>Oh? Do tell... what do I need to catch up on,

I'd start by headbutting your way through all the Exile stories (particularly Manhunt and Starcrossed), then all of SoS, then researching most of the main references in those works. It... may take a while. Whilst I cannot speak with anything approaching authority on how it will affect you or what Gryphon's currently doing, it's what I'd do if I'd taken a decade out from a universe as vast and fluid as this one

>and will it affect what I'm thinking/planning?

Almost certainly. New reference pools have to be made use of, nd this is the perfect opportunity to retcon them into UF's earlier days.

>OV:TSY takes place during Exile, so that may not be affected too much, yeah?

...

I can't say with any accuracy, not knowing what you planned, but if I had to guess I'd say yes. Exile's a lot less angsty than it used to be. It's still fairly bleak, yeah, but not My Chemical Romance track bleak. If you don't know MCR... keep it that way, they're absolutely unspeakable.

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"Yeah, I'm definitely going to hell/But I'll have all the best stories to tell" -- Frank Turner, The Ballad of Me and My Friends