive is about.
We have to stand up for the disenfranchised. That’s how I feel.
Sometimes, he builds sand “mandalas” at the beach. A reminder for him to be mindful of death and impermanence. Once he’s done building the thing with sand, the ocean comes and washes it away. It’s gone. I think he got the concept from Buddhism.
”Our days are numbered.”
He says to remember what’s “really” important. The “why” of it, he calls it.
You’re just gonna be chasing something that’s not real if you don’t enjoy the journey. The “thing” is fleeting.
You know he means life.
The movies as a combination of pictures and design and acting and music can create an experience that is outside of the experience that you can actually have in reality. Which gets to my motion picture philosophy.
This essay’s about to end rather abruptly. If you ask, “So, why’s he your ‘fave’?” I might respond, “Why does anyone love anything? First because it is there. That's obvious. I saw BvS the same impressionable year I saw Citizen Kane.
But also, because of something I can't put to words. The true “why” of it. Maybe this is what I've been writing about all this time."
https://tenor.com/view/tar-lydia-tar-gif-27121110
Have you noticed that characters in Zack’s movies don’t like ranged fighting? WW hates people who kill those “they cannot see”. Superman really hates drone warfare. The Persians are called cowards for using arrows. Zack begs his DPs every movie to let him operate the camera. He says he’d rather be in the thick of things. Hands on.
I’ve noticed too.
People are like: ‘Aren’t you trying to make the movies as real as you can?’
I’m like, I’m really not. Reality’s its own thing. And I’m not really into reality that much. I’m into this cinematic stylized reality that can comment on reality. It’s like the most beautiful parts of reality and the saddest parts, but it’s none of this middle ground.
TLDR
“Speak the truth before God. We know this fellow is a sinner.”
“Whether or not he is a sinner, I do not know,” the man replied.
“All I know is this: once I was blind, and now I can see.”
The Land and the King are One.

I haven’t seen anyone do this in a while so I wanted to see an updated version of it. Fuck, Marry, Kill: List your three main character picks and why. No judging others picks…we all have our thing.
I’ll go first…
Fuck: Shade from {The Last Riders Series by Jamie Begley} I have a love hate relationship with this series but Shade can get it. The Dom vibes and the tattoos…yes please. Like ya he kills people but they’re bad people so who cares.
Marry: Preppy, Samuel Clearwater from {Preppy: The Life & Death of Samuel Clearwater by T.M. Frazier} He’s hilarious, tattoos, glasses, rocks bow ties like a god, right amount of psycho and damaged to keep things spicy.
Kill: Cobi from {Until Cobi by Aurora Rose Reynolds} I DNF’ed this book after one line from Cobi to the FMC. It was cheesy and cringey and over the top. Spartan kicking him outta my library.

It’s cool that they added a black and white mode, but I wish that instead of being full on black and white, certain bits colors were highlighted. Like kratos’s tattoo or the red part of the spartan aspis. Or the mistletoe that killed baldur. I think it looks pretty plain and I think it would look so much better with that Splash of color

First Previous Next
Wiki RoyalRoad
Cover Art & Travis Portrait by Pedro Puglisi
Journal Entry #3
The funeral for Petter was today. I… I couldn’t stop crying. His coffin we presented to Pastor Elm was so tiny that we could barely each place a hand on it to say our last prayer before Pastor Elm took it beneath the church to begin the gruesome task of turning Petter’s remains into compost.
I sat alone in the church afterwards, wracked with guilt as I kept sobbing. The only reason he wasn’t safe inside the village was because he went out looking for me.
Dad came by later to try and console me, handing me a shiny new flask, and telling me that Petter helped pick it out for my upcoming birthday. I took a pull, not caring that I was underage.
It burned the entire way down.
---
Arc
“Now, don’t forget that tomorrow’s the last day of morning drill. So, go have fun, but don’t go too wild. I don’t think you’ll want to be hungover.”
Travis nodded along, showing both signs of excitement and nervousness. After his final exam, he visibly debated for a solid minute if he wanted to go or not, but eventually strapped on his chest and back plate so he could mount his poleaxe.
“I’m starting to regret not reading more from that book on elves and dwarves.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine, just be respectful to their culture, ask questions if you’re confused about something, and if something does make you uncomfortable, pull Thramreat or Durinn aside. Worst case scenario, they’ll find your ignorance tiring.”
Travis gave my pommel a scratch with a grin, then perked his head up as he continued walking towards the dwarven housing complex, “Do you hear that?”
I tried to pay more attention to the vibrations in the Air Mana, but my “patch” was picking up too much background noise, “No, I have a hard time making out sounds when I can’t see the source. Wind Mana is a tad too chaotic to reliably carry the same sound across a far distance.”
“Bet you can’t wait to leave the city, your range will be much farther now, right?”
“Should be, though I better tell you now before I forget, there’s a good chance my sword-brain will get overwhelmed from the sheer quantity of information. So, I might be a little sluggish the first couple of days.”
Our destination finally began to render in with my mana sight, but the concentrated mana was so dense that my vision’s range moved inches for every foot Travis progressed. Nevertheless, the trapezoid shaped building eventually came into view. Stone steps led to the rooftop on each of the corners, flat planes of glass made up the sides, allowing light to enter and get reflected into the tunnels below, and there were retractable Order-infused stone shutters that could bury into the ground between storms. For some reason however, they were partially covering the sides, leaving a crenelated opening near the rooftop and a few columns that were fully open to the night sky.
Travis stopped to stare, completely slack jawed, and rested his hand on my pommel, allowing him to share his senses.
Rhythmic thumping mixed with brass instruments, creating an industrial jazzy tune that penetrated deep into my bones, making my whole body shiver with excitement as bright multicolored lights flashed beneath the glass walls like a Vegas casino. Shirtless dwarves stood outside and on top the bunker, covered in neon glowing runes, holding glass mugs of beer, chatting the night away, and I even saw a pair of beardless dwarves stare at a bearded’s ass as they climbed the stairs before the connection faded out.
“Whoa… that vision lasted longer than the last one, and I even got to “hear” the music inside.”
Travis looked down at me briefly, before letting out a deep sigh.
“Something wrong?”
“It’s this whole ‘prayer’ thing… It made more sense to me oddly when we thought it was a blessing. Like, just now, I wasn’t thinking, ‘Blessed Arcane, impersonator of trees, allow me to act as your eyes and ears as we venture into this dwarven kegger.’” He slumped his shoulders, “I don’t know, maybe I’m overthinking it? It just doesn’t feel like I’m actively doing anything to cause it.”
“Hmm… you know, I bet –"
My speculation was cut off by a beardless dwarf hollering out to Travis, “Oi! You ogling us human?”
Travis snapped his attention forward, and with a choking voice let out, “Sorry, was just umm… uh, enjoying the quiet before I stepped inside.”
The dwarf gave Travis a cock-eyed glance, turned their head to another beardless who shrugged their shoulders, then turned back to yell at Travis, this time with a more aggressive tone, “Get lost skull-basher. Drink your pond scum somewhere else.”
Travis gulped, looking very uncomfortable, which wasn’t too surprising since the sheltered kid had never experienced someone acting racist towards him before. I wasn’t going to leave him hanging though. I immediately casted a [Message] spell and had it follow behind my focus as I tried to quickly find Thramreat, hoping desperately that they were on the roof. Luckily only three of the dwarves up top were Lightning Mages, and two of them were bearded.
“Thramreat! Did you invite a human? There’s a kid with a halberd on his back trying to get in, but there’s a couple of beardless trying to shoo him off.”
The beardless dwarf went still for only a brief second, before moving in a blur through the crowd and towards the steps, leaping onto the handrail, then grinded down it like a professional skater before bouncing off the end and rushing towards Travis with arms raised, “Travis! You made it!”
Travis and the self-appointed bouncers all looked on in shock as the shirtless Thramreat slung their arm around Travis’ waist, giving his butt a slap, then urged him towards the steps past the guys harassing him.
They led Travis part way up the steps, before finally braving a look back to ensure the two were alone, then let out a deep exhale, “Rust, I’m sorry Travis. I should have given you a way to contact me or… something.” Another sigh escaped the beardless as we continued, “Just stick close to me. I’ll introduce you to some proper polished dwarves and keep the slag from clinging to ya.”
Travis, finally shaking off his startlement, gave Thramreat a shoulder pat, “It’s alright, I’m just glad you spotted me. I’m still pretty new to all of this, I never even met a dwarf before coming to this school, let alone gone to a dwarven party.
Thramreat smiled, “This is your first? Well, don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get the full experience.”
Travis returned a nervous smile of his own, “Umm, I can’t stay too long, exams might be done for me now, but I still have morning drill tomorrow.”
The Lightning Mage nodded along, “Alright, we’ll just stop for a drink at the bar before meeting up with Durinn and the others, then we’ll sneak down to the dance floor for a few songs.”
The two finished ascending the stairs as Travis assured Thramreat that he was fine with skipping out on the dancing, then moved through the crowd of barely clothed dwarves towards a makeshift stand made from ice chests.
“Two tunnel runners, no extras.” Thramreat ordered.
The bartender frowned but took the time to show each ingredient they added, slid the two drinks over, then once Thramreat turned away, silently pantomimed to Travis to return later.
Travis grinned as he took the offered drink, then mimicked Thramreat as they downed the contents in one go, crushed the glass into a tiny ball, then… popped it into their mouth? What the?
“Mmm… is this sugar glass?”
“Yep, gotta drink these fast, otherwise they start melting and get all sticky.”
Travis enjoyed the treat as he took in the ambience. A good portion of the crowd kept sneaking glances his way, which given that he was a head and shoulder above everyone on the roof, wasn’t too difficult of a task. Sadly, my “patch” still couldn’t decipher dwarvish yet, so I could only make out a few words here and there, but given the number of times I heard the words “Travis” and “poleaxe” spoken, it was easy enough to get the gist of what everyone was saying.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why is everyone half-naked and covered in bioluminescent paint?”
Thramreat scratched their head, “It’s an artificer tradition. I can’t remember off the top of my head exactly how it started, but I know back when artifice was in its infancy, one of the ways we prepared for battle with monsters was to take remnants of previous kills, mulch them up into a fine paste, then painted spell formations on our bodies to help assist with casting.”
Travis glanced down at Thramreat, giving their torso a thorough inspection, “So I’m guessing those runes on you mean something?”
“Yep, this big one translates roughly to academic artificer, since I earned my title by submitting a paper on using Wind Mana crystals to boost a Fire inscription’s potency. This one on my shoulder means lightning, the one on my back is my name…”
“What about that one on your neck?” Travis teased.
Thramreat nervously chuckled, and even I could tell, was clearly blushing, “Uh, that one’s Durinn’s name…”
Travis, moving swiftly to pounce on the exposed weakness, gave Thramreat’s shoulder a friendly nudge, “So… have you picked out your gift for Durinn yet?”
Thramreat started sputtering incoherent noises, before finally breaking eye contact, and waved at Travis to follow, “We should… uh… go meet the others. No point in dallying around here.”
Travis shook his head as he followed the dwarf through the crowd over towards one of the ledges.
“Careful, those guardrails are meant for dwarfs, not humans.”
He didn’t get the chance to reach one though, because Durinn sprinted from a nearby circle to give the teen a hug.
“Travis,” the topless dwarf nuzzled their beard into the teenager’s stomach, “you’re so soft. Why are you so soft?”
Travis and I both looked down at the clearly drug-induced glaze in Durinn’s eyes then towards Thramreat who was awkwardly combing their fingers through their messy long hair.
“So, uh… Durinn was having troubles relaxing, and uh…” They looked around, caught eyes with a bearded Wood Mage that was originally standing with Durinn, and waved them over, “Travis, this is Artificer Orebeck Bonebrow, just recently earned their title like me and Durinn, and will be joining us on the same research team as well once Durinn is… eh, feeling more like themself.”
Travis tried to raise his hand to greet the dwarf, but it got pulled down by Durinn, bringing Travis in close so they could loudly whisper, “Travis, there’s five moons!” They started giggling to themself, “I’m not supposed to tell you.”
Travis smiled at his friend, gave them a friendly shoulder pat, then looked up with a worried face towards the other dwarves. Technically, Durinn might be correct, Travis’ textbooks mentioned that there was still some debate over how many moons the planet had, but the bearded was clearly dancing with the pink elephants in the room.
Orebeck watched Durinn resume their loving embrace with Travis and sighed, “I gave them a dose of neutralizer mushrooms, but they must have been swimming in hirsuterone, so when it started converting into dopamine…” they gestured towards Durinn, making a weak smile, “They’ll be fine by tomorrow once the neutralizer breaks down… I think…”
Thramreat shook their head, “At least they’re not designing death traps in their workshop anymore.”
“Death traps?” / “Death traps?” Travis and I reacted in unison.
“It happens sometimes,” Orebeck filled in, “if a bearded thinks they’re going to or does get swarmed with gifts for their nest, they’ll start making… er… tests of skill, to encourage only the most dedicated beardless to bring gifts.”
Thramreat huffed, then spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm, “Yes, tests of skill… swinging axe blades, floors that break away into lava pits, and door puzzles built by a mating madness addled brain.” They then deflated, looking heartbroken as Durinn started finger-painting runic lines over Travis’ arming jacket, “This is all my fault, I shouldn’t have been flirting with Durinn so much…”
“Your fault?” Orebeck pushed back verbally, “I’m the one who told Durinn that we’d be fine if we skipped out on doing extra earthworks projects this spring!” They slumped their shoulders, “A couple of uninterrupted weeks for me to work on my research paper and for Durinn to inscribe their invention seemed like such a smart idea at the time.”
Travis kept shifting his gaze between the pair of dwarves who were acting like Durinn was dead, instead of whispering to Travis saying, “That one says ‘bearded’, this one says ‘short-bearded’, the one over here says ‘red-bearded’…” then decided to force the conversation into a more positive direction.
“So, why did you ask me to bring my poleaxe?”
Thramreat elbowed Orebeck with a giant grin as the bearded looked over Travis shoulder in curiosity, “Wait, is that the weapon the Quartermaster’s been getting all worked up over?”
Travis nodded as he detached his poleaxe from his back and offered it to the Wood Mage to inspect, “Yeah, they were angry at me after I installed the mana scales, even though I didn’t modify the weapon itself.”
Orebeck raised an eyebrow at Travis while they ramped up the mana in their eyes, “Over a simple weapon? Why would—" The bearded dwarf stopped speaking as they looked down, opting instead to start shifting their feet anxiously, tensing up their shoulders, and began breathing heavily.
Ugh, not again…
---
Travis
Rocksday, the 29th of Eighthmonth
“Since some of you will be going on your first Fall Expedition in a few days,” Hector boomed to our battalion with way too much enthusiasm, “we’re going to celebrate by partaking in an old spartan tradition.”
My drill instructor held up a crossbow for everyone to see, “This is the standard issue Ullrivar Mark 3. The pump action underneath the barrel can draw back the string with a single stroke or up to twelve by adjusting this knob on the side here, allowing even an exhausted soldier to prep another bolt. The magazine can hold three crossbow bolts, and assuming the weapon has been maintained properly, will automatically load once the latch is locked in. A skilled marksman can easily hit a target at forty-eight yards, or possibly even farther if a friendly mage decides to enchant their bolts.”
Hector smiled as he waved a logistics corps member over, “Private Tomas, how many hours of target practice are logistics corps members recommended to partake in every week?”
The gangly young Northman, who barely looked old enough to enlist in the army, croaked out a reply, “Sir! An hour every day, eight hours total.”
Hector nodded, then grinned malevolently, “And how many hours a week do you actually get in?”
The private shifted uncomfortably, but after getting a nod from Sir Felicity, answered the question honestly, “Maybe an hour or two? If at all… it depends how busy we are, and if the combat troops aren’t already using the range.”
Hector gave the private a pat on the shoulder and handed them the crossbow before addressing us, “It’s not a matter of if you’ll be hit by a crossbow bolt in combat, but when. To prepare you for that eventuality, we’ve gathered a medical team and some volunteers from the logistics corps who have been servicing your equipment.”
I groaned as Adrian helped me strip naked down to my waist, partially because I was about to get shot by a crossbow (the reduced draw-weight wasn't making it any less appealing), but more because Arc was still laughing hysterically when I put my helmet back on and got into line behind Drozuk. Mattius soon joined behind me, and we grimly watched as the Creeksmith twins each took turns screaming in pain as a crossbow bolt sank into their exposed back muscles.
“Do we have a volunteer to shoot Initiate Drozuk?” Sir Felicity innocently asked the logistic corps members with a fake smile. I think nearly two-thirds of them rose their hand, forcing them to draw lots as Drozuk dejectedly walked down range with his head held low.
A few minutes later, it was my turn, and as I looked to see who was going to shoot me, I was surprised when no one raised their hand when the call for volunteers was asked. The group looked around, seemingly just as surprised as me, but a familiar dwarven voice sounded from behind the group.
“No volunteers? Well, that’s a shame.” The Quartermaster mocked as they slithered through the group, “Tell you what, I’ll bear the burden of having to injure our favorite Elementalist Mage.”
Ugh, I really should have seen this coming.
I started walking down the target range, but suddenly recoiled in pain as a sharp piece of metal pierced through my skin and buried so deeply into my back muscles that I was positive for a moment that it was about to puncture a lung. My lungs kept gasping for air, tears were streaming down my face, and although I wanted to scream in agony, my throat was seized up too tightly to allow even that minor bit of relief.
A medical officer quickly ran up to me. Said… something… I couldn’t remember, then pulled out the crossbow bolt with a quick jerk, allowing me to finally scream in pain.
Once I finished catching my breath, my brain finally processed that my wound didn’t actually hurt much now that the invasive piece of metal was removed. And by the time the medical officer finished cleaning the wound and sticking a bandage overtop, I was already laughing at myself for being so overdramatic.
“Should be finished healing up in an hour. I put a bandage on to soak up the puss, but you’ll still want to clean the area thoroughly before putting on a clean shirt.”
---
The rest of morning drill wasn’t as eventful. Our lectures today mostly covered what to do during our two months off or were used to provide Q&A for anyone who still needed to finalize a decision for their training camp. I paid attention, but my mind began to wander as I thought about my schedule for the rest of the day. So, when we were finally dismissed, and I was walking back to the armory, I tapped Arc on his pommel.
“Hey, could you help me find Ansel? I want to talk to him before I leave with Jethro and them to go shopping.”
“Sure, just a sec… ok, his dormitory and armory is only one down from yours. Just head east, and you’ll probably catch him before he hits the showers.”
Smiling, I veered away from my friends, telling them that I’ll be right back, then raised my hand and shouted when I spotted Ansel returning with his battalion.
“Ansel!” I waved, hoping to catch his attention.
He turned his head towards me, suddenly jerked his head back in what oddly looked like fright, then nervously glanced at his battalion mates as he cautiously stepped forward, “Travis, is this about tonight? I know you’re busy, so if you can’t make it, that’s quite—”
I waved my hand to shoo away his train of thought, “No, it’s not that, I’m looking forward to it even more now that I don’t have to worry about my practicals tomorrow. I was hoping that we could sync private channels though. I’ve got another friend who’s about to drag me along on a shopping trip, and although he promised that we’ll be done before five, I’d rather not leave anything to chance.”
“Oh… umm, yeah… sure. Just a sec, let me…” He dug into one of his side pouches, then fished out a tiny green marble to hand to me, “Here, sync to this. It’ll vibrate if you start speaking on that channel.”
I did as instructed, syncing my helmet’s private channel to match, then handed back the tiny artifice, “Thanks bud. You’ve got both of your practicals after lunch right?”
He stiffly nodded, prompting me to give his shoulder pauldron a firm pat, “Best of luck to you then.”
I quickly turned on my heel, briskly walking back to my dormitory, and tried desperately to stop my mortified face from showing.
“So, did I just embarrass Ansel in front of his friends?”
“No, I recognize that look of disbelief, he’s genuinely shocked that you want to hang out with him.”
“Really?”
“Well, the only reason you’re visiting his family for supper tonight is because you bribed his dad into staying for Durinn’s presentation.”
“Okay, fair point, but it’s not like we’re complete strangers. I’ve been sitting by him often when I join the princess for supper.”
“Yeah, but you’ve barely talked to him. Do you even know what clubs he’s in?”
“Cryptozoology and the Fortresses & Fighters clubs.”
“Oh… not to be rude, but I’m surprised you remembered that. You’re not exactly known for being very sociable.”
“You make it sound like I barely talk to anyone.”
“Please, can you even name a dozen other students here? Wait, don’t answer that, we’ll both be disappointed if you can’t.”
---
After lunch, we waved goodbye to Bridget, then walked over to the stables where 5751054, Jethro’s horse, and three more from his family’s estate were waiting for us. Each one proudly wearing the Bradshaw’s family crest of a double ended spear slicing a lightning bolt and snowflake in half. Before I could reach out to greet my equine friend though, I noticed that a nearby freight carriage also had the same symbol on it.
“Jethro, why is there a freight carriage?”
He didn’t answer right away, choosing to greet the guard protecting the carriage first, then finally turned back to me like I asked a stupid question, “Travis, you and Drozuk need a complete basic wardrobe, and Mattius’ closet wasn’t much better. There’s no way our horses can carry everything in their saddlebags.”
I scanned the faces of my other friends, relieved to see I hadn’t gone insane since they shared my same look of worry, then turned my head back to Jethro, “Jethro, my allowance from the queen is generous, but it’s not that generous.”
He waved off my very legitimate concern like it was nothing as he mounted his horse, “Don’t worry, I already did the math. If the crowds today aren’t too bad, we should finish ahead of schedule and under the budget I told you all to bring.”
“Famous last words…”
Not relieved in the slightest, I clutched my pouch containing the funds I withdrew yesterday as we rode to the nearby mall. I did bring extra, mainly since I wasn’t sure how much I needed for my ear piercing, but that didn’t mean I wanted to spend everything.
The carriage separated from us as we entered the colossal multi-tiered complex. Jethro had pulled out a notebook and was double-checking something before he led us to the uppermost level towards one of the opulent stores.
“Okay, lets get the expensive purchases taken care of first, then we’ll go shop for Travis and Adrian.”
We dismounted and stepped inside, the densely packed forest of clothing stands, tables, and mannequins displaying popular items was still a very foreign sight to me. I think it was only a year ago that my mom was gushing to Mildred about how the crate of pre-cut shirt and pants patterns were such a huge time saver for her.
Jethro marched us straight towards the back where the fitting rooms were, barked a command for all of us to enter and undress, then patiently waited behind the curtains for him to toss something to put on. I only managed to get my arming jacket and shirt off before a navy pair of board shorts flew over the gap above the privacy screen, hitting me right in the face, and almost making me fall over from disorientation.
“Better hurry, Captain Bradshaw seems like a hard-ass.”
I groaned as I finished changing, stepped out to see Jethro eying me up and down before ordering me to squat a few times, then watched as he checked off something on his notebook, “Looking good. That style is practically timeless at this point, so if you don’t outgrow them before winter semester, you’ll be able to wear them to the pool when we get sick of having to trudge through the snow all week.”
“There’s a pool on campus?”
“Kinda, there’s a few small ones around campus for spell practice, but the one I’m referring to is when they flood the arena on Woodsday during winter for the optional naval combat courses. My sisters told me that they leave it open for the students to enter the next day before it gets drained Snowsday morning, and that sea elves often host luaus on the artificial islands inside.”
“That sounds like fun.” Mattius spoke from behind, making us spin around so I could see the glossy bronze skin of his bare athletic torso over a pair of pitch-black shorts.
Jethro quickly got to work, making Mattius go through the same fit test, then moved on to Drozuk after him and Adrian stepped out. The orc had a pair of sand-colored shorts that were noticeably different in style from the rest of us, given how many buttons and seams were on the pant legs, and was looking quite happy with the choice.
“These are nice,” Drozuk spoke to Mattius and I, “you can unbutton them to widen out the legs.”
We gave approving nods as Jethro finished checking over Adrian’s pair of ash grey shorts, “Okay, they’re a little too long and loose, but unlike those three you won’t need them right away, and I got a feeling you’re going to keep bulking up.” He stood back up, then checked off a few more things on his notebook before barking another command, “Go change back and meet me at the register, we’re done at this store.”
A few minutes later, and we were already paying the cashier. Jethro grinned as he handed me, Drozuk, and Mattius each two pairs of knee-high woolen socks, “An old Lakelander Knight trick, keep a pair of these near your boots whenever you’re out of uniform and wearing boardshorts during your expedition. If you ever need to quickly gear up, just slip these on before putting on your boots and jacket.”
“Won’t that break dress code?” Drozuk asked. “Also, why would we be out of uniform when on assignment?”
Jethro started chuckling, “It’s not a Spring Flood, you’ll have some downtime. And don’t worry about the boardshorts, there’s a small loophole that no one’s been eager to fix regarding minimum requirements for pants.”
He then led us out of the store, down below what I originally thought was ground level (on account of the indoor park), and into a lantern lit underground. Jethro’s family guard was waiting for him outside a shop titled Bulk Bargains and greeted us upon arrival.
“Young Master Bradshaw, I already spoke to one of the workers as asked, and they’ve agreed to help assist provide a timely checkout.”
Jethro grinned as he led us into what looked more like a warehouse than an actual shop for visitors, “Perfect! Travis, we’ll focus on you first, the rest of you pay close attention. Everything in this store is either unsold XXXL high end fashion or things so atrocious that the designers refused to let them even be sold in a middling market. As a thank you for helping me with my coursework this semester, I’ll be providing tailoring services for you guys in my free time.”
A store clerk soon greeted us with a clipboard then followed Jethro around as he started selecting various items from the stacks of clothing, occasionally asking the clerk about what they had in stock or making me hold an assembled outfit to ensure it coordinated with my “summer complexion”. Jethro’s guard kept carrying out stacks of clothes, making my anxiety about the incoming bill grow more intense with each delivery until the dreaded moment finally came and the clerk gave me the total.
Arc was unable to remain quiet after the transaction, sounding just as unbelieving as I was, “Holy gods and God, that kid just outfitted you with a complete noble-tier wardrobe on a shoestring budget. If he can translate those skills to his military career, he’s going to make a lot of generals happy.”
---
As promised, we finished shopping for clothes in record time, allowing us plenty of time to peruse a few shops as I searched for a lockbox and gift for Issac. Adrian came to my aid this time, recommending me a brand his dad used for securing valuable items, and pointing me towards a Cloudy Rainforest imports store, leaving only one item left on my shopping list.
“Okay, I can come back if there’s not enough time, but I wanted to get my ear pierced before going on expedition. Is there a place to do that?”
I got some weird looks from everyone as Jethro bobbed his head around in thought, then looked up, “Yeah, there’s a place on the third floor I know of. I think they sell artifice jewelry as well.”
The Northman with numerous tattoos and piercings behind the counter seemed disappointed that I only wanted the single stud put in my ear, trying to upsell me on getting my eyebrows or nose pierced as well, but he eventually agreed to the meager sale, and asked me to wait just a few minutes so he could prep his tools.
Looking around the shop, I noticed Adrian was standing by himself inspecting the Northern Tundra imports while the others were checking out the inscribed items on display, and figured this was as good a time as any to get a private word in with him.
“How are things going for you?”
Adrian turned his head in surprise, “Umm, good. My practical is on Rainsday, but I’m not too worried, Jakob’s been helping me out a bit in the spell range, and he seemed confident that I’ll pass easily.”
“I didn’t know he was helping you out.”
“Yeah, I think he might be trying to recruit me into his family, he asked me to come visit his estate before he leaves for his Fall Expedition.”
“Huh… are you interested in joining? I don’t know that much about his family, but I know the Hopkins have a good opinion of them.”
Adrian let out a sigh, “I don’t know… I haven’t even given it any real thought… I been too worried about…” He shuffled his feet as frustration grew on his face, “Travis, if I ask you a question, will you promise to keep it a secret?”
“Yes.”
He calmed down with an exhale, then whispered to me, “Do you think I should break up with Bridget?”
The question kicked me with the force of a cow, leaving me stupefied, and needing to tap Arc for advice, “Okay, let’s ask him why he feels he needs to end things and go from there.”
“Why would you want to? Are things not going well?”
“No, Bridget’s amazing, and I owe you big time for setting us up, but the problem is me. There’s something I haven’t told you… I’m… I…”
His whole body began to fidget, prompting me to help calm him with a gentle shoulder rub, “You don’t have to share. I’ve got my own secret that I’m still reluctant to share with you guys, so I know just how hard it is to open up.”
Adrian locked eyes with me, then relaxed as I gave his shoulder another rub, “Thanks. Umm, how about I just summarize and say that I’d be causing a lot of problems for any family that I join. Whether it’s through a wardship or marriage.”
I nodded, “You don’t want to drag Bridget into the manure pit with you before it gets filled.”
“Yeah, pretty much. What do you think I should do? Jethro keeps teasing not to break Bridget’s heart, since her dad will suffocate me with my pillow in revenge, and I know he’s joking, but…”
“I think he should give Bridget a heads up that there’ll be some complications if things get serious between them and let her in on the decision to stay together or not. He wouldn’t have to tell her any more than he has with you, and if Bridget isn’t satisfied with not getting a full explanation, then maybe it’s best that they put a pause on things till trust can be built up.”
Thankful for the advice, I gave Arc a scratch with my free hand and paraphrased his words to Adrian. He nodded along, then pulled me in for a half hug, “Thanks, I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”
“You ready kid?” The Northman shop worker shouted.
“Yes, will this hurt?”
“Depends… I’ve seen men covered in battle scars cry like children and little girls shrug it off like nothing.” He scratched his eyebrow near one of his eyebrow spikes, “Hmm, you’re a mage, have you ever been hit with a crossbow bolt?”
I groaned, “Yes.”
He smiled, “Good, you’ll be fine, only hurts a little less.”
---
“I can’t wait to show you my Fortresses & Fighters figurines.” Ansel beamed as we rode our horses deep into the city towards his family estate, “I just finished redoing the paint job on my Thunderhawk and one of my cousins wrote that they found a Dworkish Spartan Shield Bearer in a pawn shop. Oh, I bet we can get a game going with him after supper. Have you ever played?”
He had been talking nearly nonstop after meeting at the stables, clueing me in that Arc’s earlier guess was correct, and making me wonder exactly why he was so excited.
“Uh, no, I haven’t. I had a few figures growing up but didn’t even know there was a game involving them until I came here to the capital.”
Ansel looked down at my arm and sighed, “Right, you were probably the captain of the ruggleball team in your village.”
That got me chuckling, “Nope, we had a couple of kickball games we’d play in the village, but I’d only join in on occasion. I was usually off on my own, doing extra schoolwork assignments, picking up odd jobs around the village to earn extra food, or sneaking off to practice mana manipulation.” I gave his slightly taller but lankier frame a quick study, “I’d be up for learning how to play, assuming your dad doesn’t pester me with questions about my poleaxe all night.” A guilty sigh escaped me, “I am sorry for dragging you into my bartering with him by the way, I wanted to help my friend, and it was the only thing I could think of at the time.”
Ansel grinned as he waved me off, “It’s alright, you were at least being blatant from the get-go, and to be honest, I would have been too scared to invite you normally.”
That sent me for a loop, “What? Why would you be scared to invite me? You’re the direct heir to a family of knights and mages older than the kingdom, and not only grew up next door to the royal palace but had regular playdates with a princess.” I narrowed my eyes at the family crest on his horse, “I’m betting your family has some legend associated with them too, given that your family crest is a shield reflecting a lightning bolt.”
He made a sheepish grin, “Uh, yeah… a blacksmith crafted a kite shield for a young knight who had to defend the fortress by herself after her father and older brothers were badly injured fighting a skull dragon. Every time the dragon tried to call down lightning to kill her, she’d hide behind her shield instead of lying prone, allowing her plenty of time to dodge out of the way of its head slamming into the ground. She eventually killed it, and as a reward to the blacksmith, offered him her hand in marriage.”
“Exactly, and I’ve seen you fight in the arena, I highly doubt your ancestors are disappointed in you.”
Ansel shifted uncomfortably in his horse, “Okay, but you’re the one who’s a living legend. Bards are already telling stories about you.”
I let out a groan, “Highly inaccurate ones claiming that instead of spending months planning and crafting this,” I pointed a thumb towards the poleaxe on my back, “that it was gifted to me by a minor god, along with my entire ability to use magic. And don’t even get me started on the whole love triangle I’m apparently in with Seleyna and Reidar.”
Ansel set a hand on my shoulder while barely suppressing his giggles, “If it makes you feel any better, my own family’s legend is most likely horribly inaccurate as well. The only known way to craft a metal shield capable of deflecting lightning is by melting down the bones of a skull dragon. So, unless there was a second dragon, there’s a chicken and egg situation going on with the creation of the shield.”
We continued down the road together, both still laughing about how we each were intimidated by each other.

Next

If they added an appearance for the spartan armor that made Kratos's tattoo blue, as an homage to what almost was. Anyway, go play the game! It's amazing

u/WWEgames u/WWE2Kdev u/ITZLexieP u/CornellGunter_ u/yoStax u/JediJnx u/TruBWill
Please add those names in the Create a Superstar Mode and please in #WWE2K24. You guys improve the Presentation Names in the Create a Superstar mode.
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Names that have been in the game for ages:
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WWE2K14, WWE2K15, WWE2K16, WWE2K17, WWE2K18 :
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Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 (This isn't in other WWE2K14, WWE2K15, WWE2K16, WWE2K17, WWE2K18. If I'm wrong please. corrected me.)
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Letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
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A: Aaron, Abs, Ace, Action, Adam, Adams, Adder, Adrian, Akane, Akira, Al, Alan, Alex, Alexander, Ali, Alice, Alien, Alpha, Amanda, Amateur, Amazing, Amazon, Amber, Ambiguous, American, Amir, Amy, Andersen, Andrew, Andy, Angel, Angelina, Angle, Angus, Ant, Anthony, Antoine, Antonio, Ape, Aquarius, Arcade, Arch, Archangel, Arctic, Aries, Armadillo, Ashley, Asian, Astronaut, Atlantic, Aunty, Austin, Awesome, Azrael
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B: Baby, Back, Bad, Bailey, Baker, Balmer, Baltimore, Bane, Barbarian, Barnett, Bart, Base, Basket, Bay, Bear, Beast, Bee, Beginus, Bell, Belt, Ben, Beret, Bernie, Big, Bigdaddy, Biker, Bill, Bily, Bison, Black, Blade, Blake, Blank, Blaze, Blizzard, Blue, Boar, Bob, Booger, Bottom, Bouncer, Bowen, Boxer, Boy, Brad, Bradley, Brain, Bradley, Brain, Brandon, Brawler, Brent, Brett, Brian, British, Brittany, Brock, Brody, Brooklyn, Brother, Brown, Bruce, Bruiser, Bryan, Bryant, Bryce, Bubba, Buffalo, Bug, Buggy, Bull, Burglar, Buster, Butcher
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C: Caffeine, Cage, Cali, Camacho, Campbell, Canadian, Canary, Cancer, Canine, Capricorn, Captain, Carl, Carlos, Carter, Case, Casey, Cassidy, Cat, Chameleon, Champ, Champion, Chang, Charles, Charlie, Charlotte, Cheater, Cheese, Chef, Chen, Chet, Chicago, Chicken, Chief, Chimera, Chinese, Cho, Cholo, Chris, Christian, Christina, Christopher, Chuck, City, Clarence, Clark, Claws, Cliff, Clinton, Cloud, Clown, Coast, Cobra, Cockroach, Coconut, Cody, Cole, Colin, Colt, Columbus, Commander, Communist, Convict, Cooper, Cop, Corporal, Corporate, Corpse, Cory, Cougar, Cowboy, Coyote, Crab, Crack, Craig, Crazed, Crazy, Criminal, Crimson, Crocodile, Crow, Cruiser, Crusty, Crystal, Curtis, Cyborg
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D: Daddy, Dallas, Damn, Dan, Danger, Daniel, Danielson, Daring, Dark, Darrell, Dave, David, Davis, Day, Deadly, Deal, Dealer, Death, Defector, Demon, Dennis, Denver, Destroyer, Detroit, Devil, Devin, Diamond, Dickey, Dinosaur, Dirty, Disaster, Diva, Doc, Doctor, Dog, Dojo, Dominator, Don, Donald, Double, Douglas, Dragon, Drake, Dreamer, Dublin, Dude, Duke, Durr, Dustin, Dusty, Dwayne, Dylan, Dynamic, Dynamite
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E: Eagle, Earl, Earp, Earth, East, Eastern, Eater, Ed, Edward, Edger, El, Electric, Elephant, Eliminator, Elite, Elizabeth, Emerald, Emily, Epic, Eric, Erik, Ethan, Evan, Evening, Executioner, Expert, Eye, Eyed
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F: Faceless, Falcon, Fallen, Familiar, Fanboy, Fast, Father, Feline, Female, Fiend, Fierce, Finch, Fink, Fire, Finisher, Flea, Fletcher, Fly, Flying, Fool, Foot, Fort, Fox, Franco, Frank, Freak, Freaky, Frenchman, Fresno, Friend, Frisco, Front, Frost, Funky, Funny, Future
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G: Gabe, Gabriel, Gaming, Gangster, Garcia, Gargoyle, Gary, Gas, Gates, Gemini, General, Genie, Genius, George, Ghost, Giant, Gibby, Gilbert, Girl, Gladiator, Goat, God, Gold, Golden, Goldman, Gonzalez, Good, Gondo, Gorilla, Goth, Grabber, Graham, Grandma, Grandpa, Grave, Gray, Great, Green, Greg, Gregory, Griffin, Grime, Grizzly, Groovy, Gulf, Gun, Guru, Guy
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H: Hacker, Hammer, Hammett, Hannibal, Hardcore, Harris, Harry, Hat, Hawk, Heart, Heather, Heavenly, Heavy, Henry, Herbert, Hernandez, Hero, Hideous, Hill, Hippo, Hitman, Hockey, Hogg, Holiday, Holly, Hollywood, Homer, Homie, Hood, Hooligan, Hornet, Horse, Horsemen, Hosoqai, Hotstuff, Howard, Hubert, Hugh, Hundred, Hunter, Hustler, Hustlin
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I: Ian, Icon, Icy, Immortal, Indian, Indianapolis, Indy, Iron, Irritating
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J: Jack, Jackie, Jacksonville, Jacob, Jade, Jaguar, Jake, James, Jane, Japanese, Jared, Jason, Jay, Jefe, Jeff, Jeffrey, Jen, Jennifer, Jeremy, Jerry, Jesse, Jessica, Jester, Jet, Jim, Jimmy, Jin, Job, Joe, Joel, John, Johnny, Johnson, Joker, Jonathon, Jones, Jordan, Jose, Joseph, Josh, Joshua, Juan, Judge, Judo, Jun, Just, Justice, Justin
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K: Kabal, Kang, Kano, Karate, Kareem, Katelynn, Keith, Ken, Kendall, Kendo, Kenneth, Kent, Kevin, Kid, Killer, Kimberly, King, Kirk, Kisser, Kitty, Kline, Knight, Kobayashi, Kong, Korean, Kowalczyk, Kurt, Kyle
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L: Ladiesman, Lance, Land, Larry, Las Vegas, Lassiter, Laura, Lauren, Ledesma, Lee, Legend, Lenny, Leo, Leon, Leonard, Leonardo, Lewis, Lex, Liam, Libra, Lightning, Lilith, Lion, Lisa, Little, Log, Loki, Long, Long Beach, Lopez, Lord, Los Angeles, Louisville, Love, Lovecraft, Lover, Luchador, Lucifer, Luger, Lui, Luis, Lumpy, Lunatic, Lurking, Luthor
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M: Machine, Macho, Mack, Macleod, Madison, Madman, Maggie, Magic, Majestic, Maker, Malcolm, Male, Mall, Mamba, Man, Maniac, Manly, Mantis, Marcus, Marge, Mark, Marko, Marshall, Martin, Martinez, Marty, Masked, Master, Mastodon, Matador, Matsuda, Matsumoto, Matt, Matthew, Maverick, Max, Maximus, McCarthy, McDonald, McGregor, Mega, Megan, Melissa, Member, Memphis, Men, Mercer, Mercury, Metal, Meticulous, Mexican, Miami, Michael, Michelle, Mick, Mike, Miles, Miller, Mime, Mini, Miss, Mitchell, Model, Mohammad, Mommy, Money, Monk, Monkey, Monster, Montana, Moore, Morgan, Morning, Morris, Mortal, Mosquito, Mother, Motor, Mountie, Mouse, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Mummy, Murphy, Muscle, Mutant, Mystical
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N: Nashville, Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Natural, Navajo, Nelson, Nerd, Nero, New, New York, Nice, Nicholas, Nick, Nicole, Night, Nightmare, Ninja, Nitro, Noah, North, Northern, Nose, Nurse, Nut
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O: Oak, Octopus, Of, Ogre, Old, Oliver, Olympian, Omega, Online, Oozing, Opal, Ophiuchus, Orange, Otaku, Outlaw, Owen, Ox
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P: Pacific, Page, Pain, Palmer, Panda, Panther, Park, Parker, Pastor, Patch, Pathetic, Pathological, Patrick, Patriot, Patriotic, Paul, Peanut, Pedro, Peltier, Penguin, People, Perez, Perry, Peter, Phantom, Phenom, Philadelphia, Phillip, Philly, Phoenix, Pierre, Pine, Pinky, Pirate, Pisces, Platinum, Playboy, Player, Poker, Polar, Pow, Powell, Power, President, Prince, Princess, Principal, Pristine, Pro, Prodigy, Professional, Professor, Prototype, Prune, Psycho, Puma, Punks, Purple
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Q: Queen, Quinn, Quitter
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R: Rabid, Rachel, Raiden, Rain, Ralston, Ram, Ramirez, Randy, Rat, Rattle, Raymond, Real, Reaper, Rebecca, Recluse, Recto, Red, Reese, Regime, Renegade, Reptile, Rhino, Ricardo, Richard, Richardson, Rick, Riley, Ring, Rio, Riviera, Rivers, Rob, Robert, Robinson, Rocker, Rocky, Rod, Rodriguez, Ronald, Ronin, Rookie, Rooster, Roy, Ruby, Rude, Russ, Russian, Ryan
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S: Sack, Sacramento, Sagittarius, Saint, Sakamoto, Sam, Samoan, Samuel, Samurai, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Sanchez, Sand, Santa, Sapp, Sapphire, Sarah, Sarge, Satin, Satoru, Savage, Savior, Scarecrow, Scorpio, Scorpion, Scott, Scottish, Screaming, Sean, Sears, Seattle, Senator, Senior, Sensation, Serbian, Sergeant, Sergio, Serpent, Seth, Sexy, Shadow, Shamownage, Shane, Shang, Shannon, Shaolin, Shaw, Shawn, Sheldon, Sherrill, Shingo, Show, Shrinker, Siberian, Side, Sikh, Silent, Silva, Silver, Simon, Simpson, Sin, Sister, Skater, Skinner, Slate, Slopes, Small, Smasher, Smith, Smoke, Smoking, Snake, Sniper, Snow, Soccer, Sokolov, Soldier, Sonya, Sophia, Soul, South, Southern, Soviet, Space, Spartan, Spectacular, Spider, Stalker, Stallion, Star, Stephanie, Stephen, Steve, Steven, Stick, Stinky, Storm, Storms, Straw, Street, Strong, Student, Stunt, Styles, Sub, Submission, Sue, Sullivan, Sunshine, Superstar, Supreme, Surfer, Surgeon, Suzuki, Syndicate
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T: Taipan, Tank, Tarantula, Tattooed, Taurus, Taylor, Teacher, Technical, Ted, Teddy, Teenager, Terror, The, Thief, Thighs, Thing, Thomas, Thompson, Thousand, Thug, Thunder, Tia, Tic, Tickler, Tiffany, Tiger, Tiki, Timothy, Tin, Tiny, Titan, Toc, Todd, Tokyo, Tom, Tommy, Tony, Top, Tornado, Torres, Town, Toy, Travis, Trevor, Triple, Trouble, Troy, Tsung, Turbo, Turner, Turtle, Twin, Tyler, Tyson
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U: Ugly, Ultimate, Ultra, Uncle, Unstoppable
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V: Vampire, Van, Vandiver, Vega, Vegas, Vice, Victor, Viking, Villain, Vince, Vincent, Violet, Viper, Virgil, Virgo, Virtual, Visor, Voodoo
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W: Walken, Walker, Wall, Walter, Wandering, Warden, Warlock, Warlord, Washington, Wasp, Water, Watson, Wayne, Web, Webmaster, Wesley, West, Western, Whiny, White, Wide, Widow, Wild, Will, William, Williams, Williamson, Wilson, Witch, Wolf, Wolverine, World, Wrestler, Wyatt
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X: Xander
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Y: Yamashita, Yap, Yellow, York, Yosef, Young, Youngblood, Yuri
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Z: Zachary, Zero, Zodiac.
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WWE2K19, WWE2K20, WWE2K22:
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A
A - A K 47 - A-List - Aaron - Abbott - Ace - Adam - Adams - Adorable - Adrian - Ahmed - Aiden - AJ - Akane - Akira - The Alabama Slamma - Alan - Albert - Albright - Aldo - Aleksander - Alex - Alexander - Alexia - Ali - Alice - The All American - Allen - Alpha - Amanda - The Amateur - Amaya - Amber - The American Dream - Americas Sweetheart - Amir - Amy - The Anarchist - Andersen - Anderson - Andre - Andrea - Andres - Andrew - Andrews - Andy - Angel - Angela - Angela - Angelina - Angelo - Angus - The Animal - Ann - Anna - Anne - The Anomaly - Ant - Anthony - Antista - Antoine - Antonio - Archangel - Aric - Arik - Armstrong - Arn - Arnold - Arthur - Ashley - The Asian Nightmare - The Assassin - The Athlete - Austin - Avalanche - Awesome - The Axe - Axe - Azrael
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B
B - Babe - Babos - Baby Face - Backlund - Bacon - Bad - Bad Attitude - Bad Boy - The Bad Guy - Bailey - Baker - Bakke - Baldwin - Ball - Ballesca - Balmer - Balousek - Bannon - Barbara - The Barbarian - Barber - The Barber - Barend - Barker - Barnes - Barnett - Barrett - Barry - Bart - Bartlett - Barton - Bas - Basham - The Basket Case - Bass - Bates - Batista - Bay - Bear - The Bear - The Beast - The Beastmaster - Beauchamp - Beautiful - Becca - Bee - Beech - Beefcake - Beginus - Behrens - Bell - Ben - Benally - Benjamin - Bennett - Benson - Beretta - Bernie - Berry - The Best - Betty - Beverly - Big - Big Bad - Big Evil - Big Ham - Big Magic - Big Meanie - Big Money - Big Nasty - Big Time - Bill - Billy - Bishop - Bison - Black - Blacksmith - Blackwell - Blade - Blake - Blanchard - Bland - Blaze - The Blueprint - Bob - Bobby - The Body - Bolek - The Bombshell - Bombshell - Boone - The Boss - Boulay - Bourne - Bowen - Bowers - Bowlin - Bowman - Boy - Boyd - Brad - Braddock - Bradford - Bradley - The Brain - Bram - Brandon - Bravo - The Brawler - Brayden - Brenda - Brent - Brett - Brewer - Brian - Briggs - Brinton - Brittany - Brock - Brody - Brooks - Brown - Bruce - Bruiser - The Bruiser - Bruno - Brute - Brutus - Bryan - Bryant - Bryce - Bubba - Buck - Buckley - Buddy - Bui - The Bull - Bulldog - Bulldozer - Bullwhip - Burchfield - Burns - Burnstorm - Burton - Bush - Buster - Butch - The Butcher - Butcher - Butler - Buzzsaw - Byrd - Byron
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C
C - Cactus - Calcote - Caldwell - Caleb - Cali - Cameron - Campbell - Candy Man - Cannon - Captain - Carl - Carlito - Carlos - Carmelo - Carol - Carolyn - Carpenter - Carr - Carter - Case - Casey - Cashman - Cassidy - Castle - Castro - Catherine - Caveman - Cepeda - Cesar - Champ - The Champ - Chandler - Chaney - Chang - Chapman - Charles - Charlie - Charlotte - Charming - Chase - Chen - Cheryl - China - Cho - The Chosen One - Chris - Christian - Christie - Christina - Christine - Christopher - Christopherson - Chuck - Church - Cindy - Clarence - Clark - Clarke - The Claw - Clemens - Cliff - Clingan - Clinton - Clown - Coach - Coachman - Cobb - Cody - Cole - Coleman - Coles - Colin - Collins - Colonel - Colossus - Colt - Columbus - Connor - Consiglio - Cook - Cooke - Cooper - Corino - Cory - Cottonbelly - County - Cowboy - Cox - Coyote - Craig - Crawford - Crazy - Cretchman - Crimson - Cruce - Cruise - Crush - Crusher - The Crusher - Cruz - Cry Baby - Crystal - Cubas - Culver - Cummings - Cunningham - Curt - Curtis - Cutie Pie - The Cyborg - Cyclone - Cynthia
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D
D - Daddy - Daigle - Dalehite - Dallas - Dalton - Damian - Dan - Danger - Dangerous - Daniel - Danielle - Daniels - Danielson - Danny - Darrell - Darren - Dashing - Dave - David - Davidson - Davis - Dawn - Day - Dean - Death - Deaver - Deborah - Debra - Demers - Demoise - Demon - Denise - Dennis - Derek - Derick - Derk - The Destroyer - The Devil - Devious - Devon - Diamond - Diana - Diane - Diaz - Dickey - Diego - Dino - Dirty - The Disaster - Dixon - Dizzy - Doc - Doctor - The Dog - Dog - Doink - The Doll - The Dominator - Dominguez - Don - Donahue - Donald - Donaldson - Dondelinger - Donna - Doris - Dorothy - Double A - Doug - Douglas - Drago - The Dragon - Drake - Draven - The Dream - Dregs - Drew - Droese - Drolet - Dubb - Dublin - Dude - Dudley - Duece - Duggan - Duke - The Dumpster - Duncan - Dunn - Dustin - Dusty - Dwayne - Dyer - Dylan - Dynamic - Dynamite
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E
E - The Eagle - Earl - Earp - Eaton - Eddie - Edward - Edwards - El Guapo - El Jefe - El Numero Uno - Elgin - Eli - Elijah - The Eliminator - Elizabeth - Elkins - Elliot - Elliott - Ellis - Elston - Emerson - Emily - Emma - The Enforcer - The Engineer - England - Epps - Eric - Ethan - Eugene - Evan - Evans - Evelyn - Everett - Ewing - Express - Extreme
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F
F - The Falcon - Faria - Farmer - The Felon - Felt - Fenwick - Ferguson - Fernandez - Figueroa - Finch - Fingers - Fink - Finkel - The Fireman - Fisher - Flapjack - Flash - Fleites - Fletcher - Flores - Flyboy - Flynn - Fonseca - Ford - Foster - Fowler - Fox - Fraga - Frances - Francine - Francisco - Franco - Frank - Frankie - Franklin - The Freak - Freakzilla - Freeman - Freight Train - French - The French Paradox - Fresnedi - Frost - Frye - Fuller - Funky - Furious - The Future
​
G
G - Gabriel - Gallareto - Gang - The Gangster - Garcia - Gardner - Garrett - Gary - Gates - Gauge - Gavin - Geary - Gene - General - Genie - The Gentle Giant - Gentleman - George - Georgie - Gerald - Gertz - The Ghost - Gianfranco - Giant - The Giant - The Giant Killer - Gibson - Gilbert - Gilberto - Girl Dynamite - The Gladiator - Gloria - The Godfather - Goldman - The Goliath - Gomez - Gonzalez - Good Girl - Goodish - Goodman - Goodwin - The Goon - Goose - Gordon - Gorgeous - Gorilla - Gould - Grace - Graham - Grant - Graves - Gray - The Great - The Greek Goddess - Green - Greene - Greg - Gregory - The Gremlin - Griffin - The Grim Reaper - Grime - Grimm - Grise - Groovey Homes - Guan - Gudmundson - Guillermo - Gutierrez - Guy
​
H
H - Haas - Hacksaw - Hagan - Haku - Hale - Halie - Hall - Hamilton - Hammer - The Hammer - Hammett - Hammond - Hancock - Handsome - Handy - Hank - Hannah - Hannibal - Hardcore - The Hardcore Icon - Harnage - Harold - Harper - Harrington - Harris - Harrison - Harry - Hart - Harvey - Hatcher - Hawkins - Hayabusa - Hayes - Headhunter - Heart - Heath - Heather - Heenan - Hein - Helen - Henderson - Hennig - Henry - Herbert - Hercules - Hernandez - The Hero - Hero - Hicks - Hill - Hillbilly - The Hippie - Hogan - Holland - Holly - Holmes - Holt - Homeboy - Homer - The Hooligan - Hopkins - The Horseman - Horton - Hosoqai - Hot - Hotrod - Howard - Howe - Howell - Hubbard - Hubert - Hudson - Hugh - Hughes - Hughs - Hulk - Hull - Hunt - Hunter - Hurricane - Hustler - Hyper Speed
​
I
I - Ian - The Iceman - The Icon - The Idol - The Illustrious - The Immovable Object - Indestructible - The Innovator - Iron - Ironman - The Irresistible Force - Irvin - Isaac - Isaiah - Isabella - Italian Stallion - Ivar - Ivy
​
J
J - Jack - Jackie - Jackson - Jacob - Jacobs - Jacqueline - Jade - Jaejin - Jake - James - Jane - Janet - Janice - Jannetty - Jared - Jarret - Jarrett - Jason - Jay - Jayden - Jean - Jeff - Jeffrey - Jeffreys - Jen - Jenkins - Jennifer - Jeremiah - Jeremy - Jerome - Jerry - Jervis - Jesse - Jessica - The Jester - Jesus - Jet - Jillian - Jim - Jimenez - Jimmy - Jindrak - Joan - Joe - Joel - Joey - John - Johnny - Johnson - Johnston - Jonathan - Jonathon - Jones - Jordan - Jose - Joseph - Josh - Joshua - Joyce - JStone - Juan - The Judge - Judith - Judy - Julia - Julie - Juliene - Junior - Junkyard - Jushin - Justice - Justin
​
K
K - Kaiva - Kamron - Kang - Kaplan - Kareem - Karen - Kari - Katelynn - Katherine - Kathleen - Kathryn - Kathy - Katsuyori - Kazarian - Keith - Kelley - Kelvin - Ken - Kendall - Kendrick - Kennedy - Kenneth - Kenny - Kent - Kerry - Kevin - Key - The Kid - Kid - Kidman - Kimball - Kimberly - The King - King - The King of Old School - Kink - Kinsel - Kirk - Kisser - Kitty - Klien - Knight - Kobayashi - Koloff - Kortje - Kristin - Kristy - Krom - The Krusher - Kurt - Kushida - Kuykendall - Kwan - Kyle
​
L
L - The Ladies Man - Lady Destroyer - Lance - Landon - Lane - Lanza - Larry - Lars - Lashley - Lassiter - Last Call - The Latina Sensation - Laura - Laurant - Lauren - The Lawman - Lawrence - Lazzara - Ledesma - Lee - Lees - The Legend - The Legend Killer - Lenny - Leo - Leon - Leonard - Leonardo - Lewis - Lex - Liam - Liger - Lightning - Lilith - Lillian - Lincoln - Linda - Ling - Lisa - Little - Little Homie - The Living Legend - Lochlan - Loco - Logan - Loki - Long - Lopez - Lord - Lori - Louis - Love - Lovecraft - Loverboy - Low - Lowenberg - Lucchese - The Luchadore - Luenser - Luger - Lui - Luis - Luke - The Lunatic - Lunchbox - Luscious - Luthor
​
M
M - The Machine - Macho - Mack - Mackey - Mad Dog - Madison - Madman - Maggie - Magic - Magical - Magnificent - Magnum - The Mailman - Majors - Malandra - Malcolm - Malenko - Man - The Man of 1000 Holds - The Maniac - Maniac - Manin - The Mantis - Marcantel - Marceau - Marcella - Marco - Marcus - Maragaret - Marge - Maria - Marie - Marilyn - Marissa - Mark - Marko - Marsh - Marshall - Martha - Martin - Martinez - Marty - Marvelous - Marvin - Mary - Masca - The Masked Man - Mason - Masters - The Mastodon - Mat - Mathews - Matsuda - Matsumoto - Matt - Matthew - Matthews - Mauler - The Maverick - Maverick - Max - Maximus - May - McCarthy - McDonald - McGregor - McIntyre - McKay - Mean - The Meathead - The Mechanic - Medusa - Megan - Melissa - Mentioned - Mercedes - Mercer - Michael - Michaels - Michelle - Mick - Mighty Ugg - Mike - Mildred - Miles - The Milkman - Miller - Mills - Miner - Mitchell - Mochacchino - Mohammad - Mondo - The Monster - Montana - Montgomery - Moore - Morales - Morgan - Morris - Morrison - Morse - Mortis - Motoda - The Motor - Mountain Man - The Mouth - The Mouth of the South - Mr - Mr Amazing - Mr Black - Mr Macho - Mr Perfect - Mrs - Ms - Mullet - Mullins - Munoz - Munson - Muraco - Murphy - Murray - Muta - Myers
​
N
N - Nancy - The Narcissist - Nate - Nathan - Nathaniel - Natoli - The Natural - The Navajo - Navy Seal - Neal - The Necromancer - Negron - Nelson - Nemeth - Newman - News - Newton - Nguyen - Nicholas - Nichols - Nick - Nicole - The Nightmare - Nightmare - Nikita - Niles - The Ninja - Noah - Nolan - North - Norton - Number One - Nuzback
​
O
O - OGrady - Oliver - Olivia - The Olympian - Omar - The Omega - Omega - The One - One - The Original Gangsta - Orndorff - Ortiz - Orton - Osborne - Otunga - Outlaw - The Outlaw - The Outsider - Owen - Owens - Oxley
​
P
P - Page - Palestini - Palmer - Pamela - Parcher - Parker - Parsons - Pat - Patch - Patera - Patricia - Patrick - Patterson - Paul - Payne - Pearson - Peck - Pedro - Pee Wee - Peltier - Percy - Perez - Perfect 10 - Perkins - Perry - Peter - Peters - Peterson - The Phantom - Phelps - The Phenom - The Phenomenal One - Philip - Phillip - Phillips - Picone - Pierce - Pierre - The Pig - Pine - Piper - Pitbull - Plantagenet - Platinum - The Player - Pontarelli - Porter - Porticos - Post - Potter - Powell - Pratt - Precious - The Predator - Pretty Boy - Price - Primetime - The Prince - Prince - Princess - The Princess - The Prodigy - The Professional - The Professor - The Prototype - Psycho - The Psycho - Psychosis - Puerta - The Punisher - Punk
​
Q
Q - The Queen - Quickdraw - Quinn
​
R
R - Race - Rachel - Rage - Raiden - Ralph - Ralston - Ramelle - Ramirez - Ramon - Randleman - Randy - Raparaz - Ray - Raymond - Razor - The Real Deal - The Reaper - Rebecca - The Rebel - Recto - Redhead - The Redneck - Reed - Reese - Reeves - Reid - Reks - Reptile - Reyes - Reynolds - Rhodes - Ricardo - Ricci - Rice - Richard - Richards - Richardson - Richie - Rick - Ricky - Riley - The Ringer - Rip - Rivera - Rivers - Rob - Robbins - Robert - Roberts - Robertson - Robinson - Rock - The Rocker - The Rockstar - Roddy - Rodgers - Rodil - Rodriguez - Roger - Rogers - Rolando - Romi - Ron - Ronald - Rose - Ross - Rossi - Rousakis - Rowdy - Roxanne - Roy - Rudden - Rude - Rude Boy - Rufus - Rusev - Rush - Russ - Russell - Russian - The Russian Giant - The Russian Gladiator - The Russian Gladiator - Rust - Ruten - Ruth - Ryan
​
S
S - Sabin - The Sailor - The Saint - Sakamoto - Sal - Salas - Sam - Samantha - Sammartino - The Samoan - Samuel - Samuels - The Samurai - Sanchez - Sanders - Sandra - Santana - Santos - Sapp - Sara - Sarah - Satoru - Saturn - The Savage - The Savior - Sawyer - Schettino - Schliebe - Schmidt - Schultz - Sciacca - The Scientist - Scorpion - The Scorpion - Scott - Scotty - Sean - Sears - Sebastian - Selina - The Senator - Sergeant - Sergio - Seth - Severn - Sexton - Shade - Shamownage - Shane - Shang - Shannon - Sharon - Sharp - Sharpe - Shaw - Shawn - Sheffield - Sheik - Sheldon - Shelly - Sherman - Sherrill - Shibata - Shields - Shirley - The Show - Showboat - Showstopper - Showtime - Shy Girl - Silva - Simmons - Simon - Simpson - Sinister - Skett - Skinner - Sku - Slater - Slugger - Smash - Smith - Smoke - Smoky - Smooth - Smooth Operator - The Snake - Snow - Snuka - Snyder - Sokolov - The Soldier - Sonya - Sophia - Soulman - Sparks - The Specialist - Spectacular - Speedy - Spencer - The Spider - Spike - Spivery - The Sportsman - Squire - Stafford - Stan - Stanley - Stasiak - Steel - Steiner - Stephanie - Stephen - Stephens - Steve - Steven - Stevens - Stevenson - Stewart - Stone - Storm - The Strong Man - Strongman - Stuart - Stubbs - Studd - Stuff - Stunning - Sturgeon - Styles - Sub Zero - Sue - Sugarfoot - Sullivan - Sunshine - The Super Athlete - Super Smooth - Superstar - The Superstar - The Surfer - The Surgeon - Susan - Sutton - Suzuki - Sweet - Sweetness
​
T
T - T Rex - Tama - Tammy - Tanaka - Tank - The Tank - Taryn - Tawfik - Taylor - Technical - The Technician - Ted - Teddy - Tenacious - Teresa - The Terror - Terror - Terry - Theodore - Theresa - Thomas - Thompson - The Thug - Thumper - Thunder - Thunderbolt - Tia - Tiffany - Tiger - Tim - Timothy - Tito - TNT - Todd - Tolos - Tom - Tomassian - Tommy - Tonga - Tony - The Tool - The Tornado - Tornado - The Torpedo - Torres - The Total Package - Tough Man - Townsend - Trash Man - Travis - Trevor - Trowell - Troy - Tucker - Tully - Turner - Tyler - Tyson
​
U
U - Ultimate - Ultimo - Unbreakable - The Unpredictable - Unpredictable - Uptown - The Urban Gladiator - Urena
​
V
V - Vachon - Vader - Valentine - Valliant - Van - Van Cise - Van Cisely - Vandiver - Ventura - Victor - Victoria - The Viking - The Villain - Vince - Vincent - Violet - Virgil - Virginia - Vivacious - The Voice - Votta
​
W
W - Wade - Wagner - Walken - Walker - Wallace - Walter - Walters - The Wanderer - Wang - War - Ward - The Warden - The Warlock - Warlord - Warner - Warren - The Warrior Princess - Washington - Watkins - Watson - Watts - Wayne - Weaver - The Web Master - Webb - Webster - Welch - Wells - Wesley - West - Wheeler - Whiskers - The White - White - Whitney - Whol - The Wick - Wickiser - Wilcox - Wild Thing - Wildcat - Wildman - Wildside - Will - William - Williams - Williamson - Willie - Willis - Willy - Wilson - Windham - Winters - The Witch - The Witch Doctor - Wolf - Wolf Man - Wonder Boy - Wonderful - Wonderkid - Wood - Woods - Woodward - The Worm - Wright - Wyatt
​
X
X - The X Factor - Xander
​
Y
Y - Yamamoto - Yamashita - York - Yosef - Young - Young Blood - Yuri
​
Z
Z - Zachary - Zack - Zenk - Zucconi - Zynda
​
These names we need:
​
Surnames: Adonis, Allot, Arrington, Atkins, Avery, Aycoth, Bakers, Bates, Barter, Boardten, Bollenbach, Bonner, Brinkman, Brown, Burton, Butz, Collier, Cloud, Cambage, Cisneros, Colwell, Combs, Cooke, Couch, Dangerously, Dees, Delle, Del’Bonis (Pronounced Tell Bonless), DeShields, Diggins, Donne, Detty, Eads, Favors, Fields, Fowles, Francis, Frye, Furbacher, Gains, Garrison, Greenfields, Greenwell, Griner, Grub, Grubb, Grubs, Grubberg, Grubbauer, Grubby, Grubbie, Grubworm, Grubbs, Grubbström, Hamby, Harmon, Hartmon, Hatmen, Hisle (Pronounced High-sell), Holden, Hoskins, Humphrey, Jennings, Jewell, Kaiser, Kanu, King, Lane, Levesque, Licciardello, Lonescu, Loyd, Loy, Magbegor, Manak, Mastino, Meadows, Meesseman, Mollet, McBride, McCoughtry, McGuffey, Miceli, Morehead, Ogwumike, Ogunbowale, Oli, O’Neil, O’Neal, Perpich, Philbeck, Plum, Quest, Quigley, Quincy, Qays, Ramsey, Rose, Ryzin, Saxton, Satou, Spiritoff, Springer, Stamps, Striker, Supe (soup-pe), Taurasi, Tettenhorst, Thornton, Topper, Vandersloot, Voisard, Watson, Wheeler, Woolsey, Wray, Wrestleton, Xander, Yancy, Yana, Yank, Yaro, Yenifer, Yessica, Yeo, Yetty, Yarrow, and Yarden.
​
Forenames (First Names) : Ailen, Ajax, Alyssa, Ariel, Arike, Art, Azurá, Brionna Carlton, Cargan, Candace, Candra, Cara, Carissa, Carmen, Cheyenne, Chloe, Cindy, Courtney, Crystal, Damon, Dan, Daniel, Danny, Dario, Dearica, DeWanna, Doak, Edna, Elena, Ezi, Fred, Gary, Glen, Gunter, Hannah, Hank, Harvey, Jario, Jean, June, Junpei, Kayla, Kelsey, Laura, Lauren, Lexie, Liz, Loretta, Mishi (Pronounced Me-she), Monica, Nneka, Nat, Natasha, Nate, Natty, Nathan, Nathaniel, Nina (Pronounced Nigh-Nah), Nina (Pronounced nee-nyah ), Napheesa, Placito, Romeo, Ralph, Rhyne, Rita, Sabally, Sabrina, Sandra, Sandy, Sherri, Sheryl, Skylar, Swoopes Sylvia, Tybolt, Xandra, Xara, Xavi, Xarissa, Xenon, Zogan, and Zoey.
​
Other names:
Gatliff
McGuire
Tincher
Sratton
Pinson
Witten
Honaker
McBrayer
Mayo
Seel
Ogan
Crawford
Fauver
Knapp
Stewart
Cossin
Nicholl
Dewees
Massie
Dickel
Kruse
Bergman
Dunkel
Stocker
Carson
Moody
Caldwell
McGarvey
Ferrel
Palmer
Propst
Kiser
Trumbo
Eye
Wolfe
Glaus
Harper
Ockerman
Harman
Homan
Ruddle
Swadket
Hall
Huegel
Bisher
Hoon
McIntosh
Grieff
See
Holland
Helberg
Gassert
Horvath
Crane
Bither
Gallatin
Elliotte
Stroud
Scoles
Tibbets
Hansen
Thornton
McDermitt
Sayre
Bowers
Waller
Darrow
Shrauger
Caviness
Dillon
Higgins
Shumate
Adair
Neumann
Graham
Edwards
Stephensons
Eckard
McNeal
Withrow
Acord
Johnson
Dye
Bloomfield
Stanley
Ramsey
Milhouse
Reniker
Sickle
Rickard
Fry
Bumggarner
Yeager
Ratajkowski
Hays
Halstead
Roush
Zerkle
Hoffman
Galaspie
Keefer
Aumiller
Zimmer
Zirkle
Rader
Salser
Rausch
Neas
Ness
Alberts
Magdalena
Faberin
Gabler
Hammerin
Irrang
Mezin
Irrang
Von Kirkel
Jost
Heinz
Kirsch
Gensel
Ankenbauer
Seiffert
Filtzer
Goering
Backmeyer
Rosen
Waterson
Denton
Varin
Conway
Aman
Kestler
Runzer
Herbe
Reel
Sucher
Whiteside
Reichart
Walk
Blizzard
Hemmer
Traughber
Selby
Fleming
Hulan
Forte
Dowlen
Koonce
Storey
Hudgens
Tills
Simeral
Harter
Street
Howard
McCoy
Alevy
Hern
Stockton
Lundy
McGeorge
Tillotson
French
Crutchfield
Cave
Echols
Garland
Keyes
Gilmore
Nagel
Kuhn
Haley
Rutledge
Davenport
Pierce
Pilcher
Carringer
Hutchins
Allgood
Bacon
Long
Evans
George
Haylor
Spenser
Spranger
Given
Price
Conrad
Kearney
Huggart
McDaniel
Bounds
Monday
Hodges
Barton
Carmichael
Ferguson
Jarnagin
Rymer
Summerfield
Maddux
Melanin
Huddleston
Ritz
McKinney
Essary
Edmondson
Soledean
Durbin
Fulton
Lauricella
Riffle
Jividen
Vickers
Sterling
Louk
Young
Ash
Bonnell
Robey
Kile
Pyle
Pitts
Lyons
Starkey
Shields
Prunty
Dotson
Edgell
Cain
Ice
Gifford
Evans
Swiger
Townsend
McCamic
Allen
Underwood
McCamie
Duval
Tetrick
Backus
Esch
Barkley
Ashcraft
Shreve
Robinson
Abercrombie
Barnett
Bramhall
Broadstone
Bartenschlag
Matthess
Anderson
Gaston
Arnett
Lancaster
Tennant
Criss
Ford
Shrader
Schrader
McCullough
Brammer
Francis
Bland
Bates
Sheets
Montgomery
Shaffer
Thornhill
Poe
Modesitt
McPherson
Hemlock
Carder
Ross
Delbert
Grant
Pollock
Heflin
Arnett
Duty
Bosworth
Zahniser
Salesman
Kincaid
Beasley
Leasure
Shreve
Cork
Haywood
Claybrooke
Hardin
Yost
Shine
Cunningham
Read
Harvey
Asbury
Wathen
Haff
Gaskell
Westfell
Tate
Glover
Wingard
Rigdon
Crider
Gable
Kirkbry
Cupp
Sigafoos
Tomlinson
Swartzell
Lidgard
Valadas
Brooke
Irwin
Berlin
Strosnider
Halliburton
Bannon
Harbaugh
Burbridge
Woolsoncroft
Nation
Downs
Martin
Pope
Quisenberry
McNett
Swan
Lorena
Gibbons
Tonubbee
Mercer
Bockius
Hagerty
Rees
Kaddoad
Temple
Amos
Smyth
Schoetz
Ely
Augustine
Byron
Taft
Bush
Boice
Malzahn
Behrendt
Reitmeyer
Leonard
Fargo
Pinneo
Comstock
Forcie
Woulfe
Rupprecht
Copeland
Bonney
Tope
Brisker
Mossman
Wallace
Angles
Quick
Hughes
Alfred
Adkins
Banks
Hensley
Bartlett
Ashworth
Sental
Bartlett
Parrish
Schilt
Boyd
Bair
Roddy
Thrasher
Newsbaum
Lewis
Diven
Boyce
Stout
Siefker
Newsome
Bok
Holtsberry
Merman
Valle
Jeffery
Trammell
Greenwalt
Carlisle
Frazier
Potts
Watkins
Ankrim
Kocheran
Swift
Slater
Border
Froess
Albers
Trisko
Seeley
Froehler
Hartman
Ivarson
Doetkott
Gabgk
Leukam
Pogatchnik
Hoeschen
Fleischhacker
Rypstra
Paquette
Mertz
Freriks
Houde
Solar
Hilliard
MacDonald
Pulvermacher
Ley
Grogan
Wehling
Oswalda
​
Nicknames: Alluring, Bones, Bricks, Cool, Dangerous, Dancing, Dazzling, Enchanting, Fantastic, Fetching, Hunky, Interesting, Knockout, Lush, Machine, Magnetism, Mission, Rad, Revelation, Sticks, Striking, Sublime, Taste, Toxic, Tribulation, & Trikkey (Pronounced Trike-e).
-Money terms.
-Country names.
-USA States names.
-Numbers 1-90.

WWE2K14, WWE2K15, WWE2K16, WWE2K17, WWE2K18 :
Numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, (This isn't in other WWE2K14, WWE2K15, WWE2K16, WWE2K17, WWE2K18. If I'm wrong please. corrected me.)
Letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z
A: Aaron, Abs, Ace, Action, Adam, Adams, Adder, Adrian, Akane, Akira, Al, Alan, Alex, Alexander, Ali, Alice, Alien, Alpha, Amanda, Amateur, Amazing, Amazon, Amber, Ambiguous, American, Amir, Amy, Andersen, Andrew, Andy, Angel, Angelina, Angle, Angus, Ant, Anthony, Antoine, Antonio, Ape, Aquarius, Arcade, Arch, Archangel, Arctic, Aries, Armadillo, Ashley, Asian, Astronaut, Atlantic, Aunty, Austin, Awesome, Azrael
B: Baby, Back, Bad, Bailey, Baker, Balmer, Baltimore, Bane, Barbarian, Barnett, Bart, Base, Basket, Bay, Bear, Beast, Bee, Beginus, Bell, Belt, Ben, Beret, Bernie, Big, Bigdaddy, Biker, Bill, Bily, Bison, Black, Blade, Blake, Blank, Blaze, Blizzard, Blue, Boar, Bob, Booger, Bottom, Bouncer, Bowen, Boxer, Boy, Brad, Bradley, Brain, Bradley, Brain, Brandon, Brawler, Brent, Brett, Brian, British, Brittany, Brock, Brody, Brooklyn, Brother, Brown, Bruce, Bruiser, Bryan, Bryant, Bryce, Bubba, Buffalo, Bug, Buggy, Bull, Burglar, Buster, Butcher
C: Caffeine, Cage, Cali, Camacho, Campbell, Canadian, Canary, Cancer, Canine, Capricorn, Captain, Carl, Carlos, Carter, Case, Casey, Cassidy, Cat, Chameleon, Champ, Champion, Chang, Charles, Charlie, Charlotte, Cheater, Cheese, Chef, Chen, Chet, Chicago, Chicken, Chief, Chimera, Chinese, Cho, Cholo, Chris, Christian, Christina, Christopher, Chuck, City, Clarence, Clark, Claws, Cliff, Clinton, Cloud, Clown, Coast, Cobra, Cockroach, Coconut, Cody, Cole, Colin, Colt, Columbus, Commander, Communist, Convict, Cooper, Cop, Corporal, Corporate, Corpse, Cory, Cougar, Cowboy, Coyote, Crab, Crack, Craig, Crazed, Crazy, Criminal, Crimson, Crocodile, Crow, Cruiser, Crusty, Crystal, Curtis, Cyborg
D: Daddy, Dallas, Damn, Dan, Danger, Daniel, Danielson, Daring, Dark, Darrell, Dave, David, Davis, Day, Deadly, Deal, Dealer, Death, Defector, Demon, Dennis, Denver, Destroyer, Detroit, Devil, Devin, Diamond, Dickey, Dinosaur, Dirty, Disaster, Diva, Doc, Doctor, Dog, Dojo, Dominator, Don, Donald, Double, Douglas, Dragon, Drake, Dreamer, Dublin, Dude, Duke, Durr, Dustin, Dusty, Dwayne, Dylan, Dynamic, Dynamite
E: Eagle, Earl, Earp, Earth, East, Eastern, Eater, Ed, Edward, Edger, El, Electric, Elephant, Eliminator, Elite, Elizabeth, Emerald, Emily, Epic, Eric, Erik, Ethan, Evan, Evening, Executioner, Expert, Eye, Eyed
F: Faceless, Falcon, Fallen, Familiar, Fanboy, Fast, Father, Feline, Female, Fiend, Fierce, Finch, Fink, Fire, Finisher, Flea, Fletcher, Fly, Flying, Fool, Foot, Fort, Fox, Franco, Frank, Freak, Freaky, Frenchman, Fresno, Friend, Frisco, Front, Frost, Funky, Funny, Future
G: Gabe, Gabriel, Gaming, Gangster, Garcia, Gargoyle, Gary, Gas, Gates, Gemini, General, Genie, Genius, George, Ghost, Giant, Gibby, Gilbert, Girl, Gladiator, Goat, God, Gold, Golden, Goldman, Gonzalez, Good, Gondo, Gorilla, Goth, Grabber, Graham, Grandma, Grandpa, Grave, Gray, Great, Green, Greg, Gregory, Griffin, Grime, Grizzly, Groovy, Gulf, Gun, Guru, Guy
H: Hacker, Hammer, Hammett, Hannibal, Hardcore, Harris, Harry, Hat, Hawk, Heart, Heather, Heavenly, Heavy, Henry, Herbert, Hernandez, Hero, Hideous, Hill, Hippo, Hitman, Hockey, Hogg, Holiday, Holly, Hollywood, Homer, Homie, Hood, Hooligan, Hornet, Horse, Horsemen, Hosoqai, Hotstuff, Howard, Hubert, Hugh, Hundred, Hunter, Hustler, Hustlin
I: Ian, Icon, Icy, Immortal, Indian, Indianapolis, Indy, Iron, Irritating
J: Jack, Jackie, Jacksonville, Jacob, Jade, Jaguar, Jake, James, Jane, Japanese, Jared, Jason, Jay, Jefe, Jeff, Jeffrey, Jen, Jennifer, Jeremy, Jerry, Jesse, Jessica, Jester, Jet, Jim, Jimmy, Jin, Job, Joe, Joel, John, Johnny, Johnson, Joker, Jonathon, Jones, Jordan, Jose, Joseph, Josh, Joshua, Juan, Judge, Judo, Jun, Just, Justice, Justin
K: Kabal, Kang, Kano, Karate, Kareem, Katelynn, Keith, Ken, Kendall, Kendo, Kenneth, Kent, Kevin, Kid, Killer, Kimberly, King, Kirk, Kisser, Kitty, Kline, Knight, Kobayashi, Kong, Korean, Kowalczyk, Kurt, Kyle
L: Ladiesman, Lance, Land, Larry, Las Vegas, Lassiter, Laura, Lauren, Ledesma, Lee, Legend, Lenny, Leo, Leon, Leonard, Leonardo, Lewis, Lex, Liam, Libra, Lightning, Lilith, Lion, Lisa, Little, Log, Loki, Long, Long Beach, Lopez, Lord, Los Angeles, Louisville, Love, Lovecraft, Lover, Luchador, Lucifer, Luger, Lui, Luis, Lumpy, Lunatic, Lurking, Luthor
M: Machine, Macho, Mack, Macleod, Madison, Madman, Maggie, Magic, Majestic, Maker, Malcolm, Male, Mall, Mamba, Man, Maniac, Manly, Mantis, Marcus, Marge, Mark, Marko, Marshall, Martin, Martinez, Marty, Masked, Master, Mastodon, Matador, Matsuda, Matsumoto, Matt, Matthew, Maverick, Max, Maximus, McCarthy, McDonald, McGregor, Mega, Megan, Melissa, Member, Memphis, Men, Mercer, Mercury, Metal, Meticulous, Mexican, Miami, Michael, Michelle, Mick, Mike, Miles, Miller, Mime, Mini, Miss, Mitchell, Model, Mohammad, Mommy, Money, Monk, Monkey, Monster, Montana, Moore, Morgan, Morning, Morris, Mortal, Mosquito, Mother, Motor, Mountie, Mouse, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Mummy, Murphy, Muscle, Mutant, Mystical
N: Nashville, Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Natural, Navajo, Nelson, Nerd, Nero, New, New York, Nice, Nicholas, Nick, Nicole, Night, Nightmare, Ninja, Nitro, Noah, North, Northern, Nose, Nurse, Nut
O: Oak, Octopus, Of, Ogre, Old, Oliver, Olympian, Omega, Online, Oozing, Opal, Ophiuchus, Orange, Otaku, Outlaw, Owen, Ox
P: Pacific, Page, Pain, Palmer, Panda, Panther, Park, Parker, Pastor, Patch, Pathetic, Pathological, Patrick, Patriot, Patriotic, Paul, Peanut, Pedro, Peltier, Penguin, People, Perez, Perry, Peter, Phantom, Phenom, Philadelphia, Phillip, Philly, Phoenix, Pierre, Pine, Pinky, Pirate, Pisces, Platinum, Playboy, Player, Poker, Polar, Pow, Powell, Power, President, Prince, Princess, Principal, Pristine, Pro, Prodigy, Professional, Professor, Prototype, Prune, Psycho, Puma, Punks, Purple
Q: Queen, Quinn, Quitter
R: Rabid, Rachel, Raiden, Rain, Ralston, Ram, Ramirez, Randy, Rat, Rattle, Raymond, Real, Reaper, Rebecca, Recluse, Recto, Red, Reese, Regime, Renegade, Reptile, Rhino, Ricardo, Richard, Richardson, Rick, Riley, Ring, Rio, Riviera, Rivers, Rob, Robert, Robinson, Rocker, Rocky, Rod, Rodriguez, Ronald, Ronin, Rookie, Rooster, Roy, Ruby, Rude, Russ, Russian, Ryan
S: Sack, Sacramento, Sagittarius, Saint, Sakamoto, Sam, Samoan, Samuel, Samurai, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Sanchez, Sand, Santa, Sapp, Sapphire, Sarah, Sarge, Satin, Satoru, Savage, Savior, Scarecrow, Scorpio, Scorpion, Scott, Scottish, Screaming, Sean, Sears, Seattle, Senator, Senior, Sensation, Serbian, Sergeant, Sergio, Serpent, Seth, Sexy, Shadow, Shamownage, Shane, Shang, Shannon, Shaolin, Shaw, Shawn, Sheldon, Sherrill, Shingo, Show, Shrinker, Siberian, Side, Sikh, Silent, Silva, Silver, Simon, Simpson, Sin, Sister, Skater, Skinner, Slate, Slopes, Small, Smasher, Smith, Smoke, Smoking, Snake, Sniper, Snow, Soccer, Sokolov, Soldier, Sonya, Sophia, Soul, South, Southern, Soviet, Space, Spartan, Spectacular, Spider, Stalker, Stallion, Star, Stephanie, Stephen, Steve, Steven, Stick, Stinky, Storm, Storms, Straw, Street, Strong, Student, Stunt, Styles, Sub, Submission, Sue, Sullivan, Sunshine, Superstar, Supreme, Surfer, Surgeon, Suzuki, Syndicate
T: Taipan, Tank, Tarantula, Tattooed, Taurus, Taylor, Teacher, Technical, Ted, Teddy, Teenager, Terror, The, Thief, Thighs, Thing, Thomas, Thompson, Thousand, Thug, Thunder, Tia, Tic, Tickler, Tiffany, Tiger, Tiki, Timothy, Tin, Tiny, Titan, Toc, Todd, Tokyo, Tom, Tommy, Tony, Top, Tornado, Torres, Town, Toy, Travis, Trevor, Triple, Trouble, Troy, Tsung, Turbo, Turner, Turtle, Twin, Tyler, Tyson
U: Ugly, Ultimate, Ultra, Uncle, Unstoppable
V: Vampire, Van, Vandiver, Vega, Vegas, Vice, Victor, Viking, Villain, Vince, Vincent, Violet, Viper, Virgil, Virgo, Virtual, Visor, Voodoo
W: Walken, Walker, Wall, Walter, Wandering, Warden, Warlock, Warlord, Washington, Wasp, Water, Watson, Wayne, Web, Webmaster, Wesley, West, Western, Whiny, White, Wide, Widow, Wild, Will, William, Williams, Williamson, Wilson, Witch, Wolf, Wolverine, World, Wrestler, Wyatt
X: Xander
Y: Yamashita, Yap, Yellow, York, Yosef, Young, Youngblood, Yuri
Z: Zachary, Zero, Zodiac
-------------------------------
WWE2K19, WWE2K20, WWE2K22:
A
A - A K 47 - A-List - Aaron - Abbott - Ace - Adam - Adams - Adorable - Adrian - Ahmed - Aiden - AJ - Akane - Akira - The Alabama Slamma - Alan - Albert - Albright - Aldo - Aleksander - Alex - Alexander - Alexia - Ali - Alice - The All American - Allen - Alpha - Amanda - The Amateur - Amaya - Amber - The American Dream - Americas Sweetheart - Amir - Amy - The Anarchist - Andersen - Anderson - Andre - Andrea - Andres - Andrew - Andrews - Andy - Angel - Angela - Angela - Angelina - Angelo - Angus - The Animal - Ann - Anna - Anne - The Anomaly - Ant - Anthony - Antista - Antoine - Antonio - Archangel - Aric - Arik - Armstrong - Arn - Arnold - Arthur - Ashley - The Asian Nightmare - The Assassin - The Athlete - Austin - Avalanche - Awesome - The Axe - Axe - Azrael
B
B - Babe - Babos - Baby Face - Backlund - Bacon - Bad - Bad Attitude - Bad Boy - The Bad Guy - Bailey - Baker - Bakke - Baldwin - Ball - Ballesca - Balmer - Balousek - Bannon - Barbara - The Barbarian - Barber - The Barber - Barend - Barker - Barnes - Barnett - Barrett - Barry - Bart - Bartlett - Barton - Bas - Basham - The Basket Case - Bass - Bates - Batista - Bay - Bear - The Bear - The Beast - The Beastmaster - Beauchamp - Beautiful - Becca - Bee - Beech - Beefcake - Beginus - Behrens - Bell - Ben - Benally - Benjamin - Bennett - Benson - Beretta - Bernie - Berry - The Best - Betty - Beverly - Big - Big Bad - Big Evil - Big Ham - Big Magic - Big Meanie - Big Money - Big Nasty - Big Time - Bill - Billy - Bishop - Bison - Black - Blacksmith - Blackwell - Blade - Blake - Blanchard - Bland - Blaze - The Blueprint - Bob - Bobby - The Body - Bolek - The Bombshell - Bombshell - Boone - The Boss - Boulay - Bourne - Bowen - Bowers - Bowlin - Bowman - Boy - Boyd - Brad - Braddock - Bradford - Bradley - The Brain - Bram - Brandon - Bravo - The Brawler - Brayden - Brenda - Brent - Brett - Brewer - Brian - Briggs - Brinton - Brittany - Brock - Brody - Brooks - Brown - Bruce - Bruiser - The Bruiser - Bruno - Brute - Brutus - Bryan - Bryant - Bryce - Bubba - Buck - Buckley - Buddy - Bui - The Bull - Bulldog - Bulldozer - Bullwhip - Burchfield - Burns - Burnstorm - Burton - Bush - Buster - Butch - The Butcher - Butcher - Butler - Buzzsaw - Byrd - Byron
C
C - Cactus - Calcote - Caldwell - Caleb - Cali - Cameron - Campbell - Candy Man - Cannon - Captain - Carl - Carlito - Carlos - Carmelo - Carol - Carolyn - Carpenter - Carr - Carter - Case - Casey - Cashman - Cassidy - Castle - Castro - Catherine - Caveman - Cepeda - Cesar - Champ - The Champ - Chandler - Chaney - Chang - Chapman - Charles - Charlie - Charlotte - Charming - Chase - Chen - Cheryl - China - Cho - The Chosen One - Chris - Christian - Christie - Christina - Christine - Christopher - Christopherson - Chuck - Church - Cindy - Clarence - Clark - Clarke - The Claw - Clemens - Cliff - Clingan - Clinton - Clown - Coach - Coachman - Cobb - Cody - Cole - Coleman - Coles - Colin - Collins - Colonel - Colossus - Colt - Columbus - Connor - Consiglio - Cook - Cooke - Cooper - Corino - Cory - Cottonbelly - County - Cowboy - Cox - Coyote - Craig - Crawford - Crazy - Cretchman - Crimson - Cruce - Cruise - Crush - Crusher - The Crusher - Cruz - Cry Baby - Crystal - Cubas - Culver - Cummings - Cunningham - Curt - Curtis - Cutie Pie - The Cyborg - Cyclone - Cynthia
D
D - Daddy - Daigle - Dalehite - Dallas - Dalton - Damian - Dan - Danger - Dangerous - Daniel - Danielle - Daniels - Danielson - Danny - Darrell - Darren - Dashing - Dave - David - Davidson - Davis - Dawn - Day - Dean - Death - Deaver - Deborah - Debra - Demers - Demoise - Demon - Denise - Dennis - Derek - Derick - Derk - The Destroyer - The Devil - Devious - Devon - Diamond - Diana - Diane - Diaz - Dickey - Diego - Dino - Dirty - The Disaster - Dixon - Dizzy - Doc - Doctor - The Dog - Dog - Doink - The Doll - The Dominator - Dominguez - Don - Donahue - Donald - Donaldson - Dondelinger - Donna - Doris - Dorothy - Double A - Doug - Douglas - Drago - The Dragon - Drake - Draven - The Dream - Dregs - Drew - Droese - Drolet - Dubb - Dublin - Dude - Dudley - Duece - Duggan - Duke - The Dumpster - Duncan - Dunn - Dustin - Dusty - Dwayne - Dyer - Dylan - Dynamic - Dynamite
E
E - The Eagle - Earl - Earp - Eaton - Eddie - Edward - Edwards - El Guapo - El Jefe - El Numero Uno - Elgin - Eli - Elijah - The Eliminator - Elizabeth - Elkins - Elliot - Elliott - Ellis - Elston - Emerson - Emily - Emma - The Enforcer - The Engineer - England - Epps - Eric - Ethan - Eugene - Evan - Evans - Evelyn - Everett - Ewing - Express - Extreme
F
F - The Falcon - Faria - Farmer - The Felon - Felt - Fenwick - Ferguson - Fernandez - Figueroa - Finch - Fingers - Fink - Finkel - The Fireman - Fisher - Flapjack - Flash - Fleites - Fletcher - Flores - Flyboy - Flynn - Fonseca - Ford - Foster - Fowler - Fox - Fraga - Frances - Francine - Francisco - Franco - Frank - Frankie - Franklin - The Freak - Freakzilla - Freeman - Freight Train - French - The French Paradox - Fresnedi - Frost - Frye - Fuller - Funky - Furious - The Future
G
G - Gabriel - Gallareto - Gang - The Gangster - Garcia - Gardner - Garrett - Gary - Gates - Gauge - Gavin - Geary - Gene - General - Genie - The Gentle Giant - Gentleman - George - Georgie - Gerald - Gertz - The Ghost - Gianfranco - Giant - The Giant - The Giant Killer - Gibson - Gilbert - Gilberto - Girl Dynamite - The Gladiator - Gloria - The Godfather - Goldman - The Goliath - Gomez - Gonzalez - Good Girl - Goodish - Goodman - Goodwin - The Goon - Goose - Gordon - Gorgeous - Gorilla - Gould - Grace - Graham - Grant - Graves - Gray - The Great - The Greek Goddess - Green - Greene - Greg - Gregory - The Gremlin - Griffin - The Grim Reaper - Grime - Grimm - Grise - Groovey Homes - Guan - Gudmundson - Guillermo - Gutierrez - Guy
H
H - Haas - Hacksaw - Hagan - Haku - Hale - Halie - Hall - Hamilton - Hammer - The Hammer - Hammett - Hammond - Hancock - Handsome - Handy - Hank - Hannah - Hannibal - Hardcore - The Hardcore Icon - Harnage - Harold - Harper - Harrington - Harris - Harrison - Harry - Hart - Harvey - Hatcher - Hawkins - Hayabusa - Hayes - Headhunter - Heart - Heath - Heather - Heenan - Hein - Helen - Henderson - Hennig - Henry - Herbert - Hercules - Hernandez - The Hero - Hero - Hicks - Hill - Hillbilly - The Hippie - Hogan - Holland - Holly - Holmes - Holt - Homeboy - Homer - The Hooligan - Hopkins - The Horseman - Horton - Hosoqai - Hot - Hotrod - Howard - Howe - Howell - Hubbard - Hubert - Hudson - Hugh - Hughes - Hughs - Hulk - Hull - Hunt - Hunter - Hurricane - Hustler - Hyper Speed
I
I - Ian - The Iceman - The Icon - The Idol - The Illustrious - The Immovable Object - Indestructible - The Innovator - Iron - Ironman - The Irresistible Force - Irvin - Isaac - Isaiah - Isabella - Italian Stallion - Ivar - Ivy
J
J - Jack - Jackie - Jackson - Jacob - Jacobs - Jacqueline - Jade - Jaejin - Jake - James - Jane - Janet - Janice - Jannetty - Jared - Jarret - Jarrett - Jason - Jay - Jayden - Jean - Jeff - Jeffrey - Jeffreys - Jen - Jenkins - Jennifer - Jeremiah - Jeremy - Jerome - Jerry - Jervis - Jesse - Jessica - The Jester - Jesus - Jet - Jillian - Jim - Jimenez - Jimmy - Jindrak - Joan - Joe - Joel - Joey - John - Johnny - Johnson - Johnston - Jonathan - Jonathon - Jones - Jordan - Jose - Joseph - Josh - Joshua - Joyce - JStone - Juan - The Judge - Judith - Judy - Julia - Julie - Juliene - Junior - Junkyard - Jushin - Justice - Justin
K
K - Kaiva - Kamron - Kang - Kaplan - Kareem - Karen - Kari - Katelynn - Katherine - Kathleen - Kathryn - Kathy - Katsuyori - Kazarian - Keith - Kelley - Kelvin - Ken - Kendall - Kendrick - Kennedy - Kenneth - Kenny - Kent - Kerry - Kevin - Key - The Kid - Kid - Kidman - Kimball - Kimberly - The King - King - The King of Old School - Kink - Kinsel - Kirk - Kisser - Kitty - Klien - Knight - Kobayashi - Koloff - Kortje - Kristin - Kristy - Krom - The Krusher - Kurt - Kushida - Kuykendall - Kwan - Kyle
L
L - The Ladies Man - Lady Destroyer - Lance - Landon - Lane - Lanza - Larry - Lars - Lashley - Lassiter - Last Call - The Latina Sensation - Laura - Laurant - Lauren - The Lawman - Lawrence - Lazzara - Ledesma - Lee - Lees - The Legend - The Legend Killer - Lenny - Leo - Leon - Leonard - Leonardo - Lewis - Lex - Liam - Liger - Lightning - Lilith - Lillian - Lincoln - Linda - Ling - Lisa - Little - Little Homie - The Living Legend - Lochlan - Loco - Logan - Loki - Long - Lopez - Lord - Lori - Louis - Love - Lovecraft - Loverboy - Low - Lowenberg - Lucchese - The Luchadore - Luenser - Luger - Lui - Luis - Luke - The Lunatic - Lunchbox - Luscious - Luthor
M
M - The Machine - Macho - Mack - Mackey - Mad Dog - Madison - Madman - Maggie - Magic - Magical - Magnificent - Magnum - The Mailman - Majors - Malandra - Malcolm - Malenko - Man - The Man of 1000 Holds - The Maniac - Maniac - Manin - The Mantis - Marcantel - Marceau - Marcella - Marco - Marcus - Maragaret - Marge - Maria - Marie - Marilyn - Marissa - Mark - Marko - Marsh - Marshall - Martha - Martin - Martinez - Marty - Marvelous - Marvin - Mary - Masca - The Masked Man - Mason - Masters - The Mastodon - Mat - Mathews - Matsuda - Matsumoto - Matt - Matthew - Matthews - Mauler - The Maverick - Maverick - Max - Maximus - May - McCarthy - McDonald - McGregor - McIntyre - McKay - Mean - The Meathead - The Mechanic - Medusa - Megan - Melissa - Mentioned - Mercedes - Mercer - Michael - Michaels - Michelle - Mick - Mighty Ugg - Mike - Mildred - Miles - The Milkman - Miller - Mills - Miner - Mitchell - Mochacchino - Mohammad - Mondo - The Monster - Montana - Montgomery - Moore - Morales - Morgan - Morris - Morrison - Morse - Mortis - Motoda - The Motor - Mountain Man - The Mouth - The Mouth of the South - Mr - Mr Amazing - Mr Black - Mr Macho - Mr Perfect - Mrs - Ms - Mullet - Mullins - Munoz - Munson - Muraco - Murphy - Murray - Muta - Myers
N
N - Nancy - The Narcissist - Nate - Nathan - Nathaniel - Natoli - The Natural - The Navajo - Navy Seal - Neal - The Necromancer - Negron - Nelson - Nemeth - Newman - News - Newton - Nguyen - Nicholas - Nichols - Nick - Nicole - The Nightmare - Nightmare - Nikita - Niles - The Ninja - Noah - Nolan - North - Norton - Number One - Nuzback
O
O - OGrady - Oliver - Olivia - The Olympian - Omar - The Omega - Omega - The One - One - The Original Gangsta - Orndorff - Ortiz - Orton - Osborne - Otunga - Outlaw - The Outlaw - The Outsider - Owen - Owens - Oxley
P
P - Page - Palestini - Palmer - Pamela - Parcher - Parker - Parsons - Pat - Patch - Patera - Patricia - Patrick - Patterson - Paul - Payne - Pearson - Peck - Pedro - Pee Wee - Peltier - Percy - Perez - Perfect 10 - Perkins - Perry - Peter - Peters - Peterson - The Phantom - Phelps - The Phenom - The Phenomenal One - Philip - Phillip - Phillips - Picone - Pierce - Pierre - The Pig - Pine - Piper - Pitbull - Plantagenet - Platinum - The Player - Pontarelli - Porter - Porticos - Post - Potter - Powell - Pratt - Precious - The Predator - Pretty Boy - Price - Primetime - The Prince - Prince - Princess - The Princess - The Prodigy - The Professional - The Professor - The Prototype - Psycho - The Psycho - Psychosis - Puerta - The Punisher - Punk
Q
Q - The Queen - Quickdraw - Quinn
R
R - Race - Rachel - Rage - Raiden - Ralph - Ralston - Ramelle - Ramirez - Ramon - Randleman - Randy - Raparaz - Ray - Raymond - Razor - The Real Deal - The Reaper - Rebecca - The Rebel - Recto - Redhead - The Redneck - Reed - Reese - Reeves - Reid - Reks - Reptile - Reyes - Reynolds - Rhodes - Ricardo - Ricci - Rice - Richard - Richards - Richardson - Richie - Rick - Ricky - Riley - The Ringer - Rip - Rivera - Rivers - Rob - Robbins - Robert - Roberts - Robertson - Robinson - Rock - The Rocker - The Rockstar - Roddy - Rodgers - Rodil - Rodriguez - Roger - Rogers - Rolando - Romi - Ron - Ronald - Rose - Ross - Rossi - Rousakis - Rowdy - Roxanne - Roy - Rudden - Rude - Rude Boy - Rufus - Rusev - Rush - Russ - Russell - Russian - The Russian Giant - The Russian Gladiator - The Russian Gladiator - Rust - Ruten - Ruth - Ryan
S
S - Sabin - The Sailor - The Saint - Sakamoto - Sal - Salas - Sam - Samantha - Sammartino - The Samoan - Samuel - Samuels - The Samurai - Sanchez - Sanders - Sandra - Santana - Santos - Sapp - Sara - Sarah - Satoru - Saturn - The Savage - The Savior - Sawyer - Schettino - Schliebe - Schmidt - Schultz - Sciacca - The Scientist - Scorpion - The Scorpion - Scott - Scotty - Sean - Sears - Sebastian - Selina - The Senator - Sergeant - Sergio - Seth - Severn - Sexton - Shade - Shamownage - Shane - Shang - Shannon - Sharon - Sharp - Sharpe - Shaw - Shawn - Sheffield - Sheik - Sheldon - Shelly - Sherman - Sherrill - Shibata - Shields - Shirley - The Show - Showboat - Showstopper - Showtime - Shy Girl - Silva - Simmons - Simon - Simpson - Sinister - Skett - Skinner - Sku - Slater - Slugger - Smash - Smith - Smoke - Smoky - Smooth - Smooth Operator - The Snake - Snow - Snuka - Snyder - Sokolov - The Soldier - Sonya - Sophia - Soulman - Sparks - The Specialist - Spectacular - Speedy - Spencer - The Spider - Spike - Spivery - The Sportsman - Squire - Stafford - Stan - Stanley - Stasiak - Steel - Steiner - Stephanie - Stephen - Stephens - Steve - Steven - Stevens - Stevenson - Stewart - Stone - Storm - The Strong Man - Strongman - Stuart - Stubbs - Studd - Stuff - Stunning - Sturgeon - Styles - Sub Zero - Sue - Sugarfoot - Sullivan - Sunshine - The Super Athlete - Super Smooth - Superstar - The Superstar - The Surfer - The Surgeon - Susan - Sutton - Suzuki - Sweet - Sweetness
T
T - T Rex - Tama - Tammy - Tanaka - Tank - The Tank - Taryn - Tawfik - Taylor - Technical - The Technician - Ted - Teddy - Tenacious - Teresa - The Terror - Terror - Terry - Theodore - Theresa - Thomas - Thompson - The Thug - Thumper - Thunder - Thunderbolt - Tia - Tiffany - Tiger - Tim - Timothy - Tito - TNT - Todd - Tolos - Tom - Tomassian - Tommy - Tonga - Tony - The Tool - The Tornado - Tornado - The Torpedo - Torres - The Total Package - Tough Man - Townsend - Trash Man - Travis - Trevor - Trowell - Troy - Tucker - Tully - Turner - Tyler - Tyson
U
U - Ultimate - Ultimo - Unbreakable - The Unpredictable - Unpredictable - Uptown - The Urban Gladiator - Urena
V
V - Vachon - Vader - Valentine - Valliant - Van - Van Cise - Van Cisely - Vandiver - Ventura - Victor - Victoria - The Viking - The Villain - Vince - Vincent - Violet - Virgil - Virginia - Vivacious - The Voice - Votta
W
W - Wade - Wagner - Walken - Walker - Wallace - Walter - Walters - The Wanderer - Wang - War - Ward - The Warden - The Warlock - Warlord - Warner - Warren - The Warrior Princess - Washington - Watkins - Watson - Watts - Wayne - Weaver - The Web Master - Webb - Webster - Welch - Wells - Wesley - West - Wheeler - Whiskers - The White - White - Whitney - Whol - The Wick - Wickiser - Wilcox - Wild Thing - Wildcat - Wildman - Wildside - Will - William - Williams - Williamson - Willie - Willis - Willy - Wilson - Windham - Winters - The Witch - The Witch Doctor - Wolf - Wolf Man - Wonder Boy - Wonderful - Wonderkid - Wood - Woods - Woodward - The Worm - Wright - Wyatt
X
X - The X Factor - Xander
Y
Y - Yamamoto - Yamashita - York - Yosef - Young - Young Blood - Yuri
Z
Z - Zachary - Zack - Zenk - Zucconi - Zynda

Previous
Writer's note: Could both of them have handled this better? Probably. But James is used to acting/speaking before he acts. This is par for the course for him. And the Emperor's reasoning will be explained next chapter.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James and Amina were on their way out of the Imperial Palace to grab some dinner, and to look into staying somewhere else for the duration of their stay, when the Emperor's guards made their move.
They had been housed IN the palace, in the ambassadorial wing that was remarkably similar to the one in King Farrick's castle, and as such had known after their encounter earlier that they needed to leave. The two of them had donned their armor and weapons and grabbed the two bottomless bags they'd brought with them, and were going to head to the stables for Steve, and had just opened the doors to alert their two Petravian guards.
Then they'd seen the cohort of Vatrian guards standing outside their room door. These were not the flashy, plumed and colorful, guards that had been in the grand hall during the Emperor's announcements. Rather, they were wearing duller, less ornate, armor and carried weapons more fitting to the close quarters of the palace they were in. In short, they were ready for a fight. The three Petravian guards outside their room were standing in their normal positions, but there was a tenseness there that both of them could feel. And James noticed that each of them had their hands on their weapons, and he could feel one of them pulling magical energy into themselves at a low and slow rate, keeping it subtle.
"How's it going guys?" James said as he slowly stepped in front of Amina, and quietly released the retention strap on his revolver, which he kept behind him as well. "There a problem?"
The lead guard of the Vatrian group took a half step forward and looked James in the eyes, making a point of ignoring the Petravian guards as their swords inched out of their scabbards. The man was large, and dark of skin, his mouth bulged with the tell tale signs of Orc teeth, and his arms were longer than a normal humans, marking him as a half-orc. On his waste was a short handled war hammer that reminded James of the Norse god Thor. Though it had more spikes than that fabled weapon. His voice was deep and rumbled in a way that made it seem like his vocal chords couldn't handle the amount of bass in it.
"His Majesty, Emperor Vateris, REQUESTS you attend his study for a conversation." The large man said. Then he looked at Amina. "A private conversation."
James felt Amina press against him ever so slightly, then she patted him on the side, right above where he was resting his hand on the grip of his Colt.
"I have no issue with speaking with the Emperor, if that is his wish." James said. "But under no circumstances am I going to leave my wife unattended in an unfamiliar land. Not after the excitement of earlier." He held his wolf hand up for emphasis. Then moved it, imitating the hand gestures from earlier. "I'm gonna guess that he and I can have a private conversation even in a crowded room. She comes with, or I don't go. No exceptions." He tried to ignore the cold sweat that formed as the Vatrian guards visibly bristled at the display of the so-called way of the arms.
"It is that very HERESY...." The lead guard said, his jaw clenching as he said the last word. "That is cause for him to summon you."
"I kinda figured." James said steadily. He heard, and partially felt, Amina pulling one of the three speed loaders from the back of his belt. "Like I said. She and I go together, or not at all." He nodded at the guards behind the large man. "And that's not enough people to stop us from leaving if it comes to it."
There was a creaking noise from one side of the room that made James tense as his eyes began to glow gold. A small woman in dark, ninja-like, robes emerged from the bathroom of their room with a drawn bow. There was a clacking as one of their windows opened, and a similarly dressed man kneeled on their window ledge with a crossbow.
"That's better." He said. "But still not enough."
"James." Amina said softly as she adjusted to cover them from the new threats. "That's an arbalestier." She said of the man in the window. "And they are Vatrian way-walkers. We may see two. But there's probably five or six more that we DON'T see."
James looked back just a bit, with a raised eyebrow. He didn't have time to ask what that was at the moment.
"The Emperor only makes requests once." The lead guard said. "Though he ordered us to ASSURE you... that should he find your conversation pleasing, no harm shall come to either of you. Additionally, even if he finds the conversation UN-pleasing. You would simply be held as guests until he and your King could speak face to face."
"And we will gladly speak with him." Amina said. "But with the rights of royal guests we request that it be in accompaniment of each other."
The large man seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he nodded.
"This is acceptable. But please leave your weapons here with your guards." He said sternly. "Nobody is allowed in his presence armed, least of all in his study or chambers." Then he untied the chain-mail under his neck and bared a tattoo on his upper chest. "I swear honesty and safety to you both until such time as my Emperor explicitly orders otherwise. On my duty." He said. As he did the tattoo flared with a dark red light and he grimaced for a moment.
And just like that the Petravian guards seemed to relax. Amina even pressed the speed loader back into its pouch on his belt and closed the magnetic flap over it.
He looked back at her curiously again.
"If a Vatrian royal guard swears on their duty then it costs their life to break that vow." She said simply. "At the very least we can trust HIM." She added with a nod toward the large man. "Isn't that right Commander Tyrius."
The large man nodded in response as he tied his chain mail back in place under his chin.
"If you would please Princess." He said, gesturing at their weapons and armor. "Hero. Please disarm yourselves."
There was a slight whistle behind him from the woman that had emerged from their bathroom, and when he looked she patted at her hip. Right where JAMES had his revolver.
"Including the device on your belt." Tyrius said sternly. "Whatever it is."
James stepped back hesitantly. Then he turned and faced Amina. "You're sure?" He asked simply. But he was surprised to see her already removing her sword belt and shield. She even pulled the dagger out that she always kept tucked into her left vambrace.
She nodded. Then she whispered. "Boasts or not dear. We're outnumbered, and they still have Steve and my sister." She said. "We might escape. But it would ONLY be us."
"Right." He whispered back. Then he turned back to the large commander. "We'll come with." He said sarcastically as he began unfastening his holster belt.
And while he removed the revolver, he made sure to keep the .45 that was tucked into his chest plate. Even if they frisked him, or had him remove the armor, they wouldn't find it hidden in there. And he knew from his duel with Artair that the Earth weapons didn't register as magical. It could be a life saver in a pinch, even if it did only have a single magazine without his belt.
A few minutes later they were walking through the palace surrounded by Vatrian guards.
---------------------------------------
When they arrived James was surprised to find the room startlingly empty, practically spartan compared to the rest of the royal palace. It also had no guards. And while the Emperor's translator was present, standing off to the side of the large desk he sat at in front of the lit fireplace, they did not actively translate as the Emperor "Spoke".
"Princess Amina Petravius." The translator said. "A most unexpected addition to this meeting. Though not an unwelcome one."
Amina made a slight bow, ignoring the slight graciously.
"Before I leave. Is there anything either of you would desire? Refreshments? Food?" The translator asked as they made their way to the door.
"Just answers." James said venomously.
"Then I shall take my leave." The translator said. "Congratulations on your marriage." Then they stepped out of the door, which was still being held open by the commander.
The large man stepped in and closed the door behind him before standing attention there. Clearly intending to stay for the duration of this conversation. Though James was happy to see that his hand was nowhere near his weapon.
James turned back to the Emperor.
[I see there was some disagreement about the nature of this meeting.] The young man said as he stood up from his chair and approached the two of them.
"I had reason to believe that I had caused some kind of offense earlier." James said as his arms automatically translated into the emperor's hand signs. "My wife and I were unwilling to separate from each other given the circumstances." He paused for a moment as he thought of what to say next. "I've learned to be wary since coming to this world, and we have lost much together." He added.
The emperor seemed to consider this for a moment. Then nodded slightly.
[I understand.] He signed. [We have heard tales of great battles and remarkable amounts of devastation to the land of Petravus. Each victory earned at great cost of life and land.]
"Especially to she and I." James said/signed with a nod at Amina.
[I am sorry to hear that.] The Emperor replied. [Tell me; can you speak with your hands and not your voice? Or must you do both?]
James thought about it for a moment, then decided to try. He held up a finger, requesting a moment. The Emperor nodded as he slowly circled the two of them. Studying them as he did. After once around them, he stopped back in front of James, looking at him warily.
Come on. How do you talk without talking? James thought.
Then his arms moved. [Come on. How do you talk without talking?] They signed, and James watched them with confusion. [Oh crap. Don't think hard about stuff you-] He waved his hands in a jumble, then clamped his hands onto his elbows.
The emperor peered at him with a look that was equal parts amusement and offense.
"Sorry." James said as he let his arms sign freely. "Apparently it's as easy as thinking of doing it."
"James?" Amina asked curiously. He looked at her and nodded.
"Medallion stuff." He said.. Oddly, his hands didn't sign that part. Though they began again as he faced the emperor again. "I think this is the part where the conversation becomes one on one."
[Quite so.] The emperor replied. [Please apologize to her if it seems rude. I had no intention of her being here for this.]
James nodded. "He apologizes if that makes it seem rude." He said to her. Then he turned back to the emperor and thought. Though he had to focus a lot harder than he thought about WHEN he signed and didn't. [I suppose we can start.] He signed.
[That's my line.] The emperor said with a smug look on his face.
[Sorry.] James signed back, then bowed a little. [At your discretion your majesty.] He added as he stood back up.
The emperor studied him for a moment, then nodded.
[How many gods have you had audience with in your time in this world?] He asked. His signs were in a rapid, incredibly precise, fashion that the medallion's magic (however it worked) made him think meant the younger man was being stern and somewhat angry.
James clenched his jaw, and felt his claws dig into his palm as his hands clenched into fists as well. Then he shook his head a bit.
[Too many.] He admitted. [But for the record, three.Though it could be considered four if you consider the Mother of the Land, as the druids called her, to be a god as well.]
The Emperor's eyes widened at that.
[Do you have issue with the gods?] He asked after a moment. [Even though they brought you to this world, and have granted you their boons?]
James looked at Amina for a moment. She looked back at him curiously.
Then he spoke out loud so she could hear. The Emperor shifted uncomfortably as he did. And he heard Tyrius move a bit as well.
"The gods abducted me." He began, signing as he did. "In so doing they maimed one of my friends, and inadvertently caused the death of another well before his time." He stepped toward the smaller man. "They took me from a life of relative peace, and thrust me into a world of danger and, admittedly, fantasy. And while I thank them for the fact that in doing so I have met the love of my life." He nodded at Amina, who smiled even as she stood up straighter. "But that does NOT forgive who I lost in those first few moments."
The Emperor attempted to stand up to James as he approached.
"Hero." Tyrius boomed from where he stood at the door. James looked over and saw that his hand was on his war hammer now.
[It's fine commander.] The Emperor signed as James stopped only a step away from him.
"They looked on as another of my friends, Amina's own sister of choice, was turned into a MONSTER... and called a CHAMPION." He practically spat the title out. Then he held his wolf arm up again. "And then REWARDED me.... for granting her a merciful death." He stared at the Emperor. "She had two kids."
[I believe I unders-] The Emperor began to sign. But James waved a hand.
[I'm not done.] He signed rapidly.
"Then they manipulated events to temporarily relieve us of the vanishing blight." He pointed at the emperor for emphasis. "You know of the vanishing blight yeah? I was told your land had a few patches of it around too. Just like everyone else."
The emperor nodded, but James was already continuing before he could sign anything else.
"Did you know that THEY," He pointed up at the sky. "are the ones that sent the blight to this world?" The emperor's eyes widened in surprise at that. "Cause they did. And when they HELPED us get rid of it. They used my baby brother to do so." He was breathing heavily now, even as he felt tears begin rolling down his cheeks. "My baby brother who was only in this world because if he had stayed on Earth my OWN people would have used him against me." He paused for effect. "And the GODS.... killed him. In body and probably also his soul. JUST so they could buy us some time to prepare for the return of the entity that was tied to the blight." He stepped until he was almost nose to nose with the Emperor. He heard the massive guard commander begin moving toward them. "And even though my brother might still be alive KINDA... That entity WILL return. One way or the other."
"James." Amina hissed in warning.
"That happened only a week or two before Amina and I left to come here." He said. "So yes.... I have issue with these so called gods."
A large, powerful, hand clamped onto his shoulder and James was turned bodily by Tyrius, who had his hammer in the other hand and was bringing it up for a swing.
James latched onto the hand with his own, his eyes blazing with golden light. His magically enhanced earth and werewolf muscles made him MUCH stronger than the people of this world, and he heard a cracking noise from the commander's hand. But the man was a warrior, and didn't slow down or falter at all.
Then a small, tan, hand slapped the commander in the face. Tyrius froze in shock. Then wrenched his hand out of James's grip before he fell back and kneeled.
"My Emperor." He said in his deep voice. "My greatest apologies for assuming your will."
[I will not have my commander die to his own vow.] The emperor signed furiously. Then he stamped his feet angrily as he realized that his commander wasn't looking at him, and James assumed also wouldn't have understood the signs even if he were.
James stared at the diminutive leader, who was staring back at him with equal parts anger, and confusion.
Then the emperor signed to him. [Instruct him that the God's Falcon orders him back to his post.] He took several deep breaths. Then added. [Please.]
James looked back and forth between the two of them.
"The God's Falcon orders you back to your post?" He said hesitantly.
Tyrius looked up at him in shock, then at the Emperor. He nodded, then quickly stood up and moved at double time back to the door, where he immediately stood at attention, hammer back on his belt. As if nothing had happened.
James looked back at the Emperor curiously.
[Are you quite done?] He asked James.
James considered the question. Then nodded. Though his blood was still up a bit.
[I believe that my shock and disbelief earlier, at someone using my own signs despite their secrecy, may have led us to have a misunderstanding.] The emperor signed. [For that, I apologize. So you know, I am called the God to Be only because I am Emperor. I have no misgivings about my own divinity.]
James's head tilted a bit at the new information.
[If anything.] The Emperor continued. [The title was made into a cruel jest.] He pointed at his own throat and ears. [The gods have taken from me as well. So in this, we are kindred spirits.]
James considered this for a moment. Then understanding and embarrassment made him sign an apology.
[Thank you.] The Emperor said in response. Then he gestured at the chair in front of his desk. [Now. Let us discuss our mutual enemies with more... level heads, and better understanding of each other.]
James nodded, and followed the emperor's guidance toward the chair in question, signalling for Amina to follow.
And the three of them, with James translating, spoke long into the night.
[Next]

Previous / First
Writer's note: Could both of them have handled this better? Probably. But James is used to acting/speaking before he acts. This is par for the course for him. And the Emperor's reasoning will be explained next chapter.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James and Amina were on their way out of the Imperial Palace to grab some dinner, and to look into staying somewhere else for the duration of their stay, when the Emperor's guards made their move.
They had been housed IN the palace, in the ambassadorial wing that was remarkably similar to the one in King Farrick's castle, and as such had known after their encounter earlier that they needed to leave. The two of them had donned their armor and weapons and grabbed the two bottomless bags they'd brought with them, and were going to head to the stables for Steve, and had just opened the doors to alert their two Petravian guards.
Then they'd seen the cohort of Vatrian guards standing outside their room door. These were not the flashy, plumed and colorful, guards that had been in the grand hall during the Emperor's announcements. Rather, they were wearing duller, less ornate, armor and carried weapons more fitting to the close quarters of the palace they were in. In short, they were ready for a fight. The three Petravian guards outside their room were standing in their normal positions, but there was a tenseness there that both of them could feel. And James noticed that each of them had their hands on their weapons, and he could feel one of them pulling magical energy into themselves at a low and slow rate, keeping it subtle.
"How's it going guys?" James said as he slowly stepped in front of Amina, and quietly released the retention strap on his revolver, which he kept behind him as well. "There a problem?"
The lead guard of the Vatrian group took a half step forward and looked James in the eyes, making a point of ignoring the Petravian guards as their swords inched out of their scabbards. The man was large, and dark of skin, his mouth bulged with the tell tale signs of Orc teeth, and his arms were longer than a normal humans, marking him as a half-orc. On his waste was a short handled war hammer that reminded James of the Norse god Thor. Though it had more spikes than that fabled weapon. His voice was deep and rumbled in a way that made it seem like his vocal chords couldn't handle the amount of bass in it.
"His Majesty, Emperor Vateris, REQUESTS you attend his study for a conversation." The large man said. Then he looked at Amina. "A private conversation."
James felt Amina press against him ever so slightly, then she patted him on the side, right above where he was resting his hand on the grip of his Colt.
"I have no issue with speaking with the Emperor, if that is his wish." James said. "But under no circumstances am I going to leave my wife unattended in an unfamiliar land. Not after the excitement of earlier." He held his wolf hand up for emphasis. Then moved it, imitating the hand gestures from earlier. "I'm gonna guess that he and I can have a private conversation even in a crowded room. She comes with, or I don't go. No exceptions." He tried to ignore the cold sweat that formed as the Vatrian guards visibly bristled at the display of the so-called way of the arms.
"It is that very HERESY...." The lead guard said, his jaw clenching as he said the last word. "That is cause for him to summon you."
"I kinda figured." James said steadily. He heard, and partially felt, Amina pulling one of the three speed loaders from the back of his belt. "Like I said. She and I go together, or not at all." He nodded at the guards behind the large man. "And that's not enough people to stop us from leaving if it comes to it."
There was a creaking noise from one side of the room that made James tense as his eyes began to glow gold. A small woman in dark, ninja-like, robes emerged from the bathroom of their room with a drawn bow. There was a clacking as one of their windows opened, and a similarly dressed man kneeled on their window ledge with a crossbow.
"That's better." He said. "But still not enough."
"James." Amina said softly as she adjusted to cover them from the new threats. "That's an arbalestier." She said of the man in the window. "And they are Vatrian way-walkers. We may see two. But there's probably five or six more that we DON'T see."
James looked back just a bit, with a raised eyebrow. He didn't have time to ask what that was at the moment.
"The Emperor only makes requests once." The lead guard said. "Though he ordered us to ASSURE you... that should he find your conversation pleasing, no harm shall come to either of you. Additionally, even if he finds the conversation UN-pleasing. You would simply be held as guests until he and your King could speak face to face."
"And we will gladly speak with him." Amina said. "But with the rights of royal guests we request that it be in accompaniment of each other."
The large man seemed to consider this for a moment. Then he nodded.
"This is acceptable. But please leave your weapons here with your guards." He said sternly. "Nobody is allowed in his presence armed, least of all in his study or chambers." Then he untied the chain-mail under his neck and bared a tattoo on his upper chest. "I swear honesty and safety to you both until such time as my Emperor explicitly orders otherwise. On my duty." He said. As he did the tattoo flared with a dark red light and he grimaced for a moment.
And just like that the Petravian guards seemed to relax. Amina even pressed the speed loader back into its pouch on his belt and closed the magnetic flap over it.
He looked back at her curiously again.
"If a Vatrian royal guard swears on their duty then it costs their life to break that vow." She said simply. "At the very least we can trust HIM." She added with a nod toward the large man. "Isn't that right Commander Tyrius."
The large man nodded in response as he tied his chain mail back in place under his chin.
"If you would please Princess." He said, gesturing at their weapons and armor. "Hero. Please disarm yourselves."
There was a slight whistle behind him from the woman that had emerged from their bathroom, and when he looked she patted at her hip. Right where JAMES had his revolver.
"Including the device on your belt." Tyrius said sternly. "Whatever it is."
James stepped back hesitantly. Then he turned and faced Amina. "You're sure?" He asked simply. But he was surprised to see her already removing her sword belt and shield. She even pulled the dagger out that she always kept tucked into her left vambrace.
She nodded. Then she whispered. "Boasts or not dear. We're outnumbered, and they still have Steve and my sister." She said. "We might escape. But it would ONLY be us."
"Right." He whispered back. Then he turned back to the large commander. "We'll come with." He said sarcastically as he began unfastening his holster belt.
And while he removed the revolver, he made sure to keep the .45 that was tucked into his chest plate. Even if they frisked him, or had him remove the armor, they wouldn't find it hidden in there. And he knew from his duel with Artair that the Earth weapons didn't register as magical. It could be a life saver in a pinch, even if it did only have a single magazine without his belt.
A few minutes later they were walking through the palace surrounded by Vatrian guards.
---------------------------------------
When they arrived James was surprised to find the room startlingly empty, practically spartan compared to the rest of the royal palace. It also had no guards. And while the Emperor's translator was present, standing off to the side of the large desk he sat at in front of the lit fireplace, they did not actively translate as the Emperor "Spoke".
"Princess Amina Petravius." The translator said. "A most unexpected addition to this meeting. Though not an unwelcome one."
Amina made a slight bow, ignoring the slight graciously.
"Before I leave. Is there anything either of you would desire? Refreshments? Food?" The translator asked as they made their way to the door.
"Just answers." James said venomously.
"Then I shall take my leave." The translator said. "Congratulations on your marriage." Then they stepped out of the door, which was still being held open by the commander.
The large man stepped in and closed the door behind him before standing attention there. Clearly intending to stay for the duration of this conversation. Though James was happy to see that his hand was nowhere near his weapon.
James turned back to the Emperor.
[I see there was some disagreement about the nature of this meeting.] The young man said as he stood up from his chair and approached the two of them.
"I had reason to believe that I had caused some kind of offense earlier." James said as his arms automatically translated into the emperor's hand signs. "My wife and I were unwilling to separate from each other given the circumstances." He paused for a moment as he thought of what to say next. "I've learned to be wary since coming to this world, and we have lost much together." He added.
The emperor seemed to consider this for a moment. Then nodded slightly.
[I understand.] He signed. [We have heard tales of great battles and remarkable amounts of devastation to the land of Petravus. Each victory earned at great cost of life and land.]
"Especially to she and I." James said/signed with a nod at Amina.
[I am sorry to hear that.] The Emperor replied. [Tell me; can you speak with your hands and not your voice? Or must you do both?]
James thought about it for a moment, then decided to try. He held up a finger, requesting a moment. The Emperor nodded as he slowly circled the two of them. Studying them as he did. After once around them, he stopped back in front of James, looking at him warily.
Come on. How do you talk without talking? James thought.
Then his arms moved. [Come on. How do you talk without talking?] They signed, and James watched them with confusion. [Oh crap. Don't think hard about stuff you-] He waved his hands in a jumble, then clamped his hands onto his elbows.
The emperor peered at him with a look that was equal parts amusement and offense.
"Sorry." James said as he let his arms sign freely. "Apparently it's as easy as thinking of doing it."
"James?" Amina asked curiously. He looked at her and nodded.
"Medallion stuff." He said.. Oddly, his hands didn't sign that part. Though they began again as he faced the emperor again. "I think this is the part where the conversation becomes one on one."
[Quite so.] The emperor replied. [Please apologize to her if it seems rude. I had no intention of her being here for this.]
James nodded. "He apologizes if that makes it seem rude." He said to her. Then he turned back to the emperor and thought. Though he had to focus a lot harder than he thought about WHEN he signed and didn't. [I suppose we can start.] He signed.
[That's my line.] The emperor said with a smug look on his face.
[Sorry.] James signed back, then bowed a little. [At your discretion your majesty.] He added as he stood back up.
The emperor studied him for a moment, then nodded.
[How many gods have you had audience with in your time in this world?] He asked. His signs were in a rapid, incredibly precise, fashion that the medallion's magic (however it worked) made him think meant the younger man was being stern and somewhat angry.
James clenched his jaw, and felt his claws dig into his palm as his hands clenched into fists as well. Then he shook his head a bit.
[Too many.] He admitted. [But for the record, three.Though it could be considered four if you consider the Mother of the Land, as the druids called her, to be a god as well.]
The Emperor's eyes widened at that.
[Do you have issue with the gods?] He asked after a moment. [Even though they brought you to this world, and have granted you their boons?]
James looked at Amina for a moment. She looked back at him curiously.
Then he spoke out loud so she could hear. The Emperor shifted uncomfortably as he did. And he heard Tyrius move a bit as well.
"The gods abducted me." He began, signing as he did. "In so doing they maimed one of my friends, and inadvertently caused the death of another well before his time." He stepped toward the smaller man. "They took me from a life of relative peace, and thrust me into a world of danger and, admittedly, fantasy. And while I thank them for the fact that in doing so I have met the love of my life." He nodded at Amina, who smiled even as she stood up straighter. "But that does NOT forgive who I lost in those first few moments."
The Emperor attempted to stand up to James as he approached.
"Hero." Tyrius boomed from where he stood at the door. James looked over and saw that his hand was on his war hammer now.
[It's fine commander.] The Emperor signed as James stopped only a step away from him.
"They looked on as another of my friends, Amina's own sister of choice, was turned into a MONSTER... and called a CHAMPION." He practically spat the title out. Then he held his wolf arm up again. "And then REWARDED me.... for granting her a merciful death." He stared at the Emperor. "She had two kids."
[I believe I unders-] The Emperor began to sign. But James waved a hand.
[I'm not done.] He signed rapidly.
"Then they manipulated events to temporarily relieve us of the vanishing blight." He pointed at the emperor for emphasis. "You know of the vanishing blight yeah? I was told your land had a few patches of it around too. Just like everyone else."
The emperor nodded, but James was already continuing before he could sign anything else.
"Did you know that THEY," He pointed up at the sky. "are the ones that sent the blight to this world?" The emperor's eyes widened in surprise at that. "Cause they did. And when they HELPED us get rid of it. They used my baby brother to do so." He was breathing heavily now, even as he felt tears begin rolling down his cheeks. "My baby brother who was only in this world because if he had stayed on Earth my OWN people would have used him against me." He paused for effect. "And the GODS.... killed him. In body and probably also his soul. JUST so they could buy us some time to prepare for the return of the entity that was tied to the blight." He stepped until he was almost nose to nose with the Emperor. He heard the massive guard commander begin moving toward them. "And even though my brother might still be alive KINDA... That entity WILL return. One way or the other."
"James." Amina hissed in warning.
"That happened only a week or two before Amina and I left to come here." He said. "So yes.... I have issue with these so called gods."
A large, powerful, hand clamped onto his shoulder and James was turned bodily by Tyrius, who had his hammer in the other hand and was bringing it up for a swing.
James latched onto the hand with his own, his eyes blazing with golden light. His magically enhanced earth and werewolf muscles made him MUCH stronger than the people of this world, and he heard a cracking noise from the commander's hand. But the man was a warrior, and didn't slow down or falter at all.
Then a small, tan, hand slapped the commander in the face. Tyrius froze in shock. Then wrenched his hand out of James's grip before he fell back and kneeled.
"My Emperor." He said in his deep voice. "My greatest apologies for assuming your will."
[I will not have my commander die to his own vow.] The emperor signed furiously. Then he stamped his feet angrily as he realized that his commander wasn't looking at him, and James assumed also wouldn't have understood the signs even if he were.
James stared at the diminutive leader, who was staring back at him with equal parts anger, and confusion.
Then the emperor signed to him. [Instruct him that the God's Falcon orders him back to his post.] He took several deep breaths. Then added. [Please.]
James looked back and forth between the two of them.
"The God's Falcon orders you back to your post?" He said hesitantly.
Tyrius looked up at him in shock, then at the Emperor. He nodded, then quickly stood up and moved at double time back to the door, where he immediately stood at attention, hammer back on his belt. As if nothing had happened.
James looked back at the Emperor curiously.
[Are you quite done?] He asked James.
James considered the question. Then nodded. Though his blood was still up a bit.
[I believe that my shock and disbelief earlier, at someone using my own signs despite their secrecy, may have led us to have a misunderstanding.] The emperor signed. [For that, I apologize. So you know, I am called the God to Be only because I am Emperor. I have no misgivings about my own divinity.]
James's head tilted a bit at the new information.
[If anything.] The Emperor continued. [The title was made into a cruel jest.] He pointed at his own throat and ears. [The gods have taken from me as well. So in this, we are kindred spirits.]
James considered this for a moment. Then understanding and embarrassment made him sign an apology.
[Thank you.] The Emperor said in response. Then he gestured at the chair in front of his desk. [Now. Let us discuss our mutual enemies with more level heads, and better understanding of each other.]
James nodded, and followed the emperor's guidance toward the chair in question, signalling for Amina to follow.
And the three of them, with James translating, spoke long into the night.
[Next]

https://imgur.com/a/z8198a4
Alright boys and girls, I have a unique bundle up for sale today. This one will probably give me sellers remorse, but I made an impulse buy and also have another tattoo appointment coming up.
Up for sale today is an original owner Shiro MEFP NeOn Zero, Pen Tool, a clone that doesn’t seem to be available anymore, a pouch to carry them in, and a hard case to store them in.
The Shiro has been carried a handful of times for special occasions. Some shiny spots on the edges of the clip, but no major scratches or scuffs. The rest of the knife looks perfect, blade hasn’t been cut or sharpened. Hardware is pristine, only adjusted the pivot once with the pen tool, never disassembled.
Pen Tool has pretty much lived it’s life in the pouch, or in my knife tool box. Bits fit the hardware perfectly, again, only used the pivot bit once. Same for the pen, only used to write the TimeStamp
CLONE, second owner I believe. Has been sharpened by previous owner, and has a minor scuff at the tip to show for it. Would be perfect for a daily or test run for mods, without compromising the real deal
Pouch was bought from a seller on edc exchange, fits the knife and pen nicely. Zipper compartment on the back
Hard case has not had the foam cut out yet. I added the Velcro to the top and will include the MEFP patch
Shiro and Pen Tool will come with original boxes, papers and cleaning cloth, clone will come in original zipper pouch.
Partial trades considered -3” Hinderer XM18, NF preferred -Microtech Ultratech or 85 Spartan
S/V-$1100 obo, will include a Shiro morale patch that I paid way too much for if it moves within the next hour
PayPal FF, no notes. Notes will cancel the sale and it will go to next buyer
Will ship usps tomorrow with insurance