Rey mysterio wwe action figure
WWEPicFed
2021.04.23 17:55 WWEVENOMYAYA WWEPicFed
A Community For WWE Action figures and WWE Action figure Stop Motion
2019.01.15 22:24 'The Poison Pixie' Candice LeRae
Admiration for the lovely veteran pro wrestler and NXT Superstar, Candice LeRae.
2019.09.21 15:42 ratajkowskiguy r/Mella
Subreddit for the WWE Superstar Carmella.
2023.05.28 04:39 ForzaaG My most wanted team up! IG: NotToysActionFigures đ
 | submitted by ForzaaG to Mafex [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 04:37 ForzaaG When it comes to âHorror Sculptsâ Todd does not f*ck around! đ§ââď¸ IG: NotToysActionFigures đ
 | submitted by ForzaaG to McFarlaneFigures [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 04:26 Bamni573 My girlfriend hurt my feelings and i feel like its all my fault
My girlfriend has been in a bad place for over 2 years and has serious depression and she is getting treatment and soon is going to a mental hospital for month or so and we planned to talk every day for at least few minutes, i have huge anxiety and attachment issues so its was very difficult for me to accept that but as long as she gets better thats all that mattered to me
I was feeling under the weather today because it was our last day together before she goes there in a bit and there is this guy friend of hers that liked her before that she's still friends with because he is with another girl and i am very uncomfortable with her hanging around him but it is what it is and today his mom called her mom over for coffee so mom and her went together to their house, later on when it was time to go home she went to the toilet and her mom thought it was a good idea to leave her quickly there so she sleeps over even though she didnt want to which obviously triggered my insecurities and issues
That definitely didnt help my huge overthinking issues it just made everything way worse, hours go by she isnt answering after 2 hours she comes to say that its all alright she was just talking to all of them even though i specifically asked her to check up on me from time to time because i feel awful and my overthinking knows no limits my brain is very harmful to me and she said it would be impolite because others are there and she cant be on phone while people are talking and alright i get it she is just like that a polite person which is absolutely fine i can live with it
But after some time i started having a full on mental breakdown for a good 15 minutes of constant "breaking" crying and hating on myself and i usually always let her rely on me when she feels sad and i personally always text her no matter where i am, i do not care i im seen as impolite or rude if it makes her feel better you better believe im doing it ill do anything for that girl, but this is the moment where i really needed her and i started messaging that i need her and after 20 or so minutes she said she was eating there and couldnt answer and after that i started explaining what went wrong and she just said "i have to go ill text asap byee" and no contact for over 2 hours and she says she's just talking with him and his mom nothing special and i wait 1 more hour in silence by myself with my overthinking mind ruining me more and more and i am patient because i needed her and ill wait for her
After full 3 hours pass after she went the first time she comes and after she reads my "vent" which was a bit all over the place since im not feeling the best she lets me calm down and suddenly breaks the news that we wont be able to talk at all during that 1+ month period because she can only talk to parents not me or anyone else which absolutely crushed me, it felt like she came finally and healed my wound just to rip it open again and i broke down again and begged for her attention a bit which i admit on my part was not the best idea because i guess girls dont like that?
And to that she said that i have a serious issue and that i need a psychologist and that she wants to go to sleep because she's too tired to keep the conversation up and that she's getting upset with way i act and that hurt me a lot i must say but i understand it kind of and that she is waking up at 10 am (its 4 am as of now) and that she has to study for her finals, and i asked if its oki to continue this conversation in morning a bit before she studies she says you're upsetting me i need to study we'll talk later when im home and i just said i either have to talk about it or bottle it up and she got upset so i jusut quickly made a deal that we'll see in morning if i need to talk about or not and i will need to but i will tell her i dont so she can focus on studying
I feel like im a burden to her and that im not her top priority anymore, she used to rely on me for everything and i got too used to that and now it feels like she's pushing me away, i helped her get into therapy so i thought asking her for help to get into it too would be oki but now that she's going away i have to do it by myself and she said "im sure you can figure it out, do it for me please" which i will try my best but im not emotionally stable
I can barely do simple tasks i feel so weak and fragile im forcing myself to go on walks its so difficult to do anything really, such simple tasks become so annoying and i cant even find joy in playing games anymore i just do it to kill time and to try to distract from my mind and whenever i have no energy to do something she gets upset with me and its making me sad but i cant say anything, she's in a very fragile state herself but she's the only person i can turn to i dont know what to do i cant do this on my own and im starting to feel like i cant rely on her anymore for emotional support and that she doesnt care about me anymore even though she says she does with all her heart but her actions speak louder than her words sometimes
I only have her in my life im not that emotionally close with my friends because they are awkward about it and i cant turn to anyone else im not emotionally close with any of my family its all awkward and im all alone and i want to stop being a burden to her but i dont know how i dont know how i cant stop hating myself i feel like an absolute failure in life whatever i do i mess up i hate myself when she gets upset at me its all my fault and i cant stop messing it all up i cant look myself in the mirror anymore i feel disgusted living in my own skin i hate myself more than i could ever hate anyone else in this world i hate that i get panic attacks and call her constantly when she doesnt text for a while and she's just trying to enjoy conversations i need help i know that but i cant do it by myself and i feel like i cant vent to her anymore because im so scared she'll get upset and leave me
submitted by Bamni573 to offmychest [link] [comments]
I was feeling under the weather today because it was our last day together before she goes there in a bit and there is this guy friend of hers that liked her before that she's still friends with because he is with another girl and i am very uncomfortable with her hanging around him but it is what it is and today his mom called her mom over for coffee so mom and her went together to their house, later on when it was time to go home she went to the toilet and her mom thought it was a good idea to leave her quickly there so she sleeps over even though she didnt want to which obviously triggered my insecurities and issues
That definitely didnt help my huge overthinking issues it just made everything way worse, hours go by she isnt answering after 2 hours she comes to say that its all alright she was just talking to all of them even though i specifically asked her to check up on me from time to time because i feel awful and my overthinking knows no limits my brain is very harmful to me and she said it would be impolite because others are there and she cant be on phone while people are talking and alright i get it she is just like that a polite person which is absolutely fine i can live with it
But after some time i started having a full on mental breakdown for a good 15 minutes of constant "breaking" crying and hating on myself and i usually always let her rely on me when she feels sad and i personally always text her no matter where i am, i do not care i im seen as impolite or rude if it makes her feel better you better believe im doing it ill do anything for that girl, but this is the moment where i really needed her and i started messaging that i need her and after 20 or so minutes she said she was eating there and couldnt answer and after that i started explaining what went wrong and she just said "i have to go ill text asap byee" and no contact for over 2 hours and she says she's just talking with him and his mom nothing special and i wait 1 more hour in silence by myself with my overthinking mind ruining me more and more and i am patient because i needed her and ill wait for her
After full 3 hours pass after she went the first time she comes and after she reads my "vent" which was a bit all over the place since im not feeling the best she lets me calm down and suddenly breaks the news that we wont be able to talk at all during that 1+ month period because she can only talk to parents not me or anyone else which absolutely crushed me, it felt like she came finally and healed my wound just to rip it open again and i broke down again and begged for her attention a bit which i admit on my part was not the best idea because i guess girls dont like that?
And to that she said that i have a serious issue and that i need a psychologist and that she wants to go to sleep because she's too tired to keep the conversation up and that she's getting upset with way i act and that hurt me a lot i must say but i understand it kind of and that she is waking up at 10 am (its 4 am as of now) and that she has to study for her finals, and i asked if its oki to continue this conversation in morning a bit before she studies she says you're upsetting me i need to study we'll talk later when im home and i just said i either have to talk about it or bottle it up and she got upset so i jusut quickly made a deal that we'll see in morning if i need to talk about or not and i will need to but i will tell her i dont so she can focus on studying
I feel like im a burden to her and that im not her top priority anymore, she used to rely on me for everything and i got too used to that and now it feels like she's pushing me away, i helped her get into therapy so i thought asking her for help to get into it too would be oki but now that she's going away i have to do it by myself and she said "im sure you can figure it out, do it for me please" which i will try my best but im not emotionally stable
I can barely do simple tasks i feel so weak and fragile im forcing myself to go on walks its so difficult to do anything really, such simple tasks become so annoying and i cant even find joy in playing games anymore i just do it to kill time and to try to distract from my mind and whenever i have no energy to do something she gets upset with me and its making me sad but i cant say anything, she's in a very fragile state herself but she's the only person i can turn to i dont know what to do i cant do this on my own and im starting to feel like i cant rely on her anymore for emotional support and that she doesnt care about me anymore even though she says she does with all her heart but her actions speak louder than her words sometimes
I only have her in my life im not that emotionally close with my friends because they are awkward about it and i cant turn to anyone else im not emotionally close with any of my family its all awkward and im all alone and i want to stop being a burden to her but i dont know how i dont know how i cant stop hating myself i feel like an absolute failure in life whatever i do i mess up i hate myself when she gets upset at me its all my fault and i cant stop messing it all up i cant look myself in the mirror anymore i feel disgusted living in my own skin i hate myself more than i could ever hate anyone else in this world i hate that i get panic attacks and call her constantly when she doesnt text for a while and she's just trying to enjoy conversations i need help i know that but i cant do it by myself and i feel like i cant vent to her anymore because im so scared she'll get upset and leave me
2023.05.28 04:21 TheHomeBizSeeker rpm
 | ItâsWhat?It's Been a TRAP submitted by TheHomeBizSeeker to u/TheHomeBizSeeker [link] [comments] ThisToday's trap is the biggest and most common pitfall of would be entrepreneurs today. It'sMost sometimes called "Analysis Paralysis", but I like to call it what it is. FEAR Fear of failing Fear of being judged Fear of not being able to handle success Fear of offending people Fear of wasting time and effort Fear of (INSERT YOUR EXCUSE HERE) We all have fear, but itâs the successful people who feel the fear and do it anyway. They don't let fear stop them, and they use the fear to push them to do greater and greater things. My mentor is a living example of what you can achieve when you take action in spite of fear. ItSureThat wasnât luck that catapulted him from suicide to success. It was a lot of hard work, struggle, embarrassment⌠And a whole lot of sucking at things at first. But because he didnât quit, it allowed him to become a 7 figure earner in under 5 years from trying to take his own life⌠He did have one thing going for me though. He had time. He worked online day and night for up to 16 hours a day. He struggled for months trying to make my first commission. There were many days that he wanted to quit, wanted to give it all up. But hedidnât⌠He pushed through and today he is in the 1% of earners online. It would have been so much EASIER if he had a proven path to follow and he doesn't want you to have to struggle like he did. Thatâs why James created the RPM training and group. This is the system, training and support James wishes someone had given him back in 2017. Iâve combined EVERYTHING I spent years learning into this system and created something never done before thanks to a new technology you will discover in the fr-ee group. It really does make it so simple a 3 year old could do it⌠Prove us wrong. Get started today. Jump in today, youâll be glad you did. Kind regards, Patrick |
2023.05.28 04:15 Educational_Joke6488 Badd Blood 1997
 | submitted by Educational_Joke6488 to TEW2020 [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 04:11 ArchDukeNemesis Every NWA, WCW & WWE world heavyweight championship run from 1904-2023 combined, if every champion held the belt once.
To celebrate the "Return" of the "Big Gold Belt" on Raw, I thought I'd make a history combining all title runs from the first world heavyweight championship, through it's time in the NWA, its two off shoots in WCW and its appropriation by WWE. All lineages combined, all vacancies ignored, all reigns recognized and all champions holding the belt once.
submitted by ArchDukeNemesis to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]
2023.05.28 03:59 turnontheignition Problems with social and emotional reciprocity... A realization!
So I had an epiphany somewhat recently and it's actually really interesting. So I was diagnosed with autism not too long ago, although due to a snafu with where my report was sent, I haven't actually had the chance to look it over with my doctor yet. So I'm wondering if I'm going to see this mentioned in it, but basically, one of the diagnostic criteria for autism is a deficit in social and emotional reciprocity. An example of this is problems with back and forth conversations.
Something I have never quite gotten the hang of is appropriately asking people questions about themselves. I tend to completely forget to ask polite questions such as how they are, even after they've asked me how I am. That's just pointless small talk, but you know, part of the idea is that they ask how you are, you say good, you ask how they are, they say good, you move along. I oftentimes will just say good or I'll launch into some diatribe and not actually end up circling back around to asking them about how they are. I used to have a script for it where I would basically ask somebody how they were and move right along, but I've kind of fallen out of practice with that.
But I've noticed this come up in a few of my relationships. I've had friends get upset at me because I haven't kept up on their life events, and I haven't asked enough questions about them. They think I don't care, but it seems obvious to me that if they wanted me to know, they would tell me! But it seems that in regular society, you're supposed to make that display of effort even if they should have probably told you anyways. Like they're going to tell you, but you have to do that action first of basically asking them to tell you, I guess?
But it's not that I don't care! It's that I haven't figured that one out, because that's not how my brain works, and I guess as a result, I have a deficit there. Like by this point I have sort of figured it out, because you can only live so long and have so many people get upset or snippy with you for this kind of thing before you realize what the problem is, but even so, it's not something that comes naturally to me. I have to really remember to keep up with people, ask them about their life events, make sure to do that small talk when we first meet up, because I just want to jump right into it and start talking about whatever we're there to do, but to most people it is important to do that small talk. Of course, then you get into another conversation about how much effort should I really be making, and should it always be on me, but that's a separate issue.
Anyone else realized this or can think of other examples of the social and emotional reciprocity? Because I'm curious of how else it might be manifesting that I'm not noticing.
submitted by turnontheignition to aspergirls [link] [comments]
Something I have never quite gotten the hang of is appropriately asking people questions about themselves. I tend to completely forget to ask polite questions such as how they are, even after they've asked me how I am. That's just pointless small talk, but you know, part of the idea is that they ask how you are, you say good, you ask how they are, they say good, you move along. I oftentimes will just say good or I'll launch into some diatribe and not actually end up circling back around to asking them about how they are. I used to have a script for it where I would basically ask somebody how they were and move right along, but I've kind of fallen out of practice with that.
But I've noticed this come up in a few of my relationships. I've had friends get upset at me because I haven't kept up on their life events, and I haven't asked enough questions about them. They think I don't care, but it seems obvious to me that if they wanted me to know, they would tell me! But it seems that in regular society, you're supposed to make that display of effort even if they should have probably told you anyways. Like they're going to tell you, but you have to do that action first of basically asking them to tell you, I guess?
But it's not that I don't care! It's that I haven't figured that one out, because that's not how my brain works, and I guess as a result, I have a deficit there. Like by this point I have sort of figured it out, because you can only live so long and have so many people get upset or snippy with you for this kind of thing before you realize what the problem is, but even so, it's not something that comes naturally to me. I have to really remember to keep up with people, ask them about their life events, make sure to do that small talk when we first meet up, because I just want to jump right into it and start talking about whatever we're there to do, but to most people it is important to do that small talk. Of course, then you get into another conversation about how much effort should I really be making, and should it always be on me, but that's a separate issue.
Anyone else realized this or can think of other examples of the social and emotional reciprocity? Because I'm curious of how else it might be manifesting that I'm not noticing.
2023.05.28 03:58 HelloIAmMarryMarry IWF Heavy Metal Title Qualifier( Seth Rollins in AEW)
When booking Seth Rollins in AEW, there are plenty of dream matches we could set up, but only one match already has the in-built storyline with a main event spot open. See, starting in June, AEW will reportedly be launching a new show AEW Collision to be headed by someone not named Kenny Omega or MJF, with the current talk indicating that AEW will be initiating a "soft" brand split. With this new opportunity, here is how I would book Seth Rollins in AEW. Enjoy!
So we start with AEW Double or Nothing 2023 to set up the building blocks. We start the Main Event is an anarchy in the arena match. Blackpool Combat Club(BCC from now on) vs. The Elite with Konosuke Takashta. A bunch of silly mayhem, Takashta jumps off a bunch of ridiculous things, The Elite fire, I don't know, Byan Danielson out of a fucking trebuchet, Jon Moxley goes full Bagby from Trainspotting throwing pint glasses of piss over his shoulder from the press box. The end of the match features Moxley setting up for his double under-hook DDT(what is he calling it nowadays? Is it still Dirty Deeds?) when over the loudspeaker, "Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta SHIELD." Moxley turns to look at the ramp looking as if he had just seen a ghost. This distracts Moxley long enough for Omega to recover. Omega plants Moxley with the one-winged angel 1-2-3. The Elite win the match. Every week until the return of Forbidden Door, two electric boogaloo, we are shown Moxley walking around backstage asking everyone if they know who played that music at Double or Nothing. No one seems to know. Eventually, he asks Tony Khan, and even he says something like, "Mox, I have no idea. We've been working on trying to figure out what happened. I promise you we will find whoever did it."
At AEW Forbidden Door, BCC and The Elite have their rematch, and again Moxley looks to be in a position to put the Elite away when he hears over the loudspeaker, "Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta SHIELD." Moxley looks around again but sees nothing and turns to finish the job. He hits Omega with his finisher, but before Moxley can cover, he is hit from behind with a steel chair, making the ref call a DQ win for the Elite. The man is Tyler Black. Tyler Black looks down at the broken body of Moxley and leaves the ring.
The next stretch of booking is building up to two shows. All In at Wembley Stadium oi oi and All Out two weeks later, presumably followed by All Shake-it-all-about two weeks after that. The next night on Dynamite, Tyler Black walks to the ring, grabs a mic, and keeps acting as if he's about to say something but doesn't. He just puts the mic down and walks away. This happens again the following week, but before he can leave, Moxley's theme hits, and he runs right up to Black and gets in his face. Before anything can happen, they both are interrupted by Don Callis. Don Callis stands in the middle of the two and talks about how "this company was founded on a bet. That's why they called it All In. Now here, Tony Khan thinks that there's money to be made here. We're playing our first stadium boys, so Khan's rolling the dice, but it's a big gamble, and this is a volatile situation, so here's the deal you get your promo time separately," he gestures to Moxley. "You can talk next week," he gestures to Black, "you can talk the following., but that's it, there'll be no violence. Not until All In, if there is any physicality before then the match is off, and each of you will eat a 250,000 dollar fine to pay back the gate that you're throwing away."
This is all about delaying the gratification, as Black hasn't said a word since debuting not one word into the microphone. Next week Moxley talks about his past and how he's never really forgiven Black for what he did. One of the reasons he left WWE, he states, was that he couldn't "play nice" with Black like management wanted him to, and just when he thought he could move on, that he had moved on, he came to AEW to spite him. The following week Black comes out TO NO MUSIC. This is important. We hear him speak for the first time. He says that he's on a free agent contract and can be employed by any company if they pay royalties to WWE. He was hearing about the hype of AEW, MJF, Chris Jericho, and Omega and wanted to see what it was all about. But when he got here, he saw his former partner sharing the same ring as someone as accomplished as Kenny Omega. And that made him sick. How can this great company have a pile and, I quote, "dog shit" be main eventing their most significant Pay Per View of the year across Kenny Omega. "Jon, or should I call you Dean? You should have gone back to CZW, as your only relevancy is being able to bleed more than Ric Flair. At All In, I'm going to murder you."
Moxley and Black come face to face, but Don Callis comes out to plead the two to not come to blows. The two stand down, but on the way out of the ring, Black hits a curb stomp on Don Callis for a little bit of heat before the match.
The two meet at All In in an Intercontinental Champions Challenge match which is based on the Champions League's rules because football because England oi oi. The pair have two sixty-minute Ironman matchesâone at All In and one at All Out then whoever has the most points by the end of the second match wins the feud. So, let's book these matches.
Moxley's music hits, and he walks to the ring as the hometown hero for AEW. This is the house that Jon Moxley built, and the fans are well aware of who the outsider is. Moxley's music fades away, and the crowd waits with bated breath for Tyler Black. After a short pause, we finally hear, "BURN IT DOWN!" as Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black, makes his way to the ring.
The match starts, and both men start off the match by locking up with some good old chain grappling. Going back and forth, Black can eventually take control by slamming Moxley's hand into the turnbuckle pad. Moxley then fights back, trying to set up for a quick Dirty Deeds, to which Black counters with a clothesline hurling Moxley out of the ring. Black acts like he's going to do a suicide dive to the outside of the ring but promptly sits down to take a little bit of a breather and to swerve against some expectations like the cheeky heel he is. Moxley gets back into the ring, and the two continue to brawl. After a bit, it's Black's turn to be clotheslined out of the ring. Moxley does his best Black impression and also sits down and proceeds to mock Black. Black is too quick, though, and rushes the ring. Moxley tries to get up in time but runs right into a curb stomp 1-2-3. Black is up 1-0. Black goes for another pin immediately after but only gets a two-count.
The two continue to go at it, and about thirty minutes have passed by this point when Moxley his a quick Dirty Deeds out of nowhere 1-2-3. The score is tied up at 1-1. Later in the match, Moxley nails a devastating Brainbuster to Black on the apron. Moxley then proceeds to hit another Dirty Deeds in the ring to secure a point lead. Moxley is now up 1-2. The fight spills out of the ring for the third time now with only 5 minutes left on the clock; Moxley prepares the announce table. Moxley looking to make a statement and put Black through the announce table.
The ref starts to count. Black counters into a Pedigree and stumbles back into the ring. The ref continues to count 7-8-9-10. The score is tied 2-2. The ref restarts his count as Moxley begins to stir. The ref counts eight as Moxley is stumbling to get into the ring. The ref counts nine as Moxley is stumbling up the ropes. Just before Moxley can get into the ring, Black dropkicks him off the apron, and the ref counts ten. Black is up 3-2. Moxley gets back into the ring after shaking off his stupor. The clock has 60 seconds. Moxley is overwhelming Black and pummeling him in the ring. Ten seconds, Mox hits another Dirty Deeds and goes for the cover, but he's too slow. The clock runs out before he can make the pin. Black is in the lead after their first match.
Next, Dynamite Black comes, picks up a mic, smiles, sets down the mic, and walks to the back. Moxley would come out next week and address that Black got lucky he got saved by the bell and promises at All Out he will finish this story once and for all and finally get revenge for the Shield.
Their All Out match starts with Moxley making his way to the ring; however, Black attacks Moxley during his entrance. Moxley tries to fight back, but the surprise attack is too much. Black hits Moxley with a chair and then a curb stomp onto the chair before throwing him into the ring, and the match officially starts. Black goes for the pin 1-2-3. Black leads 4-2. black picks Moxley up and tries to deliver a Pedigree, only for Moxley to counter and fight back. Moxley hits Black with a clothesline, an elbow, and another clothesline. He hits Black with a suplex and another suplex. Black is disoriented, allowing Moxley to hit a Dirty Deeds 1-2-3. Black is up 4-3.
The two continue to fight as the clock ticks downâforty-five minutes on the clock. Moxley attempts to hit an avalanche slam off the top rope but Black counters and knocks Moxley to the ground. Black then hits the Phenoix splash 1-2-3. Black is up 5-3. The clock is at thirty minutes. Moxley quickly recovered from the maneuver and rolled Black up in a small cradle right after the three counts to bring the score 5-4. The two continue to fight until Moxley is knocked back into the ref. Black looks at the situation and looks all around at the crowd before going outside and grabbing a steel chair. Black starts hitting the chair against the canvas yelling at Moxley to get up. Moxley gets up but counters Black's attack into a Dirty Deeds on the chair. Moxley gets rid of the chair and wakes the ref up 1-2-3. The score is tied 5-5. The pair continue to fight as the clock ticks thirty seconds. Black is back on the top rope, looking to give another Pheniox splash. With the last bit of his energy, Moxley lashes out, scrambles to the top rope, and delivers from the top rope a Dirty Deeds 1-2-3. The bell rings as the time hits zero. The final score is 6-5. Moxley wins.
From here, you can have Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black Fuck off back to WWE or keep him around in AEW. The prompt "Seth Rollins in AEW" was so vague that I kept it to one feud, but you can easily take this as a jumping-off point and then have him enter into a storyline with other big names such as MJF or Omega or maybe even have a match with Darby Allen. This also sets up Moxley and the BCC to be top stars on the new show AEW Collision. Where ever you choose to go from here, This is how I would book Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black, in AEW.
submitted by HelloIAmMarryMarry to IWFBooking [link] [comments]
So we start with AEW Double or Nothing 2023 to set up the building blocks. We start the Main Event is an anarchy in the arena match. Blackpool Combat Club(BCC from now on) vs. The Elite with Konosuke Takashta. A bunch of silly mayhem, Takashta jumps off a bunch of ridiculous things, The Elite fire, I don't know, Byan Danielson out of a fucking trebuchet, Jon Moxley goes full Bagby from Trainspotting throwing pint glasses of piss over his shoulder from the press box. The end of the match features Moxley setting up for his double under-hook DDT(what is he calling it nowadays? Is it still Dirty Deeds?) when over the loudspeaker, "Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta SHIELD." Moxley turns to look at the ramp looking as if he had just seen a ghost. This distracts Moxley long enough for Omega to recover. Omega plants Moxley with the one-winged angel 1-2-3. The Elite win the match. Every week until the return of Forbidden Door, two electric boogaloo, we are shown Moxley walking around backstage asking everyone if they know who played that music at Double or Nothing. No one seems to know. Eventually, he asks Tony Khan, and even he says something like, "Mox, I have no idea. We've been working on trying to figure out what happened. I promise you we will find whoever did it."
At AEW Forbidden Door, BCC and The Elite have their rematch, and again Moxley looks to be in a position to put the Elite away when he hears over the loudspeaker, "Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta SHIELD." Moxley looks around again but sees nothing and turns to finish the job. He hits Omega with his finisher, but before Moxley can cover, he is hit from behind with a steel chair, making the ref call a DQ win for the Elite. The man is Tyler Black. Tyler Black looks down at the broken body of Moxley and leaves the ring.
The next stretch of booking is building up to two shows. All In at Wembley Stadium oi oi and All Out two weeks later, presumably followed by All Shake-it-all-about two weeks after that. The next night on Dynamite, Tyler Black walks to the ring, grabs a mic, and keeps acting as if he's about to say something but doesn't. He just puts the mic down and walks away. This happens again the following week, but before he can leave, Moxley's theme hits, and he runs right up to Black and gets in his face. Before anything can happen, they both are interrupted by Don Callis. Don Callis stands in the middle of the two and talks about how "this company was founded on a bet. That's why they called it All In. Now here, Tony Khan thinks that there's money to be made here. We're playing our first stadium boys, so Khan's rolling the dice, but it's a big gamble, and this is a volatile situation, so here's the deal you get your promo time separately," he gestures to Moxley. "You can talk next week," he gestures to Black, "you can talk the following., but that's it, there'll be no violence. Not until All In, if there is any physicality before then the match is off, and each of you will eat a 250,000 dollar fine to pay back the gate that you're throwing away."
This is all about delaying the gratification, as Black hasn't said a word since debuting not one word into the microphone. Next week Moxley talks about his past and how he's never really forgiven Black for what he did. One of the reasons he left WWE, he states, was that he couldn't "play nice" with Black like management wanted him to, and just when he thought he could move on, that he had moved on, he came to AEW to spite him. The following week Black comes out TO NO MUSIC. This is important. We hear him speak for the first time. He says that he's on a free agent contract and can be employed by any company if they pay royalties to WWE. He was hearing about the hype of AEW, MJF, Chris Jericho, and Omega and wanted to see what it was all about. But when he got here, he saw his former partner sharing the same ring as someone as accomplished as Kenny Omega. And that made him sick. How can this great company have a pile and, I quote, "dog shit" be main eventing their most significant Pay Per View of the year across Kenny Omega. "Jon, or should I call you Dean? You should have gone back to CZW, as your only relevancy is being able to bleed more than Ric Flair. At All In, I'm going to murder you."
Moxley and Black come face to face, but Don Callis comes out to plead the two to not come to blows. The two stand down, but on the way out of the ring, Black hits a curb stomp on Don Callis for a little bit of heat before the match.
The two meet at All In in an Intercontinental Champions Challenge match which is based on the Champions League's rules because football because England oi oi. The pair have two sixty-minute Ironman matchesâone at All In and one at All Out then whoever has the most points by the end of the second match wins the feud. So, let's book these matches.
Moxley's music hits, and he walks to the ring as the hometown hero for AEW. This is the house that Jon Moxley built, and the fans are well aware of who the outsider is. Moxley's music fades away, and the crowd waits with bated breath for Tyler Black. After a short pause, we finally hear, "BURN IT DOWN!" as Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black, makes his way to the ring.
The match starts, and both men start off the match by locking up with some good old chain grappling. Going back and forth, Black can eventually take control by slamming Moxley's hand into the turnbuckle pad. Moxley then fights back, trying to set up for a quick Dirty Deeds, to which Black counters with a clothesline hurling Moxley out of the ring. Black acts like he's going to do a suicide dive to the outside of the ring but promptly sits down to take a little bit of a breather and to swerve against some expectations like the cheeky heel he is. Moxley gets back into the ring, and the two continue to brawl. After a bit, it's Black's turn to be clotheslined out of the ring. Moxley does his best Black impression and also sits down and proceeds to mock Black. Black is too quick, though, and rushes the ring. Moxley tries to get up in time but runs right into a curb stomp 1-2-3. Black is up 1-0. Black goes for another pin immediately after but only gets a two-count.
The two continue to go at it, and about thirty minutes have passed by this point when Moxley his a quick Dirty Deeds out of nowhere 1-2-3. The score is tied up at 1-1. Later in the match, Moxley nails a devastating Brainbuster to Black on the apron. Moxley then proceeds to hit another Dirty Deeds in the ring to secure a point lead. Moxley is now up 1-2. The fight spills out of the ring for the third time now with only 5 minutes left on the clock; Moxley prepares the announce table. Moxley looking to make a statement and put Black through the announce table.
The ref starts to count. Black counters into a Pedigree and stumbles back into the ring. The ref continues to count 7-8-9-10. The score is tied 2-2. The ref restarts his count as Moxley begins to stir. The ref counts eight as Moxley is stumbling to get into the ring. The ref counts nine as Moxley is stumbling up the ropes. Just before Moxley can get into the ring, Black dropkicks him off the apron, and the ref counts ten. Black is up 3-2. Moxley gets back into the ring after shaking off his stupor. The clock has 60 seconds. Moxley is overwhelming Black and pummeling him in the ring. Ten seconds, Mox hits another Dirty Deeds and goes for the cover, but he's too slow. The clock runs out before he can make the pin. Black is in the lead after their first match.
Next, Dynamite Black comes, picks up a mic, smiles, sets down the mic, and walks to the back. Moxley would come out next week and address that Black got lucky he got saved by the bell and promises at All Out he will finish this story once and for all and finally get revenge for the Shield.
Their All Out match starts with Moxley making his way to the ring; however, Black attacks Moxley during his entrance. Moxley tries to fight back, but the surprise attack is too much. Black hits Moxley with a chair and then a curb stomp onto the chair before throwing him into the ring, and the match officially starts. Black goes for the pin 1-2-3. Black leads 4-2. black picks Moxley up and tries to deliver a Pedigree, only for Moxley to counter and fight back. Moxley hits Black with a clothesline, an elbow, and another clothesline. He hits Black with a suplex and another suplex. Black is disoriented, allowing Moxley to hit a Dirty Deeds 1-2-3. Black is up 4-3.
The two continue to fight as the clock ticks downâforty-five minutes on the clock. Moxley attempts to hit an avalanche slam off the top rope but Black counters and knocks Moxley to the ground. Black then hits the Phenoix splash 1-2-3. Black is up 5-3. The clock is at thirty minutes. Moxley quickly recovered from the maneuver and rolled Black up in a small cradle right after the three counts to bring the score 5-4. The two continue to fight until Moxley is knocked back into the ref. Black looks at the situation and looks all around at the crowd before going outside and grabbing a steel chair. Black starts hitting the chair against the canvas yelling at Moxley to get up. Moxley gets up but counters Black's attack into a Dirty Deeds on the chair. Moxley gets rid of the chair and wakes the ref up 1-2-3. The score is tied 5-5. The pair continue to fight as the clock ticks thirty seconds. Black is back on the top rope, looking to give another Pheniox splash. With the last bit of his energy, Moxley lashes out, scrambles to the top rope, and delivers from the top rope a Dirty Deeds 1-2-3. The bell rings as the time hits zero. The final score is 6-5. Moxley wins.
From here, you can have Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black Fuck off back to WWE or keep him around in AEW. The prompt "Seth Rollins in AEW" was so vague that I kept it to one feud, but you can easily take this as a jumping-off point and then have him enter into a storyline with other big names such as MJF or Omega or maybe even have a match with Darby Allen. This also sets up Moxley and the BCC to be top stars on the new show AEW Collision. Where ever you choose to go from here, This is how I would book Seth Rollins, aka Tyler Black, in AEW.
2023.05.28 03:55 Drakolf The Test:
[This is an aftermath sequel to Sanctuary. Please read it for context.]
Humans could get used to anything, given enough time and patience.
Intellectually, I am aware that I used to be Human, that prior to my exit from the dungeon, I'd had an entirely different life, that everything I knew from my past was a convenient lie to keep me trapped and servile.
There are many fanciful tales of Humans being taken, and through sheer willpower recalling their past lives and successfully destroying a dungeon's Core.
I know better, and I tell that to every would-be Adventurer who walks in through those doors.
When we were safely out of danger, John, Jimmy, and myself had come to an impasse on how to proceed. My entire life was gone, I was a monster, pure and simple, and even standing benignly in town got me more than a few terrified looks.
Dungeon Withdrawal is not unlike recovering from an addiction, I had to be locked up in a cell because every now and again, I got violent, demanding a Human to take me to the nearest dungeon.
The irony was not lost on me as I was indeed brought to a dungeon.
They kept me fed on a ration of meat and milk, both of which tasted horrible to me, because a dungeon sustains its monsters through mana, it's why several vicious monsters could coexist without killing each other.
But as it ran its course, the food began to taste better, and though they kept me for a week longer than necessary, once I was fully removed from the dungeon's influence, I was free to go.
John and Jimmy couldn't stay, they still had their own lives to live, and returning home victorious with both their manhoods intact was certainly going to make their lives easier.
They took one fourth of the loot each, at my direction, during one of my more lucid moments, and they ensured the Adventurer's Guild kept my half safe for me.
When I went to the Guild for my loot, it was given to me, coinage exchanged for viable currency, offers made on magic items that I staunchly refused to sell until I knew what I was going to do with my life.
Plus, that dagger is mine, I killed for it.
Because I didn't have any life to return to, the only clue being a letter that meant nothing to me taken from the body of a brother whose memory was utterly gone, save for the fact that my first and only look at him was a split skull and the look of fear in his eyes.
I didn't mention the funerary cannibalism to anyone, even if I didn't have any issue with it, the Humans certainly did and dragged me away from the body before I could even begin to explain.
It was the least I could do for someone who had once meant something to me.
The Guild also offered me a job, Monstrous Adventurers were valuable, they couldn't be taken by a dungeon with the right protections- and I had those protections tattooed beneath my scales- and their innate understanding of how a dungeon worked gave most adventuring parties an edge.
Plus, dungeon Cores were pretty, and could do practically anything if you removed it and bound it to you. Which I did. More on that later.
They had a Grandmaster Wizard try to recall my memories, he couldn't, the letter only indicated an empty house with very little of note or value to me, but since it was mine, I sold it for a modest sum.
It was a pair of brothers who entered the Guild, the sight of them joking and laughing dredging up unpleasantly sad emotions that had nothing attached to them except whatever remained of love for a brother that I had.
"We're here to register." The older of the two called out, completely missing the fact that I was there.
"Do you have an entry fee?" I asked as I climbed the step-ladder to address them. They screamed, I yelled, they screamed even louder. It was good fun, I liked scaring Humans.
"Now that you've sufficiently hurt my ears, do you have an entry fee?"
"It's a little lizard thing!"
"Kobold!" I snapped. "I am a Kobold, and you will stop acting like a bloody arse or I will have you thrown out so you can calm down!" Latent hatred for Humanity aside, I didn't have a particularly good temper, and when stabbing was a more efficient way to get your point across, I wasn't allowed my dagger.
They elected to calm down. Progress. They approached cautiously, as all newcomers do, and said, in a hesitant voice. "We're here to register?"
"Congratulations, you've echoed something I've already heard twice. Allow me to echo something a third time. Do. You. Have. An. Entry. Fee?"
"Entry fee?" He asked.
"Yes. An entry fee guarantees you basic armor and weaponry properly assigned for your roles. Without one, you will have to provide your own. The entry fee is fifty silvers."
"We, uh, we don't have enough for that." The younger said.
"We, uh, also don't have any weapons." The elder added.
"Bloody brilliant. You Humans cease to amaze me. Come this way, I can give you a quick job to earn enough to pay. You're going to need this."
I led the duo to a door, this was my door, because before I got a job here, it did not exist.
"Are either of you familiar with dungeon Cores?" I asked.
"They're really powerful." The eldest said with a nod.
"They create dungeons?" The younger asked uncertainly.
I sighed. I really did not have the patience for this. "Beyond this door is a dungeon. It is my dungeon. I aided a party in destroying a dungeon and claimed the core after giving them free rein on the loot."
I opened the door, which led into a recreation of the dungeon I had once called home. That was largely due to the fact that the same dungeon Core that dwelt in this one had come from that one. "Dungeons are graded based on what they create. This is a Grade 1 Dungeon. It is the safest and easiest of dungeons to survive in, and because it is under my command, this one is even safer."
I paused, making sure they understood.
"This dungeon does not have many monsters in it. This makes it the kind where, if you stay too long inside, you become a monster. This is something I cannot change, and I keep it this way because there are people who simply want a completely fresh start. There are ten Kobolds in this dungeon, they are the ones who did not get out in time, even with my help."
"Why are you showing this to us?" The older brother asked.
"Because it is the most expedient way for you to earn enough to pay for the fee, or to find enough armor and weapons to kit yourself out. The Kobolds in this dungeon are passive, but become hostile if you start taking things. Killing them is allowed, I can resurrect them without issue. But do bear in mind they used to be Humans."
I paused again, they nodded.
"You will experience the beginnings of the dungeon claiming you after one hour inside, this will manifest in growing scaly patches, your limbs becoming non-Human..." I explained the process of being claimed, which I described in exact detail. "After twelve hours, if you fail to return, you will be claimed, your memories utterly destroyed, and your will belonging to the dungeon Core."
I looked at both of them. "Now, would you like to opt for a cleaning job instead?"
"Once you lose your memories, you cannot retrieve them." I warned as I led them through the dungeon. I had given them both a dagger to defend themselves, once they staunchly insisted on doing things the expedient way.
They were going to run this dungeon regardless, but under easier terms.
"I was minutes away from being claimed, and I only got out because I had given a pair of Humans a bag of loot that I was damned and determined to retrieve."
I stopped at the first intersection and turned around. I stomped one of my feet. "Now, unless you want to become Kobolds- which I will happily oblige- you will navigate this dungeon by yourselves. I will be observing you, ensuring you don't die, but I won't prevent you from being injured."
I teleported to the Core, its glossy blue surface growing translucent as I observed the Humans running through the hallways.
I raised the floor a step, causing them both to stumble and fall to the floor. "You have triggered a trap." I said. "You are dead now."
They pushed themselves up and kept going. I set a few traps ahead, non-lethal ones, ones designed to capture and hold. The elder brother fell into a small pit, just high enough that he couldn't climb out on his own. The younger brother immediately helped him out.
"Excellent instinct." I said. "Your survival in a dungeon depends on your capacity to cooperate and protect one another."
I directed a Kobold toward their direction. They weren't mindless, certainly intelligent, but utterly incapable of being removed from the dungeon, even if I tried. Severing them simply killed them, returning their mind and soul to the core.
I told him there were intruders who were after our shinies, he immediately attacked.
They were cognizant of what this dungeon was meant to be, a home for myself, and a place to train Adventurers. They understood this intellectually, but they were fanatical when it came to protecting what the dungeon produced.
Even I still got a little grumpy, seeing Humans grabbing my treasures. Generally, the angrier I was by the end of the run, the better their grade.
The Kobold attacked with a dagger. Their duty was to incapacitate and imprison Humans so that they became Kobolds. I let the Humans out, of course, unless they were too far gone by that point, at which point I simply gave them the choice of staying or leaving.
Most people were surprised they elected to leave, though they always came back after they were severed.
The elder brother kicked the Kobold, knocking him down and making him drop the dagger. I watched, and shook my head when they ran.
The Kobold pushed himself up, scooped up his dagger, and went into a side tunnel, moving through the walls and catching up to them. He ambushed them, leaping from the inside of a wall and tackling the younger brother, dagger already jabbing into his side.
The elder brother immediately moved to protect his sibling, and this time, he didn't hesitate to kill.
"The Kobold you just killed is the same one you left alive." I said, the elder brother tensed, horrified. "Understand, you cannot assume you will outrun an enemy, your brother's blood is on your hands, he has paid for your choice."
It was brutal, but it was an important lesson.
I moved a chest and a mimic near them. The mimic was a mindless construct, set to devour or entrap.
The elder brother helped his sibling stand, removing the dagger.
"Congratulations, you have now ensured his stab wound is bleeding freely, in any other dungeon, without any form of healing, this would be a death sentence. Do not remove daggers until you can treat the wound."
He began to panic, looking for anything that would save his brother, likely forgetting I wasn't going to kill them. He spotted the chest and the mimic and rushed over to them. I set up some non-lethal traps, to remind him not to hurry. I even had one resemble a mimic opening up to capture him.
He triggered them all, but managed to avoid getting hit. He hesitated at the chest and mimic.
Good.
He took off one of his boots, letting out a sharp cry of shock as he saw his little toe had transformed. He gingerly touched it, the dungeon Core fed him pleasant sensations to make him want to stay.
Particularly weak-willed Humans would find themselves enjoying the sensations, not realizing that they were becoming monsters, until it was too late.
He pulled his hand back, still unsettled, and threw the boot.
The mimic triggered instantly, grasping at the air in front of it before resetting, taking the boot with it. He took the other boot off, letting out a cry of distress as he saw all of the toes on that foot had already transformed. He threw the boot at the other chest, determined it was safe, and opened it.
The trap struck him in the torso, flinging him backward.
"Remember, your brother is currently sitting on the floor, bleeding, an easy target for the Kobold who's heading in your direction." I said. That was a flat-out lie, but it got him moving. He checked the chest, took out a red potion, and ran for his brother.
He gave the potion to him, the wound sealed shut.
"I'm not evil." I said. "I ensured you would have a means of healing your brother. At the same time, never drink a potion you cannot identify. That could have just as easily been a potion of transformation, or even poison."
"What's a potion of transformation do?" He asked.
"Costs you an hour." I replied. "Outside of a dungeon, it just flat out turns you into a monster. One with memories intact, mind you, but a monster nonetheless."
His brother healed, he led him carefully to the chest and they grabbed the armor within. It was piecemeal, a single pauldron, a breastplate, and a ring.
The younger brother got the breastplate, which shrunk to fit him, the brother wore the pauldron, and picked up the ring. This was a Ring of Binding, it accelerated the process of transformation, it is a cursed item.
I sensed someone entering my dungeon, it was the Guild Master. I teleported him to me. An old man, he was one of the strongest men in the Guild, and that was only because old age had worn him down.
"Prospective members?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." I replied. The older brother stowed the ring in his pocket. "Good instinct, never wear unidentified magic items." They continued, the elder brother removing his ruined socks and going barefoot. They slowed down, started paying attention to their surroundings.
"Do you expect them to survive this?" He asked.
"I do not interfere, Guild Master." I said. "Unless I absolutely have to or it's necessary to teach them a lesson." I looked at him. "The younger brother will absolutely make it out fine, the elder brother might, if he doesn't put on that ring. The moment he puts it on, he would have to run and avoid every threat between him and the exit."
The Guild Master nodded. "I expect-"
That was when the younger brother collapsed.
Dungeonrunning is extremely dangerous, even in this 'tame' one, death was possible.
The younger brother was still alive, but he had certainly fallen unconscious.
"No! Not now!" The elder brother shouted.
"What condition is the younger in?" The Guild Master asked, concerned. I reached out and felt his energy, his soul.
"He has a condition that causes him to faint." I replied. "One that is treatable with medicine, and expensive magic." I shook my head. "He should not have brought his brother with him, now he has dead weight he has to protect.
"Hey! Kobold! Can you help me?" The elder brother asked.
"No." I said. "Interference is not permitted by Guild regulation unless absolutely necessary. Your brother is not dying, he is not in any present danger of death. However, he is along the same level of change as you."
The brother looked desperate. "If I have to rescue him, he will be considered unfit for the job. Indeed, his condition may be serious enough that we could not- in good conscience- put him in anything but a clerical position."
Now, the question remained if the brother was sensible, or stupid.
Given that he almost immediately chose to lift him up and carry him on his back, stupid was the answer.
"A shame." The Guild Master remarked.
I moved some Kobolds in their path, the Guild Master raised his brow. "Are you intentionally sabotaging his progress?" He asked in mock offense.
"It's only sabotage if you intend for them not to succeed." I said. "If he's willing to risk his brother's safety instead of forfeiting his brother's chances of joining the Guild, then he will have to live with the consequences of his actions."
The Kobolds set up an ambush, creating a noticeable fake trap that the elder brother would have to walk around to avoid. To their utter shock, as well as mine, he just ran across it.
"Did he intuit the trap was fake, or was he just that bullheaded?" I asked as the Kobolds moved to intercept. They got ahead of him, prepared an ambush, and the moment he was close, they jumped out, punching and kicking him and cackling with glee.
"I still find it disturbing how monsters delight in Human suffering." The Guild Master remarked.
"Quiet, this is the best part." I said. They tied the elder brother up and dragged the unconscious younger brother into a panel. He screamed out a name. "Daniel!"
"I'm giving him half an hour before I fail him." I said. "That should be enough time to determine his competence."
The elder brother, legs bound together, arms behind his back, began to desperately inch away from where he'd been put, toward the dagger that he had dropped. I nodded approvingly, that was a sensible plan. But then he inched past it and deliberately triggered a trap.
I gaped in absolute shock as the trap sliced cleanly through the ropes, barely missing his wrists. He then got up, grabbed the dagger, and freed himself.
"Resourceful lad." The Guild Master remarked. "Yet his brother has been abducted."
The brother went toward the wall they'd taken Daniel, who was already halfway across the dungeon and heading straight for the holding cells. One of them requested to grab a Transformation Potion to speed things up.
"Reserve that for later." I said. "I want to see how the elder brother handles this."
The brother in question gave up, and began searching around desperately for something. There was a chest nearby with a proper sword and more armor, even a non-cursed magic item and a scroll. He kept searching, keeping his hand along the right wall, until he found it.
"He has an uncanny sense of what he's doing." The Guild Master remarked. "He might be an untrained time mage."
"That would explain the bravado with the fake trap and the willingness to push forward. He might not even be aware of why he's doing what he's doing." I remarked. He threw one of his ruined socks at the chest- "He still had those!?" I yapped- and proceeded to dig through its contents.
By now, his feet were fully Kobold, with his legs beginning to accommodate. He would be off balance for a while.
"Greaves, bracers, a standard short-sword, a werewolf's skin, and a scroll." The Guild Master remarked. "Not a bad find for a dungeon of this caliber."
Werewolf skin was a fun item that turned the wearer into a monster. The effect was effectively the same as being in a newly formed dungeon, and was meant to bring about some diversity to to the monster population.
It was also one of the few ways a monster could return to Human form, if it merged with them.
"Ragnar is a Werewolf, isn't he?" I asked.
"Aye, he is. He's been looking for one of those for his wife."
The brother seemed to know what it was, or at least, what its properties were, and tossed it back into the chest, that's when he pulled out the cursed ring.
"He's going to be sorely disappointed." The Guild Master remarked. "That's a Ring of Binding if I've ever seen one."
The scroll burst into flames, and he looked at the ring, wincing as his mind was filled with knowledge he didn't have before. He stared at the ring in his hand, clearly disappointed by the fact that it was utterly-
"Did he just put it on!?" The Guild Master sputtered. He was right, the brother had put the ring on and was beginning to transform faster. He then opened the wall panel and began following along the path the Kobolds had gone.
"Pull him out." The Guild Master commanded. "You've engineered a desperate situation, and we can clearly see he's not capable of rational thought in such instances."
"No." I said. "Look." The brother was stepping out of the walls, grabbing gear and other items, before going back in. "Kobolds are innately good at dungeoneering. Even in a foreign dungeon, we can figure out where we are in relation to everything else. But in your native one, especially one that's actively claiming you..."
"He's deliberately doing what he can to salvage the situation." The Guild Master remarked. "How much time does he have left?"
"Approximately one hour before the transformation is irreversible, so thirty minutes with the Ring of Binding on." I ran the time in my head. "Even if he manages to rescue his brother in time and gather enough gear for the both of them, by the time we could remove the ring, he would already be a Kobold."
The brother got as much armor on as he could, continued making his way to the holding cells, where Daniel was already bound, the transformation proceeding just as slowly as normal.
His eyes opened, he shifted around on the table, unable to get out.
That's when he began to grow fur.
"He's a Werewolf." I said numbly.
"If his brother doesn't get him out, he'll be a Kobold Werewolf." The Guild Master remarked. "Those are technically among the more powerful of the moderately dangerous monsters, all of the strengths of a Werewolf, plus the innate understanding of a dungeon? Terrifying creatures."
"Don't give me ideas." I said. "Ragnar needs a gift for his wife still, right?"
I moved the chest with the Werewolf Skin over to me and, wincing at the idea of taking it out and removing it from the dungeon, put it into my bag.
The brother was almost there, and Daniel was undergoing a transformation.
"Going unconscious suddenly is a commonality with natural born Werewolves," The Guild Master remarked. "He's still in danger of being claimed by the Dungeon, but this is something he is naturally."
The younger brother broke his restraints, and with a feral growl lunged at the Kobolds, tearing them to shreds and beginning to eat them.
"Ferality, not a good sign." I remarked. "Go get Ragnar ready, I'm on retrieval."
I teleported the Guild Master out, then the elder brother, who looked around in confusion.
"Out. Now. There is an emergency." I said. He ran out of the dungeon, and then I teleported Daniel to the entrance, where he bolted out into the Guild Hall.
I teleported over and saw Ragnar wrestling with Daniel, keeping him pinned to the ground while the older brother stared in confused horror.
"You have ten minutes before your transformation becomes irreversible." I said. He looked at me, "Nine, if you keep staring at me like that."
"What's wrong with my brother? Why is he like that?" He asked.
"Congratulations, you and your brother are natural-born Werewolves, which explains why you had such good flashes of intuition in there, and why you refused to abandon him. Eight minutes."
He held his hand out, but then brought it in, holding it against his chest.
"I don't particularly care if you want to be a Kobold- in fact, I welcome it, we need more Kobolds in this city- but if you do, and you don't want to be, then let me take the ring off."
"I... don't really want to." He said. "All I could think of when I saw the first changes was, I wanted it to go faster."
"Ah." I said. "Well, then. You were doomed from the start. Lovely. Once you're finished with that ring, we'll have it on your brother so he can finish transforming and calm down. Since you're out of the dungeon, you should be relatively safe, but for both of your sakes, we'll need to hold you for a while.
He nodded.
Ragnar finally got Daniel to calm down, he was whimpering, clearly experiencing pain.
"Aye, pup, let it all out." Ragnar said, gently petting his fur. "There's a good pup, inner peace, lad." Daniel started thrashing about again. "Inner peace, not outer squirm!"
"Also, yes, this does count as failing." I said to the elder brother. "However, due to the circumstances- and the fact that your brother would have doubtlessly been a mindless beast if left in there- the Guild Master will talk to you about your options after your holding period."
He nodded. His transformation finished, I clapped him on the back, took the ring, and- with Ragnar's help, got it on the Werewolf pup's finger so he could get it over with faster.
Once the two were in holding, I walked over to Ragnar, pulled out the Werewolf Skin from my bag, and held it out to him.
"You know what to do with this." I said.
He looked surprised, then nodded, taking it. "Aye, lad. I do."
I thought about what other things I needed to do. "Oh, right. I need to resurrect the Kobolds." I said, before walking into my dungeon.
It did take about a week for Daniel to finally calm down.
At first, there was some concern that the nature of his transformation had left him potentially feral, but the morning he was meant to be let out, he was in Human form
I was the one who went in, covered him with a blanket, and put some spare clothes out for him.
"Where am I?"
"A holding cell." I said.
I heard him shoot up, accompanied by a sound I was familiar with, in that his fur suddenly floofed up. "W-what happened to me!?" He howled in fear.
"You are a Werewolf." I said matter-of-factly. I looked at him, he was looking at his claws with a mixture of horror, fear, and joy. I had vague feelings of that same mixture of emotions. "More specifically, at least one of your parents was a Werewolf."
"Wait, then is Jason-?"
"He became a Kobold." I replied. "He used an item to speed up the transformation so he could rescue you. If you had maintained your sanity in that moment, I would not have interfered. But you didn't, and you are going to need training to keep yourself in check whenever you're scared or angry."
"I- see." He said.
"For what it's worth, you won't pass out anymore, so your reason for coming has ultimately resolved itself."
"What's going to happen to Jason?" He asked.
"The same thing that happened to me. He will live." I replied. "He has retained his memories, due to accepting that he was likely going to be lost, just to save you. Even though he could have forfeited at any point like I told him."
"Aye, Kobold, is he safe?"
"Yes." I said.
The door opened, Jason stepped inside, then ran over to his brother and hugged him. "Little big brother, meet big little brother." I snarked.
They both looked at me, and then they laughed. I let them have some time together, to talk and acclimate.
After their reunion, I brought them with me to the Guild Master.
"So." He said. "You have a few options. One, we tattoo dungeon protections on you and have you sign on to helping clearing out dungeons, or two, we let you go, except you return every week so Ragnar can train you to keep yourself under control."
"Dungeon protections?" Jason asked.
I nodded. "We are monsters." I said. "Without the proper protections, a new dungeon can claim you, making you a part of its system." I looked at them both. "I don't think it need said why you should refrain from going inside dungeons without it."
"What happens to those who do?" Daniel asked.
"The dungeon claims them." I said. "They lose their memories of their past life, becoming convinced they always lived in it. They become trapped inside, forever."
They both looked at each other, then looked at us. "We, uh..." Daniel started.
"We actually wanted to go back." Jason replied.
"You want to be claimed by the dungeon." The Guild Master said.
"When I was looking for my brother, all I could think of was how much I liked being there." Jason replied. "That's honestly why I put on the ring."
"And I'm not leaving my brother alone." Daniel said. "We've only had each other our entire lives."
I nodded. "As the master of the dungeon, I will approve this." I said. "Any arguments against, Guild Master?"
He sighed. "Just go." He said.
With the brothers close behind me, I led them to the dungeon entrance. "Understand, by doing this, you are consigning yourself to protecting what is effectively a practice dungeon." I said. "You will be killed and brought back."
Jason nodded. "I know."
He opened the door, and they walked in.
submitted by Drakolf to DrakolfsWritings [link] [comments]
Humans could get used to anything, given enough time and patience.
Intellectually, I am aware that I used to be Human, that prior to my exit from the dungeon, I'd had an entirely different life, that everything I knew from my past was a convenient lie to keep me trapped and servile.
There are many fanciful tales of Humans being taken, and through sheer willpower recalling their past lives and successfully destroying a dungeon's Core.
I know better, and I tell that to every would-be Adventurer who walks in through those doors.
When we were safely out of danger, John, Jimmy, and myself had come to an impasse on how to proceed. My entire life was gone, I was a monster, pure and simple, and even standing benignly in town got me more than a few terrified looks.
Dungeon Withdrawal is not unlike recovering from an addiction, I had to be locked up in a cell because every now and again, I got violent, demanding a Human to take me to the nearest dungeon.
The irony was not lost on me as I was indeed brought to a dungeon.
They kept me fed on a ration of meat and milk, both of which tasted horrible to me, because a dungeon sustains its monsters through mana, it's why several vicious monsters could coexist without killing each other.
But as it ran its course, the food began to taste better, and though they kept me for a week longer than necessary, once I was fully removed from the dungeon's influence, I was free to go.
John and Jimmy couldn't stay, they still had their own lives to live, and returning home victorious with both their manhoods intact was certainly going to make their lives easier.
They took one fourth of the loot each, at my direction, during one of my more lucid moments, and they ensured the Adventurer's Guild kept my half safe for me.
When I went to the Guild for my loot, it was given to me, coinage exchanged for viable currency, offers made on magic items that I staunchly refused to sell until I knew what I was going to do with my life.
Plus, that dagger is mine, I killed for it.
Because I didn't have any life to return to, the only clue being a letter that meant nothing to me taken from the body of a brother whose memory was utterly gone, save for the fact that my first and only look at him was a split skull and the look of fear in his eyes.
I didn't mention the funerary cannibalism to anyone, even if I didn't have any issue with it, the Humans certainly did and dragged me away from the body before I could even begin to explain.
It was the least I could do for someone who had once meant something to me.
The Guild also offered me a job, Monstrous Adventurers were valuable, they couldn't be taken by a dungeon with the right protections- and I had those protections tattooed beneath my scales- and their innate understanding of how a dungeon worked gave most adventuring parties an edge.
Plus, dungeon Cores were pretty, and could do practically anything if you removed it and bound it to you. Which I did. More on that later.
They had a Grandmaster Wizard try to recall my memories, he couldn't, the letter only indicated an empty house with very little of note or value to me, but since it was mine, I sold it for a modest sum.
It was a pair of brothers who entered the Guild, the sight of them joking and laughing dredging up unpleasantly sad emotions that had nothing attached to them except whatever remained of love for a brother that I had.
"We're here to register." The older of the two called out, completely missing the fact that I was there.
"Do you have an entry fee?" I asked as I climbed the step-ladder to address them. They screamed, I yelled, they screamed even louder. It was good fun, I liked scaring Humans.
"Now that you've sufficiently hurt my ears, do you have an entry fee?"
"It's a little lizard thing!"
"Kobold!" I snapped. "I am a Kobold, and you will stop acting like a bloody arse or I will have you thrown out so you can calm down!" Latent hatred for Humanity aside, I didn't have a particularly good temper, and when stabbing was a more efficient way to get your point across, I wasn't allowed my dagger.
They elected to calm down. Progress. They approached cautiously, as all newcomers do, and said, in a hesitant voice. "We're here to register?"
"Congratulations, you've echoed something I've already heard twice. Allow me to echo something a third time. Do. You. Have. An. Entry. Fee?"
"Entry fee?" He asked.
"Yes. An entry fee guarantees you basic armor and weaponry properly assigned for your roles. Without one, you will have to provide your own. The entry fee is fifty silvers."
"We, uh, we don't have enough for that." The younger said.
"We, uh, also don't have any weapons." The elder added.
"Bloody brilliant. You Humans cease to amaze me. Come this way, I can give you a quick job to earn enough to pay. You're going to need this."
I led the duo to a door, this was my door, because before I got a job here, it did not exist.
"Are either of you familiar with dungeon Cores?" I asked.
"They're really powerful." The eldest said with a nod.
"They create dungeons?" The younger asked uncertainly.
I sighed. I really did not have the patience for this. "Beyond this door is a dungeon. It is my dungeon. I aided a party in destroying a dungeon and claimed the core after giving them free rein on the loot."
I opened the door, which led into a recreation of the dungeon I had once called home. That was largely due to the fact that the same dungeon Core that dwelt in this one had come from that one. "Dungeons are graded based on what they create. This is a Grade 1 Dungeon. It is the safest and easiest of dungeons to survive in, and because it is under my command, this one is even safer."
I paused, making sure they understood.
"This dungeon does not have many monsters in it. This makes it the kind where, if you stay too long inside, you become a monster. This is something I cannot change, and I keep it this way because there are people who simply want a completely fresh start. There are ten Kobolds in this dungeon, they are the ones who did not get out in time, even with my help."
"Why are you showing this to us?" The older brother asked.
"Because it is the most expedient way for you to earn enough to pay for the fee, or to find enough armor and weapons to kit yourself out. The Kobolds in this dungeon are passive, but become hostile if you start taking things. Killing them is allowed, I can resurrect them without issue. But do bear in mind they used to be Humans."
I paused again, they nodded.
"You will experience the beginnings of the dungeon claiming you after one hour inside, this will manifest in growing scaly patches, your limbs becoming non-Human..." I explained the process of being claimed, which I described in exact detail. "After twelve hours, if you fail to return, you will be claimed, your memories utterly destroyed, and your will belonging to the dungeon Core."
I looked at both of them. "Now, would you like to opt for a cleaning job instead?"
"Once you lose your memories, you cannot retrieve them." I warned as I led them through the dungeon. I had given them both a dagger to defend themselves, once they staunchly insisted on doing things the expedient way.
They were going to run this dungeon regardless, but under easier terms.
"I was minutes away from being claimed, and I only got out because I had given a pair of Humans a bag of loot that I was damned and determined to retrieve."
I stopped at the first intersection and turned around. I stomped one of my feet. "Now, unless you want to become Kobolds- which I will happily oblige- you will navigate this dungeon by yourselves. I will be observing you, ensuring you don't die, but I won't prevent you from being injured."
I teleported to the Core, its glossy blue surface growing translucent as I observed the Humans running through the hallways.
I raised the floor a step, causing them both to stumble and fall to the floor. "You have triggered a trap." I said. "You are dead now."
They pushed themselves up and kept going. I set a few traps ahead, non-lethal ones, ones designed to capture and hold. The elder brother fell into a small pit, just high enough that he couldn't climb out on his own. The younger brother immediately helped him out.
"Excellent instinct." I said. "Your survival in a dungeon depends on your capacity to cooperate and protect one another."
I directed a Kobold toward their direction. They weren't mindless, certainly intelligent, but utterly incapable of being removed from the dungeon, even if I tried. Severing them simply killed them, returning their mind and soul to the core.
I told him there were intruders who were after our shinies, he immediately attacked.
They were cognizant of what this dungeon was meant to be, a home for myself, and a place to train Adventurers. They understood this intellectually, but they were fanatical when it came to protecting what the dungeon produced.
Even I still got a little grumpy, seeing Humans grabbing my treasures. Generally, the angrier I was by the end of the run, the better their grade.
The Kobold attacked with a dagger. Their duty was to incapacitate and imprison Humans so that they became Kobolds. I let the Humans out, of course, unless they were too far gone by that point, at which point I simply gave them the choice of staying or leaving.
Most people were surprised they elected to leave, though they always came back after they were severed.
The elder brother kicked the Kobold, knocking him down and making him drop the dagger. I watched, and shook my head when they ran.
The Kobold pushed himself up, scooped up his dagger, and went into a side tunnel, moving through the walls and catching up to them. He ambushed them, leaping from the inside of a wall and tackling the younger brother, dagger already jabbing into his side.
The elder brother immediately moved to protect his sibling, and this time, he didn't hesitate to kill.
"The Kobold you just killed is the same one you left alive." I said, the elder brother tensed, horrified. "Understand, you cannot assume you will outrun an enemy, your brother's blood is on your hands, he has paid for your choice."
It was brutal, but it was an important lesson.
I moved a chest and a mimic near them. The mimic was a mindless construct, set to devour or entrap.
The elder brother helped his sibling stand, removing the dagger.
"Congratulations, you have now ensured his stab wound is bleeding freely, in any other dungeon, without any form of healing, this would be a death sentence. Do not remove daggers until you can treat the wound."
He began to panic, looking for anything that would save his brother, likely forgetting I wasn't going to kill them. He spotted the chest and the mimic and rushed over to them. I set up some non-lethal traps, to remind him not to hurry. I even had one resemble a mimic opening up to capture him.
He triggered them all, but managed to avoid getting hit. He hesitated at the chest and mimic.
Good.
He took off one of his boots, letting out a sharp cry of shock as he saw his little toe had transformed. He gingerly touched it, the dungeon Core fed him pleasant sensations to make him want to stay.
Particularly weak-willed Humans would find themselves enjoying the sensations, not realizing that they were becoming monsters, until it was too late.
He pulled his hand back, still unsettled, and threw the boot.
The mimic triggered instantly, grasping at the air in front of it before resetting, taking the boot with it. He took the other boot off, letting out a cry of distress as he saw all of the toes on that foot had already transformed. He threw the boot at the other chest, determined it was safe, and opened it.
The trap struck him in the torso, flinging him backward.
"Remember, your brother is currently sitting on the floor, bleeding, an easy target for the Kobold who's heading in your direction." I said. That was a flat-out lie, but it got him moving. He checked the chest, took out a red potion, and ran for his brother.
He gave the potion to him, the wound sealed shut.
"I'm not evil." I said. "I ensured you would have a means of healing your brother. At the same time, never drink a potion you cannot identify. That could have just as easily been a potion of transformation, or even poison."
"What's a potion of transformation do?" He asked.
"Costs you an hour." I replied. "Outside of a dungeon, it just flat out turns you into a monster. One with memories intact, mind you, but a monster nonetheless."
His brother healed, he led him carefully to the chest and they grabbed the armor within. It was piecemeal, a single pauldron, a breastplate, and a ring.
The younger brother got the breastplate, which shrunk to fit him, the brother wore the pauldron, and picked up the ring. This was a Ring of Binding, it accelerated the process of transformation, it is a cursed item.
I sensed someone entering my dungeon, it was the Guild Master. I teleported him to me. An old man, he was one of the strongest men in the Guild, and that was only because old age had worn him down.
"Prospective members?" He asked.
"Yes, sir." I replied. The older brother stowed the ring in his pocket. "Good instinct, never wear unidentified magic items." They continued, the elder brother removing his ruined socks and going barefoot. They slowed down, started paying attention to their surroundings.
"Do you expect them to survive this?" He asked.
"I do not interfere, Guild Master." I said. "Unless I absolutely have to or it's necessary to teach them a lesson." I looked at him. "The younger brother will absolutely make it out fine, the elder brother might, if he doesn't put on that ring. The moment he puts it on, he would have to run and avoid every threat between him and the exit."
The Guild Master nodded. "I expect-"
That was when the younger brother collapsed.
Dungeonrunning is extremely dangerous, even in this 'tame' one, death was possible.
The younger brother was still alive, but he had certainly fallen unconscious.
"No! Not now!" The elder brother shouted.
"What condition is the younger in?" The Guild Master asked, concerned. I reached out and felt his energy, his soul.
"He has a condition that causes him to faint." I replied. "One that is treatable with medicine, and expensive magic." I shook my head. "He should not have brought his brother with him, now he has dead weight he has to protect.
"Hey! Kobold! Can you help me?" The elder brother asked.
"No." I said. "Interference is not permitted by Guild regulation unless absolutely necessary. Your brother is not dying, he is not in any present danger of death. However, he is along the same level of change as you."
The brother looked desperate. "If I have to rescue him, he will be considered unfit for the job. Indeed, his condition may be serious enough that we could not- in good conscience- put him in anything but a clerical position."
Now, the question remained if the brother was sensible, or stupid.
Given that he almost immediately chose to lift him up and carry him on his back, stupid was the answer.
"A shame." The Guild Master remarked.
I moved some Kobolds in their path, the Guild Master raised his brow. "Are you intentionally sabotaging his progress?" He asked in mock offense.
"It's only sabotage if you intend for them not to succeed." I said. "If he's willing to risk his brother's safety instead of forfeiting his brother's chances of joining the Guild, then he will have to live with the consequences of his actions."
The Kobolds set up an ambush, creating a noticeable fake trap that the elder brother would have to walk around to avoid. To their utter shock, as well as mine, he just ran across it.
"Did he intuit the trap was fake, or was he just that bullheaded?" I asked as the Kobolds moved to intercept. They got ahead of him, prepared an ambush, and the moment he was close, they jumped out, punching and kicking him and cackling with glee.
"I still find it disturbing how monsters delight in Human suffering." The Guild Master remarked.
"Quiet, this is the best part." I said. They tied the elder brother up and dragged the unconscious younger brother into a panel. He screamed out a name. "Daniel!"
"I'm giving him half an hour before I fail him." I said. "That should be enough time to determine his competence."
The elder brother, legs bound together, arms behind his back, began to desperately inch away from where he'd been put, toward the dagger that he had dropped. I nodded approvingly, that was a sensible plan. But then he inched past it and deliberately triggered a trap.
I gaped in absolute shock as the trap sliced cleanly through the ropes, barely missing his wrists. He then got up, grabbed the dagger, and freed himself.
"Resourceful lad." The Guild Master remarked. "Yet his brother has been abducted."
The brother went toward the wall they'd taken Daniel, who was already halfway across the dungeon and heading straight for the holding cells. One of them requested to grab a Transformation Potion to speed things up.
"Reserve that for later." I said. "I want to see how the elder brother handles this."
The brother in question gave up, and began searching around desperately for something. There was a chest nearby with a proper sword and more armor, even a non-cursed magic item and a scroll. He kept searching, keeping his hand along the right wall, until he found it.
"He has an uncanny sense of what he's doing." The Guild Master remarked. "He might be an untrained time mage."
"That would explain the bravado with the fake trap and the willingness to push forward. He might not even be aware of why he's doing what he's doing." I remarked. He threw one of his ruined socks at the chest- "He still had those!?" I yapped- and proceeded to dig through its contents.
By now, his feet were fully Kobold, with his legs beginning to accommodate. He would be off balance for a while.
"Greaves, bracers, a standard short-sword, a werewolf's skin, and a scroll." The Guild Master remarked. "Not a bad find for a dungeon of this caliber."
Werewolf skin was a fun item that turned the wearer into a monster. The effect was effectively the same as being in a newly formed dungeon, and was meant to bring about some diversity to to the monster population.
It was also one of the few ways a monster could return to Human form, if it merged with them.
"Ragnar is a Werewolf, isn't he?" I asked.
"Aye, he is. He's been looking for one of those for his wife."
The brother seemed to know what it was, or at least, what its properties were, and tossed it back into the chest, that's when he pulled out the cursed ring.
"He's going to be sorely disappointed." The Guild Master remarked. "That's a Ring of Binding if I've ever seen one."
The scroll burst into flames, and he looked at the ring, wincing as his mind was filled with knowledge he didn't have before. He stared at the ring in his hand, clearly disappointed by the fact that it was utterly-
"Did he just put it on!?" The Guild Master sputtered. He was right, the brother had put the ring on and was beginning to transform faster. He then opened the wall panel and began following along the path the Kobolds had gone.
"Pull him out." The Guild Master commanded. "You've engineered a desperate situation, and we can clearly see he's not capable of rational thought in such instances."
"No." I said. "Look." The brother was stepping out of the walls, grabbing gear and other items, before going back in. "Kobolds are innately good at dungeoneering. Even in a foreign dungeon, we can figure out where we are in relation to everything else. But in your native one, especially one that's actively claiming you..."
"He's deliberately doing what he can to salvage the situation." The Guild Master remarked. "How much time does he have left?"
"Approximately one hour before the transformation is irreversible, so thirty minutes with the Ring of Binding on." I ran the time in my head. "Even if he manages to rescue his brother in time and gather enough gear for the both of them, by the time we could remove the ring, he would already be a Kobold."
The brother got as much armor on as he could, continued making his way to the holding cells, where Daniel was already bound, the transformation proceeding just as slowly as normal.
His eyes opened, he shifted around on the table, unable to get out.
That's when he began to grow fur.
"He's a Werewolf." I said numbly.
"If his brother doesn't get him out, he'll be a Kobold Werewolf." The Guild Master remarked. "Those are technically among the more powerful of the moderately dangerous monsters, all of the strengths of a Werewolf, plus the innate understanding of a dungeon? Terrifying creatures."
"Don't give me ideas." I said. "Ragnar needs a gift for his wife still, right?"
I moved the chest with the Werewolf Skin over to me and, wincing at the idea of taking it out and removing it from the dungeon, put it into my bag.
The brother was almost there, and Daniel was undergoing a transformation.
"Going unconscious suddenly is a commonality with natural born Werewolves," The Guild Master remarked. "He's still in danger of being claimed by the Dungeon, but this is something he is naturally."
The younger brother broke his restraints, and with a feral growl lunged at the Kobolds, tearing them to shreds and beginning to eat them.
"Ferality, not a good sign." I remarked. "Go get Ragnar ready, I'm on retrieval."
I teleported the Guild Master out, then the elder brother, who looked around in confusion.
"Out. Now. There is an emergency." I said. He ran out of the dungeon, and then I teleported Daniel to the entrance, where he bolted out into the Guild Hall.
I teleported over and saw Ragnar wrestling with Daniel, keeping him pinned to the ground while the older brother stared in confused horror.
"You have ten minutes before your transformation becomes irreversible." I said. He looked at me, "Nine, if you keep staring at me like that."
"What's wrong with my brother? Why is he like that?" He asked.
"Congratulations, you and your brother are natural-born Werewolves, which explains why you had such good flashes of intuition in there, and why you refused to abandon him. Eight minutes."
He held his hand out, but then brought it in, holding it against his chest.
"I don't particularly care if you want to be a Kobold- in fact, I welcome it, we need more Kobolds in this city- but if you do, and you don't want to be, then let me take the ring off."
"I... don't really want to." He said. "All I could think of when I saw the first changes was, I wanted it to go faster."
"Ah." I said. "Well, then. You were doomed from the start. Lovely. Once you're finished with that ring, we'll have it on your brother so he can finish transforming and calm down. Since you're out of the dungeon, you should be relatively safe, but for both of your sakes, we'll need to hold you for a while.
He nodded.
Ragnar finally got Daniel to calm down, he was whimpering, clearly experiencing pain.
"Aye, pup, let it all out." Ragnar said, gently petting his fur. "There's a good pup, inner peace, lad." Daniel started thrashing about again. "Inner peace, not outer squirm!"
"Also, yes, this does count as failing." I said to the elder brother. "However, due to the circumstances- and the fact that your brother would have doubtlessly been a mindless beast if left in there- the Guild Master will talk to you about your options after your holding period."
He nodded. His transformation finished, I clapped him on the back, took the ring, and- with Ragnar's help, got it on the Werewolf pup's finger so he could get it over with faster.
Once the two were in holding, I walked over to Ragnar, pulled out the Werewolf Skin from my bag, and held it out to him.
"You know what to do with this." I said.
He looked surprised, then nodded, taking it. "Aye, lad. I do."
I thought about what other things I needed to do. "Oh, right. I need to resurrect the Kobolds." I said, before walking into my dungeon.
It did take about a week for Daniel to finally calm down.
At first, there was some concern that the nature of his transformation had left him potentially feral, but the morning he was meant to be let out, he was in Human form
I was the one who went in, covered him with a blanket, and put some spare clothes out for him.
"Where am I?"
"A holding cell." I said.
I heard him shoot up, accompanied by a sound I was familiar with, in that his fur suddenly floofed up. "W-what happened to me!?" He howled in fear.
"You are a Werewolf." I said matter-of-factly. I looked at him, he was looking at his claws with a mixture of horror, fear, and joy. I had vague feelings of that same mixture of emotions. "More specifically, at least one of your parents was a Werewolf."
"Wait, then is Jason-?"
"He became a Kobold." I replied. "He used an item to speed up the transformation so he could rescue you. If you had maintained your sanity in that moment, I would not have interfered. But you didn't, and you are going to need training to keep yourself in check whenever you're scared or angry."
"I- see." He said.
"For what it's worth, you won't pass out anymore, so your reason for coming has ultimately resolved itself."
"What's going to happen to Jason?" He asked.
"The same thing that happened to me. He will live." I replied. "He has retained his memories, due to accepting that he was likely going to be lost, just to save you. Even though he could have forfeited at any point like I told him."
"Aye, Kobold, is he safe?"
"Yes." I said.
The door opened, Jason stepped inside, then ran over to his brother and hugged him. "Little big brother, meet big little brother." I snarked.
They both looked at me, and then they laughed. I let them have some time together, to talk and acclimate.
After their reunion, I brought them with me to the Guild Master.
"So." He said. "You have a few options. One, we tattoo dungeon protections on you and have you sign on to helping clearing out dungeons, or two, we let you go, except you return every week so Ragnar can train you to keep yourself under control."
"Dungeon protections?" Jason asked.
I nodded. "We are monsters." I said. "Without the proper protections, a new dungeon can claim you, making you a part of its system." I looked at them both. "I don't think it need said why you should refrain from going inside dungeons without it."
"What happens to those who do?" Daniel asked.
"The dungeon claims them." I said. "They lose their memories of their past life, becoming convinced they always lived in it. They become trapped inside, forever."
They both looked at each other, then looked at us. "We, uh..." Daniel started.
"We actually wanted to go back." Jason replied.
"You want to be claimed by the dungeon." The Guild Master said.
"When I was looking for my brother, all I could think of was how much I liked being there." Jason replied. "That's honestly why I put on the ring."
"And I'm not leaving my brother alone." Daniel said. "We've only had each other our entire lives."
I nodded. "As the master of the dungeon, I will approve this." I said. "Any arguments against, Guild Master?"
He sighed. "Just go." He said.
With the brothers close behind me, I led them to the dungeon entrance. "Understand, by doing this, you are consigning yourself to protecting what is effectively a practice dungeon." I said. "You will be killed and brought back."
Jason nodded. "I know."
He opened the door, and they walked in.
2023.05.28 03:50 Sellinzs 27 [M4F] Orlando/North America - Looking for a meaningful connection
Hey there!
I'm Reed, I'm a 27-year-old guy from Orlando, Florida. I'm looking for a real, meaningful connection with someone seeking someone to enjoy life with. I'm really looking for a life partner and someone who is looking to get more out of life. I recently played a game where we were asked to use two words to describe each other, the words that were used to describe me were silly and compassionate. Empathy is a core tenet in my life and something I believe strongly in. I love to laugh and have fun but never at the cost of making someone feel left out or unincluded though I do have a VERY dark sense of humor and would love to find someone that can match my energy.
About me
I work a full-time job but also have a side hustle writing, I promise this is not nearly as exciting as it sounds but it is an increasingly lucrative thing that I'm looking to make my full-time focus sooner than later, still figuring out when sooner is though. I'm 5'7, about 140 lbs, Here's a recent picture of me: reference. And as I recognize this is important to some people, I do not drive, my eyesight is very poor and as a result, I cannot legally drive, this, however, does not stop me from living an entirely independent life, most people don't actually know/can't tell until I tell them that I cannot drive.
My Interests
I'm a big nerd and learning is my ultimate passion, I'm always reading about something or watching a YouTube video about a topic that interests me, I am a wealth of all kinds of knowledge, some useful and some not. I love all things artistic though I am not an artist, Art to me is passion + self-expression but my personal favorite art forms are film and music. Horrocomedy are my two favorite genres of film, the Shrek series has a very special place in my heart. Music wise I listen to a little bit of everything, and I mean everything, there is yet to be a genre where I haven't found something I like but some of my personal favorite artists right now are Lana Del Rey, A$AP Ferg, and Lil Peep. I enjoy PC gaming from time to time though I have less and less time for it but I'm always down to play something with you if you're a gamer yourself, I'm naturally competitive but not overly so, I enjoy winning but I don't mind losing. I also LOVE hanging out with friends and the best moments of my life have been spent in the presence of others, while I am certainly an introvert/homebody I love to get out and explore new things with people that I know, be that checking out random oddities at a thrift store (I've found some real goodies, ask and I'll show you) eating some great food or just sitting around somewhere nice when it isn't too hot, I'm typically down to get out of the house. I do not drink or smoke, totally cool if you do as long as it's in a responsible manner. I stay physically active in more fun ways but have also recently started back at the gym.
The Person I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a life partner, I'm looking for a woman who knows what she brings to the table and isn't afraid to be herself. Age is unimportant to me as long as you're 21+. Ideally, you would also be in Orlando but this is far from a dealbreaker. I don't have a type and I think all women are beautiful in their own ways but what is important to me is that you take care of yourself. At the end of the day I'm looking for a meaningful connection, I'm looking for someone to enjoy life with, to handle hardship with, to cherish and enjoy every moment just a little bit more with. I'm someone with a lot of love to give and I'm looking for a person to love me. This obviously will not be an overnight thing we will have to build our connection over time but I value clear communication and making my intentions known is important to me, and hopefully, you're the same in how important communication is to you. Emotional intelligence is the sexiest thing in a partner to me. I want someone who has my best interest at heart, and I there's. I'm looking for a best friend and more.
Thank you for taking the time to check this out, reach out if you'd like to talk and see where things go. Have a great weekend!
Reed
submitted by Sellinzs to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]
I'm Reed, I'm a 27-year-old guy from Orlando, Florida. I'm looking for a real, meaningful connection with someone seeking someone to enjoy life with. I'm really looking for a life partner and someone who is looking to get more out of life. I recently played a game where we were asked to use two words to describe each other, the words that were used to describe me were silly and compassionate. Empathy is a core tenet in my life and something I believe strongly in. I love to laugh and have fun but never at the cost of making someone feel left out or unincluded though I do have a VERY dark sense of humor and would love to find someone that can match my energy.
About me
I work a full-time job but also have a side hustle writing, I promise this is not nearly as exciting as it sounds but it is an increasingly lucrative thing that I'm looking to make my full-time focus sooner than later, still figuring out when sooner is though. I'm 5'7, about 140 lbs, Here's a recent picture of me: reference. And as I recognize this is important to some people, I do not drive, my eyesight is very poor and as a result, I cannot legally drive, this, however, does not stop me from living an entirely independent life, most people don't actually know/can't tell until I tell them that I cannot drive.
My Interests
I'm a big nerd and learning is my ultimate passion, I'm always reading about something or watching a YouTube video about a topic that interests me, I am a wealth of all kinds of knowledge, some useful and some not. I love all things artistic though I am not an artist, Art to me is passion + self-expression but my personal favorite art forms are film and music. Horrocomedy are my two favorite genres of film, the Shrek series has a very special place in my heart. Music wise I listen to a little bit of everything, and I mean everything, there is yet to be a genre where I haven't found something I like but some of my personal favorite artists right now are Lana Del Rey, A$AP Ferg, and Lil Peep. I enjoy PC gaming from time to time though I have less and less time for it but I'm always down to play something with you if you're a gamer yourself, I'm naturally competitive but not overly so, I enjoy winning but I don't mind losing. I also LOVE hanging out with friends and the best moments of my life have been spent in the presence of others, while I am certainly an introvert/homebody I love to get out and explore new things with people that I know, be that checking out random oddities at a thrift store (I've found some real goodies, ask and I'll show you) eating some great food or just sitting around somewhere nice when it isn't too hot, I'm typically down to get out of the house. I do not drink or smoke, totally cool if you do as long as it's in a responsible manner. I stay physically active in more fun ways but have also recently started back at the gym.
The Person I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a life partner, I'm looking for a woman who knows what she brings to the table and isn't afraid to be herself. Age is unimportant to me as long as you're 21+. Ideally, you would also be in Orlando but this is far from a dealbreaker. I don't have a type and I think all women are beautiful in their own ways but what is important to me is that you take care of yourself. At the end of the day I'm looking for a meaningful connection, I'm looking for someone to enjoy life with, to handle hardship with, to cherish and enjoy every moment just a little bit more with. I'm someone with a lot of love to give and I'm looking for a person to love me. This obviously will not be an overnight thing we will have to build our connection over time but I value clear communication and making my intentions known is important to me, and hopefully, you're the same in how important communication is to you. Emotional intelligence is the sexiest thing in a partner to me. I want someone who has my best interest at heart, and I there's. I'm looking for a best friend and more.
Thank you for taking the time to check this out, reach out if you'd like to talk and see where things go. Have a great weekend!
Reed
2023.05.28 03:48 Sellinzs 27 [M4F] Orlando/North America - Looking for a meaningful connection
Hey there!
I'm Reed, I'm a 27-year-old guy from Orlando, Florida. I'm looking for a real, meaningful connection with someone seeking someone to enjoy life with. I'm really looking for a life partner and someone who is looking to get more out of life. I recently played a game where we were asked to use two words to describe each other, the words that were used to describe me were silly and compassionate. Empathy is a core tenet in my life and something I believe strongly in. I love to laugh and have fun but never at the cost of making someone feel left out or unincluded though I do have a VERY dark sense of humor and would love to find someone that can match my energy.
About me
I work a full-time job but also have a side hustle writing, I promise this is not nearly as exciting as it sounds but it is an increasingly lucrative thing that I'm looking to make my full-time focus sooner than later, still figuring out when sooner is though. I'm 5'7, about 140 lbs, Here's a recent picture of me: reference. And as I recognize this is important to some people, I do not drive, my eyesight is very poor and as a result, I cannot legally drive, this, however, does not stop me from living an entirely independent life, most people don't actually know/can't tell until I tell them that I cannot drive.
My Interests
I'm a big nerd and learning is my ultimate passion, I'm always reading about something or watching a YouTube video about a topic that interests me, I am a wealth of all kinds of knowledge, some useful and some not. I love all things artistic though I am not an artist, Art to me is passion + self-expression but my personal favorite art forms are film and music. Horrocomedy are my two favorite genres of film, the Shrek series has a very special place in my heart. Music wise I listen to a little bit of everything, and I mean everything, there is yet to be a genre where I haven't found something I like but some of my personal favorite artists right now are Lana Del Rey, A$AP Ferg, and Lil Peep. I enjoy PC gaming from time to time though I have less and less time for it but I'm always down to play something with you if you're a gamer yourself, I'm naturally competitive but not overly so, I enjoy winning but I don't mind losing. I also LOVE hanging out with friends and the best moments of my life have been spent in the presence of others, while I am certainly an introvert/homebody I love to get out and explore new things with people that I know, be that checking out random oddities at a thrift store (I've found some real goodies, ask and I'll show you) eating some great food or just sitting around somewhere nice when it isn't too hot, I'm typically down to get out of the house. I do not drink or smoke, totally cool if you do as long as it's in a responsible manner. I stay physically active in more fun ways but have also recently started back at the gym.
The Person I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a life partner, I'm looking for a woman who knows what she brings to the table and isn't afraid to be herself. Age is unimportant to me as long as you're 21+. Ideally, you would also be in Orlando but this is far from a dealbreaker. I don't have a type and I think all women are beautiful in their own ways but what is important to me is that you take care of yourself. At the end of the day I'm looking for a meaningful connection, I'm looking for someone to enjoy life with, to handle hardship with, to cherish and enjoy every moment just a little bit more with. I'm someone with a lot of love to give and I'm looking for a person to love me. This obviously will not be an overnight thing we will have to build our connection over time but I value clear communication and making my intentions known is important to me, and hopefully, you're the same in how important communication is to you. Emotional intelligence is the sexiest thing in a partner to me. I want someone who has my best interest at heart, and I there's. I'm looking for a best friend and more.
Thank you for taking the time to check this out, reach out if you'd like to talk and see where things go. Have a great weekend!
Reed
submitted by Sellinzs to r4r [link] [comments]
I'm Reed, I'm a 27-year-old guy from Orlando, Florida. I'm looking for a real, meaningful connection with someone seeking someone to enjoy life with. I'm really looking for a life partner and someone who is looking to get more out of life. I recently played a game where we were asked to use two words to describe each other, the words that were used to describe me were silly and compassionate. Empathy is a core tenet in my life and something I believe strongly in. I love to laugh and have fun but never at the cost of making someone feel left out or unincluded though I do have a VERY dark sense of humor and would love to find someone that can match my energy.
About me
I work a full-time job but also have a side hustle writing, I promise this is not nearly as exciting as it sounds but it is an increasingly lucrative thing that I'm looking to make my full-time focus sooner than later, still figuring out when sooner is though. I'm 5'7, about 140 lbs, Here's a recent picture of me: reference. And as I recognize this is important to some people, I do not drive, my eyesight is very poor and as a result, I cannot legally drive, this, however, does not stop me from living an entirely independent life, most people don't actually know/can't tell until I tell them that I cannot drive.
My Interests
I'm a big nerd and learning is my ultimate passion, I'm always reading about something or watching a YouTube video about a topic that interests me, I am a wealth of all kinds of knowledge, some useful and some not. I love all things artistic though I am not an artist, Art to me is passion + self-expression but my personal favorite art forms are film and music. Horrocomedy are my two favorite genres of film, the Shrek series has a very special place in my heart. Music wise I listen to a little bit of everything, and I mean everything, there is yet to be a genre where I haven't found something I like but some of my personal favorite artists right now are Lana Del Rey, A$AP Ferg, and Lil Peep. I enjoy PC gaming from time to time though I have less and less time for it but I'm always down to play something with you if you're a gamer yourself, I'm naturally competitive but not overly so, I enjoy winning but I don't mind losing. I also LOVE hanging out with friends and the best moments of my life have been spent in the presence of others, while I am certainly an introvert/homebody I love to get out and explore new things with people that I know, be that checking out random oddities at a thrift store (I've found some real goodies, ask and I'll show you) eating some great food or just sitting around somewhere nice when it isn't too hot, I'm typically down to get out of the house. I do not drink or smoke, totally cool if you do as long as it's in a responsible manner. I stay physically active in more fun ways but have also recently started back at the gym.
The Person I'm looking for:
I'm looking for a life partner, I'm looking for a woman who knows what she brings to the table and isn't afraid to be herself. Age is unimportant to me as long as you're 21+. Ideally, you would also be in Orlando but this is far from a dealbreaker. I don't have a type and I think all women are beautiful in their own ways but what is important to me is that you take care of yourself. At the end of the day I'm looking for a meaningful connection, I'm looking for someone to enjoy life with, to handle hardship with, to cherish and enjoy every moment just a little bit more with. I'm someone with a lot of love to give and I'm looking for a person to love me. This obviously will not be an overnight thing we will have to build our connection over time but I value clear communication and making my intentions known is important to me, and hopefully, you're the same in how important communication is to you. Emotional intelligence is the sexiest thing in a partner to me. I want someone who has my best interest at heart, and I there's. I'm looking for a best friend and more.
Thank you for taking the time to check this out, reach out if you'd like to talk and see where things go. Have a great weekend!
Reed
2023.05.28 03:37 zenspeed Coming back to FO3 on the PC after 10 years, and I've got an issue using a controller
I haven't played FO3 and NV in years, so decided to get them for my PC via Steam. I figured the large amount of essential mods to fix the many bugs and inconveniences in the games would improve my gameplay experience, so I installed something called the Mod Manger from the Nexus, and run the games from there. So far, I've been having a grat experience with NV, as it unexpectedly played great out of the box.
However, I can't say the same for FO3 because of a very particular issue: it looks like the buttons are quickly double-tapping. I know this because I have the A button tapped to perform actions, and I'll do that, but it doesn't seem to register. However, if I hit ENTER, then there's no problem at all. This only happens if I start the game through the Mod Manager; if I start the game through Steam, it works as expected. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here, though I'm thinking a reinstall would help.
Please don't suggest a keyboard and mouse. I get motion sickness when playing FPS games with a mouse and keyboard that don't happen when I use a controller, and it completely avoids the question anyway.
Is there a mod or some type of INI modification I can perform to make this work?
Also, is there a list of essential FO3 mods for stability?
submitted by zenspeed to fo3 [link] [comments]
However, I can't say the same for FO3 because of a very particular issue: it looks like the buttons are quickly double-tapping. I know this because I have the A button tapped to perform actions, and I'll do that, but it doesn't seem to register. However, if I hit ENTER, then there's no problem at all. This only happens if I start the game through the Mod Manager; if I start the game through Steam, it works as expected. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here, though I'm thinking a reinstall would help.
Please don't suggest a keyboard and mouse. I get motion sickness when playing FPS games with a mouse and keyboard that don't happen when I use a controller, and it completely avoids the question anyway.
Is there a mod or some type of INI modification I can perform to make this work?
Also, is there a list of essential FO3 mods for stability?
2023.05.28 03:33 onlydrippin Any articles that talk about completely developing a new identity/personality in later years of life? Like 30+...
So I experienced childhood trauma, like with many people. And so from age 0 to about 30, I was always in survival mode, doing things that in my head would help me survive (reduce my anxiety) and what not. I never really developed an identity, just did things that I thought would help me. I never even paused to think if doing X or Y would make me happier, I only did X or Y to help me feel better or make it.
I got a lucky break recently, in which most of my anxiety has decreased and have finally been trying to live life to the fullest/happiest I can be. I've been depressed all my life, but I've been fortunate to have made good friends and amongst other stuff and have the time and space to finally work on stuff.
I love playing around with my brain as I'm a very firm believer that the brain is as malleable as your ego allows it to be. And so it's a painful process, but I'm trying to, before every decision now, ask myself, 1) does this actually make me happy and 2) would this make me feel empty, and go in the direction of happiness and fullfillment. And it's a fine line between happy, and a 'high', which I'm trying to avoid 'highs'.
I never had the time in space to do that. As a kid, I wasn't allowed. And as an adult, anxiety, insecurities, stress, and depression were so overpowering that it prevented me from figuring out what actually makes me happy. And separating high from happy takes a lot of self relfection. For example, you can work hard, then buy yourself something nice to get a 'high' as an reward. But if you think about, work itself should make you happy so instead maybe find a meaninful line of work. And if you can't do that, make sure you surroudn yourself with like minded people that you enjoy being with. Or you can be competitive and win and chase that 'high' of winning, but if you really think about it, those boosts doesn't actually mean happy and fullfilled, it's just a way to validate yourself and boost self esteem. Additinally, I'm working on being vulnerable, open. When I feel scared about something when building a new relationship, I just bring it up and talk about it, etc...
And as I re-wire my brain and re-do things, I've realized that 90% of who I was, is not even who I am. I'm realizing I never liked the subjects I studied, I'm surrounded by a lot of people (mostly at work) that I missed the 'red flags' on when I interviewed at jobs (since survival mode makes you blind) and all sorts of stuff. They tend to be toxic and naricsssitic with agendas. Even the industry I work in I don't like. And so I'm trying to re-design everything from the ground up - basically my entire life.
Heck, even some relationships I have with people, maybe I sohuldn't have any more. Not because they are bad people per say, but just not ultimately the people I want to be around. Even my career counserlor who's very helpful, now I'm questioning if I should continue going to her even though we've formed a pretty decent connection. She's like type A and not very warm and can be critical and judging, which is not the direction I'm heading towards.
I have these headaches a lot, almost tingling sensations, which I'm assuming has to do with depression or something or my brain being confused as it's re-wiring and expriencing life from a whole new perspective, which just requires a lot and a lot of naps.
In fact, I feel like it's almost to the point of absurdity where I may completely forget who I was pre 30 years of age, and then be a completely new person when I hit 40. Like it might even get to the point where I forget what my child hood was like, other than big facts like where I lived, what school I went to, etc...
Now I know I'm not being delusional because I've also practiced mindfulness a bunch, but is it even possible to completely develop a new identity and forget the old one. I don't think I'm lying to myself or anything or purposely not remembering things to 'protect' myself. I genuinely just don't care anymore and have moved on because all I care about is moving to the point of happiness and fulfillment. Everything is shifting, my political views, my perspectives on things, the people I want to associate with, yada yada, partly because I'm asking the question before every thought or action, does this make me happy or fullfilled, and if not, don't do it and go a different direction.
There's still a lot of heaviness in my head that holds me back, but I feel like I'm so close to 'waking up' one day, if that even makes sense to you all.
Any articles or readings that kinda talk about what I'm experiencing?
submitted by onlydrippin to askpsychology [link] [comments]
I got a lucky break recently, in which most of my anxiety has decreased and have finally been trying to live life to the fullest/happiest I can be. I've been depressed all my life, but I've been fortunate to have made good friends and amongst other stuff and have the time and space to finally work on stuff.
I love playing around with my brain as I'm a very firm believer that the brain is as malleable as your ego allows it to be. And so it's a painful process, but I'm trying to, before every decision now, ask myself, 1) does this actually make me happy and 2) would this make me feel empty, and go in the direction of happiness and fullfillment. And it's a fine line between happy, and a 'high', which I'm trying to avoid 'highs'.
I never had the time in space to do that. As a kid, I wasn't allowed. And as an adult, anxiety, insecurities, stress, and depression were so overpowering that it prevented me from figuring out what actually makes me happy. And separating high from happy takes a lot of self relfection. For example, you can work hard, then buy yourself something nice to get a 'high' as an reward. But if you think about, work itself should make you happy so instead maybe find a meaninful line of work. And if you can't do that, make sure you surroudn yourself with like minded people that you enjoy being with. Or you can be competitive and win and chase that 'high' of winning, but if you really think about it, those boosts doesn't actually mean happy and fullfilled, it's just a way to validate yourself and boost self esteem. Additinally, I'm working on being vulnerable, open. When I feel scared about something when building a new relationship, I just bring it up and talk about it, etc...
And as I re-wire my brain and re-do things, I've realized that 90% of who I was, is not even who I am. I'm realizing I never liked the subjects I studied, I'm surrounded by a lot of people (mostly at work) that I missed the 'red flags' on when I interviewed at jobs (since survival mode makes you blind) and all sorts of stuff. They tend to be toxic and naricsssitic with agendas. Even the industry I work in I don't like. And so I'm trying to re-design everything from the ground up - basically my entire life.
Heck, even some relationships I have with people, maybe I sohuldn't have any more. Not because they are bad people per say, but just not ultimately the people I want to be around. Even my career counserlor who's very helpful, now I'm questioning if I should continue going to her even though we've formed a pretty decent connection. She's like type A and not very warm and can be critical and judging, which is not the direction I'm heading towards.
I have these headaches a lot, almost tingling sensations, which I'm assuming has to do with depression or something or my brain being confused as it's re-wiring and expriencing life from a whole new perspective, which just requires a lot and a lot of naps.
In fact, I feel like it's almost to the point of absurdity where I may completely forget who I was pre 30 years of age, and then be a completely new person when I hit 40. Like it might even get to the point where I forget what my child hood was like, other than big facts like where I lived, what school I went to, etc...
Now I know I'm not being delusional because I've also practiced mindfulness a bunch, but is it even possible to completely develop a new identity and forget the old one. I don't think I'm lying to myself or anything or purposely not remembering things to 'protect' myself. I genuinely just don't care anymore and have moved on because all I care about is moving to the point of happiness and fulfillment. Everything is shifting, my political views, my perspectives on things, the people I want to associate with, yada yada, partly because I'm asking the question before every thought or action, does this make me happy or fullfilled, and if not, don't do it and go a different direction.
There's still a lot of heaviness in my head that holds me back, but I feel like I'm so close to 'waking up' one day, if that even makes sense to you all.
Any articles or readings that kinda talk about what I'm experiencing?
2023.05.28 03:33 constantMinorCrisis5 Need help with book recommendations! IN A SLUMP. Looking for a medieval heroine medic/healer, preferably little magic talent and more knowledge based.
Okay, I've been in a slump and I have a craving for high medieval fantasy with a kickass heroine. Meaning that even if she can't fight, she can outwit/outsmart everyone else. She is a healemedic/herbalist who could have a bit of magic power but mainly I am looking for a heroine who worked hard for her knowledge and has the experience to give her the confidence to help people.
I have already read Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughn. I love it but wished it had more action or at least didn't make the last three books of the series about the secondary characters.
The books don't have to be romance as long as it has a good amount of action and epic fantasy. It must be a medieval time period though.
The heroine also must have a strong character.
I have a real craving for epic fantasy with a heroine with the above traits/abilities.
Any help would be appreciated. I figured this would be a good start, I've already search Goodreads as best I could.
Any list recommendations would also be welcome.
submitted by constantMinorCrisis5 to Fantasy [link] [comments]
I have already read Warprize by Elizabeth Vaughn. I love it but wished it had more action or at least didn't make the last three books of the series about the secondary characters.
The books don't have to be romance as long as it has a good amount of action and epic fantasy. It must be a medieval time period though.
The heroine also must have a strong character.
I have a real craving for epic fantasy with a heroine with the above traits/abilities.
Any help would be appreciated. I figured this would be a good start, I've already search Goodreads as best I could.
Any list recommendations would also be welcome.
2023.05.28 03:21 youowemeboy Money In The Bank 2023 PPV!!!
- Raw Women's Title
(13:00)
- Smackdown Women's Title
(13:00)
- WWE Women's Tag Team Titles
(12:00)
- Women's Money In The Bank Match
(15:00)
- United States Title
(16:00)
- WWE Undisputed Raw/Smackdown World Tag Team Championships
- Bobby Lashley and MVP vs Kevin Owens (c) and Sami Zayn (c)
- Intercontinental Championship
(18:00)
- Men's Money In The Bank Match
(21:00)
- WWE World Heavyweight Championship
(30:00)
- WWE Undisputed Universal Championship
(24:00)
Promotion WWE
Brand(s) Raw
SmackDown
NXT
Date Saturday July 1st, 2023
City London, England
Venue The O2 Arena
2023.05.28 03:13 MelonLord98 Online][Mst][SWRPG] The Diaspora: A Star Wars Story
For over a century the Galaxy has been wrought with war and turmoil, the triumph that seemed promised by the Battle of Endor vanished as if a distant whisper passing through the weave of time. Change did come from that fateful day, not the resounding triumph of the Rebellion however, or the catalyst for an Imperial crackdown, no only the expansion of the Great Galactic War. The decade that immediately followed would see the newly christened New Republic make valiant yet ineffective attempts at sites of galactic significance; Coruscant, Kuat, Corellia, Duros the list goes on. Likewise the Galactic Empire, leaderless and without vision attempted to hold together disparate ideas and ambitions and ideals into a cohesive structure.
The first to officially make the split from the Empire was Grand Admiral Rashu in 6 ABY, as commanding officer of the 7th Sector Fleet Rashu has roughly 1000 starships of varying sizes to his name, the crown jewel being "Pride of the Empire" an Executor class SSD. With such raw firepower and to be frank a lack of true belief in the Empire, Rashu took his chance and set out on his own with his fleet soon becoming known as Rashu's Raiders. Extortion and piracy became the name of the game for the Raiders in the northern-western fringes of the galaxy, however Rashu had a greater prize that became more and more relevant as the years went on. Ilum an icy world barely in known space if it could be called that held the rare material known as Kyber crystals, what Rashu or his people want with them is unknown, but the eccentric former Grand Admiral guards this planet carefully leaving the galaxy at large to ponder.
The Galactic Empire proper faired much differently in this time, with Imperial Warlords left and right threatening to break away or actively attempting to oppose the central authority of the Empire reliance on the Order Inquisitorious became increasingly prevalent as assassins, saboteurs and enforcers. This status quo would continue for a decade as the Empire battled enemies without and within and all the while the Inquisitorious grew in station and power, garnering new acolytes, tomes of knowledge and political weight within the Empire. In time they were nothing short of a fully fledge Sith Order in all but name... until Anaxes. As the Empires situation grew increasingly desperate a joint meeting of all major political figures, admirals, moffs and the like were gathered at the ancient world of Anaxes. There a rousing plan to rebuild The Emperor's vision was not found but an ultimatum of the new Sith Order, submit or die and many did die in a bloodbath known simply as "The Cull" this event would spark a bloody five year civil war known as the Anaxian Conflicts. The road was long and arduous, many of the old guard would not submit to such insanity but in the end the Sith proved stronger. The Imperial Remnant left to the scraps of the northern reaches of the galaxy and the Sith Empire triumphed and resting control over a vast swath of the former Empire, unopposed as the clear dominant power in the galaxy.
Rebel High Command celebrated along with much of the galaxy following Endor, but it was short lived for now the real war would begin. Due to internal strife within the Empire a grind towards Coruscant was initially successful and lasting victory seemed in sight, as such it was seen fit by the powers that be to shove off the trappings of rebellion and declare the New Republic. While many rejoiced, equally as many did not, for the former Separatists who had formed the early core and to this day a large contingent of Rebel Alliance this was nothing short of a slap in the face. Actions such as these could not go unanswered and a Neo-Confederacy was born, one that would not follow into disgrace what their mothers and fathers had fought against and in time they would see a galaxy truly free not in the shackles of bureaucrats and politicians.
Reeling from the blow of their own schism, the New Republic was still determined to champion the ideals of free and prosperous galaxy not matter how much they must bleed for it, and so with the chaos of the Empire's own schisms the chance was taken to hunker down in the galactic north east and begin the creation of a proper state centered around Mon Calamari and its surrounding systems. In time the galaxy would know peace but for now efforts were focused on making sure the Republic would last until that day.
Dozens of other factions and orders rose and fell in the coming decades, be it the the Mandalorian Clans ascendant once again, or the torn asunder Hutt Space as it turned into the free for all of Syndicate Space a free for all amongst any and all would be criminal organizations. Of all of these though the most important could not be argued against, a reborn Jedi Order. The Jedi Order over the last century has slowly began to rebuild with the help of the New Republic on a reclaimed Ossus, however not all have answered the call. Many scattered enclaves wary of the mistakes of the past or that consolidating their number would only leave them vulnerable operate independently throughout the galaxy. Furthermore the Knights-Errant are a new breed of knight who operate in groups of at most a dozen who see their path as one of wandering service to the denizens of the galaxy.For over a hundred years the galaxy has endured the chaos, insecurity and trepidation that comes with the new state of existence , but rumors circulate, dark powers groan, the war machines churn and rise from their complacency. Great change is coming to the galaxy and all can only hope for what is to come will better than what came before.
May the Force be with us all
The Diaspora is a new Star Wars campaign of my own homebrew that will start at the lowest rungs of society, mired in scum and villainy and will progress through a grand saga that the players and I will tell the story of together. For all those interested this will be a New Republic/ Light Side themed campaign but don't let that pigeon hole you as some gradient is allowed an encouraged, after all everyone loves a good scoundrel or bounty hunter just keep in mind this isn't an evil campaign by any means. We will be using the FFG star wars books and be deciding on a day during the week to play once we have all the players selected. I have two existing players already in the game, one playing a Jedi and the other undecided. If you are at all interested please inquire and ask questions below or in my DMs.
submitted by MelonLord98 to lfg [link] [comments]
The first to officially make the split from the Empire was Grand Admiral Rashu in 6 ABY, as commanding officer of the 7th Sector Fleet Rashu has roughly 1000 starships of varying sizes to his name, the crown jewel being "Pride of the Empire" an Executor class SSD. With such raw firepower and to be frank a lack of true belief in the Empire, Rashu took his chance and set out on his own with his fleet soon becoming known as Rashu's Raiders. Extortion and piracy became the name of the game for the Raiders in the northern-western fringes of the galaxy, however Rashu had a greater prize that became more and more relevant as the years went on. Ilum an icy world barely in known space if it could be called that held the rare material known as Kyber crystals, what Rashu or his people want with them is unknown, but the eccentric former Grand Admiral guards this planet carefully leaving the galaxy at large to ponder.
The Galactic Empire proper faired much differently in this time, with Imperial Warlords left and right threatening to break away or actively attempting to oppose the central authority of the Empire reliance on the Order Inquisitorious became increasingly prevalent as assassins, saboteurs and enforcers. This status quo would continue for a decade as the Empire battled enemies without and within and all the while the Inquisitorious grew in station and power, garnering new acolytes, tomes of knowledge and political weight within the Empire. In time they were nothing short of a fully fledge Sith Order in all but name... until Anaxes. As the Empires situation grew increasingly desperate a joint meeting of all major political figures, admirals, moffs and the like were gathered at the ancient world of Anaxes. There a rousing plan to rebuild The Emperor's vision was not found but an ultimatum of the new Sith Order, submit or die and many did die in a bloodbath known simply as "The Cull" this event would spark a bloody five year civil war known as the Anaxian Conflicts. The road was long and arduous, many of the old guard would not submit to such insanity but in the end the Sith proved stronger. The Imperial Remnant left to the scraps of the northern reaches of the galaxy and the Sith Empire triumphed and resting control over a vast swath of the former Empire, unopposed as the clear dominant power in the galaxy.
Rebel High Command celebrated along with much of the galaxy following Endor, but it was short lived for now the real war would begin. Due to internal strife within the Empire a grind towards Coruscant was initially successful and lasting victory seemed in sight, as such it was seen fit by the powers that be to shove off the trappings of rebellion and declare the New Republic. While many rejoiced, equally as many did not, for the former Separatists who had formed the early core and to this day a large contingent of Rebel Alliance this was nothing short of a slap in the face. Actions such as these could not go unanswered and a Neo-Confederacy was born, one that would not follow into disgrace what their mothers and fathers had fought against and in time they would see a galaxy truly free not in the shackles of bureaucrats and politicians.
Reeling from the blow of their own schism, the New Republic was still determined to champion the ideals of free and prosperous galaxy not matter how much they must bleed for it, and so with the chaos of the Empire's own schisms the chance was taken to hunker down in the galactic north east and begin the creation of a proper state centered around Mon Calamari and its surrounding systems. In time the galaxy would know peace but for now efforts were focused on making sure the Republic would last until that day.
Dozens of other factions and orders rose and fell in the coming decades, be it the the Mandalorian Clans ascendant once again, or the torn asunder Hutt Space as it turned into the free for all of Syndicate Space a free for all amongst any and all would be criminal organizations. Of all of these though the most important could not be argued against, a reborn Jedi Order. The Jedi Order over the last century has slowly began to rebuild with the help of the New Republic on a reclaimed Ossus, however not all have answered the call. Many scattered enclaves wary of the mistakes of the past or that consolidating their number would only leave them vulnerable operate independently throughout the galaxy. Furthermore the Knights-Errant are a new breed of knight who operate in groups of at most a dozen who see their path as one of wandering service to the denizens of the galaxy.For over a hundred years the galaxy has endured the chaos, insecurity and trepidation that comes with the new state of existence , but rumors circulate, dark powers groan, the war machines churn and rise from their complacency. Great change is coming to the galaxy and all can only hope for what is to come will better than what came before.
May the Force be with us all
The Diaspora is a new Star Wars campaign of my own homebrew that will start at the lowest rungs of society, mired in scum and villainy and will progress through a grand saga that the players and I will tell the story of together. For all those interested this will be a New Republic/ Light Side themed campaign but don't let that pigeon hole you as some gradient is allowed an encouraged, after all everyone loves a good scoundrel or bounty hunter just keep in mind this isn't an evil campaign by any means. We will be using the FFG star wars books and be deciding on a day during the week to play once we have all the players selected. I have two existing players already in the game, one playing a Jedi and the other undecided. If you are at all interested please inquire and ask questions below or in my DMs.
2023.05.28 03:05 casapulapula UKRAINE: The West's Tone Drastically Shifts. So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction. SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
Excerpt:
"Thereâs been a huge rash of eye-opening and thought-provoking articles recently, which I havenât been able to fit into other posts, and which have been building up on my tabs bar. So I figured I would wash them all through a single post dedicated to compiling these latest signals from the Western elites as to their thoughts on how the conflict is changing.
And certainly, judging by these recent issues, the tone and sentiment is shifting drastically. One can hardly find a single piece still optimistic for the Ukrainian side, apart from the disingenuous lot who continue hyper-focusing on tiny minutiae, like some irrelevant Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian building in Krasnodar, which mightâve damaged the corner of the roofâs eaves.
So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction:
First on the menu is 1945âs gut-blasting, ego-draining headline:
[ ... ] Which confirms our previous theories on Ukraineâs large offensive possibly coinciding with the huge NATO airforce gamesâbilled as âthe largest in historyâbeginning in June, which dovetail into the NATO summit in July.
Well, thatâs the headlines for now. Hope you enjoyed not having to read them, and allowing me to do the service for you, as itâs truly a brain-cell-depleting exercise for much of dreck published in the West. But at least it gives an eye-opening account of the tectonic changes the Western cognoscenti and commentariat are currently undergoing in their approach to Ukraine war theorizing.
You can almost make a twelve step chart to illustrate their slow but predictable âcoming aroundâ to the truth and light. First always comes acceptance, which theyâve finally managed. But theyâre still on the stage where they believe though Ukraine isnât winning, neither is Russia, and so the âcease fireâ has now become the customary go to of the self-proclaimed âeruditeâ. They simply canât imagine it going any other way.
And I suppose it could be understandable, after all, Russia has not yet shown the West or Ukraine a truly âdecisiveâ action. This is the biggest trump card yet left off the table, one that even people on our side are largely not sold on yet. The big question of whether Russia will âunleashâ in some big way, or whether Russia has âlostâ its ability to prosecute maneuver warfare and is now mired in an endless WW1-esque attritional style of warfare unlikely to produce grand, decisive blows.
But I believe what Russia is doing is the smart thing, weakening the opponent for as long as it takes with a style of warfare that favors Russia greatly. Why be rushed into offensive actions just because bloggers on Telegram are getting jittery, and sustain losses when you can easily destroy your opponent from long range for a long time, and then swoop in to finish him off when heâs barely able to resist.
The chief argument against that is âwell Ukraine is being armed by NATO all this while and growing strongerâ. Are they, really? Russia has been raining massive strikes on Ukraine for the past month to the point where Germany has now announced a new round of 100+ Leopard 1A5s. Why would that be, where did the other first batch of Leopards 2A4s go? My point being that, itâs simply an assumption that Ukraine is being âarmedâ infinitely when in reality Russia appears to be destroying large swaths of those arms as they arrive in warehouses.
Due to the multiplicative effect of strikes, itâs far easier for Russia to negate Ukraineâs so-called Lend Lease arming program because tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment can be destroyed by a single precise missile or cheap drone. All it takes is one to bypass defenses and months of planning and logistical coordination goes mushrooming up to the sky. You can never out-race the negating effect of Russiaâs strikes in that way.
But weâll soon see whose side is right. The âgrand offensiveâ looms before us, and as hands are forced, the cards may soon all be on the table.
[ ... This is an excerpt. Please support SIMPLIUS THE THINKER ... ]
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/latest-headlines-digest-the-wests
submitted by casapulapula to EndlessWar [link] [comments]
"Thereâs been a huge rash of eye-opening and thought-provoking articles recently, which I havenât been able to fit into other posts, and which have been building up on my tabs bar. So I figured I would wash them all through a single post dedicated to compiling these latest signals from the Western elites as to their thoughts on how the conflict is changing.
And certainly, judging by these recent issues, the tone and sentiment is shifting drastically. One can hardly find a single piece still optimistic for the Ukrainian side, apart from the disingenuous lot who continue hyper-focusing on tiny minutiae, like some irrelevant Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian building in Krasnodar, which mightâve damaged the corner of the roofâs eaves.
So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction:
First on the menu is 1945âs gut-blasting, ego-draining headline:
[ ... ] Which confirms our previous theories on Ukraineâs large offensive possibly coinciding with the huge NATO airforce gamesâbilled as âthe largest in historyâbeginning in June, which dovetail into the NATO summit in July.
Well, thatâs the headlines for now. Hope you enjoyed not having to read them, and allowing me to do the service for you, as itâs truly a brain-cell-depleting exercise for much of dreck published in the West. But at least it gives an eye-opening account of the tectonic changes the Western cognoscenti and commentariat are currently undergoing in their approach to Ukraine war theorizing.
You can almost make a twelve step chart to illustrate their slow but predictable âcoming aroundâ to the truth and light. First always comes acceptance, which theyâve finally managed. But theyâre still on the stage where they believe though Ukraine isnât winning, neither is Russia, and so the âcease fireâ has now become the customary go to of the self-proclaimed âeruditeâ. They simply canât imagine it going any other way.
And I suppose it could be understandable, after all, Russia has not yet shown the West or Ukraine a truly âdecisiveâ action. This is the biggest trump card yet left off the table, one that even people on our side are largely not sold on yet. The big question of whether Russia will âunleashâ in some big way, or whether Russia has âlostâ its ability to prosecute maneuver warfare and is now mired in an endless WW1-esque attritional style of warfare unlikely to produce grand, decisive blows.
But I believe what Russia is doing is the smart thing, weakening the opponent for as long as it takes with a style of warfare that favors Russia greatly. Why be rushed into offensive actions just because bloggers on Telegram are getting jittery, and sustain losses when you can easily destroy your opponent from long range for a long time, and then swoop in to finish him off when heâs barely able to resist.
The chief argument against that is âwell Ukraine is being armed by NATO all this while and growing strongerâ. Are they, really? Russia has been raining massive strikes on Ukraine for the past month to the point where Germany has now announced a new round of 100+ Leopard 1A5s. Why would that be, where did the other first batch of Leopards 2A4s go? My point being that, itâs simply an assumption that Ukraine is being âarmedâ infinitely when in reality Russia appears to be destroying large swaths of those arms as they arrive in warehouses.
Due to the multiplicative effect of strikes, itâs far easier for Russia to negate Ukraineâs so-called Lend Lease arming program because tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment can be destroyed by a single precise missile or cheap drone. All it takes is one to bypass defenses and months of planning and logistical coordination goes mushrooming up to the sky. You can never out-race the negating effect of Russiaâs strikes in that way.
But weâll soon see whose side is right. The âgrand offensiveâ looms before us, and as hands are forced, the cards may soon all be on the table.
[ ... This is an excerpt. Please support SIMPLIUS THE THINKER ... ]
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/latest-headlines-digest-the-wests
2023.05.28 03:04 casapulapula UKRAINE: The West's Tone Drastically Shifts. So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction. SIMPLICIUS THE THINKER
Excerpt: "Thereâs been a huge rash of eye-opening and thought-provoking articles recently, which I havenât been able to fit into other posts, and which have been building up on my tabs bar. So I figured I would wash them all through a single post dedicated to compiling these latest signals from the Western elites as to their thoughts on how the conflict is changing.
And certainly, judging by these recent issues, the tone and sentiment is shifting drastically. One can hardly find a single piece still optimistic for the Ukrainian side, apart from the disingenuous lot who continue hyper-focusing on tiny minutiae, like some irrelevant Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian building in Krasnodar, which mightâve damaged the corner of the roofâs eaves.
So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction:
First on the menu is 1945âs gut-blasting, ego-draining headline:
[ ... ] Which confirms our previous theories on Ukraineâs large offensive possibly coinciding with the huge NATO airforce gamesâbilled as âthe largest in historyâbeginning in June, which dovetail into the NATO summit in July.
Well, thatâs the headlines for now. Hope you enjoyed not having to read them, and allowing me to do the service for you, as itâs truly a brain-cell-depleting exercise for much of dreck published in the West. But at least it gives an eye-opening account of the tectonic changes the Western cognoscenti and commentariat are currently undergoing in their approach to Ukraine war theorizing.
You can almost make a twelve step chart to illustrate their slow but predictable âcoming aroundâ to the truth and light. First always comes acceptance, which theyâve finally managed. But theyâre still on the stage where they believe though Ukraine isnât winning, neither is Russia, and so the âcease fireâ has now become the customary go to of the self-proclaimed âeruditeâ. They simply canât imagine it going any other way.
And I suppose it could be understandable, after all, Russia has not yet shown the West or Ukraine a truly âdecisiveâ action. This is the biggest trump card yet left off the table, one that even people on our side are largely not sold on yet. The big question of whether Russia will âunleashâ in some big way, or whether Russia has âlostâ its ability to prosecute maneuver warfare and is now mired in an endless WW1-esque attritional style of warfare unlikely to produce grand, decisive blows.
But I believe what Russia is doing is the smart thing, weakening the opponent for as long as it takes with a style of warfare that favors Russia greatly. Why be rushed into offensive actions just because bloggers on Telegram are getting jittery, and sustain losses when you can easily destroy your opponent from long range for a long time, and then swoop in to finish him off when heâs barely able to resist.
The chief argument against that is âwell Ukraine is being armed by NATO all this while and growing strongerâ. Are they, really? Russia has been raining massive strikes on Ukraine for the past month to the point where Germany has now announced a new round of 100+ Leopard 1A5s. Why would that be, where did the other first batch of Leopards 2A4s go? My point being that, itâs simply an assumption that Ukraine is being âarmedâ infinitely when in reality Russia appears to be destroying large swaths of those arms as they arrive in warehouses.
Due to the multiplicative effect of strikes, itâs far easier for Russia to negate Ukraineâs so-called Lend Lease arming program because tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment can be destroyed by a single precise missile or cheap drone. All it takes is one to bypass defenses and months of planning and logistical coordination goes mushrooming up to the sky. You can never out-race the negating effect of Russiaâs strikes in that way.
But weâll soon see whose side is right. The âgrand offensiveâ looms before us, and as hands are forced, the cards may soon all be on the table.
[ ... This is an excerpt. Please support SIMPLIUS THE THINKER ... ]
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/latest-headlines-digest-the-wests
submitted by casapulapula to antiwar [link] [comments]
And certainly, judging by these recent issues, the tone and sentiment is shifting drastically. One can hardly find a single piece still optimistic for the Ukrainian side, apart from the disingenuous lot who continue hyper-focusing on tiny minutiae, like some irrelevant Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian building in Krasnodar, which mightâve damaged the corner of the roofâs eaves.
So, letâs start and see what the Western, NATO, pro-Imperial cognoscenti and literati have to say about the warâs drifting direction:
First on the menu is 1945âs gut-blasting, ego-draining headline:
[ ... ] Which confirms our previous theories on Ukraineâs large offensive possibly coinciding with the huge NATO airforce gamesâbilled as âthe largest in historyâbeginning in June, which dovetail into the NATO summit in July.
Well, thatâs the headlines for now. Hope you enjoyed not having to read them, and allowing me to do the service for you, as itâs truly a brain-cell-depleting exercise for much of dreck published in the West. But at least it gives an eye-opening account of the tectonic changes the Western cognoscenti and commentariat are currently undergoing in their approach to Ukraine war theorizing.
You can almost make a twelve step chart to illustrate their slow but predictable âcoming aroundâ to the truth and light. First always comes acceptance, which theyâve finally managed. But theyâre still on the stage where they believe though Ukraine isnât winning, neither is Russia, and so the âcease fireâ has now become the customary go to of the self-proclaimed âeruditeâ. They simply canât imagine it going any other way.
And I suppose it could be understandable, after all, Russia has not yet shown the West or Ukraine a truly âdecisiveâ action. This is the biggest trump card yet left off the table, one that even people on our side are largely not sold on yet. The big question of whether Russia will âunleashâ in some big way, or whether Russia has âlostâ its ability to prosecute maneuver warfare and is now mired in an endless WW1-esque attritional style of warfare unlikely to produce grand, decisive blows.
But I believe what Russia is doing is the smart thing, weakening the opponent for as long as it takes with a style of warfare that favors Russia greatly. Why be rushed into offensive actions just because bloggers on Telegram are getting jittery, and sustain losses when you can easily destroy your opponent from long range for a long time, and then swoop in to finish him off when heâs barely able to resist.
The chief argument against that is âwell Ukraine is being armed by NATO all this while and growing strongerâ. Are they, really? Russia has been raining massive strikes on Ukraine for the past month to the point where Germany has now announced a new round of 100+ Leopard 1A5s. Why would that be, where did the other first batch of Leopards 2A4s go? My point being that, itâs simply an assumption that Ukraine is being âarmedâ infinitely when in reality Russia appears to be destroying large swaths of those arms as they arrive in warehouses.
Due to the multiplicative effect of strikes, itâs far easier for Russia to negate Ukraineâs so-called Lend Lease arming program because tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment can be destroyed by a single precise missile or cheap drone. All it takes is one to bypass defenses and months of planning and logistical coordination goes mushrooming up to the sky. You can never out-race the negating effect of Russiaâs strikes in that way.
But weâll soon see whose side is right. The âgrand offensiveâ looms before us, and as hands are forced, the cards may soon all be on the table.
[ ... This is an excerpt. Please support SIMPLIUS THE THINKER ... ]
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/latest-headlines-digest-the-wests
2023.05.28 03:01 uberkudzu Just realized Amazon is now showing velocity metrics. Interesting to see correlations between price, volume and popularity.
 | submitted by uberkudzu to MarvelLegends [link] [comments] |
2023.05.28 03:01 Elaxzander How did you learn the game?
I'm struggling to learn different roles. I've found the wikis to be a great resource but even then, performing different actions can be daunting if you don't know exactly what the game wants from you.
Some frustrations today was in botany, almost all of my harvest attempts failed and I ran out of tomato seeds. In another round, I couldn't figure out how to get a monkey onto the meat hooks despite following the instructions on the wiki.
I'd really like to get more into the game but every time I play it feels like I'm spending as much time on the wiki as I am actually playing. It doesn't help that every Station has a slightly different way to do the same thing. What helped you the most to learn the game a d the roles you play?
submitted by Elaxzander to SS13 [link] [comments]
Some frustrations today was in botany, almost all of my harvest attempts failed and I ran out of tomato seeds. In another round, I couldn't figure out how to get a monkey onto the meat hooks despite following the instructions on the wiki.
I'd really like to get more into the game but every time I play it feels like I'm spending as much time on the wiki as I am actually playing. It doesn't help that every Station has a slightly different way to do the same thing. What helped you the most to learn the game a d the roles you play?
2023.05.28 03:00 SocialDemocracies Hundreds of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired (New York Times)
Hundreds of Thousands Have Lost Medicaid Coverage Since Pandemic Protections Expired (New York Times)
Link to article: https://web.archive.org/web/20230527084332/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/us/politics/medicaid-coverage-pandemic-loss.html
Excerpts:
Link to article: https://www.commondreams.org/news/states-hundreds-of-thousands-medicaid
Article:
submitted by SocialDemocracies to Social_Democracy [link] [comments]
Link to article: https://web.archive.org/web/20230527084332/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/us/politics/medicaid-coverage-pandemic-loss.html
Excerpts:
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Americans have lost Medicaid coverage in recent weeks as part of a sprawling unwinding of a pandemic-era policy that prohibited states from removing people from the program....
Early data shows that many people lost coverage for procedural reasons, such as when Medicaid recipients did not return paperwork to verify their eligibility or could not be located. The large number of terminations on procedural grounds suggests that many people may be losing their coverage even though they are still qualified for it. Many of those who have been dropped have been children.
In Arkansas, more than 1.1 million people â over a third of the stateâs residents â were on Medicaid at the end of March. In April, the first month that states could begin removing people from the program, about 73,000 people lost coverage, including about 27,000 children 17 and under....
Among those who were dropped was Melissa Buford, a diabetic with high blood pressure who makes about $35,000 a year at a health clinic in eastern Arkansas helping families find affordable health insurance. Her two adult sons also lost their coverage.
Like more than 5,000 others in the state, Ms. Buford, 51, was no longer eligible for Medicaid because her income had gone up. A notice she received informing her that she did not qualify made her so upset that she threw it in a trash can.
But a majority of those who lost coverage in Arkansas were dropped for procedural reasons.
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas, a Republican, has framed the unwinding as a necessary process that will save money and allow Medicaid to function within its intended scope....
âWeâre simply removing ineligible participants from the program to reserve resources for those who need them and follow the law,â Ms. Sanders wrote in an opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal this month. She added that âsome Democrats and activist reporters oppose Arkansasâs actions because they want to keep people dependent on the government.â
What has played out in Arkansas so far offers evidence of the widespread disruption that the unwinding process is likely to cause in households across the country in the coming months, forcing Americans to find new insurance or figure out how to regain Medicaid coverage that they lost for procedural reasons. The federal government has projected that about 15 million people will lose coverage, including nearly seven million people who are expected to be dropped despite still being eligible....
Among the biggest looming questions is how the process will affect children. In Florida, for instance, a boy in remission from leukemia and in need of a biopsy recently lost his coverage.
Researchers at the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families estimated before the unwinding that more than half of children in the United States were covered by Medicaid or CHIP. Many children who lose coverage will be dropped for procedural reasons even though they are still eligible, said Joan Alker, the centerâs executive director.
âThose kids have nowhere else to turn for coverage,â she said. âMedicaid is the single largest insurer for children. This is hugely consequential for them.â
In Arkansas, many of the children who lost Medicaid were âthe poorest of the poor,â said Loretta Alexander, the health policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. She added that losing coverage would be especially harmful for young children who need regular developmental checkups early in life.
Other states have also removed a large number of Medicaid recipients for procedural reasons. In Indiana, nearly 90 percent of the roughly 53,000 people who lost Medicaid in the first month of the stateâs unwinding were booted on those grounds. In Florida, where nearly 250,000 people lost Medicaid coverage, procedural reasons were to blame for a vast majority....
Debra Miller, 54, of Bullhead City, Ariz., lost Medicaid coverage in April after her roughly $25,000 annual salary as a Burger King cook left her ineligible. Ms. Miller, a single mother with diabetes and hypothyroidism, worked with an insurance counselor at North Country HealthCare, a network of federally funded health clinics, to enroll in a marketplace plan with a roughly $70 monthly premium.'Enormous Policy Failure': States Throw Hundreds of ThousandsâIncluding Many ChildrenâOff Medicaid (Common Dreams)
âItâs a struggle because itâs a new bill that I havenât had before,â she said. Her new plan, she added, does not include vision insurance, leaving her worried about paying for eye appointments she needs as a diabetic.
Ms. Buford said that for some people in Arkansas, marketplace coverage would be too expensive.
âYou have a car, mortgage, kids, food,â she said. âYou really donât have that much left to pay that much for health insurance.â
Ms. Buford said that her job helping others find health insurance in underserved areas was a calling inspired by watching her grandmother struggle to afford her medications and rely on food pantries. Ms. Buford went to a community college near her hometown so she could take care of her sick father, who passed away in his 40s. âI love my job because Iâm able to help people,â she said.
Now that she has lost her Medicaid coverage, Ms. Buford said she hoped to find an affordable marketplace plan in the near future. The family plan offered by the clinic where she works is too costly, she said.
âIâm grateful for what I have because someone else doesnât have what I have,â Ms. Buford said. âI just wish I could have kept my Medicaid.â
Link to article: https://www.commondreams.org/news/states-hundreds-of-thousands-medicaid
Article:
With a green light from the federal government, states across the U.S. have thrown hundreds of thousands of low-income people off Medicaid in recent weeksâand many have lost coverage because they failed to navigate bureaucratic mazes, not because they were no longer eligible.
More than a dozen states, including Florida and other Republican-led states that have refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, have begun removing people from Medicaid as part of the "unwinding" of a pandemic-era federal policy that temporarily barred governments from kicking people off the program.
In a bipartisan deal late last year, Congress agreed to cut off the pandemic protections, giving states 12 months to redetermine who is eligible for the healthcare program that covers tens of millions of Americans.
The process differs in each state, but Medicaid enrollees are typically required to complete paperwork verifying their income, address, disability status, and other factors used to determine eligibility for the program.
While some states have undertaken public outreach campaigns to ensure Medicaid recipients understand what they need to do to continue receiving benefits, most enrollees across the country "were not aware that states are now permitted to resume disenrolling people from the Medicaid program," according to new survey data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
As a result, The New York Times reported Friday, "many people lost coverage for procedural reasons, such as when Medicaid recipients did not return paperwork to verify their eligibility or could not be located."
"The large number of terminations on procedural grounds suggests that many people may be losing their coverage even though they are still qualified for it," the newspaper added. "Many of those who have been dropped have been children."
Early data released by the state of Florida, for example, shows that more than 205,000 people in the state lost coverage for procedural reasons after April eligibility checks.
"We knew this was coming. But we still treat these burdens like they're unavoidable natural disasters," said Pamela Herd, a professor of public policy at Georgetown University. "We need to be much more explicit about these failures because we're making a choice to allow this."
Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, said she is "very worried about Florida."
"We've heard the call center's overwhelmed, the notices are very confusing in Floridaâthey're very hard to understand," said Alker.
In a recent letter to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 presidential candidate, more than 50 advocacy groups demanded a Medicaid redetermination pause, pointing to "reports of Floridians being disenrolled from Medicaid without having received notice" from the state's Department of Children and Families (DCF).
"One of these individuals is a 7-year-old boy in remission from Leukemia who is now unable to access follow-upâand potentially lifesavingâtreatments," the groups wrote. "Families with children have been erroneously terminated, and parents are having trouble reaching the DCF call center for help with this process. Additionally, unclear notices and lack of information on how to appeal contribute to more confusion."
"We are deeply concerned about those with serious, acute, and chronic conditions who will continue to lose access to their lifesaving treatments during this time, along with people who risk substantial medical debt, or even bankruptcy, as a result of coverage loss," the groups added.
What if instead we just gave everyone health insurance coverage??!! https://t.co/hSOQKYU7JY â Ady Barkan (@Ady Barkan) 1685130002
The Times highlighted the situation in Arkansas, which is led by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sandersâa supporter of Medicaid work requirements and other attacks on the program. (Work requirements were briefly tried in Arkansas in 2018 and 2019, with disastrous consequences.)
"In Arkansas, more than 1.1 million peopleâover a third of the state's residentsâwere on Medicaid at the end of March [2023]," the Times noted Friday. "In April, the first month that states could begin removing people from the program, about 73,000 people lost coverage, including about 27,000 children 17 and under."
An Arkansas law requires the state to complete its Medicaid eligibility reviews in six months instead of 12.
In a Wall Street Journalop-ed earlier this month, Sanders wrote that her state is booting people from Medicaid at "the fastest pace in the nation" and claimed those being removed are "ineligible participants"âignoring evidence that many being stripped of coverage were technically still eligible.
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department has estimated that upwards of 15 million people nationwide could lose Medicaid coverage during the redetermination process.
"This is such an enormous policy failureâprofoundly cruel and will contribute to furthering inequities," Dr. CecĂlia Tomori, a public health scholar at Johns Hopkins University, wrote Friday.
While some who lose Medicaid will be able to access insurance through an employer or the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, KFF found that more than four in ten people with Medicaid as their only source of healthcare "say they wouldn't know where to look for other coverage or would be uninsured" if they were removed from the program.
"This is about to happen to a lot of people," warned Larry Levitt, KFF's executive vice president for health policy.
The Times pointed to the case of 54-year-old Arizona resident Debra Miller, who "lost Medicaid coverage in April after her roughly $25,000 annual salary as a Burger King cook left her ineligible."
"Ms. Miller, a single mother with diabetes and hypothyroidism, worked with an insurance counselor at North Country HealthCare, a network of federally funded health clinics, to enroll in a marketplace plan with a roughly $70 monthly premium," the Times reported.
Miller told the newspaper that the new plan is a "struggle" both because of the new monthly payment and because it doesn't include the vision coverage she needs and now may not be able to afford.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated earlier this week that states' Medicaid eligibility checks will likely leave 6.2 million people without any insurance at all.
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2023.05.28 02:56 Apprehensive_Plum201 I I I prompt
Is this a real podcast?
I'm sorry I wasn't I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'm gonna tell you the truth. When I opened up the first store, I went to Staples and Office Max and all the places you buy back-to-school supplies and I bought them all out of flash drives and I would sell them to people at school. And they're like, "Oh, you're actually doing it, bro. "Like, this is a real deal." So what do you know, I sold out of everything in two weeks. Now what? I have to restock and I'm out of money. And I don't really, I'm like, "I don't really have $100,000 to buy more." So I was like, "Well, okay, I guess I need to go out "and find another investor." I went to a guy who owned a bunch of businesses and I got him to give me a loan for $20,000. So now I had $20,000. I went to a custom packaging company in Los Angeles called AJM Packaging and I said, "Look, I have $20,000 "and this vision to start a video store. "Can you give me a net 90?" And that's like an old business term that I learned years ago that basically means like, we're gonna send you a box of our products, you sell them, and then pay us back in 90 days. So they said, "Sure, we'll give you $20,000 worth of videos." I put together a big press release, and sent it out to like the news stations. (laughs) This was like in the early '90s, okay?
But how did you go from using your LinkedIn to sell a 60-year-old?
No, no, no, no, I didn't sell the videos on LinkedIn. I'm saying I would get orders for $1000, $2000, $3000, $4000, $5000.
So the method was you would identify potential prospects using LinkedIn and just send them an email or message or something.
Yeah, you see on LinkedIn, you'll see, like let's say you have 10 contacts or something like that. It'll say, it'll have in your thing, it'll say they were a third degree connection and you can see what groups they belong to. You can see if you share a lot of similar contacts. So I just email them and say, hey, listen, I've got this promotion. I work at a marketing company and I
think we can help you increase your web presence, grow your business. And people just started signing up and then it went from there.
What was the like, hey, you're not bad at this. Like I should look into this social media thing. (laughs)
Yeah, I mean, when I started my business, I really, I was all over the place. And I'm talking like 2009, like in 2009, I wasn't really doing much more than building social profiles and posting on them and some light engagement. That was really it. But then I realized it's not, just about like, the act of social media. It's not just like creating social media accounts for people. It's about building a brand and being able to reach people and creating an impact and using social media to do that. And so that was the start of that path. And then I just started to get more and more into it. And then I went through the whole like, Facebook page thing, which is a whole other journey. So I did that and then I think it was really 2015, I started investing a lot of money into Facebook ads. And when I first started, I had a lot of success in a very short amount of time. So then I started teaching people how to do that. I launched a product called Fan Page Domination. We did $6 million in sales in the first week, which was amazing. And then from there, my software started taking off. I launched a software called Social Ad Classroom, which was a webinar software for Facebook and YouTube Live. And we had thousands of people buying that at $997. We sold that one for $997. Then I launched Influencer Ignited. So I've got my own Facebook group. I started doing mastermind groups and coaching. I was able to replace my salary with speaking gigs, teaching people on webinars and selling high ticket items. So now we have a software business. I have a team of 11 people that work for me and I have a few other employees for other various things as well. And so all in all, it's been quite the journey to get to this point and it's been a lot of hard work and it's still a lot of hard work. I'm not sure what's gonna happen over the next few years or anything like that, but I'm enjoying the journey, enjoying helping people out. You asked me for a couple of tips and tricks that people can do. And I would say that one of the things that I've found to be really helpful when I'm trying to figure out how to learn something is actually not to jump online and start Googling, but instead to go to YouTube and watch tutorial videos. Because if you're like me and you can see it and hear it, then it clicks a lot better than reading a book. So I started watching YouTube videos. I learned how to code a little bit on YouTube. I learned a little bit of Photoshop on YouTube and a lot of things on YouTube. And then I started this membership, which I learned how to do on YouTube and from other people that were teaching me how to do it. I didn't invent it. I don't own the rights to it. I just started to apply it to a business idea that I had that made sense. And it grew really fast. And then I sold that company last year, December of 2020. And so now I have more free time on my hands. So I started YouTube channel and that's just kind of taken off and I'm really enjoying the podcast because I get to meet great people like you and just share some insights that I've learned along the way. And so yeah, that's kind of been my journey to
this point. That's awesome. So you got the taste of this kind of internet world, digital marketing. You had a passion for technology. You did some internships. You taught yourself some things on YouTube. You created some courses. You've built a big following and now you're monetizing with the podcast, correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, so what does the future hold for you and for your business?
Yeah, so I really want to double down on the podcast. I've been doing a lot of interviews and having a lot of fun with that, but I want to take it to the next level. I'm in the process of planning my next level. That is where it is headed right now.
Awesome. So we talked about a lot of things today. What's one thing that you want to leave the audience with? If they were to take away one thing from our conversation today, what would that be?
This is a little bit of a shift in direction of where we've been talking about, but when we were talking about doing a podcast, you asked me, "Why do you want to do a podcast?" And I said, "Well, I want to impact people. "I want to give people a new perspective on life. "I want people to know that they're not alone "and that other people have gone through some of the same things "and have figured it out "and can share their experiences with others "so they don't feel alone." And that's really what I want people to know about me is that you're not alone in this world. And if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling like, "You know what? "This sucks, this coronavirus, COVID stuff sucks," I want you to know that you're not alone. And there are people out there who've gone through the same thing, are going through the same thing, who can help you navigate through it. So if you're going through a difficult time, you're not alone. Reach out to me, I'm happy to talk to you, but also reach out to the people around you who love you and care about you, and just know that there are people out there who care. And if you're going through a good time and things are going great for you, also reach out to people who are struggling and lend a helping hand and help them out, because we're all in this together, and that's how we're going to get through this and make the world a better place.
That's such a powerful message, and I absolutely agree with you. One of the things I love about you is your positive energy. And that positive energy, I'm sure, resonates in everything that you do. So keep that up. And I guess my next question is, how do you stay so positive? What's your secret sauce?
Well, I just have this deep faith in God, and so I know that everything works out for a reason, and there's a bigger plan, and you know, the person who was the biggest failure is the person that gives up. And so I just refuse to give up, and I think of life, you know, like a marathon. I mean, if you're at mile one and you want to quit, how foolish is that? I mean, you don't know how long the race is, but it's not mile one. And so I look at that as my life. I mean, there's no point in quitting because I'm nowhere near the finish line yet. I got a long way to go, so I've got to keep going, and just having that faith in yourself and knowing that if you stick with it long enough, you'll find a way to succeed.
That's amazing. And
I think that positive mindset, and that persistence is one thing that separates you from other people, but also what you say there about your grandfather, it sounds like he was an amazing person.
He was an incredible person, and his name was Cecil Milton Chester. He died when he was 42 years old. And so I was like nine at the time. And so my son's middle name is Milton. It's a family tradition. So my son's name is Ian Milton Boyle. And I know I got him because my grandpa, he was amazing. He had all these stories and he always had a smile on his face. And I would say, you know, I would say, "How are you doing today, Papa?" And he'd say, "Better, better, better." And it didn't matter how he felt. He always said he was better, better, better. And I thought to myself, you know, that was pretty amazing. This guy could be in the worst possible pain ever, and he would still say he's better. And I thought, you know, I'm going to live my life that way. So I did. I decided I'm going to choose to be better, to have a better attitude, to have a better outlook on life, and always try to see the positive in things. And, you know, it's, it's, it's really helped me in my life. So that's, you know, I would say that's my biggest, my biggest learning. And I also say this, you know, I heard a pastor say this a while ago. He said, you know, a lot of times in life, we're looking for the green light. And, you know, we're trying to make sure everything's perfect. We're waiting for things to be perfect. And he says, well, you know, sometimes it's not about a green light, but it's just, you know, a yellow light. Sometimes you just have to get started. And, you know, you might be scared, but you just have to get started and do the work. And it's just like a very simple way of kind of looking at life. Like if we all wait for, you know, our perfect opportunity, we're never gonna get anything done. So I'm always a big believer in just starting. You know, you've gotta just get started.
That's awesome. That's a great way to finish. So what's your favorite entrepreneur story? Now it doesn't have to be the biggest success, but maybe just an entrepreneur that you love what they're doing or you love their business. So this could be someone, you know, it could be somebody local, it could be somebody big, whoever.
I know.
Your turn.
My turn. So, okay. There's a guy named Jeremy Cowart. You heard of Jeremy Cowart?
Yes.
He's a photographer. He's also one of the most successful photographers in the world. He does amazing portraits. I started following him on Instagram maybe five years ago, maybe six, and I was just like, this guy is amazing. And just watching how he transformed. And now he does hotel, motel design and art and stuff like that. But what he did is he set up like a 30 day series, well a 365 day series of photos. And each day he would do a different type of photography. So like one day he would do just shadows, another day he would do, I don't know, just patterns, whatever. He had all these different ideas. But what he was doing is he was posting his photos on Instagram every single day. So that's something that I wanna start doing as well. I actually start tonight
. And so, just to make myself a better photographer and just to challenge myself to look at things differently. And what's happened is now this guy, he's on YouTube, he does a podcast. And so if I do that every day, I'm also gonna get better at communicating with people and talking to people. So what I've found is this has helped me build my confidence to come on the live and do this because I've practiced a lot. I've done 57 of these now. And so, but it's just the practice. It's just the getting in there and doing it and learning from it. And I found that my guests are really grateful and appreciative for it. They really enjoy it. And they're able to get a taste of me as a speaker before they ever get on a call with me. So, I mean, there's just, it's just so valuable to get started. It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to have everything all together. But it's just the action, the taking the action, you know, and you'll just figure it out along the way. So, those are kind of my tips for people.
Fantastic. Well, we've got some questions from the attendees. So, let's kind of jump into those. I know we're starting to get a little bit short on time. We've got maybe five or 10 minutes left.
Yeah.
So, we'll jump into these. One of the questions that came up is, you know, how long should a course be? And are people willing to watch a long course versus something that's shorter?
You know, we've done it both ways. It really kind of depends. I feel like shorter courses are kind of like the current trend. People want information really quickly. They don't necessarily have a lot of time. They're busy. They're running a business. They've got kids. They've got a lot going on. So, I feel like a lot of people are favoring shorter courses. So, for instance, you know, like a course that's maybe like three to four weeks long. But I do still think that there is a place for longer courses. For instance, you know, with Power Editor, I actually found that people liked the more in-depth 12-week course because they could actually go back, you know, at their own pace and do it. But I would say, you know, 30 days is a great timeframe for a course.
Perfect. And the last question for you is, do you have a favorite Facebook advertising campaign that you've run for yourself or for a client? And if you can share a little bit about the results and why it was your favorite.
Ooh, that's a tough one. There's been so many good campaigns that I've had. I think one of my favorites was working with my husband's business and it was creating a quiz. I actually took my course topic, and we're not gonna talk about what that was, and we turned it into a quiz. And so, with a quiz, what you're able to do is take the top three to five pain points or objections that people have when it comes to purchasing your product or service, and you turn that into a quiz. So, you start the quiz by asking them some questions about their specific problem, what they're going through, what their biggest challenge is, and then you give them three different possible outcomes. And based on their answer, you kind of guide them through the quiz. So, you ask them, "Do you want to work on this problem, "or this problem, or this problem?" And then you can give them a result. And that result is not only valuable to
them because they're getting the solution they're looking for, but it's also very valuable to you because you can start to see what are some of the main reasons people are coming to me, or what are the main objections that they have, and you can take that and then tweak your marketing messaging. And that's a lot of what I did with my program was I would create new ads and I would have a different headline for every different pain point. And then we would run those ads and we would see which ones got the best engagement and then you have that data to go off of and you can say, "Okay, well people are responding better to this messaging or this problem that I can help solve." And then from there you can just dial in your targeting, dial in your messaging, and then that's when you really start to see the massive results. And that's how I was able to turn it into a seven-figure business, which, you know, within the first year and a half was pretty incredible. So that's definitely my favorite strategy. And I still use quizzes to this day. I think they're awesome.
Absolutely. And I really like quizzes. I'm glad you mentioned it because that's one of those things that not a lot of people are using right now, but it can be very effective if you do it right. Like you said, you want to give them a reason to want to engage with it. And by addressing pain points or questions or frustrations, it's a great way to get people to opt into your list as well because they're interested in that topic. So then you can nurture them and build a relationship with them and then make them a customer down the line. So that's a great strategy. Thanks for sharing that. All right, so last question for you. I know you're a super busy guy, but do you have time to listen to podcasts? And if so, are there any that you like to listen to on a regular basis?
I listen to a lot of audio books. I think that's kind of my thing. I've just finished actually an audio book called, "You're Not So Smart." And it's all about the cognitive biases that we have as humans. And it was very fascinating. I was actually thinking about using some of the content to talk about in the next episode of my podcast because I think it would be very helpful for people to hear the different biases that we have. And as humans, we have like 100 different cognitive biases that can really influence our decisions and the way we think about things. And so it was a really good book. So I highly recommend that one. It's called "You're Not So Smart." But yeah, I mean, I love listening to all different kinds of podcasts. I listen to, I don't know, some of the entrepreneurial ones, Amy Porterfield, Brendan Burchard. Sometimes I listen to Joe Rogan. He's not always the best person to listen to, but there are certain episodes that I like. Yeah, I listen to all kinds of podcasts.
Fantastic. You mentioned a few people there that I know of and I've heard some episodes of Joe Rogan. There's some really interesting people that he interviews.
Yeah, yeah.
He's got a great following and he seems like he's really enjoying it.
He does, and that's, I think, why he does it. He just loves to learn from people. So I think that's his main motivation.
Yeah, so is there anything else that you'd like to add before we finish up, Taki? Any other, you know, mistakes or issues that you see people make or things you just want to say before we go?
You know, I think one thing I
would say is that being a good marketer is really about being a good communicator. And it's all about building relationships and connections with people. And the way to do that is to really make sure you're being authentic. You know, there's so much noise on social media and people can spot a fake a mile away. So I think it's just important to be genuine, to be authentic, to show up as yourself and just be a real person. And, you know, people are going to be much more likely to connect with you and resonate with you if you do that.
Yes, it's so true. You know, I think a lot of people try and put up this facade of, you know, that they're perfect and they've got it all together, but people can see right through that. So it's just, it's really refreshing when you meet somebody who's like real and down to earth and just doing their thing. And they're okay with that. So I agree with that for sure. So Megan, where can people go to find you and learn more about your programs?
Yeah, so they can go to Facebook and look me up, Megan Anderson Consulting. My website is meganandersonconsulting.com. They can find me on LinkedIn. I'm on Instagram and Twitter and I'm pretty easy to find. So yeah.
Nice. And then I'll put all those links in the show notes too. But yeah, so definitely follow Megan. She puts out some really great content. So thank you so much for being on the show. It was really great to have you on today.
Thank you so much, Jillian. It was great being here. I really appreciate you inviting me on your show.
Yes, of course. Thank you so much. And I'll talk to you soon.
All right. Sounds good. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye. (upbeat music)
Hey guys, thanks so much for joining me on this episode of the Parent Entrepreneur Success Podcast. I hope you found it super valuable and it's inspired you to take some action to grow your business. If you want to find me on social media, you can find me at Jillian Sedoti at Instagram or jilliansedoti.com. And please, if you like this show, share it with others who you think will benefit and also rate and review so more people can find it. See you next time.
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I'm sorry I wasn't I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'm gonna tell you the truth. When I opened up the first store, I went to Staples and Office Max and all the places you buy back-to-school supplies and I bought them all out of flash drives and I would sell them to people at school. And they're like, "Oh, you're actually doing it, bro. "Like, this is a real deal." So what do you know, I sold out of everything in two weeks. Now what? I have to restock and I'm out of money. And I don't really, I'm like, "I don't really have $100,000 to buy more." So I was like, "Well, okay, I guess I need to go out "and find another investor." I went to a guy who owned a bunch of businesses and I got him to give me a loan for $20,000. So now I had $20,000. I went to a custom packaging company in Los Angeles called AJM Packaging and I said, "Look, I have $20,000 "and this vision to start a video store. "Can you give me a net 90?" And that's like an old business term that I learned years ago that basically means like, we're gonna send you a box of our products, you sell them, and then pay us back in 90 days. So they said, "Sure, we'll give you $20,000 worth of videos." I put together a big press release, and sent it out to like the news stations. (laughs) This was like in the early '90s, okay?
But how did you go from using your LinkedIn to sell a 60-year-old?
No, no, no, no, I didn't sell the videos on LinkedIn. I'm saying I would get orders for $1000, $2000, $3000, $4000, $5000.
So the method was you would identify potential prospects using LinkedIn and just send them an email or message or something.
Yeah, you see on LinkedIn, you'll see, like let's say you have 10 contacts or something like that. It'll say, it'll have in your thing, it'll say they were a third degree connection and you can see what groups they belong to. You can see if you share a lot of similar contacts. So I just email them and say, hey, listen, I've got this promotion. I work at a marketing company and I
think we can help you increase your web presence, grow your business. And people just started signing up and then it went from there.
What was the like, hey, you're not bad at this. Like I should look into this social media thing. (laughs)
Yeah, I mean, when I started my business, I really, I was all over the place. And I'm talking like 2009, like in 2009, I wasn't really doing much more than building social profiles and posting on them and some light engagement. That was really it. But then I realized it's not, just about like, the act of social media. It's not just like creating social media accounts for people. It's about building a brand and being able to reach people and creating an impact and using social media to do that. And so that was the start of that path. And then I just started to get more and more into it. And then I went through the whole like, Facebook page thing, which is a whole other journey. So I did that and then I think it was really 2015, I started investing a lot of money into Facebook ads. And when I first started, I had a lot of success in a very short amount of time. So then I started teaching people how to do that. I launched a product called Fan Page Domination. We did $6 million in sales in the first week, which was amazing. And then from there, my software started taking off. I launched a software called Social Ad Classroom, which was a webinar software for Facebook and YouTube Live. And we had thousands of people buying that at $997. We sold that one for $997. Then I launched Influencer Ignited. So I've got my own Facebook group. I started doing mastermind groups and coaching. I was able to replace my salary with speaking gigs, teaching people on webinars and selling high ticket items. So now we have a software business. I have a team of 11 people that work for me and I have a few other employees for other various things as well. And so all in all, it's been quite the journey to get to this point and it's been a lot of hard work and it's still a lot of hard work. I'm not sure what's gonna happen over the next few years or anything like that, but I'm enjoying the journey, enjoying helping people out. You asked me for a couple of tips and tricks that people can do. And I would say that one of the things that I've found to be really helpful when I'm trying to figure out how to learn something is actually not to jump online and start Googling, but instead to go to YouTube and watch tutorial videos. Because if you're like me and you can see it and hear it, then it clicks a lot better than reading a book. So I started watching YouTube videos. I learned how to code a little bit on YouTube. I learned a little bit of Photoshop on YouTube and a lot of things on YouTube. And then I started this membership, which I learned how to do on YouTube and from other people that were teaching me how to do it. I didn't invent it. I don't own the rights to it. I just started to apply it to a business idea that I had that made sense. And it grew really fast. And then I sold that company last year, December of 2020. And so now I have more free time on my hands. So I started YouTube channel and that's just kind of taken off and I'm really enjoying the podcast because I get to meet great people like you and just share some insights that I've learned along the way. And so yeah, that's kind of been my journey to
this point. That's awesome. So you got the taste of this kind of internet world, digital marketing. You had a passion for technology. You did some internships. You taught yourself some things on YouTube. You created some courses. You've built a big following and now you're monetizing with the podcast, correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, so what does the future hold for you and for your business?
Yeah, so I really want to double down on the podcast. I've been doing a lot of interviews and having a lot of fun with that, but I want to take it to the next level. I'm in the process of planning my next level. That is where it is headed right now.
Awesome. So we talked about a lot of things today. What's one thing that you want to leave the audience with? If they were to take away one thing from our conversation today, what would that be?
This is a little bit of a shift in direction of where we've been talking about, but when we were talking about doing a podcast, you asked me, "Why do you want to do a podcast?" And I said, "Well, I want to impact people. "I want to give people a new perspective on life. "I want people to know that they're not alone "and that other people have gone through some of the same things "and have figured it out "and can share their experiences with others "so they don't feel alone." And that's really what I want people to know about me is that you're not alone in this world. And if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling like, "You know what? "This sucks, this coronavirus, COVID stuff sucks," I want you to know that you're not alone. And there are people out there who've gone through the same thing, are going through the same thing, who can help you navigate through it. So if you're going through a difficult time, you're not alone. Reach out to me, I'm happy to talk to you, but also reach out to the people around you who love you and care about you, and just know that there are people out there who care. And if you're going through a good time and things are going great for you, also reach out to people who are struggling and lend a helping hand and help them out, because we're all in this together, and that's how we're going to get through this and make the world a better place.
That's such a powerful message, and I absolutely agree with you. One of the things I love about you is your positive energy. And that positive energy, I'm sure, resonates in everything that you do. So keep that up. And I guess my next question is, how do you stay so positive? What's your secret sauce?
Well, I just have this deep faith in God, and so I know that everything works out for a reason, and there's a bigger plan, and you know, the person who was the biggest failure is the person that gives up. And so I just refuse to give up, and I think of life, you know, like a marathon. I mean, if you're at mile one and you want to quit, how foolish is that? I mean, you don't know how long the race is, but it's not mile one. And so I look at that as my life. I mean, there's no point in quitting because I'm nowhere near the finish line yet. I got a long way to go, so I've got to keep going, and just having that faith in yourself and knowing that if you stick with it long enough, you'll find a way to succeed.
That's amazing. And
I think that positive mindset, and that persistence is one thing that separates you from other people, but also what you say there about your grandfather, it sounds like he was an amazing person.
He was an incredible person, and his name was Cecil Milton Chester. He died when he was 42 years old. And so I was like nine at the time. And so my son's middle name is Milton. It's a family tradition. So my son's name is Ian Milton Boyle. And I know I got him because my grandpa, he was amazing. He had all these stories and he always had a smile on his face. And I would say, you know, I would say, "How are you doing today, Papa?" And he'd say, "Better, better, better." And it didn't matter how he felt. He always said he was better, better, better. And I thought to myself, you know, that was pretty amazing. This guy could be in the worst possible pain ever, and he would still say he's better. And I thought, you know, I'm going to live my life that way. So I did. I decided I'm going to choose to be better, to have a better attitude, to have a better outlook on life, and always try to see the positive in things. And, you know, it's, it's, it's really helped me in my life. So that's, you know, I would say that's my biggest, my biggest learning. And I also say this, you know, I heard a pastor say this a while ago. He said, you know, a lot of times in life, we're looking for the green light. And, you know, we're trying to make sure everything's perfect. We're waiting for things to be perfect. And he says, well, you know, sometimes it's not about a green light, but it's just, you know, a yellow light. Sometimes you just have to get started. And, you know, you might be scared, but you just have to get started and do the work. And it's just like a very simple way of kind of looking at life. Like if we all wait for, you know, our perfect opportunity, we're never gonna get anything done. So I'm always a big believer in just starting. You know, you've gotta just get started.
That's awesome. That's a great way to finish. So what's your favorite entrepreneur story? Now it doesn't have to be the biggest success, but maybe just an entrepreneur that you love what they're doing or you love their business. So this could be someone, you know, it could be somebody local, it could be somebody big, whoever.
I know.
Your turn.
My turn. So, okay. There's a guy named Jeremy Cowart. You heard of Jeremy Cowart?
Yes.
He's a photographer. He's also one of the most successful photographers in the world. He does amazing portraits. I started following him on Instagram maybe five years ago, maybe six, and I was just like, this guy is amazing. And just watching how he transformed. And now he does hotel, motel design and art and stuff like that. But what he did is he set up like a 30 day series, well a 365 day series of photos. And each day he would do a different type of photography. So like one day he would do just shadows, another day he would do, I don't know, just patterns, whatever. He had all these different ideas. But what he was doing is he was posting his photos on Instagram every single day. So that's something that I wanna start doing as well. I actually start tonight
. And so, just to make myself a better photographer and just to challenge myself to look at things differently. And what's happened is now this guy, he's on YouTube, he does a podcast. And so if I do that every day, I'm also gonna get better at communicating with people and talking to people. So what I've found is this has helped me build my confidence to come on the live and do this because I've practiced a lot. I've done 57 of these now. And so, but it's just the practice. It's just the getting in there and doing it and learning from it. And I found that my guests are really grateful and appreciative for it. They really enjoy it. And they're able to get a taste of me as a speaker before they ever get on a call with me. So, I mean, there's just, it's just so valuable to get started. It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to have everything all together. But it's just the action, the taking the action, you know, and you'll just figure it out along the way. So, those are kind of my tips for people.
Fantastic. Well, we've got some questions from the attendees. So, let's kind of jump into those. I know we're starting to get a little bit short on time. We've got maybe five or 10 minutes left.
Yeah.
So, we'll jump into these. One of the questions that came up is, you know, how long should a course be? And are people willing to watch a long course versus something that's shorter?
You know, we've done it both ways. It really kind of depends. I feel like shorter courses are kind of like the current trend. People want information really quickly. They don't necessarily have a lot of time. They're busy. They're running a business. They've got kids. They've got a lot going on. So, I feel like a lot of people are favoring shorter courses. So, for instance, you know, like a course that's maybe like three to four weeks long. But I do still think that there is a place for longer courses. For instance, you know, with Power Editor, I actually found that people liked the more in-depth 12-week course because they could actually go back, you know, at their own pace and do it. But I would say, you know, 30 days is a great timeframe for a course.
Perfect. And the last question for you is, do you have a favorite Facebook advertising campaign that you've run for yourself or for a client? And if you can share a little bit about the results and why it was your favorite.
Ooh, that's a tough one. There's been so many good campaigns that I've had. I think one of my favorites was working with my husband's business and it was creating a quiz. I actually took my course topic, and we're not gonna talk about what that was, and we turned it into a quiz. And so, with a quiz, what you're able to do is take the top three to five pain points or objections that people have when it comes to purchasing your product or service, and you turn that into a quiz. So, you start the quiz by asking them some questions about their specific problem, what they're going through, what their biggest challenge is, and then you give them three different possible outcomes. And based on their answer, you kind of guide them through the quiz. So, you ask them, "Do you want to work on this problem, "or this problem, or this problem?" And then you can give them a result. And that result is not only valuable to
them because they're getting the solution they're looking for, but it's also very valuable to you because you can start to see what are some of the main reasons people are coming to me, or what are the main objections that they have, and you can take that and then tweak your marketing messaging. And that's a lot of what I did with my program was I would create new ads and I would have a different headline for every different pain point. And then we would run those ads and we would see which ones got the best engagement and then you have that data to go off of and you can say, "Okay, well people are responding better to this messaging or this problem that I can help solve." And then from there you can just dial in your targeting, dial in your messaging, and then that's when you really start to see the massive results. And that's how I was able to turn it into a seven-figure business, which, you know, within the first year and a half was pretty incredible. So that's definitely my favorite strategy. And I still use quizzes to this day. I think they're awesome.
Absolutely. And I really like quizzes. I'm glad you mentioned it because that's one of those things that not a lot of people are using right now, but it can be very effective if you do it right. Like you said, you want to give them a reason to want to engage with it. And by addressing pain points or questions or frustrations, it's a great way to get people to opt into your list as well because they're interested in that topic. So then you can nurture them and build a relationship with them and then make them a customer down the line. So that's a great strategy. Thanks for sharing that. All right, so last question for you. I know you're a super busy guy, but do you have time to listen to podcasts? And if so, are there any that you like to listen to on a regular basis?
I listen to a lot of audio books. I think that's kind of my thing. I've just finished actually an audio book called, "You're Not So Smart." And it's all about the cognitive biases that we have as humans. And it was very fascinating. I was actually thinking about using some of the content to talk about in the next episode of my podcast because I think it would be very helpful for people to hear the different biases that we have. And as humans, we have like 100 different cognitive biases that can really influence our decisions and the way we think about things. And so it was a really good book. So I highly recommend that one. It's called "You're Not So Smart." But yeah, I mean, I love listening to all different kinds of podcasts. I listen to, I don't know, some of the entrepreneurial ones, Amy Porterfield, Brendan Burchard. Sometimes I listen to Joe Rogan. He's not always the best person to listen to, but there are certain episodes that I like. Yeah, I listen to all kinds of podcasts.
Fantastic. You mentioned a few people there that I know of and I've heard some episodes of Joe Rogan. There's some really interesting people that he interviews.
Yeah, yeah.
He's got a great following and he seems like he's really enjoying it.
He does, and that's, I think, why he does it. He just loves to learn from people. So I think that's his main motivation.
Yeah, so is there anything else that you'd like to add before we finish up, Taki? Any other, you know, mistakes or issues that you see people make or things you just want to say before we go?
You know, I think one thing I
would say is that being a good marketer is really about being a good communicator. And it's all about building relationships and connections with people. And the way to do that is to really make sure you're being authentic. You know, there's so much noise on social media and people can spot a fake a mile away. So I think it's just important to be genuine, to be authentic, to show up as yourself and just be a real person. And, you know, people are going to be much more likely to connect with you and resonate with you if you do that.
Yes, it's so true. You know, I think a lot of people try and put up this facade of, you know, that they're perfect and they've got it all together, but people can see right through that. So it's just, it's really refreshing when you meet somebody who's like real and down to earth and just doing their thing. And they're okay with that. So I agree with that for sure. So Megan, where can people go to find you and learn more about your programs?
Yeah, so they can go to Facebook and look me up, Megan Anderson Consulting. My website is meganandersonconsulting.com. They can find me on LinkedIn. I'm on Instagram and Twitter and I'm pretty easy to find. So yeah.
Nice. And then I'll put all those links in the show notes too. But yeah, so definitely follow Megan. She puts out some really great content. So thank you so much for being on the show. It was really great to have you on today.
Thank you so much, Jillian. It was great being here. I really appreciate you inviting me on your show.
Yes, of course. Thank you so much. And I'll talk to you soon.
All right. Sounds good. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye. (upbeat music)
Hey guys, thanks so much for joining me on this episode of the Parent Entrepreneur Success Podcast. I hope you found it super valuable and it's inspired you to take some action to grow your business. If you want to find me on social media, you can find me at Jillian Sedoti at Instagram or jilliansedoti.com. And please, if you like this show, share it with others who you think will benefit and also rate and review so more people can find it. See you next time.