Since The Weeknd is performing at the Super Bowl Halftime show, I thought it’d be nice to post a little guide to his discography for anyone interested in looking to do a deep dive into his work. I would’ve posted this the day of the event, but I assume that some people would probably like to go through it over the weekend.
This shares a direct overview of his released material, talking about his career and the background of the music, the videos, the meanings and all. I’ve written this from a pop perspective, keeping in mind that his history might be fairly new for general pop fans.
I also go into the storyline of the red suit character, if your interested in catching up on that narrative before the Halftime show (which will continue the story), I’ve listed the chronological order below followed by an explanation of that narrative.
I wanna be clear that the interpretations/theories are not conclusive. Abel rarely shares the metaphors or meanings behind his music. This is based on widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation. Fans can feel free to expand on anything in the comments.
It is important to know about Abel's backstory to get a certain perspective of where he’s coming from, especially when discussing the songs that deal with substance abuse. These recent articles cover his early years really well and share an up-to-date point of view of his success.
Variety 2020
Billboard 2021 - Also a good source for getting to know his team.
So, an essential TL;DR is this: Abel Tesfaye came from a broken home, he was born to Ethiopian immigrant parents who split up when Tesfaye was less than seven. He then lived with his mother and grandmother, only rarely seeing his father but having a nice impression of him. His drug addiction started as soon as he was a high schooler, he turned to shoplifting to pay for this need of various substances. Soon he dropped out of high school, leaving his home the same weekend, which would later inspire his stage name, The Weeknd. The name is reference/homage to the weekend his life changed.
Quick side note, I didn’t think this post would nearly reach the character limit. So I’ve cut out excess detail and lists of producers (with the exception of After Hours since we’re in that era).
Table of contents

1. XO.
2. House of Balloons.
3. Thursday.
4. Echoes of Silence.
5. Trilogy.
6. Kiss Land.
7. King of the Fall.
8. Beauty Behind The Madness.
9. Starboy.
10. My Dear Melancholy.
11. After Hours.

XO.

XO is the record label that The Weeknd and co. created in order to publish the first mixtape (House of Balloons) and the ones that would follow afterwards. XO has a lot of meanings that have to do with what went into the music and what still goes into it. XO is what the fans call themselves, popularly with the phrase XO Till We OD (shortened to XOTWOD); another way of saying “we’re ride or die for The Weeknd and his team.”
While some argue that it could mean anything since there isn’t clear meaning to it, fans continue to associate the abbreviation with ecstasy (X) and oxycontin (O). That definition stems from XOTWOD, fans assume it’s true because of the team’s history of drug usage. While others take it as it’s classical definition “hugs and kisses” because of the consistent lyrical nature of The Weeknd’s songs.
Overtime the definition of XO is simply known as: the fans, the crew, and the label. The Weeknd is more than just one person, he comes with XO. For the sake of clarity in this writeup, I’m going to refer to his crew as XO and the fans as “the fans.”
XO still serves as a record label, the current roster is The Weeknd, Belly, Nav, and Black Atlass. It remains The Weeknd’s record label and was his first label before becoming a subsidiary of Republic Records.
Throughout his career, The Weeknd has worked with Illangelo, a Canadian producer who’s work the fans adore. Carlo “Illangelo” Montagnese was one of main the producers on The Weeknd’s Trilogy, he’s credited on each track. The fan base claims his work to be some of the most notable artistry in The Weeknd’s discography. Their work together continued with Beauty Behind The Madness, Illangelo worked on seven tracks for that album. He then returned for After Hours working on another seven tracks.
DaHeala, another Canadian producer, is another significant factor in The Weeknd’s music. Jason “DaHeala” Quenneville worked as lead producer on Kiss Land. He returned to work on six tracks for The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness, including the hit Earned It. DaHeala returned as a writer for six of the songs on Starboy. Then DaHeala worked on nine After Hours tracks, and worked as the only producewriter alongside The Weeknd for bonus tracks Missed You and Final Lullaby.

House of Balloons.

Didn't wanna make this NSFW, so here's the super clean edited cover

This is a happy house. We’re happy here. (House of Balloons/Glass Table Girls)

One of the most iconic title tracks of all time. House of Balloons is about a lifestyle of drugs, sex, and partying; all in effort to drown out self-doubt. It comes from a place of wanting to make it big while doing what you can to survive, all while pretending everything’s alright. The mixtape describes various sorts of women, how they’ve had impacted the life of someone who’s already down on his luck.
Fans often refer to House of Balloons as The Weeknd’s best work. The mixtape was the first introduction the world got of XO, and it was one hell of a way to make an impression. It’s personal for the fans and Abel because it’s the only piece of work known to be based on his life. At the end of the day he’s a songwriter, with many of his albums he creates scenarios and world that he likes to explore through the music. But House of Balloons is known to be based entirely on his life. It remains The Weeknd’s most critically acclaimed work.
House of Balloons was crafted through the influences of Hip-Hip/Indie-Rock with the main focus on R&B. Through the genius of Ilangelo, the record was—and is—mesmerizing capturing the essence of a lifestyle that The Weeknd described as “anti-everything.”
House of Balloons assisted The Weeknd in gaining the attention of Republic Records, which would then host The Weeknd’s own label XO. Though hesitant at first, XO decided to partner with Republic after the co-founding brothers Monte and Avery Lipman kept coming back to Toronto solely for The Weeknd.
House of Balloons received three videos, The Knowing, Wicked Games and Twenty Eight. The Knowing was the very first video The Weeknd made, so of course it’d be something other-worldly; it essentially reflects the song itself but in a sci-fi setting. Twenty Eight represents Abel’s life after fame but also his remorse of letting captivating women into his life.
Fun fact— House of Balloons is an actual place in Toronto, it was where him and his crew lived after he dropped out of high school. They’d host parties, call girls, do drugs, and to make it less depressing they’d fill it with balloons.

Thursday.

Valerie on the cover

Welcome to the other side. (Life of the Party)

Thursday consists of the same themes as HoB; sex and drugs. But there’s a twist, he’s in a semi-relationship with this girl Valerie. She’s the only one on his mind, even though they meet only one day of the week, any guesses on what day that could be? Through The Weeknd’s phenomenal voice and the insane production, we’re also presented with this story of a toxic relationship where Valerie used to have the upper hand but she no longer does when she falls for The Weeknd.
While Thursday isn’t entirely about the relationship of The Weeknd and Valerie, it consists of reflections to Abel’s life after the release of House of Balloons. The song Rolling Stone notably has a double meaning, in which Abel asks his fans if they’ll stick with him when he gets mainstream appeal and decides to change his sound.
The track Valerie wasn’t on the original release of Thursday, it added when Trilogy was released. Ending the mixtape with Heaven or Las Vegas meant that The Weeknd’s actions with and without Valerie were a result of his fatherless childhood, making him push anyone away. That meaning behind Thursday doesn’t change when Valerie is added to the track list, it just means that both want the toxic relationship back.
The Zone (feat. Drake) was the first feature The Weeknd had on any of his work, the video for it was released in November of 2012. Rolling Stone had also received a video in October of 2012. Both were directed by The Weeknd and reflect the two different aspects of Thursday. The Zone has Valerie living it up in the House of Balloons. And Rolling Stone has The Weeknd doing a photoshoot for Trilogy, reflective of the song itself.
Fun Fact— the female voice heard in Lonely Star is The Weeknd’s, he pitched his voice to make it sound like a woman’s.

Echoes of Silence.

Diana on the cover

Laisse tomber les filles. Un jour c'est toi qu'on laissera. [Leave the girls alone. One day it’ll be you they will leave.] (Montreal)

Out of a dark introductory into the early life of The Weeknd, Echoes of Silence is the darkest work of his Trilogy. Let’s be honest the story here isn’t entirely ethical at times but makes for one hell of a mixtape.
Similar to Thursday, Echoes of Silence follows a storyline. After accumulating success, The Weeknd gains the attention of various women. There was this one woman (D.D.) who he liked but she initially rejected him (Montreal). The woman came back to him for his fame status and evidently fell in love with him (Outside), but now that he’s got the upper hand he treats him like a groupie (XO/The Host) and lets... bad things happen to her; she’s gotta pass a test before she can get with him. This test is either drugs or his crew (Initiation). He ultimately tells this woman that he’s not exactly longterm-relationship material, perhaps because her love is temporary (Same Old Song), because he’s Next. With the end of Echoes of Silence (originally ending on the title track) the listener is left to wonder why The Weeknd left her if he’d simply want her to stay.
As a side note— Initiation should not be condoned. It remains true that The Weeknd is a songwriter and the progression of time has changed perspectives. But a song that makes such suggestions as Initiation should not be ethically/morally claimed or celebrated.
The mixtape follows The Weeknd’s lifestyle after he’s gained all this success, he’s still the same person but now he’s gotten everything he wanted. Some tracks such as The Fall continue to emphasize his journey into stardom and his acceptance of fame being temporary. With the added Till Dawn (Here Comes The Sun), The Weeknd acknowledges the changes in his life, realizing that the old lifestyle is no longer there for him or his past lovers.
Echoes of Silence is known as an underrated gem of The Weeknd’s discography, it’s well received by fans and critically acclaimed but often brushed under the rug in discussion of his work. A lot of fans and casual listeners play the mixtapes through Trilogy rather than their respective albums. This often leads to people not playing EoS either at all or only the first few tracks, this is predominantly due to the nature of the compilation being nearly three hours long.
Fun fact— D.D. is a cover of Michael Jackson’s iconic Dirty Diana. Fans have named the woman in Echoes of Silence Diana because of this track. Various theories argue that the mixtape itself is based on the Dirty Diana itself with exaggerations of the truth, or whether or not it’s a story The Weeknd crafted based on the song.

Trilogy.

Rolling Stone video doubled as a shoot

You don’t know what’s in store. (High For This.)

Trilogy is a compilation of The Weeknd’s mixtapes, House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. These three mixtapes were released 3-4 months apart from one another for free digital download in 2011, they gained quite a lot of attention from various industry executives.
Prior to the release of Trilogy, The Weeknd featured on Drake’s Take Care with Crew Love. The song was Abel’s first exposure to a Rap crowd/Rap fans, more people began listening to his music after the release of Take Care. The Weeknd then featured on Wiz Khalifa’s Remember You, which served as the second single off Wiz Khalifa’s O.N.I.F.C. Following those two releases, The Weeknd released Wicked Games as the first single off Trilogy.
Trilogy was formed after The Weeknd came under Republic Records’ management. The compilation album reached a debut/peak position of 4 on the Billboard 200 while reaching number one on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. It’s a well received album with the highlight said to be House of Balloons, which arguably went on to influence various sorts of R&B music of the 2010s.
Videos for Trilogy

Kiss Land.

Iconic

I went from starin' at the same four walls for 21 years. To seein' the whole world in just 12 months. (Kiss Land)

Kiss Land is based on The Weeknd’s tour life. Visiting unfamiliar places gave Abel horror movie vibes. A guy who used to own the city (Toronto) he lived in is now a small fish in the ocean of the entire world. The Weeknd’s first studio album was a great introduction into the sound he would soon get well acquainted with.
While continuing the R&B sound with the essence of Dark Wave, the album explores emptiness and regret throughout the lyrics—or what pop fans could categorize as dark pop—. The Japanese aesthetic used for various videos and the single covers/booklet reflects the themes of feeling overwhelmed by such a loud world that there’s no point in being if you don’t belong.
The album explores the real-world and the women in it as well as regrets regarding past actions, namely letting go of women who could’ve been the one in Adaptation. The Weeknd attempts to find that satisfaction in other women and past lovers, but accidentally falls for a sex worker in Belong To The World. With Wanderlust he accepts and expresses that love in the modern world isn’t entirely possible. While continuing to tour the world he enjoys these new experiences with XO (Live For feat. Drake), as well as the new women in his life (Kiss Land). And when he’s back home, he accepts the loss of the relationship he cherished.
Kiss Land debuted and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. It was fairly acclaimed but gained a massive cult following. There were four videos for made for the album, the title track, Belong To the World, Live For (feat. Drake), and Pretty. Those four songs received interesting visuals that kept up with their respective themes while Belong To the World/Kiss Land got visuals that matched the aesthetic of the album. To this day fans ask Abel for a part two to the horror-movie-inspired album after he said it’s the only album he would have a sequel for.
Videos for Kiss Land
Fun Fact— The video for Kiss Land on YouTube is an extremely edited version of the actual video shot for the song. The directors cut further explores the erotic-horror themes if the album.

King of the Fall.

King of the Fall 2020 cover (even though I talk about three other songs here)

Driving by the streets we used to walk through like a triumph. (King of the Fall)

These next few song were released between the Kiss Land and Beauty Behind the Madness era. Some fans would classify them as part of the Beauty Behind the Madness era—I’d say the same tbh—but they stand apart on the basis of success and acclaim. It’s a transition between The Weeknd being an underrated R&B musician to being a mainstream artist with massive recognition and appreciation.
The first of these four songs is King of the Fall. A fan favourite and a standout in The Weeknd’s discography. This is one of The Weeknd’s few Rap tracks, it gained a lot of attention within the Rap sphere. It was the way in which XO would announce that they’ve made it, little did they know that this was just the start.
Prior to the release of Beauty Behind the Madness (BBTM), The Weeknd gained mainstream attention. The Weeknd’s exposure to mainstream music was uphill, it wasn’t overnight. The first taste of BBTM came from Often, a song that reflected the themes of sex that Abel was known for. The track was released more than a year before BBTM’s release and had made it onto the trackless unlike King of the Fall. Slowly but surely The Weeknd gained exposure, his main sources of exposure were through a collaboration and a soundtrack.
Most pop fans heard about The Weeknd through his hit collaboration with Ariana Grande, Love Me Harder. The collab was made through Republic when The Weeknd said he wanted more than what he had gotten through Kiss Land. Ariana and Abel had formed a real bond cough The Hills cough, their bond assisted the song in becoming a memorable hit for both artists. Love Me Harder was a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
Later that year, The Weeknd was featured on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack with Earned It, as well as Where You Belong. Earned It became a massive hit peaking at 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving an Oscar nomination for The Weeknd; a massive milestone for XO. Earned It kept up with Abel’s signature lyrics but the production differed heavily from the sort of R&B he was known for.
Videos from that era

Beauty Behind the Madness.

I can hear this image

I'm that ***** with the hair singin' 'bout poppin' pills, fuckin' bitches, livin' life so trill. (Tell Your Friends)

Following the success of Love Me Harder and Earned It, the Beauty Behind the Madness era began with The Hills. This was The Weeknd’s first number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Along with the video, The Hills became an addictive classic. The production and lyrics mirror a mature version of the sound that was originally found on Trilogy. It was truly in keeping with The Weeknd’s character, the only difference was his haircut.
Next came Can’t Feel My Face, a Max Martin production that differed greatly from anything The Weeknd put out in the past. In past songs, Abel had expressed his fear of losing his following if he went mainstream simultaneously asking his fans if they’d stay. He repeats that sentiment in the Can’t Feel My Face video. The sound has changed, the lyrics stay the same but now he’s a pop-star. The song became a hit as it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. With this massive bop previous fans still stayed, The Weeknd becoming a pop singer didn’t at all alter his image or sound; he mastered it.
In The Night and Acquainted were released as singles on the same day, the were the only singles to come after the release of Beauty Behind The Madness. The former received a music video treatment that followed the theme of the song itself while also starring Abel’s girlfriend at the time, Bella Hadid. Acquainted was robbed of a video even though Abel had shown off the fact that a video was in development; the song kept in the tone of The Weeknd’s work prior to BBTM.
Beauty Behind the Madness captures a Hollywood-based reality that The Weeknd came to understand: the dark aspects of your life will continue to follow you wherever you are. Real Life, Losers (feat. Labrinth), Tell Your Friends, Dark Times (feat. Ed Sheeran), and Prisoner (feat. Lana Del Rey) all capture a nihilistic view of a dream achieved.
Most of the videos of Beauty Behind The Madness have a mysterious white man. He’s featured in The Hills, Can’t Feel My Face, and Tell Your Friends. That man represents the devil. Throughout his journey in those videos, (The Hills) Abel runs into the devil after his car crash, (Can’t Feel My Face) he’s at the club then lights him on fire. The significance behind the fire could be selling his soul to the devil, BBTM is about Hollywood and a popular Hollywood myth is that celebrities sell their souls to the devil in exchange for fame. So in the Can’t Feel My Face video, Abel changes his sound to Pop (from R&B) thus leaving his signature sound in order to become famous, everyone starts enjoying his music once he’s sold his soul.
Then we see The Weeknd burying himself in Tell Your Friends, perhaps leaving the old Abel behind after the deal with the devil. However, instead of thanking the devil, Abel takes his revenge and shoots him. But wait, there’s more! The album trailer for BBTM features the devil burning a billboard with The Weeknd’s face on it, revealing Beauty Behind The Madness. HOWEVER, the final cut for the video features the devil being arrested while The Weeknd watches. This is a more realistic form of karma that the devil gets.
Videos for BBTM

Starboy.

Filled with bops

If I could, I'd trade it all, trade it for a halo. And she said that she'll pray for me, I said, "It's too late for me.” (Ordinary Life)

After the massive success of Beauty Behind the Madness, there was a lot of hype around what The Weeknd would do next; evidently he decided to explore Pop. The fandom he had gained wasn’t entirely based in the Pop sphere, his fans consisted of general Rap fans, but Starboy attracted the Pop audience.
Initially, most of his older fans couldn’t get behind Starboy, it differed greatly from the previous sound. It was crazy to think that the guy who made Trilogy managed to make such a Pop-centric album. But this was Abel expressing his versatility.
Since this is where most pop fans found out about Abel’s work and became fans I won’t talk too much about the singles, rather more about the album itself. His work with Daft Punk cemented this album in an efficient mix between Pop and R&B, where Beauty Behind the Madness was more R&B with Pop, Starboy was considered Pop with R&B.
Beyond the genres, Starboy explores two evident themes. One being his life with fame and recognition. The next being his love life in Hollywood, this aspect of the album came from his relationship with Bella Hadid which ended after the release of the album.
The cross became the symbol for that era and appeared in the album’s photoshoot as well as the videos. There was never any conclusive word on the use of the cross but there are various theories about it, something to note is that Abel was raised Christian, it could perhaps be a reflection of his past.
The cross he uses to destroy his accolades (Starboy video) is assisting him rather than something that’s holding him back. Abel’s upbringing was rough but now he’s celebrating it rather than feeling bad for himself. The cross continues to come up in the Party Monster video, this time it’s in the party house he’s making his way through. Then it shows up in the video for Reminder, this time in the form of his merch, the people wearing it are perhaps representative of his fans. Then we see it in the False Alarm video, both Abel and the girl are wearing it; the notable thing being that Abel holds his cross up before dying. Then in the brilliant video for Secrets, after giving up on the girl he’s with he leaves the building to find a giant cross. And finally in the I Feel It Coming video, The Weeknd sports a shiny cross necklace, and Daft Punk find it years and years after Abel froze.
The videos tell us that the cross is an evident piece of his story. This could mean that his past will always be with him, no matter what sort of fame he’s experiencing he’ll always be who he once was.
Also, I’m gonna take this moment to once again the genius that is the Secrets (both the song and the video). Yes it’s my favourite song/video off of Starboy but it’s so underrated.
Videos for Starboy, Secrets video bottom right
Fun Fact— Most demos of the tracks on Starboy weren’t as pop as they became, they started off R&B but became pop after production.

My Dear Melancholy.

Note the comma

They said our love is just a game, I don't care what they say. But I'ma drink the pain away, I'll be back to my old ways. (Privilege)

Oof (but in a good way, this whole thing is a bop). For this one I’m gonna talk extensively about The Weeknd’s relationships, which personally feels really invasive but it’s but it’s essential when talking about these sad boy anthems. Beyond that I’d just like to state that though they are part of the narrative both Bella Hadid and Selena Gomez deserve respect/privacy.
So when it comes to Pop music fans I think it’s safe to say that we all know a lot about this one. My Dear Melancholy (MDM) came after the very public relationship of The Weeknd and Selena Gomez. However it’s not just about Selena, some songs reflect his relationship with Bella Hadid (whom he got back with a month after MDM’s release).
My Dear Melancholy consists with The Weeknd’s exploration/mastery of merging Pop and R&B together. The EP was praised by fans for its lyrics and production, many went on to theorize that it was his most personal project since House of Balloons. The EP was the shortest album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.
My Dear Melancholy and fan conspiracies; name a better duo. The first theory being that the EP is entirely about Selena Gomez which wasn’t too much of a mystery since the lyric “I almost cut a piece of myself for your life” exists. Not only did MDM come after Abel’s relationship with Selena Gomez but also after his relationship with Bella Hadid. As far as fans were aware those two relationships were the most important relationships Abel had ever been in.
In theory, the songs about Bella and Selena can be categorized. Call Out My Name, Try Me, and Privilege are likely about Selena. Wasted Times, and Hurt You are likely about Bella. Leaving I Was Never There to act as an introspective look into The Weeknd’s life, basically making him hop back on his vices for comfort.
Another popular theory was that My Dear Melancholy was the first of another trilogy. This rumour was widely believed due to the comma at the end of the title on the album cover. But the fans soon gained a real reason to believe this theory, since the CEO of XO (the record label), Sal had liked an Instagram post that featured the cover and alleged date. Since Trilogy is a fan favourite this conspiracy spread like wild fire, so much so that fake titles and covers were made. The name of this trilogy would be: (1)My Dear Melancholy, (2)We’re Alone Together, (3)Abel.
Only one song served as a single for the EP. Call Out My Name was released nearly two months prior to the actual release of the album, it debuted/peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The mysterious video captures The Weeknd in various atmospheric places that reflect the tone of the EP, a haunting yet unexplained reality that the listener is to reflect on.
From the cover, to the music, to the video, to lyrics, My Dear Melancholy is an introspective reflection of heartbreak.
Call out my name video

After Hours.

Talented, Brilliant, Incredible, etc.

My darkest hours. (After Hours)

After Hours comes after success but references two lows in The Weeknd’s life. The album welcomes darkness and leads the listener towards a dead-end. The Weeknd’s past two albums (Beauty Behind The Madness and Starboy) ended on hopeful notes, they left the listener with a sense of hope but all hope his lost with After Hours.
Fans compare After Hours to House of Balloons—a rare occurrence considering House of Balloons’ acclaim—arguing that both albums are on the same level. Debate continues on whether or not both albums are on the same caliber. The belief that After Hours stems from reality does a lot to help its side of the argument.
The era began with Mercedes-Benz commercial that featured Blinding Lights, that was our first taste of the everlasting bop. Heartless was premiered on an episode of Memento Mori hours before its release on the 27 of November (2019), Blinding Lights was released two days later. Both videos were as brain melting as promised and the served as the tip of the iceberg.
After Hours was released nine days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, there was a massive risk in releasing an album that would not have a lot of promotion after it’s release (other than magazine coverage). There was no telling whether or not people would pay attention to the album during the height of the fear surrounding the pandemic, but it was a massive success. After Hours debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, with singles Heartless and Blinding Lights topping the Billboard Hot 100.
The album is layered with haunting productions that remains predominantly R&B but dives deep into Pop with some of the tracks. Max Martin produced the massive hit Blinding Lights as well as In Your Eyes, Save Your Tears, Hardest to Love, and Scared to Live which samples Elton John’s Your Song. Other notable producers include Metro Boomin who worked on the hit Heartless as well as Escape from LA, Faith, and Until I Bleed Out. With Kevin Parker on the interlude Repeat After Me.
Beyond the production are the narrative driven lyrics. In theory the album references two significant events in Abel’s life, his second breakup with Bella Hadid and his arrest in Las Vegas. The latter was due to his misbehaviour; in January 2015 he punched a cop in Vegas, lmao. Which means that After Hours is a recollection of The Weeknd’s first few years in LA. He merges the concept of his breakup with the idea of being an upcoming star, feeling free in the city of lights all while diving deep into the meaninglessness of those lights.
While After Hours starts with loneliness and a second chance it leads up to Abel returning to his vices of lust. In Alone Again his loneliness caught up to him and he’s asking for a second chance. He acknowledges his mistakes and situation in Too Late/Hardest to Love, in Scared to Live his ex then returns to him for a second time. He remembers his past ways in Snowchild and the way in which it lead to better days, but where do you go after such highs? In Escape From LA he faces the superficial reality of Hollywood, glad that he got that he got back with his ex, while continuing to question if it’s worth it. But he fucks up the second chance when she pulls up to the studio.
Who is she? Much like the other mysteries surrounding The Weeknd’s music, we may never know. Is it all more of The Weeknd’s songwriting ability or is it driven by reality? Fans found a merge between the two to be more accurate, After Hours is about heartbreak and a return to the vices that held The Weeknd back.
Heartless is when The Weeknd is once again back to his ways, he may have been in a serious relationship but after throwing that away he spirals back to the way he once was. It’s sad but it’s one hell of a song. Speaking of brilliant songs, Faith is when Abel admits that he’s back on his vices, he states that he needs his ex back with him till the end; he’s back to self-loathing.
So when he says he’s blinded by the lights, there’s two meanings to it. The Faith outro tells us that he’s in a car with flashing lights, a cop car (as confirmed by Abel) to be exact. Then Blinding Lights tells us that while he’s watching the bright lights of Vegas pass him by he calls out for the girl that he regrets losing. That is the peak of the After Hours narrative. He’s behaving badly over the loss of the girl he loved and is now at the worst position trying to find her and gain her trust for a third time.
Following Blinding Lights is In Your Eyes, this is where The Weeknd vows not to judge her; he can see right through her but will never do anything to make her upset. Does this mean their back together? Not exactly. Save Your Tears details a sort of moving-on that The Weeknd isn’t ready for but tries to help her move on, blind to his own inability to move on. Does it work? Not really. Repeat After Me (Interlude) shows that he’s still trying to convince himself that he’s unfazed by the loss of a meaningful relationship.
Then you hear a true masterpiece. The title track is a spiral into true regret and an apology for his actions, he admits that his ex girlfriend is the only reason he lives. In a dark lonely city she’s the only one keeping him sane. But his pleas fail, Until I Bleed Out is when The Weeknd no longer wants her in his life so much so that he wants to erase his memory of anything related to her. The bonus tracks then echo the final sentiment.
It’s one sad ass album, ain’t it. But here’s where the Red Suit Character comes in.
Shoutout to the makeup department
The album isn’t the only narrative to follow with After Hours. The videos for the album follow their own sort of narrative. The story follows an unnamed guy that goes by “red suit character” according to The Weeknd.
There’s a lot of confusion and endless theories surrounding this character’s story, after The Weeknd confirmed that it’s about a decent into Hollywood culture it makes more sense… kind of. I’m gonna discuss the storyline without talking about the movies that have influenced it, this way the focus remains on the character.
The order of these videos is Heartless / Blinding Lights / Blinding Lights (Live on Kimmel)* / After Hours short film / In Your Eyes / Until I Bleed Out / Snowchild / Too Late / Live at AMAs* / Save Your Tears
*Though all live performances could count as part of the narrative, these one relate directly with the videos that follow.
He’s is first seen in Vegas with Metro Boomin (Heartless), intoxicated on various substances. He dives deeper into his high until he licks a frog, after that he faces the true effects of this high. He’s frightened by the result and runs far away from Vegas. (Blinding Lights) He’s then found in LA, where he’s dancing in the street, hypnotized by the singer, beat up by guards, and races past all those bright lights in his Benz. Ultimately realizing the shallowness of the Los Angeles fantasy.
(Blinding Lights Live on Kimmel) We then find him performing Blinding Lights live, while he attempts to find more reason in within the madness city; he couldn’t find it on the streets so he goes to the stage. (After Hours short film) Even then there’s no meaning to anything in the city, he mindlessly wanders into the depth of the subway where he’s dragged by the reality of it all and ends up possessed. (In Your Eyes) After being possessed he chases the woman whose boyfriend he just murdered, she runs into a club falls deeper into the After Hours fantasy, in a successful attempt to defend herself she beheads the red suit character and dances all over LA with his head, iconic behaviour.
(Until I Bleed Out) Then in an ethereal dreamscape, red suit character finds himself in a House of Balloons. He’s trying to escape, but the people there keep pulling him in; he’s getting higher while observing Glass Table Girls. He spirals into the antarctic, the other side of the world. From Heatless to this point in his story, his vices lead him back to the lowest point in Abel’s life. Is it Hell, Heaven or Las Vegas? (Snowchild) He relives his career up until the point where his story began. Considering he’s dead, his life basically flashed before his eyes.
(Too Late) LA girls find the red suit character’s head and live their best life. They wanna have sex with him so they find the best boy parts by calling up a stripper who could be the body. The stitch the head up with the body and do what they want. But now he’s brought back to life. (Live at AMAs) He’s had work done… He went in to get his nose fixed and the doctor said “you sure that’s all you want?” The red suit character’s face is healing while he tries to celebrate his life on top of a bridge.
(Save Your Tears) Surrounded by a masked cult he debut’s his new face. Do they like it? Are they impressed? Not instantly, their masks translate no expression so how’s he to know? Is any of this worth it? Nope red suit character continues to die inside. He finds a maskless girl in the crowd, she’s lively unlike the rest; but even then, nothing on the inside nothing on the outside. He wants death again, somehow a second chance with this city is still pointless. He tries to kill himself via the girl and himself but it’s all a facade; theatrics.
His story continues but that’s all we know so far.
The videos make a lot of film references. This post by explain these references very well, as well as past album references here (part one) and here (part two).
After Hours is inspired by a lot of movies, since Abel is in fact a cinephile. The main movies that inspired the aesthetic and storytelling are believed to be Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Casino (1995), Joker (2019), Uncut Gems (2020), and After Hours (1985). The album tells two sad narratives but remains one of The Weeknd’s best works yet. He’s expanded his videography and enhanced the interest of people who casually enjoy his music and of course his fans.
But the era isn’t over, by the time this is posted his Super Bowl Halftime show is yet to happen. And it’ll continue the red suit character’s story.
Videos for After Hours (so far)
Fun Fact—The Heartless video features a reference to Thursday. When he’s trying to run from Vegas, a sign behind him flashes “Heartless / Heaven or Las Vegas.” This could be a reference to Abel running from his past, after all Heartless is about him returning to his vices.

END.

Thank you for reading this, again, I didn’t realize it would end up being this long. But I hope this this served as a nice refresher for any fans who wanted to revisit Abel’s work before the Super Bowl.
And I really hope that anyone interested in getting into his music finds this helpful. Once again, the theories/interpretations mentioned aren’t conclusive, they’re widely based on fan discussion/mutual interpretation.
Due to the character limit I couldn’t add too links to the albums, so here are some artist links.
Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube | The Weeknd’s Shop | Tidal | Genius

Yes, a lot of the first world off loads its garbage onto the third world and these developing countries, in turn, generate just as much of their own garbage. Garbage that usually ends up in toxic/illegal landfills, into various waterways, or floating out into the ocean only to become a part of the humongous island garbage patches dotted around the globe.
In my case, nothing served as a more startling example of the waste we collectively generate than the local city dump. Occasionally, to get rid of old furniture and other random stuff, we've made trips to such a place as this, which allows you to drop off old junk in a giant dumping ground for a small fee. Even for the modest town I live in, this local dump, which is privately ran and is only one out of a couple for this area, has always had a literal mountain of garbage tens of feet high, by tens of feet long. It's sheltered in a very large half-open warehouse and there's always so much garbage there that it's practically touching the ceiling high above. And yet this is a normal amount of garbage collection for them. One that replicates itself week after week without fail. And they're not even the official dump for the city, which means that massive amount of garbage I've seen constitutes only a fraction of that actually generated by this city. And then, when you try to broaden the picture, every city, large or small, generates its own sizable amount of trash. Think how much trash a place like New York must create on a daily basis. Enough to fill hundreds, if not thousands, of warehouses like the kind I described above. Go bigger and think of the trash generated by entire countries, or entire continents. All the oceans of garbage and waste flowing out from our daily activity. And this happens every single moment, every single week, every single month, every single year. It's truly mind boggling. How we're not somehow buried in it up to our necks by now is astonishing.
I'm reminded of a joke by Bill Burr, when he remarks on the highly accurate, but not often thought about fact, that everything we've ever used is somewhere. Think about your entire life and everything you've ever donated or thrown away. All that stuff is somewhere out there. Crushed beneath a landfill, or floating out in the ocean, or, just maybe, is being used by someone else. It's crazy to think about, isn't it? The history of people's trash. Those both alive and dead have all left their mark in this way.
I can't help, but notice how in every single house, down every single street, and in every obscure little corner of human habitation; people are using things, throwing things away, buying new things, gobbling up electricity to heat their homes in the winter or cool them in the summer, ordering take-out, driving their cars, making plans for international trips which involve air travel, or other things they'd like to do which requires enormous fossil fuel energy. In every major city, at every single moment of the day, people go to stores, they shop, they dine out, they go to the movies, they mingle at nightclubs, they go to amusements parks and take in all the lurid sights they can. And all this happens. Every. Single. Day. Year upon year. I mean, just think of how this already has happened for decades now. From Chicago, to Tokyo, to Melbourne, to Toronto. Every single day. Every single night. How in the hell has it managed to go on for this long? With that much energy and resources being used by so many people, in so many places. By rights, it should have all collapsed within a week, yet it's been chugging along for decades now without stopping. Quite the opposite, it's only grown and grown. It makes me realize just how much there is in nature. How much energy to be exploited, how many animals there are to be slaughtered, how many other resources there are to be extracted. And that, as of now, we've squeezed and consumed every last drop out of it. Resources that could have lasted centuries, if not millennia, assuming they were properly managed, with far less people around to need them in the first place (at least less than a billion). Instead, we've taken all of it and stuffed into every belching furnace we could, simply to keep the infernal engine running. Hotels, restaurants, high price getaway resorts, luxury cruises, casinos, and whatever other bullshit you can think of. All so as to keep the lights on and the music booming in every single city across the world, and doubly so for the major ones. Like I said, it's just staggering to me that it's all lasted this long.
For better or worse, the world is unknown to me. In my case, I've been a hermit for nearly 15 years. I've never partied, or traveled, or done anything at all except sit quietly in my room. A tidy and well kept dungeon of near perpetual darkness, with garbage bags and thick cardboard taped over every window, leaving me lost behind my own wall of near perfect isolation. All I can do is sit with myself, stewing in morbid self-attention or mulling over any number of other equally dreary topics. Too much time spent thinking about all the things I'd rather not think about. One such common thought would be whether or not anything else will ever make itself known to me, or if all that I've come to realize is all there will ever be. Perhaps hedonism is really all there is. Perhaps matters of pleasure, for whatever form that might take for each individual, really are the only point to life. Sometimes I wonder that, if the world is going to die anyway, you might as well get drunk and party like there's no tomorrow and experience as much as you can before it's gone. If this is true, as I sometimes think to myself, then I suppose I've truly failed in my life. I haven't enjoyed myself and I have nothing, even on the most base level, that could warrant my time spent rotting on this planet. No good memories, no traveling anywhere, no having unique experiences. I've been as good as dead from the day I was born. Everything I've seen outside my window or through my computer screen, might as well be like pictures in a book. A faint two dimensional shadow of something that can never be anything more than what it is. Resting in my imagination only, but not even passing as a figment of the real thing. I'm a pale imitation of life. One that wishes I could have at least gotten something out of all this, as bad as it is, despite knowing in my heart that I never will.
ADDITIONAL EDIT BELOW:
Thanks for all the info. I hadn't considered some of what was mentioned here and it's given me more to think about. The world is, indeed, a large place and thus affords a copious amount of room for our trash. I'll admit that I wasn't aware of how efficiently garbage can, sometimes, be disposed of. Then again, in a world where a large amount of the air, food, water, and earth is poisoned, I suppose it doesn't much matter in the end how much or how little garbage it is that we actually generate. Well, like I said, it's still staggering to me how long this has gone on for. Consumerism, starting from 1945 and onwards, has been around for a little over 75 years now and, with it, most of our modern conveniences. That's nothing when compared against the rest of human history, let alone the deep time of the natural world, but I don't know. Like I said, it's dubiously amazing to me that it all even lasted a month. The fact that our current arrangements can last longer than a week at most, is even more dubiously amazing.
As for myself, I've accepted my lot in life. For what little that amounts to, I suppose. Not everyone has a taste for life, or is cut out for actually living as one would ordinarily expect. It's a sad thing, but as long as humans have been around for, there have been people like me who have puttered about in their dreary existences. Those who've just sort of trudged through life carried by their own prior inertia and fear of death. Tens of millions have come and gone who have found themselves in this predicament and, to this day, there are still those condemned to do the same. I'm just another regrettable example of it. It's not fine, but I accept it. I am what I am and, for better or worse, no one should deny who it is they truly are. Even if who they are only brings them pain and puts them apart from nearly every living thing on the planet. That's how it is, but I guess it doesn't stop me from complaining about it, as I've unfortunately done here, so apologies for that.
If there are self-made purgatories, then we all have to live in them. Mine can be no worse than someone else's.
Also, for what it's worth, I'm actually a pretty healthy individual. I engage in at-home exercises, have an extremely clean diet, and take Vitamin D and pro-biotic supplements. I do the laundry, I keep my room exceptionally clean, and, along with my mother, I keep our home well kept and decent. Believe it or not, but these are all things I've done for many years now. And you know what? I still feel the way it is I feel. Garbage bags over the windows and everything. Last year, as a matter of fact, I did enough work around this house to have kept at least 3 separate contractors busy for weeks, but, at the end of the day, I was still left with what I otherwise was. I operated a jackhammer and single-handedly cleared away tonnes and tonnes of old concrete that had been blighting our property for years, only to then do the back breaking work of disposing of it as well. I painted our entire fence, I painted and re-sanded our old deck, and I cleaned up the basement, the garage and the shed from top to bottom. It's partly thanks to what I did that we have a brand new driveway now, since I got the ball rolling on it and significantly reduced the cost through my efforts. But, in the end, I didn't do these things because I was ever asked to do them, but to silence the madness in my mind and to briefly make an escape from my isolation.
I didn't have to do these things, but I needed to all the same. Anything to make the pain inside my heart/mind stop, if only for a little while. Like modern media before I was stricken with anhedonia, these tasks were essentially a form of escapism for me. An escapism used to briefly evade experiencing my own empty existence. I don't know what's wrong with me, but, whatever it is, it's been with me all my life. Aside from my mother, and occasionally my older brother when he comes to visit, I speak with no one. I have no friends and, frankly, I have no idea how to make them. This is as true for the digital world, as it is for the flesh and blood one. I don't know what to do about whatever it is I am, but, as hard as it's been, I've tried to accept that this might just be who I was always destined to be. Plus, it's been so many years now. So many years of this. You fall down a hole long enough and, sooner or later, you can't imagine any other way to be. Well, again, it'd just been nice to get something out of all this, this whole civilization thing, besides just being a hermit. I guess in the age of COVID, that's what everyone's encouraged to be anyway. It's like Junji Ito's Army of One made manifest. Who'd have ever thought.

Due to COVID, Atlantic City casinos have gotten pretty aggressive with their free play offers to get good players in the door, and a nice batch of those offers lured me out this past weekend. I didn't want to be in town for the insanity of Super Bowl Sunday, so I got in Thursday night and left Saturday night.
If you don't know, Atlantic City isn't like Vegas with dozens of smaller casinos around. Atlantic City has 9 casinos, and 3 are on the same players card system (Caesars). I don't bother with Bally's since it's not convenient enough for the niceness or the comps they give, so each trip has 6 stops.
Most AC casinos have 5x odds, and a bunch of them have a weird version of 5x odds where a $30 pass line or come bet allows you to take $250 odds on 6/8, $200 odds on 5/9, and normal 5x odds of $150 on 4/10 (so any hit pays $330). I typically do $30 pass line and $30 come bets to get 4 total targets on the board, but on my own rolls I usually keep doing come bets until I 7 out. If a table is good I'll do $300 each 6 and 8 before doing come bets as well.
I started my trip off at Tropicana since that where I was staying. I brought $3k and got a $5k marker to start off, and instantly went on a nice run, winning a quick $2k and deciding to hit and run after less than an hour. I also had $100 free slot play and some dining credit, so I used those and got another $100 profit and some decent food.
Friday morning I headed over to Hard Rock for some nice free play ($500 table play and a $300 Amazon gift card). I did my free play over at BJ and won $250, then headed to craps. The table was rough for a bit, I was down $4k or so, but then I had an awesome roll, got up $3k and quickly cashed out. (+$5.4k running total)
Resorts is probably the worst casino in AC. Weak comps, bad free play, not many other benefits, terrible rooms (so I've heard), old, run down casino, etc. I still go there each trip since it's right next door to Hard Rock anyways, and it's nice to walk on the boardwalk in between them for a few minutes. I only do quick sessions there. I was up $1000 after my first roll there and just left right away. Some minor free play got me another $50 or something. (+$6.4k running total)
Next stop was Ocean casino. This was another rough table at first, leaving me down $3k rather quickly and considering just cutting my losses since the rolls were all particularly bad. However on my second time getting the dice I went on another nice roll, lasting about 40 minutes, and ending up turning a $3k losing session into a $5k winning one. I won a couple hundred off of free play as well and had a nice dinner at their VIP lounge. (+$11.7k running total)
Saturday morning I ventured out again, heading back over to Hard Rock for $300 slot free play. I won $300 off of that, and headed over to craps. At this point I'm up $12k and want to leave up at least $10k for the trip, so I only buy in $2k. Luckily, I have a hot run right off the bat, and wind up winning $3k over an hour session and leaving. (+$15k running total)
My second to last stop was Borgata. They only gave me $200 match play and some dining credit, and I broke even on the match play and headed to craps. It was very back and forth, but finally caught a decent roll and left up $1k. (+$16k running total)
Last stop was Golden Nugget. I won $300 off of free slot play and then jumped on the table, where I broke about even for a bit and then got the dice again, and had another 40 or so minute roll, hitting a ton of 4s and 10s. People were going nuts because I kept throwing hard way winners, and multiple people had $50-100 on them (I never bet hard ways). After my roll I instantly colored up and left with exactly $5k profit. This put my total winnings for the trip at $21.3k cash and the $300 Amazon gift card. Best of all, I never left a table down. Talk about a hot run. Not bad for a 48 hour trip!

The results are in for Match 9. The winner is…
William Eyelash, with a score of 68 to Jacob Brown’s 68, tie broken by a higher ‘categories taken’ count!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	The Graveyard Shift	16-13
Quality	The Graveyard Shift	22-20	Reasoning
JoJolity	Masters of Funky Action	20-25	Reasoning
Conduct	Tie	10-10

William Eyelash had taken the lead in this match, and though as a leader, he hadn’t done the best job, getting Jack visibly injured, as a combatant, he had managed to withstand the aggressive and area-painting onslaughts of himself from not so long ago, and of a much more experienced version of the partner he’d once had.
It had made him catch his breath, reflect on all that had come to this point, to recall that moment where Ocean Eyes had been the one to embrace and protect him.
“Yes… I understand now,” William answered, walking carefully through the snow, “you had something good going there, Jacob Brown, but… Y-you didn’t seriously think I would fall for tricks like those coming from my own Stand, did you?” Didn’t even know it could do all that, though… Even now, I can still grow, huh?
That put a smile on his face, then, as he approached the injured Jack, helping him up. “You still with us?”
“Hee hee, I’ll peachy keen as peachy cream in a little while… But right now I’m very much hurting yes.” Jack chuckled, resting his eyes and looking things over. “In the end, though… I called that other me in the hoodie an impostor, but he knew my Stand better than I did. He was even more me than me… What does that mean?” He looked down. “Am… Am I the lie?”
“I, uh… I don’t know how to answer that,” William said, “but… You’re one of the most genuine people I’ve ever met. And, uh… You helped me out a ton. Sorry for getting you hurt, uh, not that used to leading, but you really seemed to trust in me…”
“We all make mistakes!” Jack said, not minding that at all, “but… I suppose you’re right. I won’t let some stranger get in my head… But I guess that all of us were telling the truth in our hearts, then.” He looked to the defeated ‘Billy’ and the slightly-older Jacob, both bleeding and unconscious, the latter falling much faster. Already, a strange white blob was moving through the snowfield towards them, examining them. “So I guess we spare them today... if they survive what we’ve given already!”
Neither would realize it for another few minutes, but for Jacob Brown, those words had proven prophetic.
“S-still though… If you’ve really lived a full life here, become the same person with the same Stand, same memories,” William said, “does that mean that can just… Happen? But how, wh-when really, by probability and stuff…”
“So is the unusual burden of ‘Fate,’ felt strongest upon this city,” a familiar, altered voice spoke, and sitting on a park bench, William and Jack spied none other than the Institute’s head, still heavily layered as he always was.
“Oh No…” William muttered.
“‘Oh no?’ Is this a problem of a person?” Jack asked, then giggled. “Heeheh, just a little joke. I know about the Institute, of course!”
“The ‘Fortuna Double’ might exist at any point in time, for any Stand User from outside its walls, and no matter how irreconcilable the circumstances, how ‘impossible’ it should be for two people to have the same fated path, even for the slight differences of the city… The ‘Same Person’ can unquestionably exist. Wouldn’t be surprised if you, ‘Jack,’ and this ‘Billy’ here were simply the first you encountered who were close enough to your age that you immediately noticed.” No tilted his head. “Why, even that cute creature who followed the elder Jacob Brown is, literally, the same being as the Bert that just died… Yet, unlike them, bound still by fate. I wonder, then, what will prove to be the same, to be indomitable ‘fate,’ and what will prove not so.”
“I think sometimes about if I’ve ever had one here… Or will, in the future. That sounds utterly boring if so, though. I refuse to know my fate; it’s vexing enough of a limit on myself that I’m burdened by, knowing it’s predetermined to exist at all.”
“Uh… Right.” This was heavy, huh? William tried to figure out what it all meant. “Fortuna Doubles, huh… So they’re both real, completely and absolutely, then?”
“Precisely!” No remarked, cheerily. “Would you like to speak more about this? Go on, sit with me.”
Only a few hours remain still in your window of time to vote in a match between an Agnes and some Guy in a crowded concert hall brought down to size.
Scenario:
Alexis Williams was sinking.
Every day, the myriad of matters which plagued the outwardly-cheerful woman’s mind seemed to be growing worse and worse. The unhealthy relationship she’d had with her Stand had turned into an even worse sort of tension, a fundamental disconnect with an aspect of herself which she literally could not be away from.
It hadn’t been uncommon for some time for her to wonder if a given day would be her last. Over the last several months, those feelings had only grown and grown in their intensity, in their power over her, and it had even begun to show outwardly.
It wouldn’t be long now, surely, before-
Alexis’ hotel room door was kicked so hard that one of the hinges flew off, and through it launched, not an attacker like she might have imagined, some hostile Stand User out to invade her home, but something arguably even worse.
“ALEXIS!”
Her friend and fellow Eighth Circle mainstay, Bucket.
She clutched her forehead and forced a smile, turning away from what she’d been using to get through the day and towards him. Already, she could tell that the chaos agent, formerly known for the octopus on his head, now sporting sick sarashi and a pompadour, was here with intentions ranging from ‘good’ to ‘no intentions whatsoever,’ and it wasn’t in her nature to tell someone like that to fuck off.
“Bucket! Hey!” She said, an edge to her chipper tone. “You, uh, surprised me there… You’re gonna fix that door, right?” She blinked. “Wait, weren’t you at that Metra show? I thought I’d heard everyone there was shrunk down to-”
“Forget about that!” He answered, earnestly drawing closer, grasping her by the wrists suddenly, yet at once gently. “Alexis, I don’t know what’s going on with your head or heart or anything else, but I know I can’t just stand around outside your door watching you get more and more miserable! Even I noticed, so it must be really really bad whatever’s hurting you inside! I’m an acolyte of the boogie now, the example of Rudolf Pavlova, so I can’t let a friend be in need!”
“Rudolf…” Alexis had heard of his passing, so soon after helping her put on such a wonderful show, and been unsurprised. Wait, though, since when did Bucket- Ah, never mind. She shook her head, looking him in the eye. The highly chaotic, unstable hellraiser of the Judecca Highrollers was giving her puppy-dog eyes. “Did… Did you want to do something?”
“Yes! I want to make you better!” Bucket exclaimed, pulling away and bouncing upwards. “So c’mon! Let’s head out… Make some trouble, follow no rules but our own and to be happy!” He stopped, then, pulling back a moment, as if reading the room once again, folding his arms over his chest. “I mean, if you want to.”
Alexis thought it over. He meant well, clearly, and wished dearly to cheer her up… A person didn’t need to understand the nuances of the soul to see when a person was hurting, and to reach out for them.
She doubted it would make things better for her, but who’s to say it needed to be?
“That sounds great,” she said, relaxing her forced cheer slightly and nodding. “Maybe it’s what I need right about now.”
The Woods at Aurelio - Midday - Near the Northern Bridge
“So you’re sure that he’s got a base out here?”
“Crystal clear!” Tiger ‘Glitch’ Ricky answered Effie Linder, tilting her head one way and then the other as she and her Stand attempted to scope out the sounds of the area. “There was only basically one cop left and then Ugo made them quit, took the place over, paid them off… So now he just sorta comes and goes around that little old ‘empty’ police station!”
“If he hangs out at the town’s police station,” Effie asked, confused at her coworker’s demeanor, “then why are we out this far away from it?”
“Because!” Glitch answered, huffing and folding her arms. “I said he comes and goes! And prrobably isn’t there right now. Mrr, you’re the one who wanted to come out here with me, so let’s keep searching!”
“…” Effie nodded. “You know what, fair enough. He never was the type to stay still long, so looking where the Watch is going would be a start…”
Since that day she fought that shithead twink Agnes and that Italian twink Arpeggi at Tigran Sins’ casino, Glitch had been gradually, increasingly mulling over the idea of becoming something not so much unlike the latter… A vigilante, out to not just cause problems on purpose, but sometimes even solve them on purpose, in the way a Stand User knew best: shenanigans and violence.
Hearing about the way that Ugo McBaise had sabotaged the capture of the very villains whose challenge had inspired her to act, had directly gotten people killed and responsible for dangerous people staying at large, that felt like reason plenty to break out ‘shenanigans and violence’ on him.
Effie caught her on the way out, and had said then, “what, am I gonna wait around for Fira to send me on some bullshit errand? If you’re turning that piece of shit’s head concave, I’m in too.”
And so, enthusiastically, Effie had joined, and the pair had been circling the outskirts of town atop Vida Loca ever since, Effie also using her murder of crows for further observations than what her eyes alone could tell her.
Glitch’s ears perked, as did her Stand. “…something’s up ahead. A bunch of people hanging out by the river…”
“Hm? Yeah, I think I see it!” Effie remarked, producing a pair of binoculars to look that way. “VALKYRIE guys… You know what that means up here, don’t you?”
Though most of the company fell in line with Rushen Smith’s new leadership, it was something of an open secret that Ugo McBaise had very specifically drilled the former Neighborhood Watch, which had become a new unit of the company, into being loyal to him, not to his rank. Fears being stoked about the potential of ANVIL going to war with the town was all that kept them from being disbanded outright, feeling that people familiar with the area were best-suited for watching it.
Glitch hissed. “Alright, then, you know what we’ve gotta do!”
“Wait, it looks like they’re being talked through something by…” Effie adjusted the binoculars, peered through the crowd, and recognized a very identifiable vest… and a bald head, shining in the midday sun. “Mr. Jones?”
Mr. Jones had been having a good few weeks himself, ever since his earlier, very successful outing with Dread. It had ended in him successfully acquiring not just any ‘Memento,’ but perhaps one of the city’s most dangerous, and the life-fearing compliance of the kidnapped alleged immortal who led it to him, taught him its secrets.
Apparently some kitty somewhere was sad about that, but eh, when you’re making an omelette, yeah?
“Wait wait wait,” he said affably to the crowd of VALKYRIE agents he’d once called a neighborhood watch, “you say a guy in a blue pomp and a dancer’ve been… Spray painting your cars? Throwin’ dead fish at ya? Sprayin’ ink to get away?” He snickered. “You’ve had a hell of a morning with this prankster pair, then, if they keep givin’ you the slip.”
“Please, Mr. Jones,” a young man said as he continued to wipe fish guts off of his helmet visor, “I… I know, technically, you aren’t our leader anymore, that the bosses don’t like you much, but.” He sniffled, earnestly. “But you’ve always been so good to us, even since then! You’ve been loyal to us, and we still love you for it, no matter what they say you did!”
“Heheh… Hearin’ you say that makes it worth it, y’know that?” Mr. Jones wiped a finger under the eye of his sunglasses, looking them over. “Think I know who might be the whodunnit-er here, actually. Just gimme a hot minute to track the guy down, and-”
“Got a lot of nerve talking to my men, Jones.”
Everyone went silent, then, at the sound of a hammer, for dramatic effect, being dragged along the pavement of the road, then swung in the air by an absolute cinderblock of a man.
“You got a problem, and you come running to him because he happened to be passing by? What happened to using your damn heads?” Ugo chewed his subordinates out, then, before looking to the neighborhood watch founder. “I think you’ve confused these people, Worm, by still keeping up that paternal reliable neighbor shit. They’ve all been taught well and good that they listen to me, not some replacement,” he pointed his hammer forward, then, threateningly, “and sure as hell not some serial killing scum!”
“Now now now, Ugo, c’mon, it’s clear they like us both, yeah? So let’s just… Clear the confusion up, if y’care that much!” Mr. Jones reached for the sabre sheathed at his side, then, drawing it with a golden sheen; he’d fished it out of the wreckage of Capital Island one day after it wasn’t destroyed in Jack’s ritual. He, too, pointed it forward. “I know the language you speak, so let’s talk in that.”
Ugo grunted, then, swinging his hammer back over his shoulder as a very feminine form appeared behind him, looking like something of a curvy, thickset cowgirl. “Aw, Ugo and I concur, y’all know we’re down t’bash some heads and take a name or two! Why, sugar, we’re about to put you down like a sick dog!”
Mr. Jones got a snicker out of the odd word choices of ‘She’s a Big Boy,’ finding the contrast between Stand and User in all but their brutal aggression amusing; sometimes he’d tried in the past to talk to him and unpack what the Stand actually said about Ugo’s soul, but it was a conversation the very straightforward, taciturn former football star never quite liked to have.
Jones gestured with his head, then. “Watch, get back to HQ, yeah? Whoever you see walk through that door, few hours from now, respect that, yeah?”
“Uh… S-sure?” The ex-Watch member who’d been speaking said, turning around. “C’mon, guys, let’s get pizza or something… I guess.”
Alexis had been sitting by the bank of the Wormwood River, mulling over the shenanigans Bucket had encouraged her to join in with, ever since she’d happened to spot all the Watch members they’d been harassing seemingly surround somebody; it was an action which led Bucket to say ‘just gimme a minute’ before diving into the water.
It was a shame, honestly. This harmless problem causing had actually been kind of fun, in a way.
Bucket splashed up soon after. “I knew it!”
“Knew what?”
“There was this bald guy talking to all the VALKYRIE guys about all our awesome pranks, and then that no-good bastard Ugo showed up and they started slugging it out and moving towards a sewer grate. And then, you wouldn’t believe it… The bald guy turned into Conqueror Worm!”
That gave Alexis pause, then. He was here? “We… We should probably go somewhere else, then! If people out there are fighting, I want no part in it whatsoever… And you probably shouldn’t anger guys like that either.”
“I can’t just turn away from this, Alexis! I’m here to cheer you up, and that guy… When he helped kidnap you, that’s when you started to feel even worse! So, I’m going to roll up there, give him my fiercest look possible, and make him apologize for being mean to you.”
That… Wasn’t where Alexis was expecting Bucket to end that sentence, but it made her sigh, momentarily. Her mood was good and ruined now anyway by these revelations, and Bucket was suggesting something dangerous nonetheless. “Look, Bucket, not everybody is good-natured, okay? You can’t just walk up to somebody and-”
“But I will!” Bucket insisted, flexing. “Because I have the power of ‘the boogie’ on my side, don’t you get it? This will cheer you so far up! You don’t even need to come along if you don’t want, because I dunno I might punch Ugo a bit if he hits first! But either way, you will get your apology, I swear it!”
Then, Bucket ran off. To confront two very dangerous brick shithouses of men. In a sewer.
“He’s going to get himself killed…” Alexis felt awful now, standing and looking Southward. She could just leave, couldn’t she? Bucket even said he wasn’t expecting her to follow when it could turn into a fight… In the end, were humans not all fated to fall victim to their own mistakes, their own vices and eccentricities?
…I can’t just leave a friend like that, even if I’m feeling bad.
“Bucket!” Alexis called, beginning to run after him. “Wait up for me! I’m coming along too! Let’s… Get that apology!”
She was having to babysit the guy who came to help her out, now, was that it?
“Ghhgh, it’s a two-for-one special on the worst in the city, isn’t it?” Glitch complained, trailing Effie down a ladder into the sewers. “First we’re tailing Ugo, and then Mr. Jones, and now they’re fighting… I don’t even know who’s worse!”
“One’s a serial killer, and yeah super dangerous,” Effie pointed out, “and the other keeps getting a lot of other people killed with his own dangerous stupidity… Keeps causing us problems, and helped escalate that warzone. I don’t like being an enemy of ANVIL, Glitch… I really don’t.”
“Mmrhh… They’re gonna get a piece of our best attacks.”
The pair, then, touched ground, and Effie saw around them the signs of battle, of pieces of the ground seemingly terraformed, nicked, busted-up, and the sounds of clashing in the distance. Undoubtedly them.
Then, though, as they stepped forward, soon after, a pair literally dropped down behind them, one after the other, first a scarred, pompadoured idiot doing a cool roll, then a redheaded gymnast landing coolly not far behind.
“Wait a minute… Bucket? And, uh, that performer from that thing everyone liked… Alexis Williams?” Effie remarked, backing away a bit, trying to figure out the pair’s intentions. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, you know!” Alexis tilted her head, very blatant in how forced the chipper tone had become, especially by the nature of what she’d said next. “Losing control of my life, letting weird things get out of hand… But I’m here now. I’ve committed to my choice, and I hear sounds further back. So, Bucket! Let’s get a move-on, yeah? I don’t particularly care much for being in a sewer…”
Bucket, however, had been unmoving since he had begun to stand. Glitch, too, faced directly his way, allowing him to look her in the eye as a strange expression came over them both.
Effie and Alexis, then, were deeply confused, until Vida Loca appeared, and the sounds of beatboxing seemed to fill the air.
“Wh-” Effie was taken aback. “Glitch, we’ve got something going on here. You’re not seriously going to-”
“Hey fishman, the cat’s here to catch ya / Tiger ‘Glitch’ Ricky on the mic comin’ atcha / In a hotel or a diner or even a sewer / My rhymes gonna run you through like a skewer!”
This was physically painful for Alexis to watch. She covered her mouth as she prepared for Bucket to open his, well aware that half of their social circle was probably going to slap him for whatever came out.
“Name’s Bucket, B-U-C-K-E-T / Got beat but came back now with the Boogie! / Was chasin’ a killer but this fish can still school you / With my friend Alexis here, my rhymes’ll hit true!”
“…hit true?” Alexis couldn’t help but find that groan-inducingly hilarious, though her momentary joy, then, was cut short by the fact that Effie, meanwhile, was absolutely seething.
“C’mon, do this literally any other time!” She exasperatedly proclaimed, tugging at Glitch’s arm, “we can’t let those assholes get away, c’mon, you know we need to cut this out and-”
Bucket threw a fish at Effie’s face.
Everyone went silent, then, as it slid off and hit the ground, her own expression dry with displeasure.
“Did… Did you just throw a fish at me?”
“Yeah! Because you keep ruining the vibes!” Bucket huffed. “So cut it the hell out, or I will do it again!”
“Really now,” Effie said, keeping her hand by her slingshot and beginning to walk further Southward. “If you keep distracting us, I’ll have to get you out of our way.”
One of Bucket’s massive knives, then, was drawn, blade resting centimeters from Effie’s face. “Don’t threaten me, alright? That’s completely against the spirit of this.”
Glitch hissed, then, her own mood ruined, “hey! You can’t just pull a weapon on my friend like that, even if she’s being a spoilsport! That’s way over-the-line!”
As both sides fell back, not losing sight of the other as they attempted to pull away and regroup, it was clear that three-fourths of the quartet had been angered enough at one another in an instant that a fight was about to brew.
Alexis had been deliberately trying not to send out her Stand this entire time, wanting some semblance of mental distance from it after their disagreements had turned increasingly mean, her literal fighting with herself and grappling with her demons leaving her wanting absolutely none of this.
Bucket was about to get himself killed over, easily, the stupidest thing she had ever seen a fight start over.
This day has gone from sad to fun to the most frustrating I have ever seen… I tried to make a good day out of it, but here I am now. I can’t just abandon Bucket after he tried for me… But boy is he trying me.
OPEN THE GAME!
(Credit to CaptainSpooky27 for yet more awesome match art!)
Location: One of Los Fortuna’s sewer pathways, specifically far on the Northwestern outskirts of the town of Aurelio. These are one of the many entrances to the elaborate and interconnected underground networks of the city, though you’re in a pretty straightforward section of it that doesn’t branch off all that many surprising ways.
Not far South from here, but distant enough that it won’t ever affect this match, you can hear the sounds of a simultaneous battle between Mr. Jones and Ugo McBaise.
The area here is 63 meters by 33 meters with each tile being 3 by 3 meters. With TGS on the left and JHR on the right, represented by their character tokens.
The light grey tiles are the concrete paths, the darker grey tiles are the walls, and the blue tiles are sewer water. The walls are solid all the way through.
The sewer itself is actually relatively clean here, as clean as underground sewer water can be really. The water level is about 1 foot below the walkways and the water is 3 meters deep.
The ceiling is 4 meters above the walkways and the walkways have cheap metal guardrails between themselves and the water, as represented by the bolded outlines. The orange rectangles are the metal bridges between the walkways and the yellow circles are open manhole covers with light streaming through. The grey triangles are strange stalagmite-like protrusions, likely somehow created by Ugo and Jones’ fight. They match the same material as the stone walls, take up most of the walkway in width, and reach up to the ceiling.
Goal: RETIRE your opponents!
Additional Information: Logic is allowed to kill me(Kak) and both of the players who made me write this.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
Judecca Highrollers	Bucket	"Are you mocking me? You went into the ground with your zipper? Are you copying me?" This whole thing has gotten so absolutely lame, that it’s killed your attempts to cheer your friend up and to have an awesome rap battle. So these guys are lame, and need to feel it! Make sure to find creative ways for your strategy to humiliate your opponents!
Judecca Highrollers	Alexis Williams	“You think that you can escape my punches when you're surrounded by walls of dirt?” Bucket’s gotten people into another frustrating situation by not thinking, huh? Well, you’ll get him out of this in one piece by using your head. Use this underground sewer environment to your advantage!
The Graveyard Shift	Effie Linder	“They say that sound reverberates better in liquids than in solids.” Seriously, Glitch? Seriously? Well, at least as long as you’re in this gnarly sewer, you can get something out of it by using your head. Use this underground sewer environment to your advantage!
The Graveyard Shift	Tiger “Glitch” Ricky	"Do you think you stand a chance against me by going underground?!" So now you and your opponents are going to be trying to one-up each other, huh? Bucket is an immensely clownable guy, dammit, and you were so hyped to do so verbally… Make sure to find creative ways for your strategy to humiliate your opponents!

Link to the Official Player Spreadsheet
Link to Match Schedule
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!

The results are in for Match 8. The winner is…
Funk Odyssey, with a score of 77 to Klein Bras-cheche Heitsugi’s 76!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	Tie	13-13	This match bears the dubious honor of being the first in T5 not to strike the eight-vote threshold set in T3, meaning that the total value of each vote is reduced so to prevent extreme disproportionate leads. Luckily, it was a tie anyway, at 3.5-3.5.
Quality	Tie	26-26	Reasoning
JoJolity	Baker Street Rat Pack	28-27	Reasoning
Conduct	TEAM	10-10

In the aftermath of the fight, there wasn’t much left of the stage - crystal, fungus, and scrap alike had all built up, scattered around the arena, and in the center of it all stood Funk Odyssey, skidding her bike to a halt after having eked out a victory at the last moment.
Klein and Funk both stood near each other, both breathing heavily and trying to recover after the tiring ordeal, amid a roar of applause from whoever was there to watch the exciting fight.
“AAAAND, WE HAVE A WINNER! A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR FUNK ODYSSEY! Wait, why’s the mic-” Cairo stopped in confusion, the microphone that was amplifying their voice cutting out all of a sudden. Shifting a glance towards the producers on set, it seemed like they weren’t aware of what caused the problem either.
Confused murmurs could be heard from the stand users on-set. Okay, this was a technical error, but this was obviously salvageable - Cairo’s dealt with worse in the past, so-
The already bad situation turned worse when the lights cut out entirely, the speakers in the warehouse humming to life again, though not by the hands of any of the crew members. A second later, a synthesized text-to-speech voice could be heard over the speakers.
“HELLO, CITIZENS OF LOS FORTUNA. THIS BROADCAST IS BEING HIJACKED. ”
What the fuck. Looking at one of the screens by the edge of the warehouse previewing the stream, Cairo could see that the stream’s been taken over entirely by whoever it was that did this, with them currently displaying some kind of placeholder image of a shrouded figure. Wasting no time, Cairo left the two combatants and made their way over to the filming crew, trying to figure out what the hell was happening and how it could be stopped.
“WHETHER DUE TO MALICE OR WILLFUL IGNORANCE, BEING SO NORMAL AND ITS CREW HAVE BEEN COMPLICIT IN VARIOUS CRIMES, BOTH DURING AND PRIOR TO ITS RUNTIME.”
Funk could hear the murmurings of stand users around her, and of Cairo and the rest of the crew trying to figure out what exactly was going on and how to stop them. Was this Peter’s doing? Was that why he needed her to be here? Funk remembered hearing him mention the source for this investigation of his a few times - apparently he’d been working with a “Jesse Jefferson'' from the Agricultural District who’d gotten his hands on a flashdrive made by Nova Nascens containing this information, and thanks to Peter’s skills (combined with some stand magic from that magic house Jesse lived in that repaired the hard drive every time it literally exploded in their faces).
Meanwhile, it seemed like the show’s producers were still struggling to regain control of the stream.
“CAIRO HAS BEEN COMPLICIT IN PROMOTING UNREST WITHIN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT, WORKING ALONGSIDE ODIN TO SEND STAND USERS TO FIGHT WITH LOCAL UNIONS, LEADING TO RECENT RISING TENSIONS IN THE AREA.“
“FURTHERMORE, OTHER MEMBERS OF STAFF HAVE COMMITTED VARIOUS OTHER CRIMES, BUT NONE AS MUCH AS THIS SHOW’S LEAD CAMERAWOMAN - CAROLINE JEFFORDS.” The screen shifted to an image of a brown haired woman, who Funk could only assume was caroline. Then, it began shifting to a series of other, well-laid graphs, documents, and images, all presenting evidence for the accusations shown up until now.
“OVER THE YEARS, THIS WOMAN HAS COMMITTED COUNTLESS CRIMES ALL FOR THE SAKE OF PROFIT USING HER STAND - SPYING ON FIGURES OF NOTE FROM WITHIN THE CITY AND SELLING THE INFORMATION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, REGARDLESS OF INTENT, AND COVERING UP CRIMES AND TAMPERING WITH SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE FOR A PRICE. OF NOTE, EVIDENCE RELATING TO THE RECENT AND TRAGIC DEATH OF THE LATE ANDRÉ TIFÀNI HAS BEEN TAMPERED WITH IN ORDER TO FURTHER SHIFT THE BLAME ONTO-”
The feed cut off entirely, power having simply been cut to the building entirely. If Peter had found a way to make the stream continue even after this, Funk wouldn’t be able to see it.
For a moment, the warehouse was dead silent. Then, murmurings began between the various stand users in the audience, no one knowing what to make of this information. Regardless of whether the feed was cut or not, one thing was clear -
The damage had already been done, and the truth had come to light.
Surprises are everywhere, and there’s still yet more mysteries to be uncovered. Two boys have found doubles of themselves, who’ve lived their same lives yet all within the bounds of the city, and the four are now fighting. You only have a few hours left to vote in that when this goes up.
Scenario:
Sound’s Garden - Alexander Dickinson Amphitheater - Early Evening
The entrance to the theater which had, months ago now, put on one of the greatest shows in the city’s history had again been filled with eager people, wanting little more than to enjoy yet concert by Metra Doria, or “TD/MD”; it had been the first in a little while, her last appearances onstage being a string of benefit shows she’d performed for immediately after the destruction of Capital Island. They weren’t bad, critics had said, but far from her best work, as though spending several weeks kidnapped by the head of a citywide crime ring had affected her ability to perform or something.
Regardless, though, there were good feelings about this one, as since that fateful day, there hadn’t been a single bad show at the Alexander, and the local interview cycle had Metra come across as so much more genuinely excited than she had been, even if she also did publicly express her frustrations with the fact that, thanks to some act of sabotage, a leaking of information, the arrest of one Toby Fox had been subverted, and he and several of his buddies were still free to wreak their havoc.
Guy Manuel-Mota wasn’t much one to complain about a gig, whatever that job happened to be, and though he’d known the unscrupulous nature of his client, the garish Tigran “Golden” Sins, he also knew exactly how much money the guy had, so when he said that he and Fox had wanted a man on the ground at the stage out of fear that somebody might attack Metra, that even if he was trying to move past his affections for the girl, he’d still wished to keep watch over her, quietly.
If it was true, creepy. If it was a bold-faced lie, at least Guy knew damn well that they were good for their money if they had Seido fucking Shuto on retainer. Either way, he knew he’d get paid as long as he didn’t fuck up.
As Guy walked up to the ticket-takers, corralling eager audience members forward, he noticed them offering strange shiny wristbands to every single person who walked by, telling them “wear it if you want!” and finding, every time, that they just sort of mindlessly nodded and did just that.
When it came to be Guy’s turn, then, of course, he was much the same, accepting it and holding it in one hand, his stub in the other, as he looked the fake-gold, glittering accessory over, tilting his head as he noted the words, very subtly engraved, on it:

IWILLPLAY

“So… That’s your game, huh?” Guy asked, shrugging and slipping it on just like all the rest. He saw where this would go from here, and figured that what the guy paying him wanted was for him to play along.
“Uh, sir-” The ticket taker murmured and stammered at somebody, “sir, please, you can only take one! W-we need enough commemorative wristbands for a full house, so please-”
“Fuck off,” the pink-headed, ornery showgoer declared, yoinking the entire box away and fishing out several, putting a few all over his hands, “I want ‘em all!”
Huh… Guess that’s ‘trouble,’ right on cue. Should I lead him somewhere alone, or just wait for something, or..?
Before he could formulate a plan of action, Guy blacked out for what felt like a moment.
Sound’s Garden Eastern Strip - Metra Doria’s Apartment - Earlier that Day
“Well, well, well,” Ananas ‘Agnes’ Bayley said, before cracking open a can of soda, downing it in several drawn out seconds, cracking open a second, downing that in seconds, and then, a third time, before stacking all three, “how the turntables.”
“…” Metra gave him a look, one which Agnes smugly knew was her asking herself, in that moment, ‘am I seriously going to work with this guy?’ It was a feeling he reveled in, being unwanted and dreaded, yet at once needed and tolerated. “So… Will you come? I’ll hook you up with VIP merch, owe you one in general, just… I dunno. I’ve been feeling extremely good about this show, excited, but now that Fox is out there again, I feel like I need… Backup, I guess? Like, I could take any one of those guys in a fight on my own, sure, but with a huge crowd, and trying to focus on my stuff, and…”
“And Arpeggi and that fuckin’… catgirl were busy, I take it.” Agnes snickered, moving around the cans’ placement, never on one of Metra’s coasters, watching as little rings formed on the table. “Heh, fuck ‘em anyway. Dealing with a situation like this… You don’t need some ‘good guy’ worried about not making a mess or whatever. You need a bona fide villain to flex on these posers. Call it fate that I was available short-notice and they weren’t.”
“Just…” Metra sounded resigned. “Please don’t cause too much trouble. Damages will come out of your reward.”
“Snrk… Of course. It’ll come out of my pay. A sentence I hear every day from Gabanna, you know.”
With Metra’s reluctance and Agnes’ amusement, a deal had been struck.
Metra Doria, too, had been handed one of those strange wristbands, and she, too, seemed to black out suddenly, only realizing a moment too late exactly what, once again, this had all meant. She hadn’t approved ‘commemorative wristbands’ on the dossier, and the text on it… Goddammit!
But… Her green room looked almost identical. What the hell was going on? Maybe her backup dancers would know something, or Agnes had noticed… He’d at least report to her if he had figured something out, right? …right?
She stepped outside, then, only to find herself, and what she’d thought was her green room, atop a shelf in a very high-up, VIP area, a sort of outdoor box seating-type arrangement which the Alexander saved for its most prized guests. Almost always, somebody from Fox’s little club.
She had been shrunk down to the size of a game piece, and sitting at a table nearby, watched with interest by about half a dozen suits she had come to recognize, was a perfect recreation of the entire stage and seating areas of the amphitheater. As she tried to process this, then, her view was taken up entirely by the giant, punchable face of Tigran Sins.
“Evening, Metra! Looks like you underestimated me again… Heh, for some reason, people keep doing that.” The very garish man laughed, but his eyes were glaring down at her. Always, he’d hated her, resented the attention she’d taken from Fox. “Been awhile, hasn’t it?”
“Tigran… What the fuck did you do?” Metra curled her tiny hands into fists, allowing her Stand, the headphones often seen at her neck, to manifest, “you… How many people are down there? I hear so many voices murmuring, even from here!”
“Thousands upon thousands,” Tigran remarked, “all waiting none the wiser for the show you promised them… Including a side appearance from two Stand Users. You really put all your faith in a loose cannon like that Agnes kid who set a fire in my casino? You’ve been acting cool, but you’re desperate, aren’t ya? You know we’re here to stay… And what game we’re playing.”
“You… You’d better run the hell away fast as soon as we’ve won, because we will ruin you.”
She tried to sound defiant, there, but Metra was trembling.
“Some things, a Stand User just can’t beat with all their strength, Metra… Now, c’mon.” He held up a cute little tiny limousine, cracking the door open. “You’ve got a show to do.”
The crowd came to at once, already amassed within the amphitheater, seats filled, standing room similarly heavily occupied. There was hardly room to move one’s arms around in there.
Which, of course, Agnes was doing anyway, swatting people away and getting called rude words, cackling as he made for himself some space. Something was fucking up here, and he did not want to be caught off-guard by-
“Hey.”
“Shit!” Agnes jumped, then, and turned around, seeing Guy Manuel-Mota face-to-face, staring him down with a somewhat even expression.
“Hey, c’mon, I’m not that scary, am I?” Guy joked, rubbing his arms and making a point of showing off his bracelet, then gesturing at it, and at the stage, and saying, “anyway, my name’s Guy Manuel-Mota. You probably already realize this, Agnes, but… You’re already in a trap here. Both of us are stuck, even.”
“Heheh, what, are you trying to warn me or something? Well, I don’t need an alliance with you… So fuck off.”
“I wasn’t asking for one.” Guy corrected, then, adding, “you know how Tigran Sins works… The only way we’re getting out of this is through each other.”
“My fucking thoughts exactly,” Agnes answered, “and exactly what I came here for… A chance to pound that gold-wearing fuck’s face in. I hear he really hates that shit, so I’ll make it permanent.
Guy’s casual demeanor, then, turned into a stiff, serious face, hands at the blades on his person. “You won’t last that long.”
“Oh, you’re fucking on, you-” “Alright, Los Fortuna! Give it up for exactly what you came here for!” An announcer’s voice cheered on, then, ringing through the arena almost deafeningly loud, followed by a cascade of rising cheers.
The noise distracted Agnes, and Guy made his getaway.
“Back again at the Alexander Dickinson…”
Shit… So many people here, not even paying attention. Where did he go?
“Unbreakable, unshakeable, here to give the show of her life again as she always does… TD/MD!”
Metra strutted out onto the stage, then, to the cheers of the crowd, but Agnes noticed that she seemed to be frequently looking up towards the sky, or towards the various short-circuit cameras wired to display her on the jumbotrons. The crowd seemed too vapid, too fandom-consumed to notice, but there was apprehension in her every step in that casual yet elegant performing costume of hers.
“It means so much to me to see you all out here… Really, I appreciate every single one of you, even if I don’t know you! Just the fact that you came here…” She was trying not to sound guilty as hell there, for what she and all of them had fallen into. Agnes wasn’t sure whether to feel bad, to get mad at Tigran Sins for pulling one over on them again, or to laugh.
“So! I’m just going to start with a classic, alright? Keep the emergency exits in mind, but more than that, get ready, because what’s coming is something hard to describe! Let’s make it a night worth remembering!”
Guy continued to grasp his swords, keeping close to the crowd, close to the stage.
Cruel what you’re doing, Mr. Sins… And you didn’t tell me I’d be fighting the guy who ripped the Ocean Soul’s arm off. I’d better get a hell of a bonus for this.
OPEN THE GAME!
Location: The Alexander Dickinson Amphitheater, in the Entertainment District (specifically, a perfect replica of its crowd area). The area for the match here is 50 by 60 meters, with each tile being 5 by 5 meters. Agnes starts at the middle left and Guy starts in the middle right as represented by their respectively colored team tokens.
The stage is at the top as represented by the grey semi-circle. The audience members are represented by the red circles and the venue is sectioned off as a concert generally would be. Each seating section is represented by the blue, green, and yellow transparencies. These areas are roped off to keep them separate.
The dotted semi-circular line is a row of metal security fences to keep people from getting too close to the stage.
Goal: RETIRE your opponent!
Additional Information:
The audience members all have flat two physicals, and are mostly paying attention to the ongoing concert, eager and excited fans that they are. Metra Doria is performing onstage with a backing band, and it’s quite loud, yet somehow (the noise-altering effect of her Stand, maybe?) you aren’t debilitated by it. The audience members won’t deliberately cooperate with you in any meaningful way, and don’t particularly care about one another either, but will try to avoid getting hurt if they can see it coming.
Due to brazen threats on the guests by Tigran and the rest, none of Metra’s crew will interfere in the match, and are basically as good as non-entities mechanically, but it goes without saying that harming them or outright ruining the performance will lead to Fox canonically and successfully killing you with a giant rock. So don’t go on the stage itself.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
BADD GUYS	Ananas “Agnes” Bayley	“Faceless gazes passing by with me / The void in my heart changed with the path I chose” You find these ED guys absolutely loathsome, but the idea of completely stealing Metra’s thunder is nonetheless appealing to your villainous heart. Act as cool as possible in your own way!
Suburban Regalia	Guy Manuel-Mota	“There's no limit to each new encounter - everything so ordinarily bizarre” These people want their shows to be impressive, right? Well, may as well get that check… Act as cool as possible in your own way!

Link to the Official Player Spreadsheet
Link to Match Schedule
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!

So, this happened to me when I was about 18 or 19. Let me start by saying that--I know this story will be hard to believe. I'm used to not being believed. And I know why....I mean it all sounds so crazy.
Let me just start off by saying--I've always been terrified of water.
For some background: I have a skin condition that causes a really bad pain whenever I touch water, and the salt water intensifies that. I try to avoid water whenever possible, and try to make showers as quick and short as I can. Doctors have told me it's a really bad case of eczema, aka dry skin--mostly because they aren't sure what else it could be. Anyway, that pain is what originally drove me to dislike water. I mean, I obviously can drink it and everything--it doesn't burn my lips/tongue/throat. It just hurts when it's concentrated in large amounts on my body.
So anyway. When I was 17, I started college and met a girl. We started dating. She was a swimmer--she loved it. She always wanted to be in the water--and she was always disappointed when I told her I didn't want to get into a pool/hot tub/shower with her because of the pain. I think she resented that--that I couldn't share her love for water, even though she had actively tried to engage herself in my hobbies and interests to spend time with me.
When I showered, I always invited her to join me, and she did--but we never did anything too scandalous in the shower, as I was in excruciating pain the entire time I was in there. Having her there helped--sometimes the pain would get bad enough that I couldn't wash myself because my hands were shaking so much, and she would always take the soap/shampoo and step in to help.
Anyway, the point is--water.....bad. Always had been. So, when after dating for two years, my partner asked me to go on a cruise with her--I was quite surprised.
"Come on," she beamed. "It'll be fun! And you won't even be in the water! You can just take in the beauty of the ocean from the safety of a dry ship. I won two tickets from a raffle, and I'd hate to let them go to waste."
I sighed. She had a point--the ship itself would be dry, I supposed. And we would be surrounded by water, which my partner would love. I didn't see anything too terrible about the idea--it was the middle of the summer, and we were both getting quite bored of having nothing to do.
So, about three weeks later, the two of us found ourselves on the deck of a massive cruise ship, leaving the shore for a nine-day cruise.
The first day, the captain of the ship came on the intercoms and told us about the ship--I really wasn't listening, but my partner took in every word. The one thing that did stand out, though, was that he said the ship was 325 meters long and 14 decks high. That's....huge. I mean, I knew the ship was big--I supposed it had to be, to have entire auditoriums and cabins and restaurants and shops and whatnot onboard--but 325 meters....wow. That was about 1066 feet (I was born and raised in America, so I always measure things in feet), or the size of almost 11 blue whales, the largest animals on Earth.
That made me feel a lot better about being on the ocean--I was on basically a floating city, and even if a whale swam into the side of the ship, it wouldn't even make an impact. I was safe.
Or so I thought.
The first three or four days were actually really nice--my partner and I went and ate at various buffets and restaurants, went to shows and events, and even visited an on-board casino at one point. It was so much fun! And she had been right--the ocean really was beautiful. Looking at the sunset reflected on the surface of the water, stretching out in every direction as far as the eye could see--it was breathtaking.
But of course--if that was all, I wouldn't be here, writing this.
It was the fifth night, I think, when everything went to hell. I remember not being able to sleep, and after remaining awake for several hours, I decided to sneak out of the cabin and wander around the ship, maybe look at the stars.
There were very few people about, as it was about 3am, or maybe 4. Several places on the ship were closed at that time too, obviously.
So, after some wandering, I found myself on the highest deck--the observatory of the ship. I stood up there, feeling the cool ocean breeze ruffling my hair, looking down at the entire ship bathed in moonlight. I was so high up--it felt like I was on a skyscraper. I could see the entire ship, end to end, laid out below me. On every side of me, as far as I could see was a calm, moonlit sea.
And then suddenly, the ocean around the ship started--glowing. Not just glowing in a random shape--it was glowing in a perfect circle around our ship. The glow must have extended on every side at least 500 feet--our ship was in the middle of a massive, glowing circle of water. I had...no idea what to make of this. At the moment, I remember thinking, is the ocean supposed to do that? Maybe some kind of bioluminescent sea life?
I tried to tell myself it was just a normal thing--some kind of bioluminescent algae in this part of the sea. I had no idea where we actually were, so it calmed me down a little bit. But why is it in a perfect circle around this ship?
Before I could ponder the question, I noticed something else--the center of the circle, maybe 100 feet around our ship on each side, wasn't glowing. It was completely dark. Like there was just...a....a thick ring of light around our ship. It looked almost like....well--I didn't know. I couldn't know. But for some reason, it made me nearly dizzy with fear and unease. I stumbled back from the observatory railing, not wanting to see it anymore.
Suddenly, a siren blared and the captain's voice called out: "All passengers, stay in your cabins! I repeat, all passengers, stay in your cabins!" I heard a soft click behind me as the doors back to the interior of the ship locked themselves.
.....Fuck, was all I remember thinking. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on--I just knew I was terrified. Not knowing what to do, I went back to the railing to observe the ship, maybe get the attention of a crew member and ask them to unlock the door.
Somehow, though--I didn't see anyone now. The exterior of the ship was...empty. Completely empty.
And then it happened. The event that would begin a sequence of occurrences so terrifying that even thinking about it causes me to start shaking.
The ring around the ship...The massive ring of light--it....blinked.
I'm sorry, but I don't think I can keep going....I...I'm going to take a break before writing out the rest. It did feel really good to get this much out, though. Even if nobody believes me, at least I'm putting this out there.

UPDATE: More books added by siffis and West1234567890 further down
If are late coming across this post then do not worry you can still message me your email for a book.
To celebrate my day off today and Thanksgiving tomorrow I would like to gift my audiobooks.
In order to recieve a free audiobook gift just message me any title (below) along with your email address. If you have not recieved a gift before then you will get the audiobook for free. More details here and here. I am in the US market (but I hear from Canada and UK that it still works).
Books crossed out are not available.
TITLE - AUTHOR (Ordered by author)

• 21 Days of Meditation - Aaptiv
• 5K Training - Aaptiv
• What Happens Next? Conversations from MARS - Adam Savage
• You Ought to Know Adam Wade - Adam Wade
• The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146BC - Adrian Goldsworthy
• Children of Time - Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection - Alexander C. Kane
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow
• The Story of Dr. Seuss: Theodore, Ted, Geisel Who? The Story of How Dr. Seuss Grew. - Amba Brown
• You Have Arrived at Your Destination: Forward - Amor Towles
• A Massacre in Mexico: The True Story Behind the Missing 43 Students - Anabel Hernandez , John Washington - translator
• How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps - Andrew Rowe
• Randomize: Forward - Andy Weir
• Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook - Anthony Bourdain
• Chaos Monkeys - Revised Edition: Obscene Fortune and Random Failure in Silicon Valley - Antonio Garcia Martinez
• Goodnight Smartphone - Arianna Huffington
• Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle , Stephen Fry - introductions
• Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons - Ashli St. Armant
• The Home Front: Life in America During World War II - Dan Gediman , Martha C. Little
• Cut and Run: A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy - Ben Acker , Ben Blacker
• A Grown-Up Guide to Dinosaurs: An Audible Original - Ben Garrod
• The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
• Finding Tess: A Mother’s Search for Answers in a Dopesick America - Beth Macy
• Bill Bryson's Appliance of Science - Bill Bryson
• The Lost Continent: Travels In Small Town America - Bill Bryson
• Billy Kelly: This Is a Family Show! - Billy Kelly
• The History of Ancient Egypt - Bob Brier]
• Rage - Bob Woodward
• Starsight - Brandon Sanderson
• Skyward - Brandon Sanderson
• Beezer - Brandon T. Snider
• The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Smart Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing - Brandon Turner
• The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are - Brené Brown
• Algorithms to Live The Computer Science of Human Decisions - Brian Christian , Tom Griffiths
• That Hideous Strength: Ransom Trilogy, Book 3 - C.S. Lewis
• Perelandra: Ransom Trilogy, Book 2 - C.S. Lewis
• Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - Carl Sagan
• The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan
• Life Ever After - Carla Grauls
• Everything is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity - Carlo Rovelli , Simon Carnell - translator , Erica Segre - translator
• How to Build Meaningful Relationships Through Conversation - Carol Ann Lloyd]
• El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America - Carrie Gibson
• The Flying Flamingo Sisters - Carrie Seim
• Press Pause: A Young Person's Guide to Managing Life's Challenges - Catherine Singer
• Cesar Millan's Guide to Bringing Home a Shelter Dog - Cesar Millan
• Cesar Millan's Guide to Audiobooks for Dogs - Cesar Millan
• The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder - Charles Graeber
• Second Skin: Audible Original Novella - Christian White
• Eldest: The Inheritance Cycle, Book 2 - Christopher Paolini
• The Space Race: An Audible Original - Colin Brake , Patrick Chapman , Richard Hollingham , Richard Kurti , Sue Nelson , Helen Quigley , Andrew Mark Sewell
• Bluebird Memories: A Journey Through Lyrics & Life - Common , Awoye Timpo , NSangou Njikam
• Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther - Craig Pittman
• The Dead Drink First - Dale Maharidge
• House of Teeth - Dan Jolley
• Dan Rather: Stories of a Lifetime - Dan Rather
• How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States - Daniel Immerwahr
• The Great Ideas of Philosophy, 2nd Edition - Daniel N. Robinson]
• My Lost Family: An Audible Original - Danny Ben-Moshe , Dasha Lisitsina
• Body of Proof: An Audible Original - Darrell Brown , Sophie Ellis
• Sum: Tales from the Afterlives - David Eagleman
• Exploring Metaphysics - David K. Johnson]
• Alone with the Stars - David R. Gillham
• The Pragmatic Programmer: 20th Anniversary Edition, 2nd Edition: Your Journey to Mastery - David Thomas , Andrew Hunt
• The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II - Denise Kiernan
• Heaven's River: Bobiverse, Book 4 - Dennis E. Taylor
• All These Worlds: Bobiverse, Book 3 - Dennis E. Taylor
• For We Are Many: Bobiverse, Book 2 - Dennis E. Taylor
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1 - Dennis E. Taylor
• Metro 2033 - Dmitry Glukhovsky
• The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality - Don Lincoln]
• Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 2 - Douglas Adams
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish - Douglas Adams
• Life, the Universe, and Everything: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Book 3 - Douglas Adams
• The Case of the Damaged Detective: 5-Minute Sherlock, Book 1 - Drew Hayes
• Forging Hephaestus: Villains' Code Series, Book 1 - Drew Hayes
• I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life - Ed Yong
• Mythology - Edith Hamilton
• Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa , Charles S. Terry - translator
• Hunting LeRoux: The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and His Empire - Elaine Shannon
• The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel - Erin Macdonald]
• Junkyard Cats: Shining Smith, Book 1 - Faith Hunter
• The Golden Orchard - Flora Ahn
• The 3-Day Effect - Florence Williams
• Catch Me If You Can - Frank W. Abagnale , Stan Redding
• The Panama Papers: How the World's Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money - Frederik Obermaier , Bastian Obermayer
• The American Civil War - Gary W. Gallagher]
• Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond - Gene Kranz
• The Creative Thinker's Toolkit - Gerard Puccio]
• Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ - Giulia Enders
• Burr: A Novel (Narratives of Empire, Book 1) - Gore Vidal
• The Getaway - Greer Hendricks , Sarah Pekkanen
• The Minuteman - Greg Donahue
• Failure Is an Option: An Attempted Memoir - H. Jon Benjamin
• The Beautiful Brain: An Audible Original - Hana Walker-Brown
• A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor: A Novel - Hank Green
• Bella Bella - Harvey Fierstein
• The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country - Helen Russell
• The Iliad: A New Translation by Caroline Alexander - Homer , Caroline Alexander - translator
• H.P. Lovecraft: The Complete Omnibus Collection, Volume I: 1917-1926 - Howard Phillips Lovecraft , Finn J.D. John
• Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga - Hunter S. Thompson
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson
• Casino Royale: James Bond, Book 1 - Ian Fleming
• I, Robot - Isaac Asimov
• Malcolm and Me - Ishmael Reed
• Peter Pan: An Audible Original Drama - J. M. Barrie
• Tell Me Lies - J. P. Pomare
• The Return of the King: Book Three in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book One in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Children of Hurin - J. R. R. Tolkien
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 2 - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1 - J.K. Rowling
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard - J.K. Rowling
• The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over - Jack Schafer PhD , Ph.D. Marvin Karlins Ph.D.
• Midnight Son - James Dommek Jr. , Josephine Holtzman , Isaac Kestenbaum
• The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey - James Lecesne
• Break Shot: My First 21 Years: James Taylor - James Taylor
• Forget Nothing - Jason Anspach , Michelle C. Meyers
• The Woman Who Smashed Codes: A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine who Outwitted America's Enemies - Jason Fagone
• Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple - Jeff Guinn
• 1066: The Year That Changed Everything - Jennifer Paxton]
• Flux - Jeremy Robinson
• Space Force - Jeremy Robinson
• Infinite - Jeremy Robinson
• When You Finish Saving the World - Jesse Eisenberg
• The Mystwick School of Musicraft - Jessica Khoury
• Call Me God: The Untold Story of the DC Sniper Investigation - Jim Clemente , Tim Clemente , Peter McDonnell
• The Wisdom of Wolves: Lessons from the Sawtooth Pack - Jim Dutcher , Jamie Dutcher , James Manfull - contributor , Marc Bekoff - foreword PhD
• Escape from Virtual Island: An Audio Comedy - John Lutz
• The Men Who Stare at Goats - Jon Ronson
• So You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson
• Frank: The True Story that Inspired the Movie - Jon Ronson
• 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea - Jonathan Franklin
• Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
• Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things - Josh Clark , Chuck Bryant
• Vroom Vroom - Josh Koenigsberg
• King of Sting: The Story of Australian Conman Peter Foster: An Audible Original - Justin Armsden , Bronwen Reid , Hamish Macdonald
• American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - Kai Bird , Martin J. Sherwin
• You Can Thank Me Later: A Novella - Kelly Harms
• The Vikings - Kenneth W. Harl]
• Building a Better Vocabulary - Kevin Flanigan]
• More Bedtime Stories for Cynics - Kirsten Kearse , Gretchen Enders , Aparna Nancherla , Cirocco Dunlap , Dave Hill
• The Math of Life and Death - Kit Yates
• Oz. The Complete Collection - L. Frank Baum
• A Murder of Manatees: The Further Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent - Larry Correia
• The Half-Life of Marie Curie - Lauren Gunderson
• Interview with the Robot - Lee Bacon
• The Messengers - Lindsay Joelle
• African-American Athletes Who Made History - Louis Moore]
• The Real Sherlock: An Audible Original - Lucinda Hawksley
• The Devil's Highway: A True Story - Luis Alberto Urrea
• It Burns: The Scandal-Plagued Race to Breed the World’s Hottest Chilli, An Audible Original - Marc Fennell
• Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius - Marc J. Seifer
• The Handmaid's Tale: Special Edition - Margaret Atwood , Valerie Martin - essay
• Buried Deep - Margot Hunt
• Black Hawk Down - Mark Bowden
• How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It - Mark Cuban
• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
• Tinaca Jones - Matt Boren
• Phreaks - Matthew Derby
• Pont Neuf - Max Byrd
• Find Another Dream - Maysoon Zayid
• One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War - Michael Dobbs
• The Entrepreneur's Toolkit - Michael Goldsby]
• The Fifth Risk - Michael Lewis
• Dear Reader: The Unauthorized Autobiography of Kim Jong Il - Michael Malice
• Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World - Michael Pollan
• I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer - Michelle McNamara
• Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100 - Michio Kaku
• The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad - Mike Birbiglia , J. Hope Stein
• Even Tree Nymphs Get the Blues - Molly Harper
• Motivational Runs: 3 audio-guided run stories and 6 audio-guided Olympic Interval runs - MoveWith
• Half Marathon Training Part 2: To the Finish Line: 6 week training plan with 22 audio-guided runs - MoveWith
• Half Marathon Training Part 1: Build Up Your Pace + Endurance: 6 week training plan with 22 audio-guided runs - MoveWith
• Emergency Skin: Forward - N. K. Jemisin
• Silverswift - Natalie Lloyd
• The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail - but Some Don't - Nate Silver
• Good Omens - Neil Gaiman , Terry Pratchett
• Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society - Nicholas A. Christakis
• American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road - Nick Bilton
• Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies - Nick Bostrom
• Based on a True Story: A Memoir - Norm Macdonald
• Leven Thumps and the Eyes of the Want: Leven Thumps, #3 - Obert Skye
• Leven Thumps and the Wrath of Ezra: Leven Thumps, #4 - Obert Skye
• Leven Thumps and the Ruins of Alder: Leven Thumps, #5 - Obert Skye
• Adulthood Rites: Xenogenesis, Book 2 - Octavia E. Butler
• Dawn: Xenogenesis, Book 1 - Octavia E. Butler
• Wild Seed - Octavia E. Butler
• Kindred - Octavia E. Butler
• The Life and Times of Prince Albert - Patrick Allitt]
• The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1 - Patrick Rothfuss
• Thinking about Cybersecurity: From Cyber Crime to Cyber Warfare - Paul Rosenzweig]
• Into the Water: A Novel - Paula Hawkins
• The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth's Past Mass Extinctions - Peter Brannen
• Terminus - Peter Clines
• The Fold - Peter Clines
• 14 - Peter Clines
• Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness - Peter Godfrey-Smith
• Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History - Peter Houlahan
• Harry Potter: A History of Magic: An Audio Documentary - Pottermore Publishing , Ben Davies
• How the Stock Market Works - Ramon P. DeGennaro]
• How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems - Randall Munroe
• The October Country - Ray Bradbury
• The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition - Richard Rhodes
• The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World - Robert Garland]
• Treasure Island: An Audible Original Drama - Robert Louis Stevenson , Marty Ross - adaptation
• Swan Song - Robert R. McCammon
• The Mueller Report: The Findings of the Special Counsel Investigation - Robert S. Mueller III , Special Counsel's Office U.S. Department of Justice
• Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators - Ronan Farrow
• Once More upon a Time: A Novella - Roshani Chokshi
• Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door - Roy Wenzl , Tim Potter , L. Kelly , Hurst Laviana
• Elizabeth II: Life of a Monarch: An Audible Original - Ruth Cowen
• The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements - Sam Kean
• Bad Luck Charlie: The Dragon Mage, Book 1 - Scott Baron
• Rivals! Frenemies Who Changed the World - Scott McCormick
• Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are - Seth Stephens-Davidowitz , Steven Pinker - foreword
• Sea Wall / A Life - Simon Stephens , Nick Payne
• Carnival Row: Tangle in the Dark - Stephanie K. Smith
• D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of WW II - Stephen E. Ambrose
• The Stand - Stephen King
• The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World - Steve Brusatte
• Foreverywhere - Steve Burns , Steven Drozd , Gabe Soria
• The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake - Steven Novella , Bob Novella - contributor , Cara Santa Maria - contributor , Jay Novella - contributor , Evan Bernstein - contributor
• Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills - Steven Novella]
• The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain - Steven R. Gundry MD
• My Dad the Spy - Stewart Copeland
• The Age of Living Machines: How the Convergence of Biology and Engineering Will Build the Next Technology Revolution - Susan Hockfield
• Guards! Guards! - Terry Pratchett
• History's Great Military Blunders and the Lessons They Teach - The Great Courses , Gregory S. Aldrete
• Great Mythologies of the World - The Great Courses , Grant L. Voth , Julius H. Bailey , Kathryn McClymond , Robert André LaFleur
• This American Life - This American Life
• Writing Creative Nonfiction - Tilar J J. Mazzeo]
• The Man Who Knew the Way to the Moon - Todd Zwillich
• The Hunt for Red October: A Jack Ryan Novel - Tom Clancy
• The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts - Tom Farley , Tanner Colby
• A Crazy Inheritance: Ghostsitter 1 - Tommy Krappweis
• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood - Trevor Noah
• Thicker than Water - Tyler Shultz
• The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World - and Globalization Began - Valerie Hansen
• Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders - Vincent Bugliosi , Curt Gentry
• SmartLess - Will Arnett Jason Bateman Sean Hayes
• Climbing with Mollie - William Finnegan
• Alien III: An Audible Original Drama - William Gibson
• Gump & Co. - Winston Groom
• Life of Pi - Yann Martel

​
siffis has generously offered to include his collection. If you like any of the books below then message directly.

• World War Z: The Complete Edition - Max Brooks
• Ready Player One - Ernest Cline
• Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline
• Halo: Shadows of Reach - Troy Denning
• The Sandman - Neil Gaiman
• The Ickabog - J.K. Rowling
• The Last Tribe - Brad Manuel
• Halo Grassland - Karen Traviss
• Halo Evolutions
• Halo Fractures
• Halo: Mortal Dictata - Karen Traviss
• Halo: The Thursday War - Karen Traviss
• Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman
• Firefly: Big Damn Hero - Jame Lovegrove
• After it Happened - Devron C Ford
• Stranger Things: Suspicious Minds - Gwenda Bond
• Blade Runner - Phillip K Dick
• Hell Divers 1
• Hell Divers 2: Ghosts
• God of War - J.M. Barlog
• The Time of Contempt - Andrzej Sapkowski
• Blood of Elves - Andrzej Sapkowski
• Solar Storms - Nicholas Sansbury
• Planetside - Michael Mammay
• Season of Storms - Andrzej Sapkowski
• Dark Operator - Doc Spears
• How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps - Andrew Rowe
• Tin Mans- A Galaxys Edge Prequel
• Black Ops
• Zero Hour
• Artemis
• Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children
• Fear the Sky
• Galaxys Edge
• The Tale of Beedle the Bard
• Halo: The Cole Protocol
• Halo: The Fall of Reach
• Halo: First Strike
• Halo: The Flood
• Columbus Day
• We Are Legion (We Are Bob)
• The Singularity Trap
• Children of Time
• The Martian
• Halo Battle Born
• Halo Battle Born: Meridian Divide
• Sains Testimony
• The Best of Us
• Halo: Oblivion
• Permanent Record
• Alita : Battle Angel Iron City
• Halo: Smoke and Shadow
• Halo: Renegades
• Halo: Legacy of Onyx
• Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
• Halo: Silent Storm
• Halo: Bad Blood
• Halo: New Blood
• Halo: Retribution
• Armada
• Cast Under an Alien Sun
• Sherlock Holmes
• Pandemic
• Halo: Envoy
• Last Light
• The Scorch Trials
• Fifty Shades of Grey
• The Maze Runner
• The Death Cure
• The Kill Order
• The Magicians
• Warm Bodies
• Path of Destruction
• Twas the Night Before Christmas
• The Hobbit
• Peter & Max
• Brisingr
• Beautiful Creatures
• Beautiful Darkness
• Eldest
• Eragon
• Mockingjay
• Catching Fire
• The Hunger Games
• Solaris
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Deceived
• Bossypants
• A Game of Thrones
• Water for Elephants
• -Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
• I Am Legend
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Fatal Alliance
• Magyk
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
• Martin the Warrior
• Halo Contact Harvest
• Halo: Ghosts of Onyx

​
West1234567890 [Also added additional books below](https://www.reddit.com/audible/comments/k0s76n/us_promotion_i_would_like_to_celebrate/gdlwylu?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3).

• Mycroft and Sherlock - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar , Anna Waterhouse
• Jurassic Park: A Novel - Michael Crichton
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Book 3 - J.K. Rowling
• Famous Romans - J. Rufus Fears]
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Book 2 - J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Book 1 - J.K. Rowling
• The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War - Ben Macintyre
• America's Founding Fathers - Allen C. Guelzo]
• The Modern Intellectual Tradition: From Descartes to Derrida - Lawrence Cahoone]
• Elantris - Brandon Sanderson
• Boy's Life - Robert R. McCammon
• Scientific Secrets for Raising Kids Who Thrive - Peter M. Vishton]
• The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark - Carl Sagan
• The Story of Medieval England: From King Arthur to the Tudor Conquest - Jennifer Paxton]
• Peace Talks: Dresden Files, Book 16 - Jim Butcher
• Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration - Ed Catmull , Amy Wallace
• The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
• A Little Life: A Novel - Hanya Yanagihara
• Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
• The Two Towers: Book Two in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J. R. R. Tolkien
• The Wandering Inn: Volume 1 - Pirate Aba](NaN debugger eval code:1:40
• The Fellowship of the Ring: Book One in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy - J. R. R. Tolkien
• Skyward - Brandon Sanderson
• Napoleon Hill's Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success - Napoleon Hill , Sharon Lechter (editor)
• East of Eden - John Steinbeck
• The Hero of Ages: Mistborn, Book 3 - Brandon Sanderson
• Mythos - Stephen Fry
• The Messengers - Lindsay Joelle
• The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel - Erin Macdonald]
• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome - Mary Beard
• 33 Strategies of War - Robert Greene
• Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition - Richard Wolfson]
• Sufficiently Advanced Magic: Arcane Ascension, Book 1 - Andrew Rowe
• Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know - Malcolm Gladwell
• Your Deceptive Mind: A Scientific Guide to Critical Thinking Skills - Steven Novella]
• The Demon Next Door - Bryan Burrough
• Ancient Mythology: An Extensive Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Worship, Rituals and Beliefs of Ancient Myths - Bernard Hayes , Hasty History
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
• Brief Cases - Jim Butcher
• Medical School for Everyone: Emergency Medicine - Roy Benaroch]
• Medical School for Everyone: Grand Rounds Cases - Roy Benaroch]
• The American Civil War - Gary W. Gallagher]
• Masters of War: History's Greatest Strategic Thinkers - Andrew R. Wilson]
• Dante's Divine Comedy - The Great Courses , Ronald B. Herzman , William R. Cook
• English Grammar Boot Camp - Anne Curzan]
• Building a Better Vocabulary - Kevin Flanigan]
• Practicing Mindfulness: An Introduction to Meditation - Mark W. Muesse]
• When Violence Is the Answer: Learning How to Do What It Takes When Your Life Is at Stake - Tim Larkin
• Can You Go?: Assessments and Program Design for the Active Athlete and Everybody Else - Dan John
• The Grasshopper Trap - Patrick McManus
• Oathbringer - Brandon Sanderson
• Words of Radiance: The Stormlight Archive, Book 2 - Brandon Sanderson
• The Way of Kings: The Stormlight Archive, Book 1 - Brandon Sanderson
• The Wise Man's Fear: Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 2 - Patrick Rothfuss
• No More Mr. Nice Guy! - Robert A. Glover
• Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer - Dan John
• How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over - Jack Schafer PhD , Ph.D. Marvin Karlins Ph.D.
• The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself - Michael A. Singer
• The Alchemist: A Fable About Following Your Dream - Paulo Coelho
• Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files - Jim Butcher

So.. I've got 3 ScreenPasses to give away. I have a decent amount of movies to choose from. First come, first serve. Movies I own that are eligible for ScreenPass are posted below, in no particular order, so you don't claim a pass just to find you already have what I do or you're not interested in what I've got. The majority are 4k when available, with very few exceptions and I might have 1-2 movies listed more than once. I apologize in advance.

• Wonder Woman
  
• Die Hard 1-5
  
• Fast And Furious (all minus Tokyo Drift)
  
• The Matrix 1-3
  
• Taken 1-3
  
• Batman (NolanVerse) 1-3
  
• The Lost World of Jurassic Park
  
• Jurassic Park III
  
• Underworld 1-3
  
• Batman vs Superman Dawn of Justice
  
• How To Train Your Dragon 1-2
  
• i, Robot
  
• Ocean 11, 12, 13
  
• 30 Days of Night
  
• Jennifer's Body
  
• Unleashed
  
• Lord of The Rings Extended Edition 1-3
  
• The Hobbit Extended Edition 1-3
  
• Rush Hour 1-3
  
• Moulin Rouge
  
• Training Day
  
• Armageddon
  
• Gone In 60 Seconds
  
• Inception
  
• Constantine, City of Demons (Animated)
  
• Ready Player One
  
• Live. Die. Repeat. Edge of Tomorrow
  
• Logan
  
• The Revenant
  
• Me Before You
  
• The Notebook
  
• The Legend of Tarzan
  
• The Shawshank Redemption
  
• The Town
  
• Argo
  
• Salt
  
• The Hangover 1-3
  
• The Accountant
  
• Justice League Dark (Animated)
  
• Love And Basketball
  
• Straight Outta Compton
  
• Serenity
  
• Martian
  
• V for Vendetta
  
• Lucy
  
• Blade Runner (The Final Cut)
  
• Blade Runner 2049
  
• Schindlers List
  
• Watchmen
  
• Batman: Mask of The Phantasm
  
• Man of Steel
  
• The Death and Return of Superman
  
• Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Deluxe Edition)
  
• Jason Bourne 1-5
  
• Batman: Gotham By Gaslight (Animated)
  
• Batman: Under The Red Hood (Animated)
  
• The Meg
  
• Rock N Rolla
  
• Frequency
  
• Stranger Than Fiction
  
• American Gangster Unrated (Extended Edition)
  
• The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton)
  
• Batman: Hush (Animated)
  
• Batman: The Killing Joke (Animated)
  
• Batman Returns
  
• Batman ‘89
  
• Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (Animated)
  
• Justice League: War (Animated)
  
• Apollo 13
  
• The Conjuring
  
• Atomic Blonde
  
• Step Brothers
  
• Planet of The Apes 1-3 (newer version)
  
• Ted 1-2
  
• Goodfellas
  
• Jumanji ‘95
  
• Aquaman
  
• Labyrinth
  
• The Fifth Element
  
• Tarzan (Animated)
  
• Wonder Woman Bloodlines (Animated)
  
• Spider-Man (Raimi/Maguire)
  
• Detective Pikachu
  
• Pacific Rim
  
• IT Chapter One
  
• Hellboy (2004)
  
• The Goonies
  
• Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them
  
• Black Hawk Down
  
• Batman & Mr. Freeze, Sub Zero (Animated)
  
• Batman Beyond: Return of The Joker (Animated)
  
• San Andreas (Dwayne Johnson)
  
• Sherlock Holmes 1-2
  
• Life of Pi
  
• The Prestige
  
• The Purge 1-4
  
• Se7en (Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman)
  
• Pitch Black
  
• Troy
  
• Alien
  
• Christine ‘83
  
• King Kong (2005)
  
• Independence Day Resurgence
  
• Alien Covenant
  
• The Shape of Water
  
• 47 Ronin
  
• Gremlins
  
• Predator 1-4
  
• Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  
• Aladdin: Return of Jafar
  
• Aladdin and The King of Thieves
  
• Kingsman 1-2
  
• Riddick (Unrated Directors Cut)
  
• Assassin's Creed
  
• The Chronicles of Riddick (Unrated Directors Cut)
  
• Suicide Squad
  
• Suicide Squad Extended Cut
  
• 12 Strong
  
• Lone Survivor
  
• Black Swan
  
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Unrated)
  
• Kingdom of Heaven (Directors Cut)
  
• Wonder Woman Commemorative Edition (Animated)
  
• The Mummy (Tom Cruise)
  
• Mad Max: Fury Road
  
• The Mummy 1-3 (Fraser)
  
• Split
  
• Unbreakable
  
• Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Animated)
  
• Girl on The Train
  
• Focus
  
• Wanted
  
• Safe House
  
• Justice League Doom (Animated)
  
• Son of Batman (Animated)
  
• Batman vs. Robin (Animated)
  
• Superman Unbound (Animated)
  
• Batman: Bad Blood (Animated)
  
• Batman: Assault on Arkham (Animated)
  
• Justice League vs Teen Titans (Animated)
  
• Godzilla, King of The Monsters
  
• Kick-Ass 2
  
• Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter
  
• Hercules (Animated)
  
• King Arthur, Legend of The Sword
  
• Constantine (Keanu Reeves)
  
• Blade 2&3
  
• Shaun of The Dead
  
• Hot Fuzz
  
• The Wolfman (Unrated Edition)
  
• The Fault in Our Stars
  
• Hellboy: The Golden Army
  
• Shazam!
  
• The Shining
  
• Veronica Mars
  
• Prometheus
  
• The Bye Bye Man
  
• The Gallows
  
• Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (Animated)
  
• Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds)
  
• Murder On The Orient Express
  
• Skyscraper (Dwayne Johnson)
  
• The Nun
  
• The Departed
  
• The Quick and The Dead
  
• Casino
  
• Jaws
  
• Upgrade
  
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
  
• Tombstone
  
• Poseidon
  
• Rampage (Dwayne Johnson)
  
• Romeo Must Die
  
• Mama
  
• Scarface
  
• The Gift
  
• Live by Night
  
• Black K Klansman
  
• Gone Girl
  
• 28 Days Later
  
• Collateral Beauty
  
• The Gunman
  
• Her
  
• The Strangers Prey At Night
  
• Pan
  
• Incarnate
  
• The Great Wall
  
• Get Out
  
• Jerry Maguire
  
• Gravity
  
• The Strangers (Unrated)
  
• Contraband
  
• Swordfish
  
• Prisoners
  
• Close Encounters (Directors Cut, Special Edition, Theatrical release)
  
• The Death of Superman
  
• Batman and Harley Quinn
  
• Warcraft
  
• The Forest
  
• Godzilla
  
• Snow White and The Huntsman (Extended Edition)
  
• Huntsman Winter War (Extended Edition)
  
• Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald
  
• R.I.P.D.
  
• 300
  
• Van Helsing
  
• The Last Samurai
  
• Everest
  
• Battleship
  
• The Big Lebowski
  
• Leon The Professional
  
• Taxi Driver
  
• Ninja Assassin
  
• Alfred Hitchcock Collection (Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Birds)
  
• Bad Times at The El Royale
  
• Full Metal Jacket
  
• Interview With a Vampire
  
• The Exorcist
  
• Gran Torino
  
• Blood Diamond
  
• Superman Doomsday
  
• District 9
  
• Back to The Future 1-3
  
• How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey)
  
• I Am Legend
  
• Annabelle Creations
  
• Inglorious Bastards
  
• The Book of Eli
  
• The Green Mile
  
• Snow Falling on Cedars
  
• Bad Boys 1-2
  
• The Old Man & The Gun
  
• Fight Club
  
• Robin Hood (Gerard Butler)
  
• Insidious 1-3
  
• Gatsby (DiCaprio)
  
• Hancock
  
• Starship Troopers
  
• Pan's Labyrinth
  
• American Made
  
• Superman vs The Elite (Animated)
  
• Dracula Untold
  
• Triple 9
  
• Krampus
  
• Justice League
  
• V For Vendetta
  
• The Maze Runner
  
• The Scorch Trials
  
• The Death Cure
  
• Batman v Superman (theatrical/Ultimate edition)
  
• 12 Monkeys
  
• The Breakfast Club
  
• Ouija
  
• Resident Evil/Afterlife/Apocalypse/Extinction
  
• Justice League: The New Frontier (Animated)
  
• Teen Titans: Judas Contract (Animated)
  
• Exodus God's and Kings
  
• Morgan
  
• Lucky Logan
  
• London Has Fallen
  
• Oz The Great and Powerful
  
• Lés Miserables
  
• In The Heart of The Sea
  
• Air Force One
  
• Beetlejuice
  
• Olympus Has Fallen
  
• Ouija: Origin of Evil
  
• Hook
  
• 127 Hours
  
• Zombieland
  
• Hitch
  
• The Mask of Zorro
  
• The Conjuring 2
  
• Queen of The Damned
  
• The Hobbit 1-3 (Theatrical/Extended Edition)
  
• Lord of The Rings 1-3 (Theatrical/Extended Edition)
  
• Blade
  
• Waterworld
  
• Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (Animated)
  
• 8 Mile
  
• Edward ScissorHands
  
• The Blues Brothers
  
• Kong: Skull Island
  
• Elf
  
• The Adjustment Bureau
  
• The Patriot
  
• Easy A
  
• Leon The Professional (Theatrical/Extended Cut)
  
• Harry Potter 1-6 w/7 Pt 1&2
  
• Despicable Me 1 & 3
  
• Unstoppable
  
• Lockout
  
• Battle Los Angeles
  
• Seventh Son
  
• Geostorm
  
• The Mule
  
• Jupiter Ascending
  
• Wardogs
  
• 2012
  
• Remember The Titans
  
• Deja Vu
  
• Reign of Fire
  
• National Treasure 1 & 2
  
• Justice League vs The Fatal Five (Animated)
  
• Dunkirk