Even though talking about character deaths may seem to be a sobering topic, the Sib-Nerds share a few laughs as they talk about plot armor, the character deaths that wrecked them, and the ones that were designed to die.

Shout out to Cinema Therapy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCYX4s1DCn51Hpf1peHS30Q

Josef’s Reading:

- The Lies of Locke Lamora by: Scott Lynch

- The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan

Josef’s Playing:

- Ghost of Tsushima (finished!)

- Persona 5

- The One Ring RPG

Josef’s Watching:

- The Bad Batch (Disney+)

- Critical Role (YouTube)

- Castlevania (Netflix)

Anna’s Reading:

- The Gold Seer Trilogy (Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, Into the Bright Unknown) by: Rae Carson

- Persuasion by: Jane Austen

- Pride and Prejudice by: Jane Austen

- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by: C.S. Lewis

- Shadow and Bone by: Leigh Bardugo

Anna’s Watching:

- The Legend of Korra (Netflix)

- The Bad Batch (Disney+)

Find us on Twitter: @litround

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitRoundTable

Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

Join the sib-nerds as they dive into the differences between soft and hard magic systems. Josef led the discussion and Anna learned a lot! Do you have a preference for soft or hard magic systems? Did you learn something new?

Anna's Reading: - Officially finished the Harry Potter series. - Northhanger Abbey by: Jane Austen - Shadow and Bone by: Leigh Bardugo - Walk on Earth a Stranger by: Rae Carson

Josef's Reading: - The Lies of Locke LaMora

Josef's Playing: - The Ghost of Tsushima - Persona 5

Josef's Watching: - Critical Role (YouTube)

Anna's Watching: - Cell's at Work (Netflix or Crunchyroll)

Anna & Josef are Watching: - My Hero Academia (Crunchroll) - Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+) - Demon Slayer (Netflix or Crunchyroll) - Demon Slayer: Mugen Train (movie)

Find us on Twitter: @litround Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitRoundTable Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

Anna and Josef dive into the fantasy tropes they “hate” (but not really) in this week’s episode. What are some of your least favorite fantasy tropes?

Discussion of the Lies of Locke Lamora chapters 8 & 9.

Books we’re reading:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by: J.K. Rowling

Prince Caspian by: C.S. Lewis

Shadow and Bone by: Leigh Bardugo

A Conjuring of Light by: V.E. Schwab

The Lies of Locke Lamora by: Scott Lynch

Movies/Shows we’re watching:

The Harry Potter movies

HunterxHunter

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

100 Baby Challenge on Buzzfeed Multiplier (YouTube)

Critical Role (YouTube)

My Hero Academia

The Wind Rises

Castle in the Sky

Mary and the Witch’s Flower

Jujutso Kaisen

Games we’re playing:

Ghost of Tsushima

Mario Kart

Find us on Twitter: @litround

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitRoundTable

Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

Anna and Josef discuss what a trope is, and delve into their favorites! What are some of your favorite fantasy tropes? Any that the Sib-nerds missed?

Discussion of the The Lies of Locke Lamora chapters 6 & 7.

Josef is reading: The Lies of Locke Lamora by: Scott Lynch, Wheel of Time book 2 by: Robert Jordan

Josef is watching: Critical Role, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, My Hero Academia

Anna is reading: The Lies of Locke Lamora by: Scott Lynch, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by: JK Rowling, The Horse and His Boy by: CS Lewis

Anna is watching: Tolkien, My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away, My Hero Academia

Find us on Twitter: @litround

Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitRoundTable

Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

Today the Sib-Nerds talk about banned books! This topic was motivated by the recent Dr. Seuss controversy. Did you learn something new about what it means for a book to be banned? If you want to do more research, here are some resources for you:

- PEN America - www.pen.org

- American Library Association - www.ala.org

- Popculture.com article about Dr. Seuss - https://popculture.com/trending/news/dr-seuss-these-6-- books-are-going-out-print-racist-imagery/

- Other Dr. Seuss articles to be found at www.nbcnews.com

- The TikTok creator we mentioned: hongmingliu11

Discussion of Chapters 4 & 5 of The Lies of Locke Lamora.

Josef is reading: Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt (book 2) by Robert Jordan

Josef is watching: Attack on Titan, The Haunting at Bly Manor, My Hero Academia

Josef is playing: Dragon Age, Persona5, The One Ring RPG

Anna is reading: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Anna is watching: My Hero Academia

The Sib-Nerds dive into their favorite villains! Does a sympathetic villain make them less evil? Does aesthetic play a big role in how we perceive villains? Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of Villains?

We also discuss Chapters 2 & 3 of The Lies of Locke Lamora. Anna and Josef debate whether the Duke and Capa Barsavi are the same person--stay tuned for next week to hear that resolution!

**The Longer Version available on YouTube**

Mentioned Movies: The Fellowship of the Ring (Extended Edition)

Mentioned TV Shows: Wandavision and My Hero Academia

Mentioned Books: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, and Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Mentioned Video Games: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Find us on Twitter: @litround

Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

This week is all about escapism--is it healthy or not? In the Sib-Nerds unprofessional opinion, it depends! They explore the concept of keeping reality and fiction separated, and particularly their personal experience with imaginary play.

The Sib-Nerds also discuss the Prologue and Chapter 1 of The Lies of Locke Lamora. They are both eager to continue reading because the Scott Lynch has deftly crafted the world and characters. Also catch Anna referring to thieves as "pirates of the ground."

Mentioned Movies: Star Wars (the original series), and Harry Potter (series)

Mentioned TV Shows: Wandavision, The Mandalorian, My Hero Academia, and Bridgerton

Mentioned Books: The Lies of Locke Lamora, Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt, Harry Potter (series), and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Josef leads the discussion to answer the question: "What is Genre Fiction?" This discussion turns into a conversation about the differences between Genre Fiction and Literary Fiction. Anna admits to being nervous about this episode because the people that are opinionated about this topic are very opinionated.

Join the Sib-Nerds as they read through The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch! For the next podcast, read the Prologue and Chapter 1.

Titles mentioned this episode:

The Magician's Nephew by: C.S. Lewis

The Selection series by: Kiera Cass

The Red Queen series by: Victoria Aveyard

A Gathering of Shadows by: V.E. Schwab

The Silmarillion by: J.R.R. Tolkien

The Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World by: Robert Jordan

The Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt by: Robert Jordan

We've all got favorite characters--and the sib-nerds have a blast talking about theirs! Join Josef and Anna as they go through some of their favorite franchises and discuss the good guys.

Also, how many times can Anna say a character is "great?" If you count, tell us @LitRound on Twitter and win our... affection?

Find us on Twitter: @litround

Art: Kris Easler: https://www.kriseasler.com/

Music: Daniel Petersen

Anna and Josef discuss how they enjoy having a story told to them, and how they prefer telling stories of their own.

Josef is currently playing: The Last of Us part 2 & Ghost of Tsushima

Josef is currently reading: Wheel of Time book 1: Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Josef is currently watching: My Hero Academia & HunterXHunter

Anna is currently reading: The Maid's War by Jeff Wheeler & The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Anna is currently watching: The Last Kingdom & The Clone Wars

Together, they are watching: Avatar: The Last Airbender