Ever since Night In The Woods, I've taken a heavier stance on psychoanalysis on the stories I read. Sure, on the surface, there was nothing special about NITW, but how they decide to open the scene (moving left, towards the past, instead of right, towards a future-oriented goal) and commenting on how ghost-looking plastic bags from long-closed stores haunt the town (hauntology) has made me realize how important it is to dig deep, and how it is able to add layers to storytelling.

This isn't over thinking or exposing the author's (Jungian) shadow. But if a story fails to resonate with the soul, or worse yet, if it is poison to the soul, I feel like it is not worth reading. Sadly, Gnoll Way Home proves to be such a story because it gets something very important totally wrong.

There is something strange about the MC's desperation to return Gash, though I wait to hear the full context. I can't be sure if it is a death drive, or if dying to save someone now is what the MC needs due to his past life's events... He really can't be THAT kind and heroic right in the beginning *rolls eyes*.

I very much understand this story is trying to explore themes of sex, gender, and identity, however it is biased towards the left. People in the center and right go through this too, and perhaps even worse if growing up in a conservative household or country.

Speaking of left, the Gnolls are very communal, not disgust sensitive, loose/nonexistent class system, and are enemies of an 'empire', an empire that is presumed to hoard a vague monopoly over 'infinite supply of resources/power' like the damned bourgeoisie they are, and damn so, for not communalizing their resources equally among all the species! Elitist, classist, capitalists!

Food, housing, and power/influence were always a means to and end for all biological life (reproducing). There is something so stress-free about being provided all of those things freely (socialism) in such a communal culture the Gnolls have made for themselves. However that leaves sex.... And the whole theme of this VN is sex (yeah, identity and gender too).

The family unit was an antidote to disposable, barbaric, caveman-like conquest. I myself do not enjoy the fact the majority/cis made no room for queers and other sexual minorities when establishing "tradition" or what is "normal", however this tradition is a necessary evil that brings a lot of good with it too, and shouldn't be viewed as the enemy or utterly evil, even if it does banish the ones who dont fit in to poisonous lands. The empire is this tradition that the Gnolls have to face. It is their obstacle towards introspection, which is what I disagree with. We can make or engage in fair trade to procure food, housing, and win influence if we want to attract a mate. I think a wife/husband shouldnt be communal property that you have to share, and sadly it is people left of center that are so open to sharing or demanding that others share, often resorting to disposable, barbaric, caveman-like conquest as we have seen with Mao and Stalin's implementation of communism (communal-ism, where all is to be shared, and none is to hoard or exercise influence/power for self-betterment). If eating soup from a communal bath, being stripped by strangers, and getting Opa all excited when Gash is supposed to be Tav's mate doesnt check all those marks of being left of center, then I am afraid you'll never understand what I mean and might think I am a total troll RN.

Whether it is the preference for your sex or a feeling of not belonging to the sex you were assigned, us LGBTQ+ can all agree on 1 thing: We aren't lying or confused, but we are in the minority, causing the majority (the ones in charge of tradition, it shall always be the majority's privilege to bring about traditions while any minority remains forever rebels and outcasts) there is no allowances for us queer folk. There is no happy ending when we finally become the majority (unless we do a cis genocide?) It is our destiny and fate to walk a road UNIQUE to us and us alone. That's the way explorations of these themes of sex, identity, and gender OUGHT to be done to be nourishing for the soul and keep us as part of the tapestry of human existence. We don't get to be forever teens crying that "nobody understands us!", cis people may have grown out of that phase in their late teens, but we are forever in that phase due to our circumstances. Crying about it and taking vengeance isnt the way. We should be proud and consider ourselves lucky to be so unique, and get to see the world through such compassionate eyes and trust when others are going through something, and not resort to hate just because we dont understand. We get what it's like to not be believed or guilty/ashamed for trying to figure out who we are. That is our strength and what defines us and our place. If we have to be rebels, let us be the kind people agree with when traditions becomes tyrannical, and not turn to when they want to destroy the world and/or remove all traditions from their root. We too, have our place in curing the ills of humanity/traditions, we should not forget this or become uncompassionate. To lose our place in this important role due to despair and insults would be a downfall for all. We must bare our birthright maturely and play our part with some grace.

Everything else in this VN has been great, although maybe a little fast paced and missing some logic/details on some points, though not a huge deal. I'm personally not going to continue this story, but I give it 4/5 stars for all it has managed to accomplish outside of that hiccup of mistaking the majority/writers of tradition/cis people as the enemy to contend against. We are our own worst enemies, remember that. We have to battle ourselves and change the way we think if we are doing something illogical (such as LGBTQ+ trying to supplant cis people as the majority and become the new authors of morality/traditions. Never gonna happen without that genocide. It is time to change the way we/Kah think before we do something regrettable).