Instead of derailing another thread into whether or not the White Court would respect Harry as Lara's husband because they see him as a dumb brute, I'll deal with it here. I'll list what I think are situations in which he manipulated people into doing what he wanted in a way that the White Court might respect, then I'll list the effect it would have.

The Books:

Storm Front: I don't see anything.

Fool Moon: I don't see anything.

Grave Peril: He manipulates Lea into letting him go.

Summer Knight: I don't see anything other than Mab appreciating what Harry did in GP.

Death Masks: I don't see anything.

Blood Rites: Lara declares that Harry has "made me the cat's-paw for you, Dresden. While making me think I had the advantage of you. You've played me at my own game, and ably."

Dead Beat: Though he didn't intend any of it, he managed to get the Wardens to help him get hold of the Word of Kemmler and deliver it to Mavra. And get put on the Wardens payroll at the same time.

Proven Guilty: He bested the Merlin in Molly's trial. The Merlin had to use his brute institutional strength to beat Harry. Then Harry used a parliamentarian/procedural trick to stop the Merlin, with the help of the Gatekeeper, until enough of the Senior Council showed up to give Harry what he wanted.

This was done in front of many Council Members and the Summer Lady and Knight.

White Night: He turned a White Court scheme being run by all three major houses to his advantage. He got the paranet going, acquired a big obligation from the Little Folk, and got a big reputational boost among them as well.

Small Favor: He manipulated Nicodemus into defeat. Nicodemus had won. Dresden convinced him to risk everything he had gained, and he lost all of it.

Turn Coat: He manipulated the White Council into fighting Shagnasty. He appeared to manipulate the White Court into doing the same, but iirc, Lara was in on it. He manipulated Peabody into incriminating himself.

Changes: He dealed with Mab in a scheming manner that she respected.

Ghost Story: I don't see anything, other than Mab's confirmation of what I said for Changes.

Cold Days: He was in deep with Faeries and Outsiders and managed to see through several misdirections. (But didn't catch some based on what the Redcap said in BG).

Skin Game: He once again duped Nicodemus. He saw what Mab and Marcone were doing.

Peace Talks: He put the White Court under his thumb. He shamed Marcone because Marcone lost custody of a helpless prisoner. He manipulated a member of the Senior Council into doing his bidding. He tricked another Senior Council member into fighting a whatever you call his double on the dock.

Battle Ground: He "manipulated" a massive army of the Little Folk into fighting for him. He got the eye, denied it, and by doing so, got Marcone to give him a super warded castle. He also convinced the Accorded Members present to pay a weregild to the mortals.

Short Stories:

In B is for Bigfoot, Harry manages to achieve his goals without any direct action. He did what he was hired to do without causing any trouble with the Svartalves.

In Jury Duty, Harry's in the middle of the conflict between the White Court and Marcone.

The effect:

I'm not sure how widely known Harry's tricking of Lea in GP would be.

I don't think anyone would be able to easily piece together what Harry did in BR, so I don't think we should count that one.

From DB, I'm not sure who would know enough to draw any conclusions other than Mavra. She, at least, should understand that he isn't just a brute.

PG is the first thing he's done that people in the community are likely to know about. Faeries trade secrets all the time. Everyone in Titania's court had a big laugh about how he spent the favor from Titania. Enough of them probably got the story of how he got the favor to spread it around sufficiently for anyone who wanted information on Harry to get the story too.

From WN, everyone should know that he foiled the Skavis and Malvora plans. Whether or not they were able to piece together what he got out of Lara is less certain, but the Little Folk certainly know, and they don't guard information all that closely. I'm not sure if the White Court would be aware of the weregild paid out to Harry, but the sharper members of the Court and broader community should be able to piece it together.

I'm not sure how widely known the details of his defeat of Nicodemus in SmF would be. The White and Black Council's should know as Luccio was involved.

What he did in TC would be widely known in the Council and the White Court. Different particulars might be fuzzy in each, but they'd be known.

I don't think any but Demonreach, Bonnie, Molly, Mab, Kincaid, and Harry know that he almost out foxed Mab in Changes.

The White Court would be aware that they attacked a bunch of cultists during CD. Probably that it was at the direction of Dresden.

I don't think his exploits in PT would be widely known. Which is the point of a lot of scheming.

I think everything he did in BG will be widely known.

Harry's actions in B is for Bigfoot probably made an impression on Svartalves. They probably don't share information as freely as other elements of the supernatural world.

In Jury Duty, he foiled a White Court plan, but he was Marcone's cats-paw at the time.

Conclusion:

I think any supernatural player that wants to develop a dossier on Harry ought to be able to get enough information to figure out he isn't just a dumb brute. Fairies and members of the White Court are especially well positioned to do this. The supernaturals that think Harry is a dumb brute are pretty much going to be the ones that Harry has to worry the least about because they will be the least informed, most arrogant, and/or stupidest.

Thoughts?

The Dresden Drop this week contains a new interview. https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/a-long-expected-drop-new-interview-and-tattoo-compilation.

In the interview Jim states some things about Twelve Months. I think most of us have assumed that it will take place over the course of a year, but Jim hadn't ever explicitly stated that in anything I'd seen. He does in this interview. He stated that it wouldn't be like the other books that cover Harry's worst couple of days in the year. He said we'd get to see what Harry's day to day life is. He said something about seeing Harry trying to survive his dates with Lara.

Jim also said that Heaven, Hell, and Asgard are in the Nevernever, but I have difficulty understanding how Heaven can be in the Nevernever when pretty much every being in the Nevernever seems to be limited to one universe at a time while the Angels (maybe just the Archangels) aren't.

Also in the drop: tattoos, Jim will be on the Dresden Files Podcast this Friday, Fanfic update.

Over in the "What do you look forward to in Peace Talks?" thread, the discussion has moved to Harry getting a power up. It made me think of what's often described as power creep in the Dresden Files. I think creep is very apropos for Harry's gaining of power because it mostly happens pretty slowly. It creeps on up in a way that's hard to point to.

While he doesn't get a power up every book, he's almost always more powerful in at least one way. Usually a noticeable way. He's often also less powerful in some way. Usually less notable. Occasionally, he's significantly more powerful or significantly less powerful in an obvious way.

It's generally subtle from book to book, but Harry seems more powerful each book. He gets more foci. He gets a bigger gun every four books or so. His fuego spell gets tighter and tighter. I think it's first described as "as big around as my hips" to eventually being "as big as my two fingers." Occasionally we get big steps forward like in BR, when Harry has enchanted his duster and gets Hellfire.

Outline of Harry's power progression that I can recall:What am I missing and when did it happen? Thoughts on "power creep" in the Dresden Files?

So is the tower on Demonreach a lighthouse at all? Dresden calls the tower a lighthouse, but I'm not convinced it was a lighthouse, at least originally.

It's first described as a tower. Then shortly later a lighthouse. The word tower is repeatedly used. It makes sense that Dresden's first impression is that it is a lighthouse. It's a tall structure at the top of an island surrounded by rocky reefs. And "{b}eacon towers dotted the shorelines and islands of all the Great Lakes." It's only natural to assume that the dilapidated structure on the island is just another dilapidated structure with a modern use.

The reason I'm not so sure that it's a lighthouse is that it's got all those wards that we first see in Turn Coat and learn more about in Cold Days. We learn that the wards are "impossible" and that Merlin was the one who made them. It makes sense to conclude that Merlin built the tower. I don't see any reason for concluding otherwise, so until someone gives me one, that's going to be my assumption. This leads to the question, why would Merlin build a lighthouse on his secret prison island? Especially if he built it during his lifetime when shipping wasn't a thing in the Great Lakes.

Here's my theory: It isn't a lighthouse; it's a wizard's tower. We know from Harry that "some guys in Europe still operate out of stone towers." Grave Peril, Ch. 14. So the wizard's tower is a thing in the Dresden Files. Jim repeatedly emphasizes that it's a tower, even referring to lighthouses as beacon towers, which I find to be a bit of an odd phrase. It was likely built by Merlin at a time when a lighthouse wouldn't make any sense. It was likely built for another purpose. I'm not sure why a lighthouse would be so heavily warded unless it was used for something else.

Now, I don't know where the wizard's tower trope comes from, what it's supposed to mean, or what the in story reason is for why wizards would have a tower. I guess I'm left with those general questions and the specific question of why would Merlin need a tower on Demonreach.

Here's the link. https://www.jim-butcher.com/posts/2020/the-year-of-dresden-begins?fbclid=IwAR24oqhNm7SWq_jRf5OCEoJX7zZQSHVpFu9Xyd6pAF9-R7R4WJDiuuASSi0. Today it's a short story entitled Mike. I figure I'll just leave this here without saying more until people have had a chance to look for themselves.

In Chapter 18 of Summer Knight Harry tells Murphy "all of it" at the Wal-Mart. "[M]ost of all, I told her about the White Council." So the obvious answer is "that's when she learned about it, idiot." But in Chapter 31 of Fool Moon in the pit on Marconne's estate, Murphy says "I can't figure out why they [the FBI hexenwolves] didn't do the deed themselves, instead of leaving it to MacFinn." Harry responds with "Trying to cover their tracks from the White Council." Murphy doesn't respond with anything even close to something that would indicate she doesn't know what the White Council is. Does she already know? Is she playing it cool because Dresden is talking more than he usually does? Murphy doesn't seem like the type to just let it go if she has no idea what Harry's talking about. Especially in Fool Moon. But that appears to be precisely what she does. We don't hear mention of it again. Maybe Murphy got the information from other sources.

While knowledge of the White Council isn't something one can get in the local library, it's not as if it's impossible to obtain even some pretty sensitive information about it. In Chapter 1 of Summer Knight, Billy know's that the "wizard's White Council is coming to town." Harry responds with "[W]hat White Council?" Point being that Billy has figured out that the White Council exists, and the Council is coming to Chicago in the middle of a war. Presumably, that information would be deemed sensitive. In Chapter 8 of Grave Peril, Susan indicates that she doesn't know what the White Council is, but she could just be using the opportunity to dig for more information. If she honestly doesn't know what the Council is, it's not easy for someone who isn't a member of "the community" to find out about.

How did Bob know how to pull off the Darkhallow?

At the end of Chapter 34, Harry says "Bob used to be Kemmler's" and "Bob knows everything about the theory that Kemmler did." And then, near the end of Chapter 42, Bob says "It is precisely as the master described." But all the way back in Chapter 3, Harry orders Bob to permanently forget those memories. We later learn that Bob has expelled those memories into a separate SoI.

What's going on here? Did Jim make a mistake and have Bob remember something he couldn't? Did Jim make a mistake creating Evil Bob in Ghost Story? Was Bob pretending to know more than he did?

If it was left at Bob is just awesome and could figure out how to do a Darkhallow, that would have been fine. And that's what I said when my brother asked me this question. Then I reread the book after he asked me, with that question existing in my mind. The real problem with that explanation is Bob's quote from Chapter 42.