Well, it wasn’t going to be THAT easy.

Hey, it’s Rachel’s first appearance! Of sorts.

As Gravedust suggested in his opening narration, the most dangerous thing about Scarlett is that she believes her own bullshit, or at least most of it. And any lies she tells, like for instance whether Gigundus is alive or dead, are justified by the lies that she believes.

It’s fashionable these days to believe that the enemies of one’s tribe are motivated solely by spite and performative cruelty, but I think that doesn’t go deep enough. I think we’re all amateur fantasy writers, and most people have a robust ability to write a story in their own minds in which they are the hero.