Apologies if there’s a wall of text on mobile. A good friend is going thru a rough time with her husband. Over about eight years, he has acted with extremely immature behavior in several situations: not planning their wedding with her, refusing to engage in childbirth prep classes, leaving her on weekends with the kids while he goes and does whatever he wants without giving her the same opportunity to take breaks. He has repeatedly stonewalled her when she tries to bring up and resolve concerns. He agrees to therapy and then passive aggressively finds an excuse to not do it. He insists that working his job should be enough to keep her happy and gets upset when she doesn’t want to be intimate with him because of his behavior. He complains constantly. For more context, their kids are 2 and 7 and the oldest is a boy who is showing some behavioral issues and a lack of maturity for his age—not surprising given his role model—while the younger, a girl is an absolute gem of a preschooler. My friend discussed divorce with this man a few years back following the birth of their first, and he convinced her he would change. They had a second child and he has not changed his MO. He generally treats her disrespectfully except when he seems to sense she’s extremely unhappy and tries to do better for a day or two before reverting right back. She broke down sobbing with me earlier this week because she just can’t take it anymore. I was shocked because I had no idea how unhappy she was, what was truly happening, or how long this had been breaking her down. Her birthday is coming up and she told me that he forgot it outright last year which really bothered her because she always does something special for his. Apparently he insists on getting his favorite kind of cake for her birthday when he actually does remember it. I also found out he didn’t even get her engagement or wedding presents even though she got thoughtful and expensive ones for him. She is the most wonderful friend, wife and mom and it breaks my heart to see her like this, feeling like it’s her failure and she’s trapped by the commitment she made. She told me that she can’t stand the thought of staying in a relationship where she is so devalued —with her kids seeing that behavior—and though she doesn’t want to disappoint her kids or extended family, she finally feels there are no other options but to somehow figure out how to leave and build a healthier situation for the family. It’s hard because her wonderful extended family is on the opposite side of the country. Opinions and experiences? What can she do? How can I support her?

I have devised a test that will challenge nearly all writers now and hold them to their values as a writer. The purpose of the test is to both allow you, as the writer, to determine what kind of aesthetic you're going for, as well as for us to understand if we can relate to your aesthetic. This part of your writing mentality will determine everything you do as a writer, down to what you write and why. The test is simple, a series of 22 multiple choice questions where you write down your answers on your own, and then once you're done, you scroll down to the next section where each answer is explained.
If you score over 16 answers into a particular category, you are highly likely to be part of that category. Anything further mixed will cause you to instantly be a postmodernist, but in a way where your aesthetic is incoherent rather than beneficial. If there is a question that you don't really believe the answer to, just go with whatever is closest to your thought. Also if you find multiple answers that you believe are correct in a single question, just go with whatever you think is the MOST important.
How accurate is this test exactly? Well, we're going to find out!
​

1. When I am inspired by an older work, I try to:

A. Copy it
B. Subvert it
C. Expand upon it
D. Make it inclusive
​

1. I write to:

A. Entertain
B. Guide others
C. Represent
D. Learn about myself
​

1. Compared to everything else in a story, I think people should be more interested in:

A. Originality
B. The theme
C. Equity
D. Having fun
​

1. My style of writing can closely be compared to:

A. Activism
B. Pulp
C. Exploitation
D. Fables
​

1. When analyzing a story, the correct basepoint is:

A. Author's intent
B. Reader's interpretation
C. Objective symbolism
D. Sensitivity reading
​

1. It's important for my characters to:

A. Present a part of me
B. Represent minorities
C. Have fun
D. Fit an archetype
​

1. The classics of the past are:

A. Superior
B. A good jumping point
C. Something that needs to be subverted
D. Patriarchal, racist, sexist, and homophobic
​

1. I firmly believe that characters:

A. Have a mind of their own
B. Are there to represent real groups of people
C. Are archetypes in a collective unconscious
D. Can be whatever the reader thinks they are
​

1. It is important that my writing:

A. Tells the truth
B. Is creative
C. Gives a voice to minorities, especially BIPOC and LGBT
D. Is open for interpretation
​

1. To understand my work, my readers are intended to be:

A. Anyone, but mostly myself
B. Highly spiritual and simple
C. Fellow advocates of equity and marginalized representation
D. Well versed in art and language
​

1. Traditional forms of writing are to be:

A. Deconstructed
B. Used as a loose guide combined with experimentation
C. Labeled as oppressive and elitist, because they are
D. Closely followed because they work
​

1. My aesthetic:

A. Fits a particular, essential, form
B. Is known to me, but changes with the times
C. Can’t be labeled, and don’t you dare try to
D. Is part of my identity; sexually, racially, and as my gender
​

1. Everything is:

A. Subjective
B. Political
C. Objective
D. Relative
​

1. The theme of my story will:

A. Be determined before I write it
B. Be learned as I go
C. Help the marginalized be seen in a better light
D. Never matter in the scheme of things
​

1. The most important step in my writing is:

A. Sensitivity reading
B. Editing
C. Outlining
D. Act of writing
​

1. Storytelling is most important for representing:

A. Truthful aspects of life
B. Marginalized groups
C. Whatever the reader wants
D. The individual
​

1. Knowledge is gained from:

A. Divinity
B. Lived experience
C. Nothing
D. Pragmatic action
​

1. We can make the world better by focusing on:

A. Whatever you want
B. Scientific advancements
C. Equity
D. The truth
​

1. Genre is there to:

A. Tell the reader exactly what they’re getting into
B. Expand as you create your own
C. Juxtapose to play with
D. Add women, LGBT, and BIPOC to it for inclusivity
​

1. The moral of the story will resonate best with the audience when it’s:

A. Based on evolutionary principles
B. In line with the divine
C. Advocating for equity
D. Open for interpretation
​

1. The future of storytelling needs to:

A. Stop caring about quality
B. Go back to how things were
C. Have more marginalized representation
D. Experiment more for originality
​

1. The first thing to mention from a character, before anything else, is/are:

A. Their race, gender, and sexual orientation
B. A theme that ties to their purpose in the story
C. Descriptions that let us know who the character is
D. Whatever the writer wants

Answer Key and Explanation

There you go, test is over. How did you do? Are you still sweating? Just like in those nightmares where you are tested on something and you didn't study, huh? Well, the hard part is done and now we get to see the results. In the words of Filmbrain, I'm so excited.

Question 1

A. Pre-modernist
B. Postmodernist
C. Modernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how you view works that helped you get to where you are now as a writer. Where most people will make an homage to their inspirations, the postmodernist and the woke will try to use that inspiration to create their own content that is a rejection of the past. Pre-modernists don’t dare to change something that works because if it isn’t broken then there’s no reason to fix it. The modernist will find something broken and try to enhance it, usually with a dialectic(synthesize two ends to make a different idea from the base component), but they will still respect the past and things that work.

Question 2

A. postmodernist
B. pre-modernist
C. woke
D. modernist
This question goes over why they would write in the first place, meaning the purpose of their writing. This question of telos reveals one of the most vulnerable areas of a writer, because learning why you want to even begin writing might spoil the fun of it for the postmodernist and also the modernist. The pre-modernist and woke will appear more preachy and confident with this answer, but they will have entirely different intentions since the pre-modernist wants to stick to a truth and the woke wants to stick to a narrative. The difference is that the woke advocate while the pre-modernist accepts and teaches. The modernist can be seen as selfish for trying to understand themselves through an author’s journey, but the postmodernist is the most selfish with this one due to their personal conceptualization of the word “entertainment”.

Question 3

A. Modernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what the entire story is based around, meaning the intended reason a reader would even bother partaking in interacting with the work. A key word for the woke is the word “equity”, meaning they want equal outcome, no matter what. This goes into media where the goal of woke media is to simply have a big name title include a person that happens to be with a group they feel is marginalized, meaning socially excluded or of minor importance. The postmodernist and modernist don't care about any of this, which is why they will appear similar, but the difference is that the modernist cares about originality like no other, especially at the cost of relatability. The pre-modernist will care about the theme because a good message causes a good argument to be had from your work, which is how a pre-modernist interacts with their readers.

Question 4

A. Woke
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over style, which causes the writer to relate themselves to others and their inspirations. The woke is a political activist, so activism is always on their mind, and in their work, even when they claim it’s not. The modernist and pre-modernist appear similar in this department, but the key difference is that the pre-modernist will write easily repeatable stories that dwindle down into idioms over time(ex. The tortoise and the hare), while the modernist will draw out a story to have many adventures involving one single character. This question will also cause the postmodernist to become defensive because for some reason they are always insulted by the idea of their style being called “exploitation”, even though the goal of it is to exploit and contain sensationalism.

Question 5

A. Modernist
B. Postmodernist
C. Pre-modernist
D. Woke
This Question goes over what a writer uses to determine the most valid interpretation, which is now a hot topic due to people unable to agree. This is due to different mentalities determining who has the correct basepoint, and this is another area where the postmodernist and woke merge. The author is most important to the modernist because it is an individualistic position to hold and the individual author is meant to know the most about their writing, since it came from their mind. However, the pre-modernist believes that there’s something beyond the personal interpretation that is correct, so their goal is to get closer to that objective position to increase their cogency and relatability.

Question 6

A. Modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over what the characters are standing for in a story. It may have caused the woke to think they are modernist, because self representation and marginalized representation are similar when the author believes they are marginalized. However this is different because the modernist form allows non-marginalized people to still represent themselves, which is why classic works have a lot of elitism from the 1800s and 1900s. Postmodernists will focus on playfulness. The pre-modernist will want their story to represent larger aspects of the human experience, as well as the things that go beyond human, such as the divine.

Question 7

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how the writer views the things people say they like and have liked for generations. When something goes beyond a trend, it presents itself as tried and true, with the postmodernists and woke determining that these things must be destroyed. Subversion is an attempt to change something entirely to then have people focus on the change, very much like a sex change. This is why the postmodernist and woke answer will appear similar, but so would the modernist answer. The difference is that the modernist answer will still show respect to the classics, just that the modernist will expand upon it, usually in a pulp form that has a single protagonist engage with a collection of multiple adventures from prior, like how sitcoms share a catalog of episode types.

Question 8

A. Modernist
B. Woke
C. Pre-modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what a character is as a form of symbolism and representation. This is where the woke and pre-modernist seem similar in their answer, but the big difference is that the pre-modernist is far more open on how something is symbolically relevant. The postmodernist will throw all of the responsibility onto the reader, whether it's due to a sort of nihilism or the absence of integrity. Modernist writers like to claim their characters are "alive", which is a first step into demanding realism that isn't really realistic.

Question 9

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over what the writer puts in a hierarchy of dependency and focus, which then translates into their reasoning for why they write in the first place. The pre-modernist is the only one who will try to tell the truth in this aspect, because there is a focus on truth and objectivity. The modernist can easily set that aside in order to be creative, but will see creativity as truth, which might make their answers seem similar. This question also is where the postmodernists split away from woke, because the postmodernist will leave it to the reader, while the woke demands the reader to listen to the author’s intent.

Question 10

A. Postmodernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Modernist
This question goes over the requirements a reader must meet in order to enjoy a woke, which is a barrier, not a bridge. The postmodernist doesn’t believe in a barrier, so they will believe anyone will love their work, but the work is written to themselves, for themselves, by themselves. The woke only intends to appeal to fellow allies, meaning a political barrier is created, and intentionally created. The modernist will create a sort of “elitist” barrier, which relates to the hipster movement. Pre-modernists intend on making their works accessible to anyone, since most of these works were intended to have word of mouth(memes) transfer the ideas between groups and cultures, making it the most approachable.

Question 11

A. Postmodernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over how the writer views the past, which is another question about how they treat homage and works around them. The postmodernist firmly demands deconstruction of the past because the past is there to mess with rather than respect. Modernists seem similar in their way of changing things, but they will still respect the past and instead use experimentation, which is to retain the bulk of an idea and add a few things to see what happens, like a spice being added to a dish. The woke will determine the past is offensive and this is why they want already established IPs to be changed, as well as the previous installments to be hidden from the masses.

Question 12

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Postmodernist
D. Woke
This question goes over how a writer views themselves. The postmodernist is highly allergic to labels, because the label presents an objective idea, where they demand everything to be subjective. This is where the woke completely contradicts the postmodernist, because the label is to be the most important thing possible to the woke, but only as self-identity, making it the most selfish of the choices. Modernists are confident in who they are, but they are easily changed, especially if they believe in a dialectic. The pre-modernist and modernist can both believe in an essential form, but modernists change with time which is why trends are constantly changing, due to the “originality” factor.

Question 13

A. Postmodernist
B. Woke
C. Pre-modernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over ontology, the nature of being. The second someone believes everything is a particular thing, they will apply that particular thing to their work. This is why woke people now say “everything is political” and then apply their politics to the work. The postmodernist is allergic to this idea, because they don’t like the label of political, so this is where the postmodernist will try to blend in with the other two. Pre-modernists will apply an objective idea to their works, which brings up their idea of truth, which brings in form, which reduces originality. This is where the relativity of the modernist will try to fill in the gap, by focusing on “originality” to counter the pre-modernist.

Question 14

A. Pre-modernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over the message of a story, which relates to the telos(purpose) of a work. The woke will focus on political messaging and advocacy, with their advocacy focusing on making the groups they like feel better about themselves. The postmodernist doesn’t really care about the theme, because the message will be determined by the reader, so they don’t put a focus on that, which eventually hinders their works and prevents them from being deep. The modernist is focused on self discovery, which includes what they are saying with a work, and this is part of stream of consciousness. The pre-modernist and woke will appear similar with this answer, but the main difference is that the pre-modernist doesn’t make political or group advocacy and is higher resolution than that, which is where a lot of religious and spiritual aspects come in.

Question 15

A. Woke
B. Modernist
C. Pre-modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over how a writer views the process, which relates to telos(purpose). The answer for pre-modernists results in outlining since the outline of a story matters more when you’re making sure your story both makes sense and gives a proper theme. The modernist usually gets confused between the act of writing and editing, which will make it hard for them to answer this one, but the postmodernist doesn’t care about editing since a lot of it is meant to look haggard anyway. Editing is usually related to dialectic thinking, because you take a base component and try to enhance it. The woke are the only ones who peddle sensitivity reading, because they aren’t looking for a truth, but rather something that prevents offending the groups they cater to. Although, this is a question the woke will tend to lie about because sensitivity reading isn’t as popular as they hoped it would be.

Question 16

A. Pre-modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over how a writer views their own writing in how things are symbolically represented. Part of it is symbolism and the other part is how they view the audience. Postmodernists don’t care, making them the outcasts of this question. A woke writer will confuse truth with their advocacy, depending on how sure of themselves they are, but they tend to catch themselves once they see the more specific choice, even though they will say the opposite in public. Modernists like to focus on the individual, because they view everyone as an island, which relates to this special snowflake idea that sparked with hipsters. Postmodernists can be confused for modernists with this aspect, due to that slight merge under the hipster mentality.

Question 17

A. Pre-modernist
B. Woke
C. Postmodernist
D. Modernist
This question goes over epistemology, the theory of how we gain our knowledge, with knowledge relating to what the author knows and what the reader knows. The postmodernist will try to throw all of the weight onto culture(social constructs), which is why they focus so much on mixing and appropriating media. The woke will convince people that a “lived experience” is the most important thing, which is how they convince others that only a black writer can write a black character, or only a gay writer can be trusted with gay characters. Although the woke now will contradict themselves to blend in with the postmodernist, which is where they can get confused. The modernist demands for things to be practiced, which can confuse them for a pre-modernist, since pre-modernism is about things that are tried and true. The difference is that modernists will expand their concept of knowledge to things that are practiced as an individual, which can cause forms of exclusivity and remove the essentialism that pre-modernists hold.

Question 18

A. Postmodernist
B. Modernist
C. Woke
D. Pre-modernist
This question goes over advocacy and demands for the market. The pre-modernist will sometimes be confused for a modernist here because the modernist will determine science as truth, even though science is limited and always changing(this ties back to relativism). The postmodernist is excluded from the rest as the only one placing all the burden on the individual(again), but here it is where they claim everyone is an island, which is maybe the only thing modernists and postmodernists agree with, when convenient. The difference is that modernists have faith in science while the postmodernist doesn’t, due to their hyper-subjectivity. This is how, for example, a postmodernist can believe in flat earth and a modernist doesn’t, even if both are praising individualism.

Question 19

A. Pre-modernist
B. modernist
C. postmodernist
D. woke
This question goes into aesthetics, specifically how the writer feels about the way we tell readers what’s in the book. The woke will add things to a genre that speaks to the groups they want to uplift, such as afro futurism and LGBT fantasy. This is where a pre-modernist and woke writer will get mixed, but the key difference is that pre-modernists still retain the definition of the genre and the woke will follow the postmodernist concept of stretching and subverting to be an interloper of a genre. Meanwhile, the modernist will take genres and combine them to expand upon them, like how modernist filmmakers combined German expressionism, crime dramas, and poetic realism to make noir.

Question 20

A. Modernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. postmodernist
This question goes over the ethics of a work, in how writers view the ethics of their readers(aka sympathy). This is the most important for the pre-modernist and the woke, but for different reasons. The woke demands for their readers to follow the same political narrative while the pre-modernist demands for the reader to be open for spirituality and religious meaning. In a way, the secular choices are postmodernist and modernist, but the modernist goes for a scientific approach while the postmodernist throws all of the burden on the reader(again).

Question 21

A. Postmodernist
B. Pre-modernist
C. Woke
D. Modernist
This question goes over the writer’s path and goal for following generations. Whichever one the majority follows will cause the trend to go along with it, which is what is later called a movement. Pre-modernists beg for a renaissance, a return to the classics, while the modernist doesn’t mind going further into new territory as long as they find it creative. The postmodernist doesn’t care about much, because they demand the highest quality to be on par with the lowest, which leaves the door open for any advocacy, which right now is the woke. The woke don’t care what the future holds in the same way the postmodernist does, but the one thing the woke add to it is the need for representation of groups they want in the media.

Question 22

A. Woke
B. Pre-modernist
C. Modernist
D. Postmodernist
This question goes over how the writer views their characters in the way they want the reader to view them as well. This is a priority of aesthetics, with the postmodernist throwing all of the aesthetic burden on the reader(again). Modernists demand the character to be very visual and “realistic” to where they can be seen as a real person, because the modernist views their character as “living” and “with a mind of their own”. The woke only cares about what group gets represented by a character, with anything else up for interpretation, which is where they merge with the postmodernist. The pre-modernist will focus mainly on themes and symbolism to have their characters make sense, which falls back to the idea of form and essentialism.

Conclusion

This test is to be used by anyone trying to figure out who they are and what kind of readers they will appeal to. Feel free to share it around, ask questions from it, expand upon it. Hell, make up your own test that is way better than this one. Again, I’m positive that if someone refuses to take the test, they are woke or postmodernist. Woke if they are too offended to take it and postmodernist if they are afraid of being labeled. I find that weird since the modernist proudly wears the badge with honor, the pre-modernist is happy to finally realize there is a label for them, but the postmodernist and woke are afraid of being found out about their intentions, as if their intentions are a bad thing when revealed.
To me, that is rather sinister, which is why the woke and the postmodernists are causing trouble in basically every forum, server, group, stream, wherever you interact with them. This wasn’t always the case. Before the postmodernists just wanted to have fun, but now they are dedicated to making sure others follow their agenda, and only their agenda, which is why postmodernists easily get mixed with the woke. There must be another name for that type of person, which isn’t woke but more like one who is egotistical to where they think it’s their way or the highway, even though they think everything is subjective. Woke is a branch of postmodernism, for sure, but the postmodernist is not supposed to take their subjectivity as objectivity, which seems to have started happening thanks to the critical theories that sparked wokeness to spread in the late 2010s.
Feel free to ask questions, let me know what you got as a score, suggest any further questions or fixes to the current ones. Remember, if you score over 16 on any category, you’re certainly of that mentality. I am also considering having it where if you score 1 on any woke question, then that means you’re instantly woke. So if you score 1 on woke but end up in another category, let me know as well to see how likely that is.
Next test I’m working on will go over your knowledge of writing, which will be 56 questions long with both multiple choice and written answers that will challenge writers on how worthy they are of being called good. I would like to have this one as a test to tell who knows what they’re doing and who doesn’t, with the questions going over:

1. Marketing
2. Theme
3. Narrative
4. Tone

I believe these 4 categories are what determine how willing a writer is to both sell a book and relate to the reader. If they get something like 80% or above, they know their stuff enough, but anything below that and they are unaware of how to sell something a person will buy.

Hi Carats 💎
I always found it interesting and very helpful reading about other people’s experiences seeing SVT live. I was super lucky to get to see our boys in Tokyo / Japan for their LOVE Fan Meeting (May 27)! I am an international Carat, European to be precise - and as Hybe keeps ignoring our continent I had to go all in to see our boys (I was lucky to see them in Chicago for BeTS last year as well)🥺 I’ll share my personal experiences and how I managed to get tickets to a Japanese show - upfront: it wasn’t easy and hella expensive!
The following text will be super detailed (and quite personal - as I texted this to my friends as well) so just jump to whatever section you find interesting 😊 disclaimer: this all is my personal subjective view, other people might have had other experiences.
Be aware there will be spoilers ahead (e.g. setlist, outfits, games) for the final LOVE show in Tokyo today!

Short summary

• Most memorable: Fallin Flower, Mingyus voice in FML, SoonHoon ship and insane organisation in Japan
• Favorite performance (forever and ever): a thousand times Fallin Flower
• Unexpectedly seen a lot: Handsome Wonwoo
• Unexpectedly energetic: Vernon being a hype ball Songs that hit different live: My My, FML and Campfire

Only regretful things (this is me whining for no reason 🥲): Coups being out sick (get well soon leader, we missed you - but the boys covered you well ♥️), no never-ending encore song, no Super performances (but little dance challenges) and although I had an amazing view of the full stage from the upper tiers the boys were still little and hard to distinguish. I once even mixed up Woozi and Mingyu - only Dino was easy spotable with his pink head 😂 and oh… I forgot that they would sing Japanese versions of their song!

Members

S.Coups: I missed him so much! And I didn’t understand a word but I think Jeonghan said something about filling up the empty spot - cause everyone started cheering 😂 at the game section every member had a pillar that they had to fill up with hearts by winning games and it was so cute seeing Coups had all hearts right away!
Jeonghan: his hair is so curly and he really is part of the iron deficiency line - he was teamed up with Vernon, and oh boy, this guy was on fire 😂 Jeonghan was his cute usual, I’m not sure if he gave Carats sweets again for the encore but I saw him carrying around a bag!
Joshua: he was the usual cheeky, gentle sexy!! Manifesting SeokSoon as one of the funniest pairs - they were paired up for the games and just showed again that they’re hilarious together! 💯 Shua was cheeky and cheating while playing games and charming while talking to the MC! I mentioned they collected hearts to win the games - and every time the MC counted the numner of hearts, Shua popped up in front of the MC forming a heart over his head to be counted as heart as well 😂
Jun: gosh - he’s so handsome I can’t take it! 😖 And just as I perceived him in Chicago, he proved again that he’s my concert bias wrecker and he loves fooling around with Carats. Always doing hearts, winking, waving to us! He also danced a bit of limbo cause one challenge was a limbo game! 🔥 He paired up with Mingyu for the games - my personal visual death! When he changed to his 2nd outfit (the low cut silky black shirt with black pants) I nearly fainted! And he did the Cat move that Jeonghan teaches him, it was so cute 🐱 he truly is the cutest cat boyyyy
Hoshi: our tiger, our prince, our pure hypeness! Of course his introduction lasted 20 minutes again 🐯 loved his vocals in _World, Fighting was so fun and he truly is the biggest Woozidan! I’ll talk about the games section later but that was so much fun, the variety god really does Carats well 😂 besides: the way he looked into the crowed, soaking in the atmosphere and realizing that they made it into Tokyo Dome for a fanmeeting (!) - you can truly see the stars in his eyes!
Wonwoo: he is just so handsome! He was paired up with Boo for the games and they were so cute and fun together 🥹 he was in the spotlight a lot - I can’t even pinpoint a certain memory. It was just lovely seeing him!
Woozi: dudeee, he is so hot with that dark eye make up and the wet long hair! 🔥 he was paired up with Hoshi and he hated it hahahah I love how you can see, how much he loves and lives each of their songs. He sings every line with all his heart.
THE8: His hair looks great with the mullet and bright streaks in the front. He was paired up with Dino and in one game they pulled a dinosaur figure and he played around with the toy, making it sit on Dinos shoulder and biting him 🦕
Mingyu: he looked really young, the hair and face/make up make him look like his version of 2019? Boy is SO aware of the camera, it’s insane… every other minute he is looking into one camera, running towards another camera, sending kisses, winking… 😂 And of course the members teased him again and asked him to do the sexy version of that one challenge they’re all into right now! And his vocals in the beginning of FML - right after Coups intro? I got damn chills and teary eyes. He is one of the members, that I personally underestimated the most regarding vocals and rap but he is stunning live - he truly is not just a pretty face but the full package ♥️
DK: our sunshine! All of them did this challenge which sounds like a children’s song? - and DK did nothing special just his beautiful, gorgeous wide smile and wholesome eye smile and radiated pure happy sunshine and every Carat just melted - he always lighten up the place ☀️ his vocals in Campfire are insane, this boy is amazing - I can’t even put in words!
Seungkwan: uri lovely, handsome, beautiful, funny, witty, variety king BOO! He’s just so funny, he knows exactly what to do to make Carats laugh 😂 I love him so much and I hope then world treats him better and better every day.
Vernon: I’m not sure if I like the black short hair, but he looks amazing nonetheless. He was soooo hyped when playing games! 🔥 Especially paired up with Jeonghan, his hyung had no chance. Vernon was always running towards the games on the extended stages, but had to wait for Jeonghan to play, but that boy walked sooo slowly hahaha Vernons raps and vocals are so raw - it’s incredible how real this boy is! 💯 and ofc seeing him rapping in Fighting - my life is complete!
Dino: our pink Maknae! The hair is so crispy - I’m wondering why it doesn’t break and falls off. And he turned into Usain Bolt at the end! ⚡️ when they said their goodbyes, some members just went back to the main stage, sitting down - others went to each extend stage and waved to us. But Dino took it to the next level and was just running from one side to the other endlessly♥️

Performances

It was truly a fan meeting with lesser performances and more focus on games and the members themselves!
No Super stage… but it didn’t fit the vibe anyway. This was all flower boys Seventeen 🌸
They had 3 outfit changes, started with blue/white jeans, switching over to hoooot all-black black satin/lace shirts and jackets UGH I barely survived. Juns and DKs shirt was sooo low cut and Boos inner shirt was lace 🔥 and then the merch clothes as encore outfit!
My My was soo lovely! The Caratbongs were synced and for Bout You it was a lovely ocean of rose quartz/pink/lavendel light.
FML made me tear up and then they sealed the deal with Fallin Flower right after!! Woah, absolutely stunning and gorgeous 🥹 I couldn’t even see the members clearly as they performed on the main stage (not the extended one) and wore the dark outfit, plus the stage lights were pointing towards the crowd 😖 but nonetheless - I can now die in peace.
I really got teary eyes at that stage as it’s one of my absolute fav Kpop song and the most anticipated performance ever - and during the song I just continuously shaked my head in awe. I realized once again that (… Hoshis voice please hahaha) J and K Carats are soooo lucky to be able to experience this absolute master piece in real life. ♥️
All the other songs were just perfect choices of sweet SVT music (World, Oh My, All My Love and Campfire or a bit more energetic like Run To You and Fighting). Loved the setlist!

Games

I have to tell this part in all it’s lengthiness and amazingness!
So it started with solo games first. They had to answer questions with A or B and the other members could bet if they’ll be right or wrong. Every right answer gave them hearts. ♥️ the absolute highlight: the questions (mostly around GoSe) and member order is random, I believe, and Wonwoo happen to got asked what his famous word from the Insomnia GoSe was - and variety god must love us cause I freaking heard TASTY live 👅 I - and around 55k other Carats - are the luckiest people alive!!
The top 3 winner after these 12 questions got to chose the member they’ll pair up for the duo games first! For selecting there was a pot with random pickets of all members in it and Boo started and picked two out of fun, not looking at them, teasing Carats and members by playing around with his eyes closed which one he should take and blindly chose Wonwoo 😎
Then it was Juns turn and Mingyu was behind him acting all cute for the cameras while Jun draw the picket - and it happen to be Mingyu 🤞 destiny!
And then was Woozi and 55k Carats screamed “Hoshi Hoshi Hoshi” and I realized, holy shit, shipping is BIG in Japan. And then… omg… Woozi also pulled out two just for fun and he turned the faces towards the crowd and you wouldn’t believe it HE PULLED HOSHI AND HIMSELF?! like WHAT THE HELL. Whats the chance of this happening? Him picking two for fun, everyone screaming Hoshi and then he didn’t pull Hoshi next to another member but NEXT TO HIMSELF🤩 brave carats filmed and uploaded it
Remaining pairings: Funniest duo - DK Shua Hype vs non hype - Vernon Shua And Dino Minghao last, they called themselves “THE-D” (you know how the pronunciation sounds the same hahha) 😂
Trying to keep it short but there were 3 extended stages, each of them with a different game (they had to find hidden hearts - which were either hidden in balloons, wrapped gift boxes or locked cases. They had to break those cases/boxes open and find the hearts)
And it was always 3 teams against each other and DK/Shua chose first and ofc they made it fun, Shua (I think) covered DKs eye with his hand and pointed his finger in one direction (meaning to one of the extended stage with a certain game) and asked “this one?” until DK said yes.
And Hoshi Woozi were second and did the same and holy shit the crowd went feral when Hoshi covered Woozis eyes with his hand 😂 and then he pointed in one direction and as Woozi said yes the whole crowd collapsed. Cause Woozi accidentally chose the game where the members have to burst a balloon in between them 😂 he hated it so much!
Actually after the last round SoonHoon were on the last place, therefore they got an extra game and won the chance to steal points from other members. They ripped Shua apart and took all his points making them the overall winners. 😂 And they got crowned as LOVE KINGS - Hoshi living his dream! And after a lot of unwillingness Woozi completed Hoshis hand heart and the crowd went crazy again!!!
The games section was sooo fun and holy shit I didn’t know where to look, there was just SO MUCH GOING ON! I was so thankful the games were self explanatory and no language skills needed! 💯 The MC was lovely (I believe it’s the one accompanying them since their debut in Japan!) and soo humble. While they were playing games and seated on the extended stage he just sat on the floor instead of grabbing a chair. So cute 🤩

Ticketing

It’s probably well known that it’s nearly impossible for foreigners to get tickets to a Japanese concert, as it requires a Japanese address and phone number. So after checking some websites I decided to try out several proxies and only got a positive reply from this one: Tickets Galore. Filling up the form is the easy part and they replied to me within a day.
I started requesting ticket support right after LOVE was announced end of February and only got confirmation at midnight the day of the concert and got the physical ticket 2h before the show started. Midway through I already gave up several times😭
My proxy was not able to get tickets for the Lawson lottery (not a fanclub lottery but of the ticket provider which is open to public) and also not for general sales. 😭
At 8pm the day before the show they released seats with restricted view for general public but again she didn’t manage to get a ticket for me. In the end they texted me at midnight saying she found a reseller who would meet up before the concert and that’s how I got the ticket for a seat in the restricted view area.
Things to consider:

1. time zone differences and email communication only was tricky as sometimes I/her missed a mail or replied hours too late
   
2. resale fanclub tickets were available in a lot of cases but ID check is guaranteed so no chance of getting in
   
3. trusting in the reseller to be legit and hoping for no random ID check of general seats (organizer announced to check ALL fanclub seats and random general seats)
   
4. paying more and more fees for the additional effort the proxy put it 💸
   
5. uncertainty about the ticket handover (for me the reseller told the proxy where and when to meet and what they would be wearing, luckily I was wearing something bright yellow and the reseller recognized me)
   
6. lots of back and forth mails asking about updates, available tickets for higher prices, etc. - my inbox is full of her mails. ✉️
   
7. You can request a maximum budget or preferred seats with the proxy and they’ll let you know what the market offers
   

But personally all was more than worth it in the end!! Original price of the ticket was around 12.000¥ and I paid around 51.000¥ incl fees (I assume I end up at around 10.000¥ in fees for the proxy - as it was not super clear how much the ticket price was in the end).
Experience with Ticket Galore: very responsive, a bit intransparent about the actual fees and sometimes doesn’t reply to all the questions. But still highly recommendable!
——-
Thanks for reading ♥️ I'll probably come back later and add links if I come across videos or tweets. If you have any questions or just want to share your thoughts or own experience feel free to share. Horanghae!! 🐯

In Part Four, the comeback tour of rockstar Hiroshi Tanahashi was cut brutally short at the hands of the Leader of the New School, Zack Sabre Jr., who embarked on a quest to prove himself New Japan's most valuable gaijin. After beating back Will Ospreay for Royal Quest, he ran into another familiar face in Minoru Suzuki, almost clobbering him into retirement until Naomichi Marufuji made the save. Ending his saga with Just6Guys with a win over Maru, he placed a bow on the long-standing Blackpool Combat Club rivalry by besting Jon Moxley, cementing Sabre-Gun as New Japan's undisputed leaders... That is, without taking Los Ingobernables de Japon into account.
Since becoming one again, LIJ’s been on a tear through NJPW’s ranks this year in spite of Shingo Takagi dropping the belt and PAC losing the New Japan Cup Finals to the current World Champion. IWGP United States, IWGP Tag Team (Death Triangle have become LIJ affiliates through PAC), and NJPW World Television Championships in their grasps, they seek to round out the group by all holding titles simultaneously. But that begs the question – who’ll be going after the World Title? Though Shingo’s battle ready, he insists Tetsuya Naito take it this time, the Stardust Genius having worked his back off to rebound from Wrestle Kingdom. Failing every attempt in the past 3 years though, the question remains whether he can truly pull it off this time, or if it’s just not meant to be.
Kizuna Road - Night Four (July 1, 2024)
Sabre-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & El Phantasmo) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & PAC)
With Naito confirmed as Sabre’s #1 Contender for Wrestle Dynasty, SG and LIJ have themselves a scaled-down rematch from New Year’s Dash, Zack picking his trusty right-hand man ELP, and Tetsuya bringing the US Champion, knowing PAC has unresolved issues with ZSJ from the NJC. Though it drives the Bastard to work doubly-hard, especially considering how it’ll look if he pins the World Champion, it also makes their teamwork suffer, PAC becoming self-absorbed in getting the pin. Backfiring, a Sudden Death from Phantasmo knocks his lights out, SG getting their win back from NYD and putting the challenger on the backfoot heading into Madison Square Garden!
Sabre-Gun def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (16:12)
PAC appears distraught after the match, but Naito simply tells him ‘tranquilo’, not taking it personally. Though he’d hoped to use this match to get into ZSJ’s head, it appears he’ll just have to do that himself, like he’s always done.
Wrestle Dynasty (July 14, 2024)
Also on the show:
Shota Umino (c) vs El Desperado - NEVER Openweight Championship
Just6Guys (SANADA, Taichi, Ryohei Oiwa) (c) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Titan) - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs Kyle Fletcher - NJPW World Television Championship
PAC (c) vs El Phantasmo - IWGP United States Championship
The Lucha Brothers (c) vs Meiyu Tag - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Tetsuya Naito XI - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
In what’s been a very successful night for LIJ thus far, clean-sweeping their way through the competition, it all rests on Naito’s shoulders now to bring it home. Perhaps the most unreliable man to slot in this spot, and yet, the most beloved, MSG fully invested in Tetsuya’s chase, either the grandest of celebrations or coldest of heartbreaks will end the night! Naito keeps his cool, emanating his usual larger-than-life aura as he walks out in a pristine crimson suit, paying homage to Shingo, whilst Sabre’s cockier than ever with his recent streak of huge wins, knowing he has Tetsuya doubting himself after their tag. As he hands his title over, the two come face-to-face, SABRE SPITTING GUM INTO NAITO’S FACE, but Tetsuya doesn’t let ZSJ’s tactics faze him, having come too far for too long to let mind games be his downfall.
Circling each other, Zack lunges for a lock-up but Naito walks past, smirking and stretching in the opposite corner. Sabre rolls his eyes as Tetsuya turns around and tells him ‘tranquilo’, before going for it again… Zack snatching the headlock this time as Naito tries to repeat, but Tetsuya instantly whips him to the corner, teasing the COMBINACION CABRON as ZSJ braces himself… Naito stops in front of him and does the ‘Abre los Ojos’ taunt!
Furious, Sabre piefaces him, NAITO RETURNING A FOREARM, AND WE’RE OFF! Trading strikes, Zack rocks Tetsuya with European Uppercuts, Naito returning forearms, before a Japanese Arm Drag stops Zack in his tracks! Naito goes for another, but Zack hooks onto Tetsuya’s legs, tripping him up and contorting the foot! Tetsuya boots him off with the other, a Neckbreaker and a Somersault Senton connecting, though Sabre absorbs the latter, trapping Naito’s arm onto the mat to STOMP THE HAND!
Picking him back up, he cracks Naito with chops, before whipping him at the ropes, Naito hitting off them one after the other to build momentum, teasing the Flying Forearm Zack’s expecting… only to roll into the Tranquilo pose! ZACK MEETS HIM WITH A NECK TWIST!!! Tetsuya scrambling to the corner, Sabre steps on his throat against the ropes, BEFORE SLAPPING HIM! NAITO SPITS IN ZACK’S FACE!!! A harsh uppercut knocks Tetsuya back, a Running European following and a PENALTY KICK! Naito dodges and nails the FLYING FOREARM SMASH!
Teasing the Tornado DDT, it’s cancelled by an Enzuigiri, Zack leaping for the KIMURA- NAITO COUNTERS INTO VALENTIA!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!! Sending Sabre into the corner, the COMBINACION CABRON CONNECTS! AND A MISSILE DROPKICK! Naito teases the DRAGON SUPLEX, but Sabre flips through and STOMPS HIS ELBOW! SNAP GERMAN ON THE NECK FROM SABRE!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NO DICE! Naito woozy, his head’s only further knocked around by a ROLLING ELBOW! A CORNER HIGH KNEE connects, before a Hammerlock Suplex floats into a TESCO MEAL DEAL!!!
Naito’s hand flails about the mat as Sabre keeps him grounded, no Valentia escape this time, forcing Tetsuya to work the old-fashioned way to the ropes! MSG backing the Stardust Genius, after much deliberation he gets a foot on the ropes! But Zack’s right back on him, going for a NORTHERN LIGHTS SUPLEX- NAITO STANDS HIM UP WITH A SNAP DDT! An EVOLUCION’S shut down though, Sabre hitting the brakes to nail the ARM PELE! Fishing the arm, Zack tries to float into a FLYING ARTICLE 50- NAITO STUFFS HIM WITH A GLORIA!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE SURVIVES!!!
Rallying momentum, Tetsuya nails the TORNADO DDT! Sabre nursing the head, a DRAGON SUPLEX FOLLOWS!!! In the drop zone, Naito tests the waters for a RUNNING DESTINO- SABRE SHUTS IT DOWN WITH A EUROPEAN CLUTCH!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NAITO’S DREAMS STAY ALIVE!!! Getting dangerously close with the flash pin, Tetsuya throws defiant forearms, Zack catching and contorting one, but a ROLLING WHEEL KICK knocks him off! ESPERANZA!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE KICKS OUT!!!
Hooking the head, Naito hoists Sabre up… ZACK WITH A GUILLOTINE CHOKE MID-AIR!!! Tetsuya’s eyes bulge out his skull, looking for the nearest turnbuckle to ram Sabre into it, but ZSJ’s quicker, yanking him to the mat and transitioning into a JIM BREAKS ARMBAR!!! Brutally bending the arm at an awkward angle, there’s a manic look in Zack’s eyes as NYC desperately cheers on Naito, who does his best to hang on! Sabre keeps tugging further and further, eager to ruin Tetsuya, but it backfires, helping him stretch his leg to the ropes!
The crowd erupts as the referee forces Sabre off, though Naito’s clearly hurting all the same, a European helping no less! Zack rallies with further Uppercuts, one knocking Tetsuya down, before firing a PENALTY KICK!!! NAITO ABSORBS IT AND ROLLS THROUGH, SABRE GOING FOR SECONDS BUT HE EATS A RUNNING DESTINOOOOOOOOO!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOO!!! Shaking himself off, Naito attempts another, though Sabre stops it with elbows, before hopping into a REAR NAKED CHOKE!
Tetsuya tries to run forwards to free himself, though ZSJ swivels on his back into a GEDO CLUTCH!!! ANOTHER FLASH PIN! BUT NAITO ROLLS THROUGH THIS TIME INTO HIS OWN – POLVO DE ESTRELLA!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE STAYS IN!!! AND AN EVOLUCION!!! ONE! TWO! THR-ANOTHER KICK OUT!!! NAITO’S GOING FOR THE SWING DESTINO!!! BUT A ZACK DRIVER COUNTERS!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Slapping up Naito’s neck, Sabre dumps him on it with a TIGER SUPLEX!!! Naito woozy, Zack nails the PENALTY KICK!!! NAITO’S REFUSING TO STAY DOWN! Hearing MSG’s cries, he wills himself back up as Sabre watches in fascination… ONLY FOR ANOTHER PK TO CUT HIM OFF!!! And just like the 2022 NJC Finals, he’s going to end it here with a SECOND ZACK DRIVER- NAITO NAILS A DESTINO MID-AIR!!! HE’S STILL MOVING SOMEHOW!!! Stumbling to his feet, Tetsuya measures his man… DESTINOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ONE! TWO! THR-SABRE’S FOOT’S ON THE ROPE!!!
Saving Naito more than once, it’s come to Zack’s aid now too! Hammering Sabre with forearms, Naito tees up another DESTINO- PELE KICK!!! Tetsuya falls forward, Zack catching him in a STRETCH MUFFLER!!! IF HE CAN JUST GRAB THE OTHER LEG, IT’S ALL OVER, COMPLETING THE ORIENTEERING WITH NAPALM DEATH!!! Zack bends Naito further and further as he tries to grab hold… TETSUYA SWINGS BACK! AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN! SABRE LETS GO!!! AND A ZACK DRIVER FROM NAITO!!!
Sabre on his back, Naito thinks about waiting for the Destino… but then he sees the top rope. The crowd cry at him not to, screwing him over time and time again, but Tetsuya can’t help it! Heading up top, the world holds their breath, NAITO SOARING THROUGH THE AIR… STARDUST PRESS CONNECTS!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!! IT’S A MIRACLE IN MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!!! NAITO’S WORLD CHAMPION AGAIN!!!
Tetsuya Naito def. Zack Sabre Jr. (c) to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (31:18)
New York LOSES their minds as Naito’s handed the title, Tetsuya himself struggling to process what just happened! But then LIJ rush out – PAC with the US Title, Hiromu with the TV Title, Shingo, Yota, and Titan with the NEVER 6-Man Titles, and even the Lucha Brothers with the Tag Titles! THEY’RE DRAPED IN GOLD, BABY! Sharing embraces all around as a dismal Sabre trudges to the back, there’s not a single dry eye in the arena as the outcasts raise their fists to the sky with one hand and their titles with the other, golden tickertape hailing down! Naito’s on top of the world after 3 long years, and it feels damn good! Doing the customary championship edition roll-call, the show fades on LIJ holding all their gold… and PAC looking over at Naito’s.
G1 Climax 34
Entering his second of fifteen G1s as the reigning champion, Naito heads B Block opposite stiff competition. Though dispatching of Hiromu in friendly competition on Night One, the two are subsequently assaulted by KONGOH post-match, allowing NOAH’s KENOH to upset him the following night! Behind the 8-ball already, Tetsuya’s motivated to make a comeback, mowing through Narita, Tanahashi, Yota, Sabre, and KENTA to take back the lead! Suffering another surprise defeat at Jeff Cobb’s hands after multiple failed attempts from the Hawaiian Hulk to best him, it opens the door for a returning JAY WHITE to spoil his final night, wrecking Naito’s legs with a ladder, allowing Zack to advance on 14 points! As for B Block, a draw between Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada on the final night puts the Commonwealth Kingpin through, the rivals meeting one more time! Other key underlying stories see Shibata finally beating Okada, Ospreay avenging his Takagi loss, PAC beating his fellow LIJ members but losing to SANADA, and KONGOH causing ruckus throughout the competition.
G1 Climax 34 Finals (August 19, 2024)
Also on the show:
Jay White vs BUSHI
Will Ospreay vs Zack Sabre Jr. - G1 Climax Briefcase
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, PAC, Hiromu Takahashi, Titan) vs KONGOH (KENOH, Manabu Soya, Masakatsu Funaki, Hi69, Shuji Kondo)
Perhaps the focal reason for Naito not making the Finals, KONGOH’s tournament chicanery, as led by KENOH, was a masterfully crafted plan. After losing to Tetsuya in last year’s LIJ vs KONGOH series at Wrestle Kingdom 17, the thought of ruining the Stardust Genius for vengeance never left the Rogue Fist’s mind, and with his win over Tetsuya in the G1, their score is now 1-1. Reigniting the intense rivalry between the two stables, they have an upgraded rematch to their Wrestle Kingdom 16 5-on-5, both sides having greatly changed since then.
Once again, PAC’s especially adamant to claim the spotlight, the loss to SANADA making him temperamental despite having the 2nd best LIJ record in this year’s tournament. An argument breaking out between PAC and Shingo as to who should get the pin is put on ice by Naito, though it doesn’t keep Titan from eating a nasty PFS from KENOH, handing the invaders the win!
KONGOH def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (19:57)
Redeeming WK16, KENOH offers the angriest of satisfied smiles, the group cackling as they gesture belts around their waists, warning that their business isn’t yet over. LIJ left behind, there’s a sour mood in the air from the loss, though when Shingo offers a fist in apology, PAC, taking a look at a nodding Naito, ultimately returns one, showing that despite popular belief, LIJ’s still fine.
Splitting off for Shingo and co. to gear up for KONGOH’s second wave whilst Naito and PAC are scheduled for AEW’s ALL IN supershow, this time taking place in Tetsuya’s home of the Tokyo Dome, both men are set for defences on the show. In PAC’s case, it’s a rematch against J6G’s SANADA, the Bastard adamant to gain Naito’s favour by beating the traitor. As for Naito, he has Jay on his tail!
Until the recent G1, White refused to show his face on any sort of NJPW programming (including Forbidden Door) since being embarrassed at Okada’s hands and having his faction torn to shreds. Leaving Japan to join AEW, no longer having connections to hide behind nor help him, he was forced to be the lone wolf for once, becoming even more merciless, knowing he’s all he has. After spreading chaos abroad, most recently coming up short in the AEW World Championship picture, trauma from his Okada loss clinging onto him anytime the stakes are raised too high again, he decided it was time to return to his roots to clear his head and eliminate any shred of weakness left in his body so that he can claim the top prize again, and there’s no better place to do so than the building his title was taken from him – the Tokyo Dome.
The last time he faced Naito in the Tokyo Dome, he had Gedo by his side, yet still lost. Now though, he declares if he’s to have this match, he wants a compensatory factor. A means of looking out for himself, like Naito has LIJ. He’s already beaten Tetsuya thrice in singles competition, knowing he’s the better wrestler, so this time… HE WANTS A LADDER MATCH!!! Japan’s become more and more geared to the Western market, the culture shifting from traditions, so unless he’s a snob like Okada, he'll embrace the new vision and accept the challenge. Jay using the perfect words to get under Tetsuya’s skin, he accepts, looking to tear down the foundations of the Rainmaker’s regime with his reign, starting with this!
RevProxNJPW 12th Anniversary Show (August 24, 2024)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & PAC) vs The Knight Dynasty (Ricky Knight Jr. & Zak Knight)
The night before ALL IN features a special RevPro crossover event with their partners, NJPW, the 12th Anniversary being celebrated in Japan. Naturally, Naito tags with the most RevPro familiar member of LIJ, PAC, the two champions battling the celebrated Knight Dynasty, who are considered the present and future of the promotion! What begins as a fun exhibition sees more of the differences between PAC and Naito come to light, the hot-headedness of the Bastard and the collectedness of El Ingobernable wanting different things out of the match, yet still managing to remain reasonably on the same page. A close call on a 619 from Ricky sees Naito shove PAC out the way in the nick of time, absorbing the blow himself, though without acknowledging it, PAC springs to action, a Black Arrow on Zak scoring the victory!
Los Ingobernables de Japon def. The Knight Dynasty (13:10)
As the referee approaches LIJ with their titles, PAC’s quick to receive both, Naito only recovering just in time to find the Bastard lingering for a moment as he looks between the pieces of gold, before finally handing Tetsuya’s over him and walking off, leaving the leader confused yet unconcerned.
ALL IN Tokyo (August 25, 2024)
Also on the show:
PAC (c) vs SANADA - IWGP United States Championship
The Lucha Brothers (c) vs Golden Lovers - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Jay White V - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - Ladder
Stepping into the mastermind of the Switchblade, White baits Naito to play his game, the long-time rivals settling their score over a belt they both have history with. With no Gedo around, Jay’s focus is to demolish Naito’s already tattered knees with the ladder like he did to cost Tetsuya the G1, slowing down each climbing attempt bit by bit. Given the two’s creativity, it’s a sick warfare of increasingly dangerous spots, Naito taking Jay with him to neck bump city, White cruelly massacring Tetsuya’s body with reckless abandon.
White’s notably more in his element here, letting the Tokyo Dome atmosphere heal him whilst hurting Naito. A HANGING BLADE RUNNER cuts a Stardust Press attempt short, the magic only lasting once, but a ladder bridge CANADIAN DESTROYER buys Naito some momentum back! Ultimately, a war atop the ladder sees Naito boot Jay off, allowing him to unhook the gold to retain!
Tetsuya Naito (c) def. Jay White V to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (25:30)
Though Naito walks out with his belt, PAC doesn’t, making the Bastard’s issues all the more prominent, taking more frequent looks over at Tetsuya’s gold, which begs the question – was there more to PAC joining LIJ than originally thought? Still, he wishes Naito good luck for Wrestle Grand Slam, telling him he wants to see the belt on him when they go England. But for now, the end of his trilogy against KENOH awaits!
Wrestle Grand Slam (September 8, 2024)
Also on the show:
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs KUSHIDA - NJPW World Television Championship
El Desperado (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata - NEVER Openweight Championship
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Titan) (c) vs KONGOH (Manabu Soya, Masakatsu Funaki, Shuji Kondo) - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs KENOH III - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
For over two years, the rivalry between LIJ and KONGOH has slowly simmered to this boiling point, coming down to the leaders now to settle their 1-1 score over NJPW’s top title! With the 6-Man Titles changing hands earlier in the night, Naito must put his 200% into assuring the same doesn’t occur here, or it’ll be disaster on New Japan’s waterfront.
As two men that could not be more opposite collide, it’s an intense war over the company’s possession, everyone from fans to wrestlers on the edge of their seats as the last of the NOAH invaders try to leave their mark. KENOH shows nothing but hatred towards Naito for ruining his past chances, whilst Tetsuya savours his every moment in the Sun, having slaved away to hold this belt. A PFS almost does Naito in, whilst the DESTINO does the same for KENOH! Ragdolling the older star with Dragon Suplexes, KENOH sets up for the ENRIN… BUT IN HIS STARDUST PRESS MOMENT, HE MISSES!!! DESTINOOOOOOOOOO!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!! New Japan remains safe in the hands of Naito!
Tetsuya Naito (c) def. KENOH to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (28:33)
Offering a handshake to KENOH out of respect for their series… the Rogue Fist declines it, though from the look in his fiery eyes, an inkling of acknowledgement is there for Tetsuya. Telling Naito to keep the belt warm for him, he declares he’ll be back sometime again, and when that happens, he’s going to usurp Naito once and for all!
And as they leave with their 50/50 successes, it’s back to LIJ to end the show on their usual note… except, PAC interrupts the tradition. He’s confused, no, he’s incredulous. What are they celebrating here? Failure? Or are they calling it ‘survival’? Is no one going to point out the elephant in the room? Just two months ago they were on top of the world, all draped in gold, but now they’re left with just Naito and the Lucha Bros’s gold. And yet, they’re celebrating? He’s been out here losing sleep over his missing US Title!
If they wish to continue to be taken seriously, they need to act the part. Luckily… he has a solution. They say iron sharpens iron, so rather than fighting these large-scale wars outside their stable… why not have a ‘friendly’ within? Naito has the title and an incredible row of suitors before him, so he should pick one to defend against! Tetsuya seems perturbed by the idea knowing what almost happened the last time LIJ fought within, but as PAC insists, even pointing out how he’s the only one with a clean record over Naito… Tetsuya turns to him and raises the title! If such claims are going to be made, they need to be backed up too! Challenging PAC with his title on the line, a grinning Bastard accepts, bumping his fist!
Burning Spirit - Night Seven (September 25, 2024)
Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi) vs Death Triangle (PAC & The Lucha Brothers)
Slyly manoeuvring his way into the title rematch he’s desired ever since getting a taste of the gold against Shingo last year, this is more so PAC’s chance to prove himself over the statement he’s seeming to be making. Nonetheless, with various combinations of LIJ facing Death Triangle over the Burning Spirit tour, they supposedly rely on each other to improve their own skill, these 6 especially drawing the very best out of each other. Working more seamlessly with DT than he had LIJ as of late, the freakish chemistry between the AEW lads has a Fear FactoDouble Stomp/Black Arrow combo end Hiromu, PAC grinning as he stares down Naito, the challenge growing closer by day…
Death Triangle def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (18:24)
Giving a brief interview heading into the match at Royal Quest, Naito states that he can’t be certain on what PAC’s intentions are, but all he knows is that no matter what, LIJ sticks together. If this match is what PAC needs for his peace of mind, then it’s all his. All he can hope is the Bastard has the same idea of family in mind.
Royal Quest IV - Night Two (October 6, 2024)
Also on the show:
The Lucha Brothers (c) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Kazuchika Okada - G1 Climax Briefcase
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs PAC II - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
The relationship between LIJ and PAC has developed into one of the more intriguing dynamics this year, raising a multitude of questions, but now, the true light of it all will be revealed. Whether it’s friendly fire or another coup, Naito’s ready for whatever PAC may happen to have up his sleeve, whilst the Bastard lets his actions do the talking. For once, it’s an utterly no-nonsense showdown between Los members, Tetsuya taking the threat of PAC very seriously, the Jordie clearly driven to make the grand prize his. And as the match rolls on, Naito starts to see parts of himself in PAC with each cheer or cry from his home crowd.
Just like Naito, he’s the incredibly-talented misfit who was overlooked, but unlike a young Naito, PAC doesn’t realise he has the world on his side already despite his quirks. Whilst Naito had to suffer through his changes, PAC’s a made man, and with each near-fall, the crowd see it too, becoming more and more invested in him! On the cusp of his crowning moment, PAC shows no hesitation unlike the Stardust Press, NAILING THE BLACK ARROW!!! ONE! TWO! THR-BUT NAITO KICKS OUT!!! PAC may have ‘it’, but Naito’s operating on an entirely different level as World Champion, and no matter what PAC may have thrown at him, it’s not his moment just yet. DESTINOOOOOOOO!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
Tetsuya Naito (c) def. PAC to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (30:11)
Maybe a different day. Both men propped in opposite corners of the ring, they suck deep for breaths, PAC only taking his eyes off Naito when he spots the title bring brought over to him. That should’ve been his. He should’ve been champion right now, but… he starts tuning in the crowd again. A standing ovation for the hometown boy. Though he may not hold the title right now, he’s still a champion in their eyes… Solace. Always overlooked, all he needed was approval. And now more than ever, he feels he has it. Noticing PAC’s realisation, Naito grins and nods to him, the two bumping fists together, no sour ending on this one.
At least, not between LIJ… OKADA’S HERE!!! After shockingly beating Ospreay for his G1 briefcase earlier in the night, the Rainmaker has his sights on the Tokyo Dome main event, and if things are to be believed, it may be Naito defending against Kazuchika on the grand stage! The long-time WK rivals locking eyes, there’s a different atmosphere between the Ace and the Dark Ace now. No longer does Okada look upon Naito condescendingly, but with disgust. Though he failed to beat Shingo earlier in the night, Kazuchika’s been vocal all year about the damage he feels LIJ have caused the company.
Where he did everything to purify the promotion with his reign, beating away outsiders, Naito did the exact opposite, bringing them further into their ranks and breaking tradition with a ladder match. With this briefcase in his hand though, he has the power to change that… but so does he. OSPREAY JOINS IN!!! The man who lost his case earlier in front of his own family, he can’t even look the smug Okada in the eyes. Rather, turning to Naito, he declares his desire to return to WK’s main event to not be over just yet! Against better judgement, he gave Shingo a shot at this title last year and it cost him everything. All he asks is Naito returns the favour! Smirking, Tetsuya tells him ‘earn it’, WK’s main event scene growing all the more interesting!
Battle Autumn - Night Five (October 15, 2024)
Elimination: Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi, Death Triangle) vs United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, Aussie Open)
Desperation drives a man to his darkest pits, and Ospreay is very much there. Banding his troops together one year on since the last LIJ/UE tag of this magnitude, the ante’s upped even higher now, needing to survive an elimination match to receive the match of his desires. Both stables going to war here, all their integrated rivalries of the past years come to a head, the one between Ospreay and Naito lying at the centre of it all. UE get a tough break to start with when Great-O-Khan hits the deck early, Mark Davis following, though a comeback removes the Lucha Bros from the equation!
Cobb goes next, before Ospreay takes out PAC, a double countout subsequently removing the leaders from the equation! Boiling down to Shingo and Kyle, the Aussie Arrow pulls out the underdog performance of his life, channelling all of Ospreay’s moves before a GRIMSTONE ELIMINATES SHINGO! OSPREAY’S HEADED TO KOPW!!! Raising Fletcher onto their shoulders, it’s a grand celebration from UE, Will receiving one last lease on life! As for Naito, he can only stand and wait, a final challenge paved in his path to the Dome.
United Empire def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (25:33)
King of Pro-Wrestling (October 27, 2024)
Also on the show:
KUSHIDA (c) vs Taiji Ishimori - NJPW World Television Championship
Sabre-Gun (Blake Christian & Clark Connors) (c) vs Catch 22 - IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata - G1 Climax Briefcase
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Will Ospreay IV - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
One year ago, Ospreay’s overzealousness cost him the chance to main event Wrestle Kingdom with the World Title, but now, as it all comes full circle, it’s official, the winner of this match defending against Okada! With that in mind, both men are equally ravenous to make the grand opportunity theirs! Their fourth match together, it’s rife with callbacks, Naito especially making sure to remind Will of the way he beat him in last year’s A Block Finals to get in his head.
To Tetsuya’s surprise though, this matured Ospreay is impervious to his strategies! No matter what the champion throws, the challenger always has an answer, their see-saw saga featuring plenty of nail-biting near-falls that could send either man through, but it’s a TRIAD OF HIDDEN BLADES that ultimately calls it, Ospreay finally reclaiming his throne, a date with destiny set in stone!
Will Ospreay def. Tetsuya Naito (c) to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (35:38)
Before WK though, Power Struggle is on the calendar! Featuring the likes of Death Triangle dethroning KONGOH for the NEVER belts for PAC to fully find his place in LIJ, Ren Narita dethroning Katsuyori Shibata for the NEVER Openweight Title, and Shingo Takagi taking the US Title from SANADA, it also sees Ospreay team with Catch 22 against Okada and the two men who ended Francesco Akira and TJP’s legendary reign, SHO & Taiji Ishimori, with UE scoring the vengeful win! And on the final Road To Tokyo Dome special, Ospreay finds a surprising ally in Shibata against Okada and Tanahashi in a HUGE blockbuster tag, CHAOS getting their win back here as Shibata keeps chasing down a rematch with Tana!
Wrestle Kingdom 19 (January 4, 2025)
Also on the show:
Sabre-Gun (Blake Christian & Clark Connors) (c) vs Li-YOH - IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship
United Empire (Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan) (c) vs CHAOS (Shota Umino & Yuya Uemura) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
SHO (c) vs Francesco Akira - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Ren Narita (c) vs Tomohiro Ishii - NEVER Openweight Championship
Shingo Takagi (c) vs Katsuhiko Nakajima - IWGP United States Championship
Minoru Suzuki vs Taichi - Retirement
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata
Will Ospreay (c) vs Kazuchika Okada XII - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Finally, this is what it’s all led to. A story set in motion from the very first moment Ospreay set foot in NJPW under Okada’s guidance in CHAOS 9 years ago. Fighting through loss after loss after loss, he finally achieved his clean win over Okada last year to reclaim his World Championship, but now, he must accomplish an even greater task – beat the Final Boss in the Tokyo Dome itself! Failing on both occasions against Okada on NJPW’s biggest stage akin to Okada’s own chase of Tanahashi, it’s his Wrestle Kingdom 10 moment now as he walks into the Dome as the reigning champion, with the Ace as the challenger! Win and he’s immortalised in history. Lose and Okada resets the company’s entire trajectory. High stakes weighing on Will’s shoulders, it’s time to elevate under pressure!
Entering with WK level entrances to boot, Okada dripping sheer gold, and Ospreay with an entire kingdom of suited individuals accompanying him, they get underway as the bell sounds! And for the first time, it’s Ospreay controlling the opening sequence with the Tanahashi-style headlock! Big brothering Okada, he doesn’t let the Rainmaker out the gates in his own ballpark for a few minutes straight… BEFORE WILL EXPLODES FOR A HANDSPRING ENZUIGIRI!
Okada dodges, going for a GERMAN, but Will flips through, nailing the HOOK KICK, an OSCUTTER coming up empty, Kazu swinging for a ducked RAINMAKER, and it’s a stalemate! Trading forearms, a Lariat dumps Okada out, Ospreay running Kazu’s routine of the guardrail whip and Big Boot, a RUNNING CROSSBODY EATING A DROPKICK! Nailing a TOMBSTONE on the floor, Okada sets up a table at ringside before rolling Ospreay in, the MISSILE DROPKICK and AIR-RAID CRASH NECKBREAKER harping on the neck! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!
Wrenching the MONEY CLIP, it doesn’t get him far, a BRAINBUSTER catching Okada by surprise! SHOOTING STAR PRESS! ONE! TWO! THR-NO DICE! A PIP PIP CHEERIO eats a BEAUTIFUL DROPKICK, before Okada whips Ospreay at the corner, only for Will to pop him up onto the turnbuckles, slamming Kawada Kicks into his face! CHEEKY NANDOS! Ospreay tries for a LIGER BOMB through the outside table, but Okada drops to the apron! Will charges for a Yakuza Kick, but a LANDSLIDE BLOCKS!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OSPREAY STAYS IN!!!
Hammering the neck, Okada lunges for a RAINMAKER, though a SNAP CUTTER blocks! ROBINSON SPECIAL! Will winds up the CHELSEA GRIN, but it receives a slap and a JOHN WOO DROPKICK! A pair of Short-Arm Rainmakers ricochet off Ospreay, but a Rainmaker is feigned for a DDT! DIVING ELBOW DROP!!! ONE! TWO! THR-WILL KICKS OUT AGAIN!!! A TOMBSTONE is countered by knees, Ospreay whipping Okada at the ropes, Kazu countering a BACK BODY DROP OVER THE ROPES!!!
Will narrowly missing the table, Okada follows with a TOPE CON HILO… BUT OSPREAY MOVES OUT THE WAY, THE RAINMAKER EXPLODING THROUGH THE WOOD!!! Shoving Okada’s lifeless body inside, Ospreay sets up a HIDDEN BLADE!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOO!!! A STORM BREAKER is blocked, Okada nailing a sick CORNER GERMAN! Dropkick rocks Will, before the TOMBSTONE connects! RAINMAKER’s dodged, Ospreay rebounding into an OSCUTTER- DROPKICK!!! AND A RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Okada keeps the wrist, going for seconds… OSPREAY NAILS A RAINMAKER OF HIS OWN!!! Wrist still held, Will nails close-range elbows to the neck, before winding up another HIDDEN BLADE- HEAVY RAIN!!! OKADA NAILS HIS OWN HIDDEN BLADE!!! Teasing the STORM BREAKER, Ospreay spins out, dumping Kazu with a LANDSLIDE!!! AND A HIDDEN BLADE… Okada collapses! As Will tries picking him up, a DROPKICK awaits! ANOTHER DROPKICK! AZTEC SUPLEX – A LA ULTIMO DRAGON!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT!!!
Okada decks Ospreay with a RAINMAKER, but Will doesn’t go down fully, Kazu nailing a SECOND! Going for the Ripcord this time… RAINHAM MAKER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OKADA KICKS OUT!!! ESSEX DESTROYER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-ANOTHER KICK OUT!!! Cracking a HIDDEN BLADE off Okada’s nose, an OSCUTTER follows, before he floats into a STORM BREAKER- FALLING RAINMAKERRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Okada smelling blood, he tries for another, AND A HIDDEN BLADE CONNECTS AT THE SAME TIME!!! Keeping hold, the two knock each other loopy with one free arm… OSCUTTER’S CAUGHT WITH A TOMBSTONE!!! Okada picks him back up, going for a SPINNING TOMBSTONE- OSPREAY REVERSES INTO A SPIKE PILEDRIVER!!! Ripcord… HIDDEN BLADE!!! AND A STORM BREAKER!!! Hoisting him up for one more… A SECOND STORM BREAKERRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
Will Ospreay (c) def. Kazuchika Okada to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (40:51)
HE’S DONE IT! OSPREAY’S FINALLY SURPASSED THE ACE ON HIS OWN STAGE! No longer is Okada himself anymore, but rather the Tanahashi to Ospreay’s Okada, the cycle continuing. And like his counterpart 9 years ago, Kazu leaves as empty-handed as he walked in for the first time in a decade, the times officially changing! And as sunlight washes over the Land of the Rising Sun, a new dawn is revealed. The dawn of the Ospreay Era.
Epilogue
Heading into 2025, NJPW is rife with changes, seeing more of the once Young Lion names step up as the likes of Tanahashi and Naito begin to slow down. CHAOS features a massive shakeup the following night as Shinsuke Nakamura returns, kickstarting his road to retirement, having been vocal in his interest of facing Tanahashi, proceeding to feud with Okada over his failures. As for Ospreay, his reign runs until Sakura Genesis, where one NJC Winner Katsuyori Shibata finally dethrones him 8 years on from his loss to Okada, though Will’s time with the title is far from over yet, remaining an integral part of the picture alongside ZSJ, Shingo, and more.

In Part One, Kazuchika Okada waged war on the wrestling world as part of his quest to purify NJPW, killing BULLET CLUB and giving CHAOS a much-needed facelift in the process. Hirooki Goto and company have since taken refuge under Katsuyori Shibata’s new “Takeover” stable, which has recruited Ren Narita’s services. Sabre-Gun’s been on the up too, expanding to include the likes of Blake Christian and Clark Connors with the recent Best of the Super Juniors, continuing to be at odds with Just6Guys. There’s one group that’s yet to be addressed though, and that’s… United Empire.
After finally vanquishing Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door, Will Ospreay sets his sights on the next logical step – the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. With another of his white whales clutching onto it tightly, he wants closure to this legendary saga too, and so, he calls out the Rainmaker. Big Brother Kazu isn’t fazed one bit by the challenge, telling Ospreay he’s been waiting for him, though not to expect a result any different to their many past matches. After all, from Okada’s point-of-view, Will isn’t NJPW’s next destined leader. There’s a different prodigal son waiting.
Under CHAOS’s new vision, not only has Okada been building a ruthless band of companions willing to follow his regime change, but also focusing on its future, no longer being a top-heavy unit destined to collapse the moment Kazuchika stops supporting its roof. With Hiroshi Tanahashi already bringing in his younger counterpart, Shota Umino, Okada recruits the man prophesised to take over his mantle of Ace one day, Yuya Uemura. His Forbidden Door victory over Wheeler YUTA marking the end of his American excursion, Uemura accompanies his leader’s victory against Blackpool Combat Club in major fashion by accompanying him on the Kizuna Road loop.
Kizuna Road - Night Four (July 3, 2023)
CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & Yuya Uemura) vs United Empire (Will Ospreay & Jeff Cobb)
Impressing thus far, Yuya’s biggest test comes when he teams with Okada 2-on-2 for the very first time to confront UE’s Ospreay and Cobb, and he quickly silences their criticisms. A one-sided manhandling from Cobb soon turns into Uemura employing strategies passed down to him from Okada on how to beat the Hawaiian Hulk, giving him quite the culture shock, before Okada helps bang the big man’s drum. The flow shifts when Ospreay steps in though, severely outclassing Yuya to both his and Okada’s surprise. This is a different Will to the one Okada faced a year ago in the G1 Climax Finals.
And yet, the Rainmaker has an ego problem. Tagging in, he tries to shut Will down, only to find for once, Ospreay seems to have his number. When the Commonwealth Kingpin has him beat though, going for the Hidden Blade, Yuya throws himself in harm’s way to buy Okada a moment, allowing Kazuchika to Dropkick Will out the equation, before drilling Cobb with a Rainmaker to win! As Ospreay grits his teeth, he understands it’ll take more than that to outsmart Okada.
CHAOS def. United Empire (13:45)
Wrestle Dynasty (July 8, 2023)
Also on the show:
Sabre-Gun (El Phantasmo, Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste) (c) vs Ren Narita & Bishamon - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Aussie Open (c) vs CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii & Shota Umino) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Jeff Cobb - IWGP United States Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Will Ospreay IX - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Across 8 matches, Ospreay has never once beaten Okada cleanly, his only triumph coming from the night of his betrayal in the G1 3 years ago. But now, with a win over the man Okada failed to beat at Dominion, he’s in the best shape he’s ever been to end the reign of tyranny. The question is though, will he? Returning to Madison Square Garden for this historic show, the last time they were here Ospreay was losing to Cobb in a Winner Takes All opener, whilst Okada was winning back the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event. This time, they’re equals.
Ospreay enters on a throne carried to the ring by UE, hamming up his Commonwealth Kingpin moniker and signalling the days of the Aerial Assassin to be long dead. Okada, on the other hand, is the same old Rainmaker, descending from the heavens on a platform, God mode in full effect. With pre-match introductions out the way, the bell rings, and the match gets underway! And in classic Okada/Ospreay fashion, Kazuchika expects to Big Brother Will with the Tanahashi/Okada-style headlock start… BUT OSPREAY RUSHES HIM WITH THE HIDDEN BLADE!!!
Caught off guard, Okada only barely evades him, but Ospreay moves like a lightning bolt, instantly transitioning to springboarding off the ropes for an OSCUTTER! Okada catches it and grabs the wrist, ripcording him into a RAINMAKER! Will ducks though, blasting him with a MARUFUJI HOOK KICK! Okada rocked, nails a SILENT WHISPER to the back of the head, before hooking the arms for the STORM BREAKER!!! But yet again, the Rainmaker barely gets out of dodge, shoving Will away and sliding outside for a breather!
Okada looks like he doesn’t know what’s just hit him, while Ospreay grins and mocks the Rainmaker pose. Snarling, Kazuchika slides back in and gets to trading blows with his challenger. Stiff elbows bounce off their heads in the centre of the ring, an Enzuigiri from Okada whiffing and a Handspring Enzuigiri from Will equally missing the mark! Kazu teases a Dropkick, causing Ospreay to leap, only to meet a stiff Uppercut once gravity gets hold of him.
Tossed into the ropes for a proper Dropkick attempt, Will instead slides to the apron and thunders in with a PIP PIP CHEERIO! A Running Shooting Star Press misses, Ospreay rolling through and racing back at Okada, though he’s launched onto the top turnbuckle. Again, a frustrated Okada wants the Dropkick, but Ospreay catches the leg and spins him around, nailing an INVERTED TORNADO DDT! Crunch. Here come the neck issues.
Okada dazed, nursing the injury in agony, Ospreay stomps the hell out of the neck, before connecting with a ROBINSON SPECIAL! He teases a follow-up OsCutter, Okada anticipating it, only to be faked into a SPIKE DDT! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT! Okada DDT’d the life out of Will last time, so Ospreay’s making sure to return the favour here. He goes for broke one too many times though, a Hangman’s DDT attempt ending in Okada spearing Ospreay across the ring and through the ropes, both smacking off the apron to the floor!
Turning feral ringside, Okada kicks Ospreay senseless like he’s Kaito, before forcefully connecting a DDT of his own! He whips Will at the guardrail for his patented Crossbody spot but Ospreay leaps over, a Silent Whisper staggering Okada, before an OSCUTTER SOARS IN… NOT THIS TIME – OKADA COUNTERS INTO A TOMBSTONE ON THE CONCRETE!!! Getting him back for the G1 Finals, Kazu smugly takes in the boos as Will twitches lifelessly at his feet.
Tossing him in, a MISSILE DROPKICK guns into his neck, before another BEAUTIFUL DROPKICK smacks into his chest, Okada finally in control! A Flapjack plants Will face-first and an AIR RAID CRASH NECKBREAKER again targets the famously-troubled neck of Ospreay! ONE! TWO! THR-NO DICE! Cinching in the MONEY CLIP, he continues working it over, Will sputtering and gasping for breaths as he reaches out at the ropes. Right as he finds himself inches from them though, a GERMAN SUPLEX dumps him on his neck!
Okada hits the pose, before dialling up the RAINMAKER… Ospreay snapmares him over, learning from last time to not back him up. and throws the HIDDEN BLADE!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOO!!! Racing up top, Will prepares a Shooting Star Press, though Okada sluggishly rolls to the apron as he grabs at his head. Deciding to change trajectories… OSPREAY NAILS A SUPER OSCUTTER TO THE FLOOR!!! Body aching yet determined, Will rolls back in, only to soar back out with a SASUKE SPECIAL!!!
Dragging Okada behind him, he drapes him over the top rope, heading back up to finally hit the BURNING STAR PRESS!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OKADA GETS A FOOT ON THE ROPE!!! Keeping his composure, Ospreay murders Okada’s face with Kawada Kicks, before a CHELSEA GRIN knocks him loopy… OSCUTTER INCOMING – OKADA COLLAPSES UNDER!!! Will smacks off the mat, not anticipating it, and lets out a pained grunt as both lay flat on their backs, New York roaring in approval!
Ospreay finds his feet first and tries to pick Okada from his knees, though it results in him being tripped into the ropes throat-first! DROPKICK MEETS OSPREAY AS HE TURNS AROUND! Okada’s noticeably slower than usual, though he doesn’t let it hinder him, picking Will up to nail a SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER! Ospreay stays upright, returning a forearm smash, but another SHORT-ARM RAINMAKER takes him down! Okada teases the finishing blow, though Will resists, prompting Kazu to spike him with a LANDSLIDE instead! ONE! TWO! THR-OSPREAY SURVIVES!
Hauling him right back up, Okada shoots again… WILL COUNTERS WITH AN OSCUTT- DROPKICKED OUT THE SKIES! Okada sets up the SPINNING RAINMAKER, but Ospreay nails the DISCUS ELBOW first! HOOK KICK drops him, before the HIDDEN BLADE closes in… OKADA DUCKS AND FIRES A JOHN WOO DROPKICK, SENDING OSPREAY INTO THE OPPOSITE CORNER! AND A HESITATION DROPKICK – SHADES OF SHIBATA! Will in the drop zone, Okada gets an idea, heading up top… HIGH FLY FLOW!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Okada scowls, picking Will up for the TOMBSTONE… OSPREAY REVERSES INTO A HITODENASHI DRIVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OKADA KICKS OUT!!! And now Ospreay hits the Rainmaker pose again! Securing wrist-control, he nails a RAINHAM MAKER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-STILL NO LUCK!!! Ospreay’s running out of options, though refuses to let his confidence waver, sticking to his gameplan. Mauling Okada’s arms, neck, and back with stomps, he picks him for only his second attempt at the ultimate final blow! OSPREAY WANTS STORM BREAKER!!!
Getting Okada up… KAZU DROPS OUT AND NAILS THE RAINMAKER!!! BUT HE CAN’T COVER, HAVING TO NURSE THE ARM! Both men returning to their feet at the same time, they knock each other dead with strikes, Okada scoring the ENZUIGIRI this time, Ospreay returning the POP-UP FOREARM SMASH! Tearing off the elbow pad, OSPREAY FIRES UP THE HIDDEN BLADE… OKADA COUNTERS INTO THE SPINNING EMERALD FLOWSION!!! NOT AGAIN – THIS COMBO ENDED WILL LAST TIME! Okada spells the end… RAINMAKERRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! THIS IS IT! TWO! MSG IS ON THEIR FEET! THRE… OSPREAY KICKS OUT!!! HE’S STILL IN IT!!!
Okada looks like he’s seen a ghost, a barely twitching Ospreay laying at his feet with one shoulder raised! Refusing to accept it, the Rainmaker lifts him back up, BEFORE NAILING ANOTHER ON A DEFENCELESS WILL! Ospreay on his knees, head bowed, Kazu lifts him up by the hair to lock gazes with Will’s glazed-over eyes, before throwing a THIRD AND FINAL- OSPREAY HITS THE RAINMAKER!!! Okada drops like he’s been shot!
And now Will realises this could be it. Struggling back up whilst maintaining wrist-control, he lets out a roar, before nailing a RIPCORD HIDDEN BLADE!!! Okada at his knees now, Will lifts his head up by the hair this time as Kazu dares him to finish him off, too weak to fight back… AND OSPREAY OBLIGES, FISHING HIM INTO A STORM BREAKERRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!! OSPREAY’S FINALLY DONE IT!!! WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION!!!
Will Ospreay def. Kazuchika Okada (c) to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (38:09)
MSG loses its mind as both men lay exhausted, UE rushing out to celebrate with their leader, helping him to his feet and handing him his prize. Golden tickertape hails from the rafters like Okada Dollars, Ospreay seated on a makeshift arm throne by Cobb and O-Khan, raising his title high, whilst Aussie Open and Catch 22 stand on either side, brandishing their respective titles too! And as Okada recovers, rolling out the ring and returning up the ramp, he locks eyes with Ospreay, giving him a look which reads “I’ll be back.” Will doesn’t let it phase him though. This is his night. He’s earned this moment.
G1 Climax 33
Not having to wait long for his first test, he enters his fourth G1 for the first time as reigning champion, redeeming the chance that a neck injury robbed him of in 2021. Heading A Block, he battles CHAOS’s Hiroshi Tanahashi on Night One, who tries to avenge Okada’s loss, though meets the same fate. Will dominates his block, dropping his first match after an undefeated 6 nights, losing to Katsuyori Shibata after their teased program last year at Forbidden Door! Still first though, having victimised SANADA, Shota Umino, EVIL, PAC, and KENTA along the way, he murders El Phantasmo on his 8th night, before meeting Tetsuya Naito in the Block Finals after a 5* duology last year! Finally, El Ingobernable avenges his past losses to punch his ticket to the Finals! As for B Block, a Shingo Takagi victory over Sabre puts him through, setting up a rematch from 2019’s G1 between Naito and Takagi for the Finals, adding fuel to the fire of LIJ’s already turbulent year with SANADA’s betrayal!
(Other key underlying stories are Naito’s loss to SANADA, KENTA beating Shibata in their first match as part of the TakeoveCHAOS feud, PAC finally returning to the ring as AEW’s representative to throw a spanner into LIJ’s works, Kaito taking Okada to a draw, Goto getting his win back over Okada, Sabre equalising his series with Taichi, and Yuya beating Yota in the first chapter of their Ace vs Dark Ace rivalry that’ll propel NJPW once Okada and Naito pass on the respective mantles.)
G1 Climax 33 Finals (August 13, 2023)
Also on this show:
Tetsuya Naito vs Shingo Takagi II - G1 Climax Finals
United Empire (Will Ospreay & Catch 22) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)
With Naito returning last year’s favour of having the Finals robbed from him by Ospreay, Will instead faces his potential Wrestle Kingdom main event opponent’s factionmates, bringing longest-reigning IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions Catch 22 along for the ride. Whilst using the opportunity to run back his critically acclaimed rivalry with Hiromu Takahashi, he also makes an example out of NEVER Openweight Champion Yota Tsuji, cracking down on the New Generation star to remind Naito and Shingo what he plans to do to them, before pinning BUSHI for the win!
United Empire def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (14:10)
As UE celebrate their win… BANG! DOUBLE SUPERKICK TO OSPREAY! STEEL CHAIR TO TJP AND FRANCESCO AKIRA! THE ELITE IS HERE!!! No rest for the wicked, Omega plants his boot on Will’s head as he holds the IWGP World Title up, making his intentions crystal clear. His match with Okada ended without a clear victor, and so, he not only wants another crack at the belt, but to crush Ospreay to avenge Forbidden Door. And what better place to do that than Wembley Stadium!
RevPro 11 Year Anniversary Show (August 26, 2023)
Will Ospreay vs Ren Narita
Whilst Ospreay/Omega III is announced for the following night, Will takes care of business in Copper Box Arena the night prior against one Ren Narita, continuing to test out the youth of NJPW, having already faced Yuya, Yota, and Shota in the past month. With Shibata holding a win over Ospreay’s head, promising to be back for the victor of ALL IN’s main event, Will batters his student in the meantime to remind him who the best wrestler in the world is right now, a Hidden Blade slaying Ren!
Will Ospreay def. Ren Narita (16:07)
ALL IN: London (August 27, 2023)
Also on the show:
Zack Sabre Jr. (c)(c) vs Bryan Danielson – NJPW World Television/ROH Pure Championships
FTR (c) vs Aussie Open - AEW World Tag Team Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Kenny Omega III - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
They’ve fought in Japan’s Tokyo Dome, Canada’s Scotiabank Arena, and now, they finally settle the score in England’s Wembley Stadium. 90,000 strong in attendance, there’s a clear crowd favourite here, football chants raining down for Ospreay. Omega decides to lean into it, tapping fully into his Cleaner look and tendencies with Devil’s Sky, absorbing the hatred. Will, on the other hand, receives a standing ovation in an emotional homecoming, prepared to prove his superiority over Omega once and for all and silence those accusing him of lucky past couple months.
The big first test for Will as champion starts with Kenny trying to get under Ospreay’s skin, stalling him out each time the Commonwealth Kingpin guns for him. Forcing him to work for his golden snitch, Kenny slides out and does jumping jacks until Will takes the bait, Omega quickly repossessing the ring, shutting Ospreay out. Will yells at the referee to back Kenny up, who obliges… ONLY TO EXPLODE FOR A V-TRIGGER THE MOMENT WILL RE-ENTERS!
Ospreay leapfrogs him and comes off the ropes with a hurricanrana, Omega cartwheeling through and throwing one back, Will handstanding out, though not fast enough, eating a DROPKICK TO THE FACE! Ospreay stunned, Kenny launches him into the corner and dogs on him with vicious kicks and stomps until the referee intervenes, Omega throwing one last chest-slicing chop! Incensed, Ospreay rushes out with forearms for Kenny, lighting him up, the Kawada Kicks finding their mark, before a CHELSEA GRIN’S BLOCKED BY A V-TRIGGER!
Ospreay shaking off his arm, Kenny capitalises with another V-TRIGGER, but Will ducks, nailing a Hook Kick, an OSCUTTER due to follow… OMEGA SUPERKICKS OSPREAY OVER THE ROPES! Will floored, a RISE OF THE TERMINATOR wipes him out! Gloating as England boos him, an even better idea crosses Kenny’s mind, sliding back in to nail a SASUKE SPECIAL! Nuclear heat. Battering Ospreay about the ring, he teases smashing his head through a table like WK17, though frantic back elbows force him off!
Kenny seeing stars, Ospreay attempts an OSCUTTER OFF THE GUARDRAIL- V-TRIGGER TO THE BASE OF THE SKULL SNIPES HIM!!! A sickening thud reverberating through the arena as Ospreay’s head snaps forward, a sadistic Kenny lays the section of railing on Will’s body… BEFORE CONNECTING A DIVING DOUBLE FOOT STOMP OFF THE APRON!!! Champion crushed, Omega cackles and dusts off his hands, before kissing Will’s title, eager to bring it home.
As Kenny taunts the crowd, Ospreay’s managed to feebly crawl out the rubble after the referee checking on him, though as Omega senses this, he’s immediately on his tail. Watching Will try to pull himself up using the steel post, KENNY CHARGES FOR ANOTHER V-TRIGGER… CRACK! OSPREAY MOVES OUT THE WAY, OMEGA’S KNEE HITTING THE STEEL INSTEAD!!! The Cleaner yowls in sheer agony as what was starting to look like another dominant showing takes a drastic left turn!
Realising this, Will quickly capitalises, grabbing Omega’s wrists from the opposite side of the post, pulling him up to his feet… Kenny hysterically tries to fight Ospreay off, begging him to spare him, realising what’s coming, WILL YANKING OMEGA HEAD-FIRST INTO THE POST!!! Bouncing it off it over and over again, now it’s Kenny that’s busted open! Omega collapsing back to his knees, Ospreay next grabs the leg and SMASHES KENNY’S KNEE INTO THE POST!!! THEN THE GUARDRAIL!!! AND BACK!!! There’s no mercy from Ospreay tonight.
Rolling Kenny in, he nails Omega’s YOU CAN’T ESCAPE! ONE! TWO! THR-KICK OUT! Forcing Omega to use the bad leg to free himself, Will goes right back to targeting it, kicking the inside of the knee and slamming it against the mat! SHOOTING STAR PRESS TO THE LEG! Omega can’t even be whipped across the ring, collapsing half-way, a ROBINSON SPECIAL crushing him instead! AND A SLINGSHOT CUTTER! ONE! TWO! THR-NO LUCK!
Hooking the arms, Ospreay wants STORM BREAKER, but Omega counters into a hurricanrana pin for 2! A Running Knee Strike from Will comes up empty, Kenny flattening him with a SNAP DRAGON SUPLEX! AND A SECOND! KOTARO KRUSHER FOLLOWS! Smacking the leg to keep up, an AOI SHOUDOU plants Ospreay! ONE! TWO! THR-WILL STAYS IN IT! A Doctor Bomb attempt is subdued, Ospreay hammering the knee to escape, before a ROUNDHOUSE cleans Kenny’s clock, a POISONED FRANKENSTEINER standing him up, and an ESSEX DESTROY- POP-UP V-TRIGGER!!!
Kenny desperately tries getting a limp Will on his shoulders for the ONE WINGED ANGEL, using the ropes for help, but Ospreay leans forwards, tumbling onto the apron to escape! SILENT WHISPER blasts Kenny… OMEGA THROWS A V-TRIGGER BACK, KNOCKING WILL OUT! Leg searing yet title more important, Kenny gingerly lifts Ospreay up the ropes with him, before going for OH GOD A MIDDLE ROPE CROYT’S WRATH!!! OSPREAY FLIPS TO HIS FEET!!!
The sneer on Omega’s face slowly fades as realisation strikes him, shades of Ibushi/Ospreay, Will not even giving him a chance to respond, HOOK KICK CONNECTING! OSCUTTERRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Frustrated, Ospreay hammers on the cut on Kenny’s forehead, painting his own chest with Omega’s blood, BEFORE REMOVING THE TURNBUCKLE PAD! He wants to return the favour from WK! Taking Kenny to the top rope, Ospreay teases a DDT onto the exposed steel… Omega slips between his legs to the mat and CROTCHES WILL ON THE METAL!!!
Kenny cackles as Ospreay howls, before packaging his head and nailing a CHEEKY NANDOS KICK! Blasting Will repeatedly, a V-TRIGGER FOLLOWS, SMASHING WILL’S HEAD INTO THE STEEL!!! AND HE SPINS HIM AROUND – AVALANCHE PHOENIX-PLEX!!! ONE! TWO! THR-NOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Kenny beats on Will’s fresh cut, leaving both men bloody messes, before readying a V-TRIGGER… Ospreay grabs Omega’s foot! Pissed, Kenny shakes him off, nailing a STANDING V-TRIGGER straight to the cut, BEFORE SPIKING HIM WITH AN IBUSHI-STYLE BASTARD DRIVER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-OSPREAY SURVIVES AGAIN!!!
Ospreay’s body limply leaning on the ropes, Kenny cocks and fires a V-TRIGGER, Will simply bouncing back head-first onto the Canadian! Setting him back, Omega takes another run-up, NAILING HIM WITH A SECOND IN SUCCESSION!!! The champion still out on his knees, twisted thoughts run through Kenny’s mind, prepping his elbow… HE WANTS TO CONCUSS WILL LIKE OSPREAY DID IBUSHI AT WK13!!! OMEGA THROWS THE HIDDEN BLADE… V-TRIGGER FROM OSPREAY!!! Sparking to life, he grabs the wrists and ripcords for a RAINHAM MAKER!!! ONE! TWO! THR-KENNY’S STILL IN IT!!!
Omega on dream street, Ospreay locks and loads THE HIDDEN BLADE, CONNECTING FLUSH ON KENNY’S JAW!!! But as Will goes to cover, Omega collapses out the ring! Ospreay’s lets out a frustrated wail, but he makes the chase all the same, kicking the lifeless Kenny about ringside. A weak chop from Omega meets a sickening forearm, and a wild punch completely misses, Kenny’s legs giving out. TIGER SUPLEX DUMPS HIM ON THE FLOOR!!! Kenny now fully collapsed, Ospreay gets an idea… PULLING OUT A LADDER FROM UNDER THE RING!!!
Clearing the commentary table, he hoists The Cleaner onto it, before propping the ladder next-door and climbing! Sending a silent prayer to the skies, OSPREAY LAUNCHES OFF WITH A PHOENIX SPLASH, CONNECTING ALL OF IT!!! The crowd goes ballistic with the two men dead in the rubble, both unmoving for several seconds until Will finally faintly grins to himself for returning a taste of WK17’s table. Dragging himself inside, he flops into his corner, lying in wait for the challenger, who has the look of a soulless corpse once he finds his feet and locks eyes with Ospreay, barely rolling inside at 9 but immediately collapsing again.
Ready to end it, Will crawls over and lifts Kenny to his knees by the wrists, SCORING A KAMIGOYE-STYLE HIDDEN BLADE!!! Omega rocked, Ospreay backs up to his corner for seconds, BUT KENNY PULLS THE REFEREE INTO THE WAY! Will catches himself in time, pausing in his tracks, though is left exposed to a LOW BLOW!!! Wembley goes mental with boos as Kenny weakly chuckles, feebly clawing up to his feet up a confused referee to nail a V-TRIGGER!!! Lifting him by the wrists, a RAIN TRIGGER FOLLOWS!!! AND HE GETS THE ELECTRIC CHAIR AGAINST ALL ODDS… BUT HE COLLAPSES!!!
Omega shakes his head in denial, tearing up, his golden ticket in the palm of his hands! Heaving himself back up, he tries again, but Will anchors his body to the ground! Incredulous, he grabs Ospreay by the hair, who grins mockingly, AND SLAMS AN UGLY REAR KAMIGOYE INTO THE BACK OF HIS HEAD!!! COVER!!! ONE! T-KICK OUT!!! OSPREAY KICKS OUT AT ONE!!! Though still completely out of it, the act of sheer defiance certainly sees Kenny’s confidence shatter in real time, who like an unhinged animal beats on Ospreay’s forehead gash until Omega too collapses next to him!
In a last-ditch effort, he staggers to his feet and puts Will’s head between his legs, wanting a CLASSIC PILEDRIVER!!! OSPREAY HANDSTANDS OUT!!! Omega’s horrified- HIDDEN BLADE!!! ONE TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD!!! Kenny kneeled, Ospreay stands next to him, prepping the OsCutter, but Omega grabs him by the tights! No force in him though, he tells Will to look him in the eyes… AND HE FLIPS HIM OFF!!! SILENT WHISPER TO KENNY!!! AND AN OSCUTTER!!! Rolling through, he deadlifts him up, CONNECTING THE STORM BREAKERRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
Will Ospreay (c) def. Kenny Omega to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (43:29)
At long last, it’s over. In front of his own people, the Commonwealth Kingpin has proven he’s Japan’s top gaijin and the most valuable wrestler today. Handed his gold, he watches as a prideful Omega refuses help, mustering up the strength to drag himself up using the ropes, before meeting Will’s gaze. At the end of the first match, he gloated. At the end of the second, he was crushed. But now? He gives Will a subtle nod of respect, officially passing the torch as he takes his bow, leaving Ospreay to take over the world.
Whilst he may have knocked down his two biggest obstacles in Okada and Omega, a dark horse third awaits him back in Japan by the name of Katsuyori Shibata! The only other individual to beat Will in the G1 other than the winner himself, he calls him out for a shot, still waiting on a reign of his own. A determined Ospreay doesn’t back down, though when he goes for a rare show of respect in a press conference heading in, extending a hand as the bigger man, Shibata outright refuses to shake! Seeing through Will’s superficialness, he declares that he owes Ospreay no respect, refusing to accept him as the company’s face that they’ve so desperately tried to mould him into. He was held back for choosing to carve his own path away from the Musketeers, and now he’s going to stick it to the company by exposing their golden boy like Sakura Genesis 2017! Will grits his teeth but says nothing, knowing he’ll just need to prove himself again.
Wrestle Grand Slam in Belluna Dome (September 10, 2023)
Also on the show:
Yota Tsuji (c) vs Yuya Uemura - NEVER Openweight Championship
Catch 22 (c) vs CHAOS (SHO & Taiji Ishimori) - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Aussie Open (c) vs FTR - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata III - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
In only the third IWGP World Title match of his career, 6 years since the infamous incident, The Wrestler receives a chance to redeem all the troubles he was put through and avenge his pupil Narita in the process. As for Ospreay, having lost to Shibata in both their matches in 2017 and 2023 respectively, he must carve out his spot definitively by knocking down another of his white whales. Taking place interestingly in KENTA’s hometown, Katsuyori’s even more driven to stick it to the man he despises most and lost to in the G1 by winning here, a pair of rather simple, stoic entrances setting the tone for the main event.
Initially, just like the G1, Shibata starts by beating the hell out of the much younger star to humble him, though Ospreay’s much quicker to put up his fists this time, learning. Youthful arrogance sees him get a couple teeth knocked down his throat though, his patented elbows instantly receiving a much stiffer receipt from Shibata, dropping him dead! Unable to outstrike the most dangerous man in New Japan, Will instead leans on his weight advantage, brutally slamming him down with London Has Fallen and scoring a vicious Liger Bomb to boot. Growing comfortable, he attempts the OsCutter, BUT IS CAUGHT WITH A SLEEPER!
Choked to a plum colour, the finishing PK narrowly misses, Ospreay dropping him with an ESSEX DESTROYER instead! Cruelling focusing on the skull, Will regains advantage, getting nasty with Kawada Kicks and a CHELSEA GRIN that rocks Shibata! An aerial attempt is again blocked, Shibata evading a Shooting Star Press and simply slapping the hell out of Will! A B*TCHMAKER almost ends him, Katsuyori mocking him as a lesser Okada, but Will takes it personally, rocking him with a brutal Running Knee Strike and nailing a SPIKE PILEDRIVER! Shibata on his knees, inviting Will to give him his best, a (protected) HIDDEN BLADE cracks him upside the head, Ospreay knocking the striker out cold for 3 to retain!
Will Ospreay (c) def. Katsuyori Shibata to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (31:46)
Doubt him, and you’ll be made to regret it. Though earlier in the night, Catch 22’s legendary reign came to an end, United Empire is stronger than ever with Ospreay taking down a murderer’s row of competition. Selling out MSG, Wembley, and a Dome, he only continues to elevate to higher heights. Whilst Shibata is left to be mugged by KENTA to close the show, Will can walk away proud of himself, on the run of a lifetime.
With the Burning Spirit tour up next leading into a second homecoming in one reign for Ospreay at Royal Quest III, there’s one man in particular that’s been barking up his tree as of late, and that’s the NJPW World Television and ROH Pure Champion Zack Sabre Jr.! Someone who’s been a thorn in Will’s side every step of the way and vice versa, he’s not content holding just two titles, wanting to reclaim his status as Zacky Three Belts, and what better way to do that than with the World Championship! Citing his far superior record and win in their last meeting in 2022’s New Japan Cup, Ospreay grants him a chance to show how deserving he truly is.
Burning Spirit - Night Six (September 23, 2023)
Birds of Prey (Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles) vs Sabre-Gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & Gabriel Kidd)
Will picking his close friend Robbie Eagles to join him (who defected to United Empire during CHAOS’s rebranding after dissension with Lio Rush over Sakura Genesis’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship shot), Sabre chooses an interesting ally of his own in Sabre-Gun’s rising star Gabriel Kidd! Zack’s empire slowly growing across 2023 with the additions of El Phantasmo, El Desperado, TMDK, Blake Christian, Clark Connors, and Kosei Fujita, Kidd’s been another that’s greatly impressed since his return from excursion, joining Zack in a tag on the G1 Finals Night to officially become part of the stable, playing off their history of fighting until respect was reached. Originally set to challenge Ospreay for his RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship last year until a mental health break cancelled those plans, unfinished business stands between the two, Kidd still looking to get Will back for chipping his elbow in a Ladder match back in WCPW 6 years ago.
The animosity between the two very much shows here, as even with Ospreay ascending to untouchable heights in the past year, he’s still the same Will to Kidd, who incessantly targets him throughout the match, wanting his pound of flesh. Will, of course, outclasses him, using his incredible chemistry with Eagles to keep Gabriel at bay, though their shifted focus does open the doors for ZSJ to employ his cunning, bending Ospreay’s arm over the guardrail with an Article 50 before massacring Robbie, an Orienteering With Napalm Death decisively tapping him out! Holding up all three belts as a hurt Will composes himself, Zack sends a definitive statement of things to come.
Sabre-Gun def. Birds of Prey (14:25)
Royal Quest III - Night Two (October 8, 2023)
Also on the tour:
Aussie Open (c) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi) - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Jon Moxley (c) vs Katsuyori Shibata - IWGP United States Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr. XVI - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
And so, for the 16th time ever, Ospreay and Sabre are set to go head-to-head! The record 9-6 in Zack’s favour, the Windy Man is nothing short of wholly confident in his own abilities, whilst Will once more enters with a chip on his shoulder, needing to show himself he’s outgrown Sabre for good. For once, London is split directly down the middle between these two, both men having grown up an hour either side from the venue, each in a completely different position since their last meeting, Ospreay on top as the World Champion and Okada-beater, and Sabre now heading a stable of his own like Will, with NJPW singles gold of his own like Will.
Duelling chants of United Empire and Sabre-Gun, both men are perhaps at their most ruthless they’ve been all year here, which is saying something for Ospreay considering his clashes with Omega, the hatred he shows Sabre unlike anything he’s felt for anyone else, wanting to wipe the sneer off his face. He had Okada figured, he had Omega figured, he even eventually had Shibata figured, but ZSJ is one puzzle which feels like running into a brick wall for Captain Dyslexia, the Technical Wizard tying the champion up into knots that are unheard of!
Taunting, bullying, torturing, Sabre picks Ospreay apart with such drive and intensity that it becomes crystal clear just how starved he’s been of NJPW’s top title. Conversely, Will’s just forced to do his best, picking his spots to remind the world he’s still very much in there, not letting the challenger shake him down to his core. A Selected Technical Works Vol 2. does get Ospreay in a bind, though he shows progression from all his matches with Sabre, managing to hang with him technically just enough to survive, forcing Zack to keep switching up his submissions. A European Clutch gets the closest call though, ZSJ very nearly flash-pinning Will for the strap!
That unlocks a whole other beast inside Ospreay, exploding with an uninterrupted 5-minute stretch of offence that has Sabre utterly overwhelmed, Will standing his ground! A HIDDEN BLADE nearly captures another victim, though the impact’s cushioned by Ospreay’s damaged arm dating back to their tag, keeping Zack alive! Still, Will keeps pushing, solely working a striking game despite the searing pain in his limbs, all in the name of strategy, managing to convince an overconfident Sabre to strike with him, though as has been a recurring theme in 2023, Zack gets mauled! And with his guard let ever so slightly down, the hyperfocus on an Article 50 gives way to a STORM BREAKER after being broken on the mat! ONE! TWO! THREE!!!
Will Ospreay (c) def. Zack Sabre Jr. to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship (33:50)
Yet again, it’s Ospreay that rules the kingdom with world-class wrestling acumen! As Will collects his title, Sabre cursing under his breath and vowing to be back someday as he leaves with his own two… OUT COMES SHINGO!!! Losing with Naito against Aussie Open for the Tag Titles earlier in the night, the two growing more distant with each other ever since SANADA’s LIJ betrayal put the faction on shaky grounds, Naito’s G1 Finals victory over Shingo only causing further dissension, which they failed to smooth over against the Aussies, the Dragon’s reaching his last wits. And as he eyes Ospreay’s title, it’s clear what he’s here for.
Not receiving a rematch ever since losing the title at Wrestle Kingdom 16, he’s been kept on an empty stomach long enough, his patience wearing thin. Extending a challenge to Will, he wants to be the one walking into WK defending the strap against Naito! Ospreay, uber-confident in his ability to slay his rival once more, accepts!
Battle Autumn - Night Eight (October 23, 2023)
United Empire (Will Ospreay, Jeff Cobb, Aussie Open) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi)
The Battle Autumn tour pits UE and LIJ against each other in various tags, with Ospreay and co. winning every single one thus far, the issues between Takagi and Naito even spilling into here whilst the rest of LIJ tries to play the role of mediator. With UE dominating and Shingo’s shot mere days away though, they agree something needs to change. And so, for the sake of the greater LIJ family, they do their best to stay out of each other’s ways, finally stringing together some respectable momentum.
As Aussie Open goes for the Coriolis on Naito, Shingo bursts in off tagging Tetsuya’s back, nailing a PUMPING BOMBER on Davis to knock Tetsuya off his shoulders, before a Pumping BombeDestino combo on Kyle and a LAST OF THE DRAGON breaks the LIJ curse, though going right back to sharing tense stares, Naito ultimately nodding to Shingo, wishing him luck. Ospreay, however, stands unfazed, knowing Takagi’s the one with the chip on his shoulder this time.
Los Ingobernables de Japon def. United Empire (18:38)

I recently went back to replay BotW. I played it for a couple of hours, but I really enjoyed it, but then I was sad to go back to that world, I saw the memories and revisited the places where many of them took place in the past. Especially the ones involving the Champions, I love those characters, and it's sad that we didn't get to see much of them, just some great moments from AoC and BotW. One of the things I love to do in the game is to revisit the places where parts of the story took place, the road to Hateno Village, Akkala Citadel, Hyrule Castle, among others, it makes me so sad to go to those places and discover that something is missing, I don't know what it is, maybe because the characters that were in them are gone, to see what happened after the fall of our heroes, or because they are so melancholic and at the same time peaceful.
I also went back to the Divine Beasts, I've always loved their "divine" presence. I remembered my past playthroughs of the game, the times I went for the Divine Beasts, how each one displayed a menacing, brooding and mysterious theme when I approached them. In my first game I went first for Vah Medoh, then Vah Naboris, then Vah Ruta, and finally Vah Rudania. The road to get to them was very epic, collaborating with the descendants of the Champions in different ways. Each of them (the dungeon itself) gave me a weird feeling, between loneliness, despair, sadness and hope, knowing what happened there in the past and how the Champions were still waiting for someone to free them after so long. They weren't difficult, but they were incredible, it's as if the difficulty was sacrificed for the sake of a great build-up to the climax of the dungeon, the progression of the music, the visual effects and the voice lines of the champions, all that made it an unforgettable experience.
It probably happened (and still happens) to many of us, but have you ever felt a strong sense of sadness when remembering this game, its story, its themes and its characters? It's like a pressure in your chest, a kind of warm feeling in it, it feels weird, but it hurts in an emotional way, and the worst thing is that you don't know how to put it into words, well, at least I'm trying to do that with this post, expressing my feelings when I played and replayed BotW; probably will extend on this because I really love this someday. I guess this is what I was missing in TotK, it may be nostalgia, but I'm sure BotW had a really special vibe and atmosphere that I doubt any other title in the saga will ever reach again.
If you have experienced something similar to what I said, please share :)

seven dragon overlords The ancient city of Imperia was once the greatest metropolis in all the land With mighty. towers that reached the heavens and wealth beyond imagination, there was no mortal realm that could compare to it. However, its ruler, eager to extend the territory of his kingdom and add to his already massive wealth, started a campaign to expand Imperia. Rallying the people under the banner of unity, the mortals entered an almost unstoppable frenzy, reaching across all corners all the land. Unfortunately, destiny was a cruel mistress: in their eagerness and rush, the kingdom had entered the lands of seven mighty entities, the Dragon Overlords: Athrazor, Lord of Cinder; Coldryum, the Crystal Nightmare; Noxia, Mistress of Venom; Slithrae, Terror of the Depths; Umbrazar, the Undying Shadow; Zhao Leng. Emperor of the Skies and Magnamanus, the Dragon Tyrant. Creatures of unimaginable strength, they wiped the armies that entered their domains and proceeded to attack the mortal kingdom in punishment for their advance. Desperate, the king's mages executed an emergency plan: gathering arcane energies from across the Multiverse, they summoned back from the dead the spirits of powerful heroes, legends of their respective lands who'd already managed to surpass unbelievable odds. Amused the Dragon Overlords offered the king a deal: if his Champions could defeat them, they'd leave the kingdom forever. However, if they failed, they would make all mortals their slaves for eternity. The deal was sealed, and the king's Champions faced the mighty dragons in combat. However, for as powerful and experienced as the Champions were, the Overlords proved too much. Their mangled corpses were thrown upon the throne room, and they claimed the kingdom as theirs. Stealing all riches and wreaking havoc to their leisure, they made a final warning before leaving: at the end of each century, they would come back, eager to steal and destroy as they saw fit. Before leaving, though, they encouraged the mortals to once again try their luck. "We will face all your champions, mortals, and we will prevail" Thus, the Hunting Games were born. Each century, the city of Imperia once again becomes a battleground, with the almighty Dragon Overlords returning, ready to face the legends of other lands and proving that no one can compete against their dreadful power.
[Sign Up Information] Date: Fridays
Time: 5:30 EST
Levels: 11 - 20
Gameplay: A RP heavy game with a fair amount of combat thrown into mix. we use discord for chat and roll20 for game-play.
Edition: 5e
Homebrew/UA Permitted?: yes
Players: we are looking for a single player to replace one we lost ALSO DO NOT APPLY UNLESS YOUR 18 OR OLDER!!!!
Please DM me if interested along with answering the following questions

1. how old you are
   
2. if your a male or female
   
3. how much D&D experience do you have
   
4. what kind of character you wish to bring to the table.
   

A special thanks to u/bluefishcake for the wonderful original story and sandbox to play in.
A special thanks to my editors LordHenry7898, RandomTinkerer, Swimming_Good_8507, CatsInTrenchcoats, and KLiCKonthat.
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired me to tell my own in this universe. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), CarCU131 (The Cook), and Rhion-618 (Just One Drop)
Hy’shq’e Ay Si’am (Thank you noble friends)
Chapter 30: A Promise Kept
Kalai stepped off the shuttle to the Vaida’s headquarters and into a running tackle-hug from Sitry. “Oh Kalai, I could kill you right now! You got to see the Great Barrier Reef in person, you bitch!” Sitry’s cheerful voice was muffled from where she was still buried in her chest. Kalai staggered backwards a pace or two, happy to be back from her whirlwind adventure around Earth with her father.
Naranjo and Papa Rhaxiid were there on the platform to welcome her back too, but their welcomes were more sedate.
“Not to mention you got out of work for half our damn trip. Ugh, it’s so not fair!” Naranjo huffed as Kalai gave him a sisterly hug.
Papa Rhaxiid reached up and chucked her chin before turning to lead the way back inside from the forested platform. “Welcome back, sweet-sprout, we’ve missed you. Come on, we’ll get you settled again and off to work. There’s quite a bit you need to catch up on if you want your credits.”
The chuckles from the twins behind her were full of sibling malice, but she knew how to shut the pair of them up. “Papa Rhaxiid? I’ve got the paper on Biodiversity in the Reef you asked for, along with the dissection report and stomach content analysis of the tuna we caught. I want to put the finishing touches on it and do a final proofread first before I send them to you.” The man turned and gave her a warm smile as they entered the building.
“Good, why don’t you go take your things back up and say hello to Andy? I’ll give you an hour and a half to get freshened up, then I want you to report to Aquarium 12 with Dr. Sor’ansa. You can put your snorkeling practice to work there.” Papa Rhaxiid walked the three of them to the residential elevator. “I’m heading back to my office. Andy’s been requested by Maetro Pae’ella to work the kitchens for something called ‘Bison burgers'. Apparently it’s a type of indigenous bovine that the eastern Bands raise. That and something from Europe called ‘French Fries’.”
Kalai couldn’t help but get excited as she and her siblings piled into the elevator back to their little shared apartment. Sure the food she’d had all over the place was good, but so far nothing had been able to compare to Andy and his Salishian cooking.
“Nerd, I can’t believe you cheated and did work on your vacation." Naranjo broke the silence of the elevator after a little bit and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Spit to windward, you vain little weed. Don’t hate me because I’m awesome.” Kalai’s riposte caused Naranjo to fold his arms and huff. Sitry simply ambushed her with an ear flick.
The elevator door opened to their floor before Kalai couldn’t bear the silence from Sitry any longer. “So, did you bag him yet, you lucky bitch?”
“No she hasn’t!” Naranjo’s singsong mockery of his sister interrupted Sitry’s response. “Papa hasn’t let Sitry even NEAR Andy without one of them around!”
“Rub it in, you snitch, besides, he did kiss me first,” Sitry preened happily as she playfully shoved Kalai’s shoulder.
Kalai pretended to stumble and almost caught Sitry’s foot, but she was just a hair too slow. “Yeah, and then you gave him a black eye, you clod.”
“Will you let it go? It was an accident!”
“It’s not even the only one he got either." Naranjo’s interjection stopped her right in front of their door.
“Wait, what? Who hurt him this time?” Kalai let her bag thunk to the floor as she turned to look accusingly between Sitry and Narny.
Sitry folded her arms and her ears twitched back as she shot a dark look at their door. “He ‘fell down’ yesterday while out at one of the Hatcheries we gave to the Hwatcoms. Mrs. Toloui nearly had a fit! She said she could smell another human on him and that he was covered in blood!”
Narny nodded primly as Kalai tried to process what they were telling her. “WHAT? Did she call out the militia? Track down whoever hurt him?”
“No, and he refused treatment and insisted that no one did it to him! When papa tried to talk to him, Andy said some stupid human macho shit about pain healing and birds liking scars. I don’t know, sometimes humans… they’re frickin’ insane!”
The door shot open and there stood Andy. His left eye was an angry puffy yellow and blue mess, and there were three points on his lips where a dark cinnabar line marked a crack. Kalai and her siblings stood in wide eyed shock at his sudden appearance and the only sound was the music emanating from the common room behind him.
Andy looked up and down at the three without saying a word. He cocked an eyebrow and snagged Kalai’s bag before any of them could react and cleared the doorway for them.
Kalai sputtered at the impropriety but Naranjo and Sitry just shrugged and walked in after Andy. “Femboys, am I right?” Narny whispered to Kalai as he passed. Kalai followed behind and was greeted by the white fluff-ball, Puck, who hopped up and down, whining for attention. She bent down and started scratching his ears and back. While Puck rubbed up against her hands, Andy settled back down at the table where his omnipad was hooked up to a keypad. Her heart started to sink a bit and Kalai shot Sitry a jealous look before the music came to a sudden halt and Andy interrupted the beginnings of her pity party.
“Ok, Kem’ira, I got the pics now and I’m telling you to declare yourself to the farmers first! I guarantee if you tell them you’re with the new DNR and you’re there to kill all the Scotch Broom in their pasture lands, they’ll stop trying to shoot you for trespassing!”
Kalai’s mood jumped up a bit. It’s not that he doesn’t care to see me, he’s in a meeting!
“No, no I’m not coming out to talk this over with them, I’ve got my own work to do! Either you start talking to folks like I showed you how, or ask the militia to give you one of their armored catsuits to wear under your uniform… Uh-huh, good luck." Andy hung up on the call and leaned back as Puck scampered over and hopped up in his lap.
Andy rubbed his temples before shaking his head. He seemed to relax a bit and Puck slid off to follow Sitry to the kitchen. Andy looked over and gave Kalai a happy smile that made her flush. “Welcome back! So how was the land down under? That tuna was fan-frickin’-tastic, if you aren’t sick of seafood I’ll do something fancy with it tomorrow to celebrate your coming back. Can’t tonight though, I got volun-told to be head chef tonight and I… Oh damnit! I’m late! Come to dinner, burgers and fries Indian style tonight. Gotta run!” With that, Andy went dashing out the door with Puck barking and scrambling along after him.
Kalai felt her heart sink back down again, as he left. “Andy I-” She started but he was gone.
“Yeah, it’s been like that for the whole week. The only time we get to hang out is dinner.” Sitry commiserated as she took Kalai’s bag into their room. “On the other hand, we might get to catch up during the family meal tonight.”
The dinner was delicious, though a bit weird. It tasted alright, but there was a certain aftertaste on the sandwich that just didn’t sit right with Kalai. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. The french fries more than made up for it though, and Mama Sakalbi had to hold a science trivia contest to see who got the last little handful.
Kalai and Narny were already silently plotting with each other for their revenge against their sister who had won and refused to share the last few matchsticks when Andy finally joined their table. He was sweaty and he smelled of woodsmoke and french fries. Kalai jumped up and offered him a seat next to her with a nervous smile. He took it gratefully and seemed to sag a bit as he gulped down a glass of water.
“Andy, I think you may be finding your calling as a culinary ambassador,” Mama Aftasia beamed. “A toast to the chef!”
Andy gave a shy smile and looked down as Kalai and the rest of the family gave a hearty ‘Here, here!”
“It’s a simple enough recipe; it’s just using bison instead of cow, that’s all, and I don’t know anyone who’d turn down hand cut fresh fries. It’s kind of hard to screw up.”
“Young man, you are speaking to a woman who found a way to take cold water and dried wumpa flakes and wind up with a Class-4 fire. Cooking has always seemed like ‘blight mysticism’ to me, and these foods? These flavors? Nothing short of a Greenwood miracle in my opinion." Mama Aftasia continued her praise of Andy, which only caused him to shrink even lower in his seat.
“To be honest, I like your salmon better,” Kalai said, and the whole table went silent. Kalai held her ground though, and was rewarded with a tired but genuine laugh from Andy that brought him back out of his shell.
“You know, I do too. My Clan were fisherpeople, not buffalo chasers.” Andy gave Kalai a cheeky grin, which she returned happily, her heart glowing. Mama Aftasia and Mama Sakalbi both blinked in bemusement at Andy’s statement while Sitry just giggled.
“Speaking of which, Andy, I received a call from Elder Alex Hwatcom.” Papa Rhaxiid’s change of subject instantly perked Andy up, and he stared silently, waiting. “He extended an invitation to our family to attend his family gathering this Friday-”
“Alex said that? He used those words?” Andy shook his head in shock as he interrupted Papa Rhaxiid. The table went quiet and everyone held their breath as they looked between the two men.
Papa Rhaxiid adopted as good an impression of the human Elder as he could. “I’d like to extend an invitation for you and your family to be guests at our family gathering this saturday up at the White… something… lodge-”
“The White Ram Lodge?” Andy sat forward, interjecting again as the color drained from his face.
“Yes, that’s the one! I asked if we could bring anything since the last time they hosted us they put on that wonderful spread. He said if we could bring a few salmon for the family, that would be wonderful.”
Andy leaned back and took another sip of ice water before holding the glass to his blackened eye. “Alex Hwatcom… just invited you… to a gathering… and he told you to ‘bring a few salmon’? Do you realize what a huge honor this is?”
Rhaxiid looked from his wives to his children with mild concern. “Um, I thought it was only dinner, but your reaction tells me there’s more significance to this than I originally thought. I was thinking about our stocks of adult Sockeye, but then I remembered in his story how important King Salmon are. Of course, I’d like to defer to you for the choice since you know these animals and the cultural expectations with this invitation better than we do.”
Andy was silent for a moment before he put the glass down. “I’d recommend a ‘hard no’ to all your clone stock!” Now it was the Vaidas’ turn to be shocked, as each of Kalai’s Erbian family’s jaws dropped in synch. Before anyone could say anything, Andy continued, “You need to bring wild-caught. Farm-raised salmon wouldn’t… well we can tell, and you can taste the difference between them. We need to go fishing!” Kalai leaned towards Andy slightly as he lowered his head and started mumbling to himself. She was just able to make out what he was saying to himself as Mama Sakalbi and Mama Aftasia began whispering to each other. “...need to get the Gillnetter out of storage, check what’s running and select the mesh. I’m gonna need a deckhand too.”
Kalai reached a hand out but stopped short of touching him. “Andy?”
He popped up and spoke for the whole table to hear. “I need a shuttle to the mainland and a waiver against the fishing ban. I’ve got to get my boat and the drum ready for sea ” Rhaxiid and Aftasia sputtered in confusion, but Mama Sakalbi had a shadow fall over her, and her ears pulled back.
“Do you mean to say you want to go out on the water? Risk the ecological balance for… dinner?”
Andy looked Sakalbi dead in the eye and gave her a firm nod. “Why don’t you come out and see how we did this before you got here. Think of it as a chance to see the way we’ve fished for the last hundred or so years, and then I can explain the way we used to fish before that.”
The offer snapped Rhaxiid out of his confusion and he brightened. “A learning experience? Wonderful, we’ll make a day of it!” His hands shot out to grab both his wives’ and Kalai could feel the vibrations in the floor from where he was excitedly tapping his feet.
“If you don’t mind hard, smelly work. Uncle Willy always called it ‘the worst desk in the prettiest office.' It’ll be a bit cramped, but I’ve got room on the boat for a few guests and observers; four I think would be ok. She’s a working boat, not a pleasure cruiser,” Andy explained. That sent the whole lot of them excitedly talking among themselves.
Kalai was about to lean in to talk to Mama Aftasia, but Andy caught her attention first. “I don’t suppose you’d want to go back out on the water, given you just got back from pleasure-boating-”
Kalai’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. “I wouldn’t miss it for my own colony planet!”
--------------------
Kalai stood on the pier, bundled in her thermal sailor’s coat. It was still dark and the wind blew from the north in a cold little morning breeze. Kalai took a deep breath and reveled in the smell of the fresh sea air. The soft chattering of Mama Sakalbi’s teeth broke the silence. “It’s a bit chillier than it said it was going to be.”
“The water always does that. It’s never as warm as the lubbers say it’ll be,” Papa spoke as he handed her back her thermos of hot chocolate.
Papa stood next to Kalai and nudged her with his elbow. Even in the dark, Kalai could see him smile up at her and jerk his head at the shivering Erbian. He was also wearing a thermal sailor’s coat, and his hands were stuffed in his pockets to keep them warm, just like Kalai’s. “Landswoman,” he whispered to her and the two of them shared a knowing smile. It was strange, but welcome when she'd told Papa about her upcoming day fishing with Andy, and he’d politely requested to join them. Papa Rhaxiid had graciously given his spot up to accommodate her birth father. Narny was all for it until Andy had explained what they were going to do, but then surrendered his challenge to the fourth guest space, not wanting to go anywhere NEAR anything that could see him come face to face with a Lion’s Mane Jelly. Sitry had done a happy little dance when she found out, but only yesterday had come down with Thistle Fever, and was bundled off to bed by her parents. It left Kalai, Mama Sakalbi, and Papa to accompany Andy on his fishing trip.
The water brushed against the shore behind them quietly. In the gloom, Kalai could just barely make out the outline of the nearest island mountain, but only because the stars had disappeared behind it. It was almost four in the morning, but Kalai had managed a catnap on the shuttle to the empty little lot that had been the boat launch. Aside from the water, the world was silent. Even the breeze made almost no noise and a sense of peace surrounded them. Everything was so calm, Kalai felt like she didn’t have a care in the world.
In the distance, a low rumbling sound of a motor rose from being almost imperceptible to a rolling drum of thunder. From around the point, two green floating lights sped through the darkness, and a spotlight turned on. The beam of light moved jerkily until it came to rest on the pier where they were standing and Kalai started waving her arms. Sakalbi’s omnipad rang, and Andy’s voice shouted over the speaker and the background noise for them to shine a light on the edge of the pier to help him park the boat.
Kalai and Papa moved closer and turned their omnipad flashlights on and waved them as the boat swung gracefully around and glided in alongside them. Kalai caught the rope that flew over the railing of the boat and she heard more than saw Andy moving around on the deck as she tied off on one of the mooring cleats. Several lights clicked on and the deck was bathed in light enough for Kalai to get a clear view of the boat they’d be spending the day on.
Andy hadn’t lied. Kalai saw that this little vessel was a working boat with no frills at all. When he’d told her they’d be going fishing, she’d envisioned something like the charter boat papa had taken her on out of Nantucket. Sporty, fast with a nod to comfort and function. This was not that at all. A giant wheel as wide as Kalai’s outstretched arms that looked like a sideways spool of thread was secured to the deck amidships and dominated the deckspace. Wrapped around it was a fluorescent green tangle with a line of oblong white and yellow corks and rope. There was a covered hatchway sitting behind the drum in front of the raised step to the enclosed cabin. Two large windows let the light out to two children’s bunks, a little table with a booth seat and a raised captain’s chair in front of the helm and engine controls. Andy shut down the engine and that peaceful stillness returned.
“Oway there!” Kalai called, “ship oway! Request permission to come aboard.” Kalai gave the traditional greeting of a Shil’vati sailor.
“Permission granted! Anyone need a stepstool?” Andy finally stepped into the light and Kalai got a look at him. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and the same bright orange coveralls she’d seen the fishmongers wearing on their date.
“I wouldn’t mind a hand, Mr. Shelokset.” Papa He’osforos braced a foot on the railing of the boat and Andy pulled him up.
“Just call me Andy, Doc, and welcome aboard. Jackie should be along any minute now with the day’s groceries, and the cabin’s out of the cold. You can get yourself set wherever you find comfortable.” Papa nodded and disappeared around the other side of the wheel moving towards the bow.
Kalai helped Mama Sakalbi into the boat next, and she quickly ducked into the cabin that took up the entire stern section save for a little ledge that ran along the outside. Andy gripped Kalai’s hand and she smiled as he pulled her deftly aboard. The boat rocked a little on its mooring, and Kalai almost fell into Andy, who wordlessly put his arms around her waist to catch her as she lost her balance. She flailed for a moment before she steadied herself against him.
“Gotcha,” Andy smiled, and Kalai could see him flush almost as much as she could feel herself doing as their noses almost touched. Those big dark brown eyes surrounded by white orbs drew her in and she felt she could lose herself in them. Kalai started as Andy danced her around him and moved her towards the cabin door.
“It might be a little cramped for you in there, but the Mary Jean wasn’t built for pleasure boating, she’s a working girl. Sit tight, I gotta check a few things in the back.” Andy patted the railing affectionately before he hopped up and scooted along the outside of the cabin towards the stern. Kalai couldn’t help the little longing groan that came out as he left her there on the little tiny quarterdeck. Her heart was hammering in her chest as half formed fantasies danced at the edges of her mind.
“I saw that, little minnow.” Papa’s voice was soft, but his tone and the sudden broken silence nearly gave her a heart attack.
Kalai could only stammer as her father stared at her with a cocked eyebrow. A thump from the cabin window behind saw an amused Mama Sakalbi daintily sipping at her thermos with her ears twitched forward in interest, staring out at her. “Papa I… he-”
Papa moved carefully around the covered hatchway to stand next to her, leaning back against the cabin window and heaved a sigh. “I must say I’m surprised. This lovely man’s got good clean lines and is very well cared for. It speaks well of his Skipper.”
It took a full minute for Kalai’s brain to process that he was talking about the boat and not Andy. “And the way Andy brought him in smooth in near complete darkness? It gives me confidence in his abilities.”
Kalai breathed a silent sigh of relief and exasperation. Although she was happy to be spending more time with her father, bringing him on what she’d hoped would be a sailing date wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind for ‘family time’. He wants me to find a nice young man and spend time with him on a boat, but the first chance I get Papa decides to clam-jam me.
From up on shore, the sound and lights of a large human vehicle screeching to a halt heralded the last of their party to arrive. Kalai heard the clomping footsteps coming down the pier and moved to the railing to lend a hand.
“Ahoy Mary Jean! Raggedy Andy, you there?” Kalai stared with wide eyed surprise to see a human female, loaded down with plastic bags and sporting two human weapons on her shoulder. The two of them locked eyes, and while Kalai didn’t understand everything the girl shouted in surprise, she had caught and understood the phrase, “What the fuck?”
“Easy now, they’re my guests, and the one inside is the boss!” Andy appeared on the pier instantly before either Kalai or the woman could react further.
“Ya didn’t tell me we were having pur-” The woman glared at Kalai and her father. She had switched to Vatikre thankfully, but her tone was hostile as she dropped everything but her weapons. “I mean, hwun’eetums, aboard. A gal could get the wrong idea pretty quick in the dark when there’s no warning.”
“Knock it off Jackie. Let’s get the grub aboard and shove off.” Andy picked up some of the bags and took the guns as Kalai offered a helping hand over the railing. “Oh, Kalai, this is Jackie. Jackie? Kalai. That’s her dad over there, Doc He’osforos. He saw and treated Kay Tee a few years back.” Andy jerked his head towards the direction of Kalai’s father as she held out a hand to the human girl. On a quick inspection, she appeared to be about the same age as her and Andy. She had a round face and was about as dark complected as Andy was. She was shorter, only a few inches taller than Papa, but when Jackie grabbed Kalai’s hand to hop up onto the rail, she could feel the strength and the compact muscle hidden by the baggy sweatshirt and pants.
“Wait a minute, did you say Mini-Me over there saw Kay Tee? You’re fuckin’ with me!” Jackie stumbled a bit as she hopped down onto the deck with a loud thunk and advanced on Papa who shrank away at her advance. “You saw li’l Kay Tee? Where the fuck is he? Is he alright? Is he still fighting the good fight?”
“Last I saw, yes, he was ‘fighting the good fight.’” Papa looked over at Andy with a slightly worried expression. Andy smacked the girl in the back of the head, causing her to flinch and she opened the door to the cabin for Andy to go inside.
Jackie rubbed the back of her head and laughed. “Well that’s a little bit of alright, innit? Maybe today’s gonna be a good day after all!”
“Jackie, get suited up and get on the bow. I need a good pair of eyes on the roller horns,” Kalai heard Andy shout from the cabin, followed by a whole lot of thumping and banging from cabinets being opened and closed.
“You got it, ol’ man. We going to your place or mine?” Jackie sidestepped in and opened a tiny little closet and pulled out a set of rain gear that was identical to what Andy was wearing. Kalai collected herself and stood in the doorway next to her father as they both leaned in.
“Mine; Chuck said the Yaw’much are running from the South. We’ll do a set nor’west of Lummi in the Rosario and see if we can get some Fraser Kings,” Andy replied as he turned the engine back on and the vessel roared to life.
“Chuck? Isn’t that one of your cousins? I didn’t know he could keep track of the movements of Salmon, may I ask how he does it?” Mama Sakalbi perked up as she pulled a set of earplugs out of a pocket and inserted them.
Andy prevaricated a bit, looking from Jackie back to Sakalbi then to Kalai and Papa. “I’d rather not answer that-”
“Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law! Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law!”
Jackie began singing a human song, and Andy threw her the dirtiest of looks as she finished getting into the orange coveralls. Mama Sakalbi sputtered as Andy shrugged apologetically.
“Make a hole!” Jackie called, and she and Andy came back out as Kalai and Papa made room for them. Andy hopped back onto the dock to cast off while Papa ducked into the cabin.
“Can I help?” Kalai offered as Andy shoved the vessel off and leapt the gap over the black water below.
“You want to be useful? Come forward! I could use an extra set of eyes!” Jackie called back, and Kalai felt a slap on her shoulder from the boisterous human woman.
------------------
Andy stood at the helm, watching Jackie and Kalai as he leaned to get a better view of them past the Net drum. The bow was lifting up again, and the gentle little swells became like speed bumps, jostling them up and down in a predictable bouncing rhythm.
“Are you sure you couldn’t slow down, Andy? It’s a bit rough, don’t you think?” Sakalbi was hanging on to the table and her thermos with a worried expression on her face.
“I could, but we’ll miss the morning set. We want to bomb out the buoy right when the tide changes. If we’re lucky, then we’ll get around seventy or eighty by slack tide this afternoon and call it a day.”
“How do you know where to fish?” Dr. He’osforos was making a good show of standing and maintaining his balance with his hand on the booth.
“Well, there’s two ways you know. The first is you fish the spots your family’s fished since time began. Every family has about two or three different secret spots that we know there’s fish in, and we’re pretty defensive about their locations. The second is by smell. Right now it’s the tail end of the King season, and you can smell them in the water.” Andy turned and saw the incredulity etched on the faces of the two aliens.
“No, I’m serious! King Salmon slime is really pungent, and you can smell them when they’re close to the surface. We get to the fishing spot and take a deep whiff. If we smell them, we’ll set the nets.” Andy laughed at the disbelief on their faces as the GPS on his omnipad beeped and he turned to sail around the last buoy and head for the fishing ground.
“I’ve never noticed that in any of the Kings we’ve raised-”
Andy suppressed a laugh as they caught a larger swell as they left the lee of Lummi Island. Andy reveled in the feeling of weightlessness as the deck rose up and fell out from underneath their feet, leaving everyone suspended for a moment in midair before falling back down. A massive spray of water rose and washed over the deck, drenching Kalai and Jackie, who were still forward. “Cloned and farmed Kings don’t have that same smell. Wild ones smell and taste different, I’m telling you!” Andy pulled back slightly on the throttle as they climbed the next swell. “Brace!” he called as they climbed and fell once again.
There was a look of fear on Sakalbi’s face as she gripped the table for dear life, but to Andy’s surprise, the Doctor looked completely unfazed, and was handling the rise and fall of the deck like an old salt. “You look like you’ve done this before, Doc.”
“I’ve done a stint or two at sea before,” he spoke, in the same tone Andy would have used when trying not to sound too confident, and Andy smiled.
“Kalai keeps talking about loving the sea and sailing. Did you teach her to sail?”
“Yes, me and her mothers. When they were home, we would take the family yacht out in the Vaascon Straits and sail around the Occidiens. Kalai practically spent all her early childhood on a sailboat.”
“And almost every waking moment on one in Junior Academy. I swear you couldn’t dig her out with a trowel when she wanted to go sailing,” Sakalbi managed to add in a word as the boat slowed, and the dramatic rise and fall of the deck slowed with it.
“What about you, Mr. Shelokset, did your father teach you to sail too?”
“I was too young before he passed. My Great Uncle Willy taught me after I came home, and Grandma took me out to the family fishing sites when she wasn’t busy with the Council. For the first two or three years after they let us come home, fishing was the only way to feed our families, but the Militia and the Cambrians would try and sink our boats or arrest us whenever we tried to go out.”
“And that’s why you’re so good at maneuvering your vessel in the dark with no instruments?” Mrs. Vaida had folded her arms, and her voice twinged with that imperious tone she’d had when they’d first met.
Andy huffed a dry laugh. “I did what I had to for me and my people and to survive, Ma’am. I don’t like breaking the law or dodging lasers and gunfire, but there’s a lot of poor families that need to eat.”
The GPS beeped, and Andy gave Mrs. Vaida a slightly defiant look to counter her furrowed brow. “We’re here,” he said as he threw the engine in neutral and opened the cabin door.
Andy walked out and took a deep breath, but all he could smell was the net and the exhaust from the engine. “HEY JACKIE! WE SMELL MONEY?” Andy yelled out as he took stock of the sky. The first signs of sunrise were chasing all but the morning stars away and a light fog was rolling in from the north.
“FUCK YEAH I CAN SMELL ‘EM, ANDY! LET’S BOMB OUT AND GET BREAKFAST GOING!” Jackie looked slightly manic as she smiled brightly. Kalai, on the other hand, looked wet and miserable as she shivered, arms wrapped around herself. Andy gave his cousin a disgusted look as he pieced together what had happened. Every deckhand learned when to duck behind the raised bow and the roller horns that guided the nets so as not to get a faceful of spray when cutting through a swell. It was also a classic hazing trick for Senior Deckhands to let Junior Deckhands learn this the hard way.
Andy moved forward to stand in front of the two of them. Kalai was trying to squeeze her coat dry, but Andy knew it wouldn’t do much good until the sun came out. Jackie at least had the sense to look a little remorseful. “Kalai, why don’t you go sit in the cabin and get out of that wet coat. It’s cold enough out here even for us-”
“No way, Andy. Junior deckhand Kally here wants to impress you and get her dainty soft hands dirty! She’s been bragging about being a sailorwoman and wants to learn to fish ‘your way!” Jackie gave Kalai’s shoulder a wet slap as the poor alien woman went blue. Out of cold or embarrassment, Andy couldn’t tell.
All Andy could do was shake his head and huff. “Ok then! Secure the buoy and sling on my mark. I’ll get us in position!” Andy couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard Jackie start ordering Kalai about. Andy went back into the cabin and looked in the closet/bathroom to see if there was anything hanging up that he could give Kalai. There was only the one rain slicker and a few of Andy’s old sweaters from when he was a lot smaller. Well, looks like I’ll just be cold today. He quickly stripped out of his sweatshirt and grabbed the slicker before throwing a switch on the main control. Dr. He’osforos and Mrs. Vaida threw him quizzical looks as he went back outside wearing less than when he came in. He was down to a sleeveless shirt and his coveralls, and the morning breeze cut right through him and he braced his jaw to keep it from chattering.
“We’re ready to go- Andy, why are you practically naked from the waist up?” Kalai was staring wide eyed at him as he approached her and Jackie was on the bow. Jackie had everything ready; the buoy line was strung through the horns and ready to toss out. A giant orange and blue beach ball sized float hung at the end of the line to mark the end and make it easier to pick up later.
“Trade me your coat for these. If Jackie’s putting you to work, you’ll need these to keep warm.”
“I’m alright, I can-”
“I’m the Skipper of this boat, and I’m ordering you to take off that wet coat and put these on; and Jackie?” Andy gave his cousin a long and piercing look. “Give her the elbow gloves, not the halfsies.”
The scoff and the muttered Salishian profanities meant he’d read the next prank she’d had in mind right. She was planning on giving her the cloth gloves with only the palms and fingers coated in rubber. While perfectly fine for fishing, Andy knew they tended to get soaked through very quickly and did nothing to keep jellyfish stingers and fish slime off your hands. Kalai sputtered for a moment before she complied gratefully and she accepted the dry clothes and rain slicker.
Andy saw Jackie give him a strange look before looking back at Kalai, but he paid it no mind. He walked back to the controls on the drum and switched off the hydraulics, placing the mechanism in neutral. “SLING IT!” Andy called as he took the small jerry rigged steering wheel and threw the boat in reverse. Kalai jumped as the line started unspooling the net into the water at a rapid pace.
Andy set an ‘S’ bend in the quarter mile long net, zigzagging backwards until they came to the end of the line. Andy stopped the boat as Jackie tied off the other large buoy and tossed it over the side, unstringing the cork-line from the roller horns in the process. He pulled hard over and put a bit of distance from the net before shutting the engine down. The line of white and yellow corks marking the net bobbed lazily with the swells as silence settled over the water again. The waves rocked the boat gently as Andy found his sea legs again.
“Alright, I’ll get breakfast going. Jackie, Kalai? Post the watch for seals,” Andy called as he walked back into the cabin to fire up the tiny little gas stove.
Sakalbi, having found the confidence to stand at last, poked her head out of the cabin and stood on by the hatch to the fish hold. “Seals? Why would you need to watch for seals?”
Andy grit his teeth and looked over from where he was cracking open and scrambling eggs. “They’re the spawn of Satan and we hate their guts!” Andy bit out. Jackie came back and pulled the two shotguns and a pair of binoculars from the closet. Andy reached over to a side cabinet and pulled out a box of shells for them. Both his boss and the Doctor’s eyes got wide.
“Seals are the enemy of our blood. Were it not for the invasion, our unending war against these vermin would continue to this day!” Jackie growled as she loaded one for herself and rested the other on Andy’s seat at the helm.
The look of growing horror on Sakalbi’s face towards their facetious declarations caused Andy to chuckle a bit, before launching into an explanation. “We’re not fans of the species because they’ll wait until a fish gets caught in the net and then they’ll steal it, costing us a fish AND ripping a big hole in our nets that we then have to take time to repair. We use the shotguns and buckshot to give them a nice welt and convince them not to hang around, because they’ll wait up on the surface and watch the buoys, just like us. A single seal can and will take between five and ten fish. The worst is when they start getting full, they’ll just bite out the bellies of a salmon in the net. We can’t really do anything with that fish once it’s ‘seal-bit’. So yes, as fishermen, we hate them.”
“Learned opportunism in apex predators as a response to human activity… I think I’ll go see this behavior for myself!” Sakalbi practically rushed out the door towards the bow where Jackie was sitting on the roller horns explaining to Kalai how to spot the bastards, leaving Andy alone in the cabin with the Doctor while he cooked breakfast for them all.
Dr. He’osforos sat down heavily in the booth and pulled out his omnipad. “I’ve had a word with my friend in the Interior. She’s pulled the warrant for your brother, and I’ve withdrawn the charges I filed.”
Andy froze and turned around slowly. The only sound was the sizzle and pop of the eggs and chorizo that he’d added to them in the skillet. “You mean… it’s done? He can come home?” A wave of light headed euphoria swept over Andy and he swayed with the gentle rocking of the boat. “I will pay you back, Doc-”
The doctor held up his hand and stopped Andy. “We’ll call it even, but there’s something… I was able to get my hands on this,” Andy watched as the doctor swiped something towards his omnipad and it dinged. “What is it if I may-”
“Are you really asking an Indian to tell you a story? Because it’s going to be a long one if you are.” “I’m Sevastutavan, young man; we invented long stories.”
Andy froze and stared at the screen of his omnipad. The Vatikre was heavily accented, and Andy had a bit of trouble with the unfamiliar accent, but centered in the frame in a hospital room, sitting in a wheelchair, was a Salishian boy. Andy blinked in surprise as he stared at the screen. “Is that-”
“I am Ikw’is’hi’ehlah, and this bearer is… of the Orca Clan Sheloksets. I drove our Haida enemies onto the rocks and took many heads when they attacked our winter village on Orcas Island. I signed the Treaty with the Great White Father and I fought against the slavers of the south-”
Andy wanted to grab the omnipad but the smell of overcooking eggs brought his attention back to breakfast and Andy stirred and scrapped the food quickly, trying to save it.
“I asked her for any materials she could give me on your brother. Pictures, recordings, anything. This is what she gave me. It's the last known recording of your brother during an interrogation conducted by a Navy Commissar prior to his escape. It seems he made friends with a Pod of Deaths Head Commandos. Quite a bit of the recording has been redacted, but… there are portions of it where he talks about his family and his history. I thought you might like to have it.”
Andy hurriedly pulled out paper plates and a slice of bread for everyone and scooped a heaping portion of the chorizo eggs onto them. He handed the doctor his before leaning out the cabin door. “Slop’s on, come and get it!”
Andy sat down after moving the shotgun out of the way and started the video over again as the three women came back to grab their plates and lost himself watching his brother start telling his story.
“What’s that?” Andy heard Kalai ask over his shoulder, and he paused the video.
“That’s my brother! That’s Kay Tee!”
“Holy shit, what?” Jackie nearly shoved Kalai into Andy as she jammed her bread slice down her gullet and crowded in to see the screen.
Andy started the video over a second time and they watched in silence. “God, that brings back memories. Back when mom was still alive and before we broke up the warband. I can’t believe that slippery little punk ghosted a pod of Commandos for two fucking years! Holy shit, that’s badass!”
Before Andy could say anything, Sakalbi started coughing and brought the binoculars up. “Uh, Andy? Jackie? What do we do about sharks?”
Jackie looked at Andy in confusion. “Sharks? There’s nothing but Dogs around here.”
“Well those are shark fins and they’re charging the net!” Sakalbi pointed and Andy looked up to see dorsal fins charging the center of the net.
Andy looked at Jackie and spoke the same words in tandem, “Oh shit!”
​
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
Previous:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/13nh0oe/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_29/
Next:
To be posted 6/4/23

AP News
Politico
Deal includes

• non-defense spending stays flat and increases 1% in 2025
• limits/work requirements on TANF and SNAP, with exemptions for some (over 54, homeless, veterans)
• defense spending increases 3.5%
• would designate one agency to be in charge of economic reviews for permitting (economic? I would’ve thought environmental)

Edit: - extends the debt ceiling for two years

I told you that you'd heal quickly now."
"Yeah, well, still," said Jack, "it's the principle of the thing. And nobody likes being bitten in the butt! Couldn't you have gotten my calf or something instead?"
"More meat in the typical human butt," replied Nate. "And less chance you accidentally kick me or move at the last second."
"Yeah, right. So, tell me all of these wonderful secrets that I now qualify to hear," answered Jack.
"Ok," said Nate. "Do you want to ask questions first, or do you want me to just start talking?"
"Just talk," said Jack. "I'll sit here and try to not think about food."
"We could go try to rustle up some food for you first, if you like," answered Nate.
"Hey! You didn't tell me you had food around here, Nate!" Jack jumped up. "What do we have? Am I in walking distance to town? Or can you magically whip up food along with your other powers?" Jack was almost shouting with excitement. His stomach had been growling for hours.
"I was thinking more like I could flush something out of its hole and bite it for you, and you could skin it and eat it. Assuming you have a knife, that is," replied Nate, with the grin that Jack was starting to get used to.
"Ugh," said Jack, sitting back down. "I think I'll pass. I can last a little longer before I get desperate enough to eat desert rat, or whatever else it is you find out here. And there's nothing to burn - I'd have to eat it raw. No thanks. Just talk."
"Ok," replied Nate, still grinning. "But I'd better hurry, before you start looking at me as food.
Nate reared back a little, looked around for a second, and then continued. "You, Jack, are sitting in the middle of the Garden of Eden."
Jack looked around at the sand and dunes and then looked back at Nate sceptically.
"Well, that's the best I can figure it, anyway, Jack," said Nate. "Stand up and look at the symbol on the rock here." Nate gestured around the dark stone they were both sitting on with his nose.
Jack stood up and looked. Carved into the stone in a bas-relief was a representation of a large tree. The angled-pole that Nate was wrapped around was coming out of the trunk of the tree, right below where the main branches left the trunk to reach out across the stone. It was very well done - it looked more like a tree had been reduced to almost two dimensions and embedded in the stone than it did like a carving.
Jack walked around and looked at the details in the fading light of the setting sun. He wished he'd looked at it while the sun was higher in the sky.
Wait! The sun was setting! That meant he was going to have to spend another night out here! Arrrgh!
Jack looked out across the desert for a little bit, and then came back and stood next to Nate. "In all the excitement, I almost forgot, Nate," said Jack. "Which way is it back to town? And how far? I'm eventually going to have to head back - I'm not sure I'll be able to survive by eating raw desert critters for long. And even if I can, I'm not sure I'll want to."
"It's about 30 miles that way." Nate pointed, with the rattle on his tail this time. As far as Jack could tell, it was a direction at right angles to the way he'd been going when he was crawling here. "But that's 30 miles by the way the crow flies. It's about 40 by the way a man walks. You should be able to do it in about half a day with your improved endurance, if you head out early tomorrow, Jack."
Jack looked out the way the snake had pointed for a few seconds more, and then sat back down. It was getting dark. Not much he could do about heading out right now. And besides, Nate was just about to get to the interesting stuff. "Garden of Eden? As best as you can figure it?"
"Well, yeah, as best as I and Samuel could figure it anyway," said Nate. "He figured that the story just got a little mixed up. You know, snake, in a 'tree', offering 'temptations', making bargains. That kind stuff. But he could never quite figure out how the Hebrews found out about this spot from across the ocean. He worried about that for a while."
"Garden of Eden, hunh?" said Jack. "How long have you been here, Nate?"
"No idea, really," replied Nate. "A long time. It never occurred to me to count years, until recently, and by then, of course, it was too late. But I do remember when this whole place was green, so I figure it's been thousands of years, at least."
"So, are you the snake that tempted Eve?" said Jack.
"Beats me," said Nate. "Maybe. I can't remember if the first one of your kind that I talked to was female or not, and I never got a name, but it could have been. And I suppose she could have considered my offer to grant requests a 'temptation', though I've rarely had refusals."
"Well, umm, how did you get here then? And why is that white pole stuck out of the stone there?" asked Jack.
"Dad left me here. Or, I assume it was my dad. It was another snake - much bigger than I was back then. I remember talking to him, but I don't remember if it was in a language, or just kind of understanding what he wanted. But one day, he brought me to this stone, told me about it, and asked me to do something for him. I talked it over with him for a while, then agreed. I've been here ever since.
"What is this place?" said Jack. "And what did he ask you to do?"
"Well, you see this pole here, sticking out of the stone?" Nate loosened his coils around the tilted white pole and showed Jack where it descended into the stone. The pole was tilted at about a 45 degree angle and seemed to enter the stone in an eighteen inch slot cut into the stone. Jack leaned over and looked. The slot was dark and the pole went down into it as far as Jack could see in the dim light. Jack reached out to touch the pole, but Nate was suddenly there in the way.
"You can't touch that yet, Jack," said Nate.
"Why not?" asked Jack.
"I haven't explained it to you yet," replied Nate.
"Well, it kinda looks like a lever or something," said Jack. "You'd push it that way, and it would move in the slot."
"Yep, that's what it is," replied Nate.
"What does it do?" asked Jack. "End the world?"
"Oh, no," said Nate. "Nothing that drastic. It just ends humanity. I call it 'The Lever of Doom'." For the last few words Nate had used a deeper, ringing voice. He tried to look serious for a few seconds, and then gave up and grinned.
Jack was initially startled by Nate's pronouncement, but when Nate grinned Jack laughed. "Ha! You almost had me fooled for a second there. What does it really do?"
"Oh, it really ends humanity, like I said," smirked Nate. "I just thought the voice I used was funny, didn't you?"
Nate continued to grin.
"A lever to end humanity?" asked Jack. "What in the world is that for? Why would anyone need to end humanity?"
"Well," replied Nate, "I get the idea that maybe humanity was an experiment. Or maybe the Big Guy just thought, that if humanity started going really bad, there should be a way to end it. I'm not really sure. All I know are the rules, and the guesses that Samuel and I had about why it's here. I didn't think to ask back when I started here."
"Rules? What rules?" asked Jack.
"The rules are that I can't tell anybody about it or let them touch it unless they agree to be bound to secrecy by a bite. And that only one human can be bound in that way at a time. That's it." explained Nate.
Jack looked somewhat shocked. "You mean that I could pull the lever now? You'd let me end humanity?"
"Yep," replied Nate, "if you want to." Nate looked at Jack carefully. "Do you want to, Jack?"
"Umm, no." said Jack, stepping a little further back from the lever. "Why in the world would anyone want to end humanity? It'd take a psychotic to want that! Or worse, a suicidal psychotic, because it would kill him too, wouldn't it?"
"Yep," replied Nate, "being as he'd be human too."
"Has anyone ever seriously considered it?" asked Jack. "Any of those bound to secrecy, that is?"
"Well, of course, I think they've all seriously considered it at one time or another. Being given that kind of responsibility makes you sit down and think, or so I'm told. Samuel considered it several times. He'd often get disgusted with humanity, come out here, and just hold the lever for a while. But he never pulled it. Or you wouldn't be here." Nate grinned some more.
Jack sat down, well back from the lever. He looked thoughtful and puzzled at the same time. After a bit, he said, "So this makes me the Judge of humanity? I get to decide whether they keep going or just end? Me?"
"That seems to be it," agreed Nate.
"What kind of criteria do I use to decide?" said Jack. "How do I make this decision? Am I supposed to decide if they're good? Or too many of them are bad? Or that they're going the wrong way? Is there a set of rules for that?"
"Nope," replied Nate. "You pretty much just have to decide on your own. It's up to you, however you want to decide it. I guess that you're just supposed to know."
"But what if I get mad at someone? Or some girl dumps me and I feel horrible? Couldn't I make a mistake? How do I know that I won't screw up?" protested Jack.
Nate gave his kind of snake-like shrug again. "You don't. You just have to try your best, Jack."
Jack sat there for a while, staring off into the desert that was rapidly getting dark, chewing on a fingernail.
Suddenly, Jack turned around and looked at the snake. "Nate, was Samuel the one bound to this before me?"
"Yep," replied Nate. "He was a good guy. Talked to me a lot. Taught me to read and brought me books. I think I still have a good pile of them buried in the sand around here somewhere. I still miss him. He died a few months ago."
"Sounds like a good guy," agreed Jack. "How did he handle this, when you first told him. What did he do?"
"Well," said Nate, "he sat down for a while, thought about it for a bit, and then asked me some questions, much like you're doing."
"What did he ask you, if you're allowed to tell me?" asked Jack.
"He asked me about the third request," replied Nate.
"Aha!" It was Jack's turn to grin. "And what did you tell him?"
"I told him the rules for the third request. That to get the third request you have to agree to this whole thing. That if it ever comes to the point that you really think that humanity should be ended, that you'll come here and end it. You won't avoid it, and you won't wimp out." Nate looked serious again. "And you'll be bound to do it too, Jack."
"Hmmm." Jack looked back out into the darkness for a while.
Nate watched him, waiting.
"Nate," continued Jack, quietly, eventually. "What did Samuel ask for with his third request?"
Nate sounded like he was grinning again as he replied, also quietly, "Wisdom, Jack. He asked for wisdom. As much as I could give him."
"Ok," said Jack, suddenly, standing up and facing away from Nate, "give it to me.
Nate looked at Jack's backside. "Give you what, Jack?"
"Give me that wisdom. The same stuff that Samuel asked for. If it helped him, maybe it'll help me too." Jack turned his head to look back over his shoulder at Nate. "It did help him, right?"
"He said it did," replied Nate. "But he seemed a little quieter afterward. Like he had a lot to think about."
"Well, yeah, I can see that," said Jack. "So, give it to me." Jack turned to face away from Nate again, bent over slightly and tensed up.
Nate watched Jack tense up with a little exasperation. If he bit Jack now, Jack would likely jump out of his skin and maybe hurt them both.
"You remember that you'll be bound to destroy humanity if it ever looks like it needs it, right Jack?" asked Nate, shifting position.
"Yeah, yeah, I got that," replied Jack, eyes squeezed tightly shut and body tense, not noticing the change in direction of Nate's voice.
"And," continued Nate, from his new position, "do you remember that you'll turn bright purple, and grow big horns and extra eyes?"
"Yeah, yeah...Hey, wait a minute!" said Jack, opening his eyes, straightening up and turning around. "Purple?!" He didn't see Nate there. With the moonlight Jack could see that the lever extended up from its slot in the rock without the snake wrapped around it.
Jack heard, from behind him, Nate's "Just Kidding!" right before he felt the now familiar piercing pain, this time in the other buttock.
Jack sat on the edge of the dark stone in the rapidly cooling air, his feet extending out into the sand. He stared out into the darkness, listening to the wind stir the sand, occasionally rubbing his butt where he'd been recently bitten.
Nate had left for a little while, had come back with a desert-rodent-shaped bulge somewhere in his middle, and was now wrapped back around the lever, his tongue flicking out into the desert night's air the only sign that he was still awake.
Occasionally Jack, with his toes absentmindedly digging in the sand while he thought, would ask Nate a question without turning around.
"Nate, do accidents count?"
Nate lifted his head a little bit. "What do you mean, Jack?"
Jack tilted his head back like he was looking at the stars. "You know, accidents. If I accidentally fall on the lever, without meaning to, does that still wipe out humanity?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it does, Jack. I'd suggest you be careful about that if you start feeling wobbly," said Nate with some amusement.
A little later - "Does it have to be me that pulls the lever?" asked Jack.
"That's the rule, Jack. Nobody else can pull it," answered Nate.
"No," Jack shook his head, "I meant does it have to be my hand? Could I pull the lever with a rope tied around it? Or push it with a stick? Or throw a rock?"
"Yes, those should work," replied Nate. "Though I'm not sure how complicated you could get. Samuel thought about trying to build some kind of remote control for it once, but gave it up. Everything he'd build would be gone by the next sunrise, if it was touching the stone, or over it. I told him that in the past others that had been bound had tried to bury the lever so they wouldn't be tempted to pull it, but every time the stones or sand or whatever had disappeared."
"Wow," said Jack, "Cool." Jack leaned back until only his elbows kept him off of the stone and looked up into the sky.
"Nate, how long did Samuel live? One of his wishes was for health too, right?" asked Jack.
"Yes," replied Nate, "it was. He lived 167 years, Jack."
"Wow, 167 years. That's almost 140 more years I'll live if I live as long. Do you know what he died of, Nate?"
"He died of getting tired of living, Jack," Nate said, sounding somewhat sad.
Jack turned his head to look at Nate in the starlight.
Nate looked back. "Samuel knew he wasn't going to be able to stay in society. He figured that they'd eventually see him still alive and start questioning it, so he decided that he'd have to disappear after a while. He faked his death once, but changed his mind - he decided it was too early and he could stay for a little longer. He wasn't very fond of mankind, but he liked the attention. Most of the time, anyway.
"His daughter and then his wife dying almost did him in though. He didn't stay in society much longer after that. He eventually came out here to spend time talking to me and thinking about pulling the lever. A few months ago he told me he'd had enough. It was his time."
"And then he just died?" asked Jack.
Nate shook his head a little. "He made his fourth request, Jack. There's only one thing you can ask for the fourth request. The last bite.
After a bit Nate continued, "He told me that he was tired, that it was his time. He reassured me that someone new would show up soon, like they always had.
After another pause, Nate finished, "Samuel's body disappeared off the stone with the sunrise."
Jack lay back down and looked at the sky, leaving Nate alone with his memories. It was a long time until Jack's breathing evened out into sleep.
Jack woke with the sunrise the next morning. He was a little chilled with the morning desert air, but overall was feeling pretty good. Well, except that his stomach was grumbling and he wasn't willing to eat raw desert rat.
So, after getting directions to town from Nate, making sure he knew how to get back, and reassuring Nate that he'd be back soon, Jack started the long walk back to town. With his new health and Nate's good directions, he made it back easily.
Jack caught a bus back to the city, and showed up for work the next day, little worse for the wear and with a story about getting lost in the desert and walking back out. Within a couple of days Jack had talked a friend with a tow truck into going back out into the desert with him to fetch the SUV. They found it after a couple of hours of searching and towed it back without incident. Jack was careful not to even look in the direction of Nate's lever, though their path back didn't come within sight of it.
Before the next weekend, Jack had gone to a couple of stores, including a book store, and had gotten his SUV back from the mechanic, with a warning to avoid any more joyriding in the desert. On Saturday, Jack headed back to see Nate.
Jack parked a little way out of the small town near Nate, loaded up his new backpack with camping gear and the things he was bringing for Nate, and then started walking. He figured that walking would leave the least trail, and he knew that while not many people camped in the desert, it wasn't unheard of, and shouldn't really raise suspicions.
Jack had brought more books for Nate - recent books, magazines, newspapers. Some things that would catch Nate up with what was happening in the world, others that were just good books to read. He spent the weekend with Nate, and then headed out again, telling Nate that he'd be back again soon, but that he had things to do first.
Over four months later Jack was back to see Nate again. This time he brought a laptop with him - a specially modified laptop. It had a solar recharger, special filters and seals to keep out the sand, a satellite link-up, and a special keyboard and joystick that Jack hoped that a fifteen-foot rattlesnake would be able to use. And, it had been hacked to not give out its location to the satellite.
After that Jack could e-mail Nate to keep in touch, but still visited him fairly regularly - at least once or twice a year.
After the first year, Jack quit his job. For some reason, with the wisdom he'd been given, and the knowledge that he could live for over 150 years, working in a nine to five job for someone else didn't seem that worthwhile any more. Jack went back to school.
Eventually, Jack started writing. Perhaps because of the wisdom, or perhaps because of his new perspective, he wrote well. People liked what he wrote, and he became well known for it. After a time, Jack bought an RV and started traveling around the country for book signings and readings.
But, he still remembered to drop by and visit Nate occasionally.
On one of the visits Nate seemed quieter than usual. Not that Nate had been a fountain of joy lately. Jack's best guess was that Nate was still missing Samuel, and though Jack had tried, he still hadn't been able to replace Samuel in Nate's eyes. Nate had been getting quieter each visit. But on this visit Nate didn't even speak when Jack walked up to the lever. He nodded at Jack, and then went back to staring into the desert. Jack, respecting Nate's silence, sat down and waited.
After a few minutes, Nate spoke. "Jack, I have someone to introduce you to."
Jack looked surprised. "Someone to introduce me to?" Jack looked around, and then looked carefully back at Nate. "This something to do with the Big Guy?
"No, no," replied Nate. "This is more personal. I want you to meet my son." Nate looked over at the nearest sand dune. "Sammy!"
Jack watched as a four foot long desert rattlesnake crawled from behind the dune and up to the stone base of the lever.
"Yo, Jack," said the new, much smaller snake.
"Yo, Sammy" replied Jack. Jack looked at Nate. "Named after Samuel, I assume?"
Nate nodded. "Jack, I've got a favor to ask you. Could you show Sammy around for me?" Nate unwrapped himself from the lever and slithered over to the edge of the stone and looked across the sands. "When Samuel first told me about the world, and brought me books and pictures, I wished that I could go see it. I wanted to see the great forests, the canyons, the cities, even the other deserts, to see if they felt and smelled the same. I want my son to have that chance - to see the world. Before he becomes bound here like I have been.
"He's seen it in pictures, over the computer that you brought me. But I hear that it's not the same. That being there is different. I want him to have that. Think you can do that for me, Jack?"
Jack nodded. This was obviously very important to Nate, so Jack didn't even joke about taking a talking rattlesnake out to see the world. "Yeah, I can do that for you, Nate. Is that all you need?" Jack could sense that was something more.
Nate looked at Sammy. Sammy looked back at Nate for a second and then said, "Oh, yeah. Ummm, I've gotta go pack. Back in a little bit Jack. Nice to meet ya!" Sammy slithered back over the dune and out of sight.
Nate watched Sammy disappear and then looked back at Jack. "Jack, this is my first son. My first offspring through all the years. You don't even want to know what it took for me to find a mate." Nate grinned to himself. "But anyway, I had a son for a reason. I'm tired. I'm ready for it to be over. I needed a replacement."
Jack considered this for a minute. "So, you're ready to come see the world, and you wanted him to watch the lever while you were gone?"
Nate shook his head. "No, Jack - you're a better guesser than that. You've already figured out - I'm bound here - there's only one way for me to leave here. And I'm ready. It's my time to die."
Jack looked more closely at Nate. He could tell Nate had thought about this - probably for quite a while. Jack had trouble imagining what it would be like to be as old as Nate, but Jack could already tell that in another hundred or two hundred years, he might be getting tired of life himself. Jack could understand Samuel's decision, and now Nate's. So, all Jack said was, "What do you want me to do?"
Nate nodded. "Thanks, Jack. I only want two things. One - show Sammy around the world - let him get his fill of it, until he's ready to come back here and take over. Two - give me the fourth request.
"I can't just decide to die, not any more than you can. I won't even die of old age like you eventually will, even though it'll be a long time from now. I need to be killed. Once Sammy is back here, ready to take over, I'll be able to die. And I need you to kill me.
"I've even thought about how. Poisons and other drugs won't work on me. And I've seen pictures of snakes that were shot - some of them live for days, so that's out too. So, I want you to bring back a sword.
Nate turned away to look back to the dune that Sammy had gone behind. "I'd say an axe, but that's somewhat undignified - putting my head on the ground or a chopping block like that. No, I like a sword. A time-honored way of going out. A dignified way to die. And, most importantly, it should work, even on me.
"You willing to do that for me, Jack?" Nate turned back to look at Jack.
"Yeah, Nate," replied Jack solemnly, "I think I can handle that."
Nate nodded. "Good!" He turned back toward the dune and shouted, "Sammy! Jack's about ready to leave!" Then quietly, "Thanks, Jack."
Jack didn't have anything to say to that, so he waited for Sammy to make it back to the lever, nodded to him, nodded a final time to Nate, and then headed into the desert with Sammy following.
Over the next several years Sammy and Jack kept in touch with Nate through e-mail as they went about their adventures. They made a goal of visiting every country in the world, and did a respectable job of it. Sammy had a natural gift for languages, as Jack expected he would, and even ended up acting as a translator for Jack in a few of the countries. Jack managed to keep the talking rattlesnake hidden, even so, and by the time they were nearing the end of their tour of countries, Sammy had only been spotted a few times. While there were several people that had seen enough to startle them greatly, nobody had enough evidence to prove anything, and while a few wild rumors and stories followed Jack and Sammy around, nothing ever hit the newspapers or the public in general.
When they finished the tour of countries, Jack suggested that they try some undersea diving. They did. And spelunking. They did that too. Sammy finally drew the line at visiting Antarctica. He'd come to realize that Jack was stalling. After talking to his Dad about it over e-mail, he figured out that Jack probably didn't want to have to kill Nate. Nate told Sammy that humans could be squeamish about killing friends and acquaintances.
So, Sammy eventually put his tail down (as he didn't have a foot) and told Jack that it was time - he was ready to go back and take up his duties from his dad. Jack, delayed it a little more by insisting that they go back to Japan and buy an appropriate sword. He even stretched it a little more by getting lessons in how to use the sword. But, eventually, he'd learned as much as he was likely to without dedicating his life to it, and was definitely competent enough to take the head off of a snake. It was time to head back and see Nate.
When they got back to the US, Jack got the old RV out of storage where he and Sammy had left it after their tour of the fifty states, he loaded up Sammy and the sword, and they headed for the desert.
When they got to the small town that Jack had been trying to find those years ago when he'd met Nate, Jack was in a funk. He didn't really feel like walking all of the way out there. Not only that, but he'd forgotten to figure the travel time correctly, and it was late afternoon. They'd either have to spend the night in town and walk out tomorrow, or walk in the dark.
As Jack was afraid that if he waited one more night he might lose his resolve, he decided that he'd go ahead and drive the RV out there. It was only going to be this once, and Jack would go back and cover the tracks afterward. They ought to be able to make it out there by nightfall if they drove, and then they could get it over tonight.
Jack told Sammy to e-mail Nate that they were coming as he drove out of sight of the town on the road. They then pulled off the road and headed out into the desert.
Everything went well, until they got to the sand dunes. Jack had been nursing the RV along the whole time, over the rocks, through the creek beds, revving the engine the few times they almost got stuck. When they came to the dunes, Jack didn't really think about it, he just downshifted and headed up the first one. By the third dune, Jack started to regret that he'd decided to try driving on the sand. The RV was fishtailling and losing traction. Jack was having to work it up each dune slowly and was trying to keep from losing control each time they came over the top and slid down the other side. Sammy had come up to sit in the passenger seat, coiled up and laughing at Jack's driving.
As they came over the top of the fourth dune, the biggest one yet, Jack saw that this was the final dune - the stone, the lever, and somewhere Nate, waited below. Jack put on the brakes, but he'd gone a little too far. The RV started slipping down the other side.
Jack tried turning the wheel, but he didn't have enough traction. He pumped the brakes - no response. They started sliding down the hill, faster and faster.
Jack felt a shock go through him as he suddenly realized that they were heading for the lever. He looked down - the RV was directly on course for it. If Jack didn't do something, the RV would hit it. He was about to end humanity.
Jack steered more frantically, trying to get traction. It still wasn't working. The dune was too steep, and the sand too loose. In a split second, Jack realized that his only chance would be once he hit the stone around the lever - he should have traction on the stone for just a second before he hit the lever - he wouldn't have time to stop, but he should be able to steer away.
Jack took a better grip on the steering wheel and tried to turn the RV a little bit - every little bit would help. He'd have to time his turn just right.
The RV got to the bottom of the dune, sliding at an amazing speed in the sand. Just before they reached the stone Jack looked across it to check that they were still heading for the lever. They were. But Jack noticed something else that he hadn't seen from the top of the dune. Nate wasn't wrapped around the lever. He was off to the side of the lever, but still on the stone, waiting for them. The problem was, he was waiting on the same side of the lever that Jack had picked to steer towards to avoid the lever. The RV was already starting to drift that way a little in its mad rush across the sand and there was no way that Jack was going to be able to go around the lever to the other side.
Jack had an instant of realization. He was either going to have to hit the lever, or run over Nate. He glanced over at Sammy and saw that Sammy realized the same thing.
Jack took a firmer grip on the steering wheel as the RV ran up on the stone. Shouting to Sammy as he pulled the steering wheel, "Better Nate than lever!", he ran over the snake.
THE END

Beginner Tips and Tricks!
​
If you are having an issue with your game and it’s not registering what you definitely just did you should get back to the main menu and then go back into the same campaign/trial you were playing. It takes 3 full seconds after it’s loaded for the changes to “kick in” and then you should see some happy screambubbles.
​
Always click the static blue bubbles from your citizens! (The little moving ones are unclickable!) Even if there is no exclamation point or decision to be made that bubble will give you a bit of coins to use. If you click into a decision bubble and you can't afford it at the moment you can click off of the decision screen back into your city and it will save the decision for when you want to address it again.
​
Completing the objectives on the left hand side are a great way to earn more coins and improve your approval rating. The top ones are more important than the bottom ones and help guide you through the beginning stages of the game and then just give you more coins when you level up or build stuff. If you have a good approval rating and don’t need any coins you won’t have any negative repercussions for not completing the objectives.
​
Don't be afraid to recycle the roads that are already on the map and place your own! I personally hate building on the diagonal and will avoid doing so whenever possible. But sometimes you have no other choice! No matter if you love the diagonal or not you can wipe the slate clean and make your own path. If you are playing on a touch screen or use a mouse you can swipe to select a whole section of road and it saves SO much time! Also, to build a ramp up to the next level of your map you have to have 2 clear road spaces directly infront of the edge and the area above the edge unlocked.
​
When you are thinking about organizing your city you should think of having zones so things are easily accessible for you. I prefer to pair my commercial zone closer to my residential zone and keeping the industrial zone farthest away because it produces pollution that can harm your citizens. Personally I like to make long rectangles for residential and commercial and squares for industrial with the civic buildings in the middle. I also like to lump together the power buildings together in one area because they can chain off of each other so you don't have to use as much road-facing space and they don’t need to be close to where they are providing power, it’s a grid! Also so you can quickly find this zone if your residents complain there isn't enough power.
​
When you’re in the beginning levels (under 10) I would recommend pausing right after you level up so you can address whatever needs your residents are going to immediately require. As soon as water, fire, police, etc is unlocked it’s best just to place them as soon as you get them. If a need is gone unnoticed it can tank your approval rating fast!
​
The number presented on the buildings in the build menu only correspond with the first level, so if you need 625 jobs but you build 2 400 job factories to satisfy them you will soon create a bubble as both of those factories will quickly grow from 800 jobs to 1600 jobs and then 2000 jobs! My personal best practice is to build the one factory and if the “scream bubbles” can’t be fulfilled before it levels up enough to satisfy the residents then I just delete the resident building that is giving me issues. You can immediately rebuild the same building but it gives you the extra time to solve the problem for them!
​
Get familiar with the needs of different types of residents, you can group the different rarity levels together so you only have to address the higher-end needs with the residents that will level up from those needed buildings. Same goes for Manufacturing and Commercial buildings as well!
​
Also get familiar with how to check on the needs of your city, check the bottom most build menu (with the residential, commercial, and manufacturing buildings) and notice on the left hand side of the screen that there are sets of numbers and they will tell you if you need more shopping/shoppers or jobs/workers. This is the place to look if you start getting "screambubbles" that your residents need work or your factory needs more workers. For other types of needs you can click into the build menu above this one, the civic menu, and there will be several filters up in the left hand corner that you can click through for each individual type of building. This is a great way to get a jump on where you may have troubles getting your buildings to level up or to plan future building expansions.
​
Water is not available wherever you put a water tower! There is a filter that shows where there is water available with different levels that correspond to how much water can be produced for level 1 and they grow a lot with the higher levels in the higher concentrated area. This is especially important on the Dry Stop, Dry Plains, Cactus City, and Scorpion Gulch campaign.
​
Every so often to level up in campaigns you will have to complete a challenge. They are pretty easy to complete but there is a trick to making it even easier! If you pan the camera completely down so that you can see almost your entire map in one view you can click on the shopping bags and shipping boxes, and the traffic jams/police/fire events in later levels too.
​
If you are playing on a small screen you can find different buildings in overcrowded areas by goin into the build menu for the building you’re trying to access, say an elementary school. You can go to the education tab and the scroll your map around to see where those types of buildings are, their level, and if they’re at capacity or not. This is very helpful when you are trying to upgrade bus stops, they’re so tiny!
​
As you continue to level up more and more so will the types of buildings that can fulfill your residents, commercial and manufacturing needs! As you start placing them make sure that you are optimizing the space that you are utilizing the maximum range that you are able to. Use one Main Fire Station and a Police Station to cover a much larger area than using several Volunteer Fire Station and Police Kiosk.
​
Building Specific Advice;
​
You may only need one or two jails for the whole map, but a whole lot more kiosks!
The Fire Dispatcher doesn’t actually provide more firefighters or firetrucks but it does extend the range of existing ones.
Research Center and Renewable Energy College are the best ways to provide technology for your Industrial buildings.
Parking lots are your friend! If you put a parking lot in range of 4 commercial or industrial buildings then you get +30 for each of them, so +120 jobs or shopping for just one level 1 square.
Some parks increase the amount of residents in nearby buildings, need for knowledge, need for technology, or they reduce pollution. Make sure you are putting the right parks in the right places and that they’re actually helping the surrounding buildings!
Place your special zones and the landmarks strategically by checking what their buffs are, if its a +20% to residency put it in the middle of a large neighborhood. If its -20% shopping you should definitely put it in a commercial zone. If you buy multiple landmarks in the store you can upgrade them when you play them in your campaign or trial.
​
I think that’s it for now, I hope these help you enjoy your Cityscapes experience to the max! Enjoy and Happy Gaming!

Yo mangaswap trying to part with a lot of manga right now! Happy to work out some good deals so if you see something you want feel free to make an offer!
Shipping included if you spend $30 or more!
EVERYTHING WILL BE SHIPPED TUESDAY
Timestamp : https://imgur.com/a/9WmhuXd
For Sale:
Manga:

• Hell's Paradise 1-6 G4-G5 (volume 1 G4 has some shelf wear) $60
• Gleipnir 1-12 G5 $100
• Higurashi 1-10 G4-G5 (some are older prints that i say are G4) $95
• Psycho Pass 1-6 COMPLETE $40
• Solanin First Print FLOWER LOGO $18 G5
• Blue Lock Volume 1 G4 $8
• Biomega Volume 1 G4 $16
• Tokyo Revengers 1-4 (1-2 is B&N Special Edition) G5 $40
• Land of the Lustrous 1 G5 $8
• Bloody Stumps Samurai G5 $14
• Its just not my night 1 G5 $7
• Sunny 1-2 G5 $20
• Chunchu the Genocide Fiend 1-3 COMPLETE G3-G4 $15
• Iron Wok Jan 1 $10 SOLD
• I am a Hero 1 G4 $15
• Now 1-5 G4 $20
• Val x Love 1-2 G4-G5 $15
• Bungo Stray Dogs 1 G5 $7
• The Asterisk War 1-4 G4-G5 $55
• Seraph of the End 1 G4 NO POSTER $4
• Jaco the Galactic Patrolman G5 $30
• Gyo 1-2 G4 (yellowing) $40
• Toto! 1-4 G4 $20
• The Rising of the Shield Hero Manga 1 G5 $7
• Blue Giant 1-2 G5 $15
• Mai the Psychic Girl 1-2 G4 $35
• Sanctuary 1-2 G4 $40 SOLD
• Dragons Crown 1-2 G5 COMPLETE $25
• Persona 3 1-2 G5 $20
• Magical Girl Apocalypse 1 G4 (remainder mark on top) $7

Light Novels :

• Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 1-3 G4 $20
• The Reprise of the Spear Hero 1 G5 $8

Add the rest of the missing non festival cars 2016 camaro at 1801 rank Apollo IE savage GTR infinity vision gt and all the special Edition cars at pre nerf ranks all cars are credit purchaseable Add 2 laps to Venice Monaco and Tokyo in quick solo race put the cars back in the original classes