listen. i understand neither Kandy nor LaLa should've been in the top in the ball, but taking one undeserved high placement and saying that they're being pushed through the season or production is trying to force them on us or whatever other weird stuff a lot of y'all have been saying is just silly. it was one episode. but obviously, one episode was all it took for some of you to feel like you had the ammo to just attack these girls week after week.
it seems like almost every comment i see about these two in this sub right now is something negative, whether it's going out of your way to drag them or saying they're being heavily favored (from a wonky placement on ONE episode, mind you). I've seen people saying some very vile things about Kandy in particular, and I'm sure the hate is even worse on other platforms (she's recently deactivated her Twitter). there wasn't nearly this much uproar over Jaymes getting an extremely left field top placement in the premier (except from Naysha Lopez lol). in fact, a lot of y'all went after Naysha for doing the same thing to Jaymes that y'all are doing to Kandy and LaLa right now...interesting.
LaLa has been getting a TON of flack for her runways, with many people saying she hasn't delivered or improved from her original season. if we actually go through each episode, though, her runways have been...fine. certainly not bad enough to get the amount of sh*t she's gotten for them lol. Her episode one runway was good, her episode two runway was good, her collection for the ball was pretty safe, her episode four runway was admittedly lackluster, but her last runway was pretty good, even if the reveal aspect was a little lacking. overall, i'd say that's a pretty decent run so far. but by some of y'all's comments, you'd think she's consistently been delivering the most abysmal looks in the history of the show. yes, there's the bag look from S13 and ru-ly fanz from AS8. but let's not reduce LaLa to just those looks just because you feel like she was pushed in the ball. and if you feel like she hasn't improved from her original season, well that's not really true either lol. she went from easily being in the bottom in the S13 ball to probably deserving a safe placement on AS8's ball, where she competed against heavy hitters like Jimbo, Jessica, and Heidi. that's a decent improvement if you ask me!
and her acting skills have also gotten a lot better. she could've been high in that last challenge with Heidi if they didn't judge in teams, and she did reasonably well in the snatch game and the news challenge. not every AS rudemption is Ra'Jah O'Hara level, y'all, and that's okay. LaLa has still been doing well in the competition up to this point and undoubtedly deserves to still be here.
also, with the whole Heidi situation: whether Kandy said that to her or not, Kandy is just playing the game. it seems to me like if that was what she said, then she trusted Heidi to keep that info, but then Heidi went behind her back and told Jimbo to turn the tables on Kandy, which is also playing the game. Jimbo 100% knew what he was doing by bringing that up while the cameras were rolling, and Alexis 100% was lying about something lol. and it was Kandy who first ran after Heidi when she left the werk room to quit. it's a competition, things can get messy, things can get stressful. in the end, Heidi did what was best for herself in that moment, and it was obviously the result of more stress than just that small moment in the werk room with Kandy, Jimbo, and Alexis. and it's clear that Kandy cares a lot about Heidi. it seems like y'all always BEG for more drama on the show, but if it's not the queens you like delivering the drama, then suddenly it's not just drama but just more fuel for y'all to attack these girls. it really ruins the show :(
TL;DR: no, the show isn't 'rigged' for Kandy and LaLa just bc they got a weird high placement in the ball that should've gone to Heidi and Kahanna. it was one episode. consistently saying they're being pushed through this season bc of that is just weird and nonsensical when there's almost always at least one weird placement for every queen that makes it decently far on an AS season.

I'm struggling and I'd love a word of encouragement to keep going.
June 19, 2020 I attempted suicide. I didn't/don't want to be in pain anymore. That date is coming up soon and it's triggering me. I've tried so damn much since then to rebuild my health, mind and willpower. But my mind is fucked. Fragmented into a thousand pieces.
A lifetime of chronic headaches/migraines. They can be over 15+ days in a month. They can last anywhere from 2 to 16 hours. I was born missing supportive bones on one side of my neck. There's no cure, only manageability.
I've had chronic fatigue and depression for 20 years. Tried all the things.
My son is 3.5yrs old. He's my heart. I love him so damn much and love being his dad. It's the only reason I keep fighting through this continuous pain cycle. It's torturous.
I don't want to be in pain anymore. But I don't want to leave my boy fatherless. So each day I'm crushed between those opposing forces.
It took 15 years of mental degradation to attempt my life. It's been nearly 3 years since then. I've been diligent in trying to repair my mind and willpower. 100+hrs of clinical psychology, mindfulness, meditation, exercise, diet, drugs, no drugs, western medicine, eastern medicine and so on. I don't think there's a option I haven't tried.
I'm tired. The journey to some semblance of sustainable health is always out of reach. Everytime I make progress it gets taken from me.
I can't leave my son without his dad. But I also don't want to be in pain. I feel trapped physically and emotionally. Looping the same loops.
My family knows my story. They are immensely supportive. I'm not in danger but I am in mental turmoil. Each setback shatters me and I have to rebuild again and again. The future seems overwhelming and impossible.
Any kind words, thoughts, ideas or simple acknowledgement would be much appreciated.

Don’t get me wrong, RDR2 is a damn near perfect game. Everything in that game is immersive and makes sense for that game. That said there are definitely features from it that should remain Red dead not grand theft auto.
For me, the top thing is Honor. Not that I’d hate it if gta 6 had a morality system, but being punished for doing gta things would suck. I don’t think it will have one, nor do I think it should.

At Royal Rumble 2023, Asuka returned after a brief hiatus, sporting a deranged look reminiscent of her days as Kana. And since that point, the Empress of Tomorrow has solidified her powerful aura, winning the Elimination Chamber match and avenging her disappointing loss to Bianca at WrestleMania 39 by dethroning the EST at Night Of Champions. And while Asuka has been Raw Women’s Champion before, this time feels…different…
Monday Night Raw (5/29/23):
Following Night of Champions with the crowning of Asuka, it would appear the landscape of the women’s division has changed. While some individuals are surely eager to go after singles gold, this isn’t initially the case for the Way. In a backstage interview with Byron Saxton, Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell express their desire to go after the Women’s Tag Team Titles, only to be interrupted by the lunatic duo of Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville. Deville tries to get under the skin of the pairing, particularly LeRae, mocking her struggles to get victories as of late. However, Candice retorts that Sonya and Chelsea haven’t done anything either, their only actual success as a duo being making Adam Pearce question his own sanity. After a few more moments of bickering, Green tries to slap LeRae, but Hartwell blocks it for her, shoving Chelsea to the ground. Sonya shoves Indi back, and Candice in-turn attacks Deville, forcing several officials to have to separate things.
This results in a singles match later in the evening between Deville and LeRae, with Sonya trying to make an example out of the “Poison Pixie”. It’s a fairly back-and-forth encounter, with LeRae starting the match off hot, but Sonya is able to adapt, using her MMA background to her advantage with increasingly strong shots. However, as Sonya gains control, her emotions also start to fluctuate a bit. Rather than just go for the win at points, she decides to inflict further damage, regularly targeting the right arm in particular with a combination of stomps and armbars. However, the turning point of the match comes when Deville kneels down, once again looking to apply some type of submission hold…only for LeRae to transition it into the Garga-No Escape! While Sonya doesn’t submit, it gives her enough breathing room to mount a comeback, eventually hitting her signature springboard moonsault to finish things.
Candice LeRae def. Sonya Deville via pinfall
After the match, Candice and Indi take a moment to celebrate the win…BUT HERE COMES ASUKA! The Raw Women’s Champion is in the building, and she looks as maniacal as ever. She makes her way towards LeRae…and offers a handshake? Candice is definitely hesitant to accept, and for good reason, as when she starts moving her hand out…ASUKA HITS HER WITH A ROUNDHOUSE KICK! Indi tries to avenge her downed partner, but Asuka takes her out with a spinning backfist. The Empress moves back towards LeRae, staring at the injured right arm…AND SHE APPLIES A VICIOUS ARMBAR, SNAPPING IT IN THE PROCESS! Asuka eventually lets go, with Johnny Gargano and a medical official coming out to tend to LeRae while Adam Pearce wants to know what’s wrong with Asuka…to which she merely replies with a sinister smile…
Monday Night Raw (6/5/23):
About half-way through the show, Johnny Gargano comes to the ring, ready to give an update on his wife Candice LeRae. He says that while LeRae is unable to compete, it’s only for a short period of time, and the fracture to her arm was small enough as to where she won’t require surgery. However, Gargano also says that LeRae wanted him to pass along a message…which is why he’s calling out Asuka to the ring! On cue, the Empress comes out, looking at Johnny Wrestling with a curious look. Gargano says that once upon a time, he and his wife both had respect for Asuka’s accomplishments, especially her record-setting run in NXT. However, with the actions of last week, they no longer have those sentiments, and when LeRae returns from this set-back, she’s challenging you for that Raw Women’s Title! As Gargano says this, Asuka just begins giving a deranged laugh. No one in the arena knows what to make of this…until Asuka picks up a mic…to simply say…bye bye…
As Asuka makes her way to the ring apron, Gargano is left staring in confusion at what transpired…but suddenly, the lights go out! When they turn back on…a trio of masked men are destroying Johnny Wrestling! He tries to fight back, but he’s just overpowered, and left to be stomped on as Asuka just watches on from ringside, enjoying the carnage. The biggest of the three hits Gargano with a top rope splash, before what appears to be the leader hits…a wheelbarrow neckbreaker. As the individual hits this, Asuka comes back into the ring, standing alongside the figures. She whispers something to them, and they move their hand to the top of the masks, pulling them off to reveal…IT’S SAnitY! Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, and Killian Dain are all back in WWE, and it appears they’ve aligned themselves with the Empress of Tomorrow. But the question left to be answered… Where is Nikki Cross in all of this?
Monday Night Raw (6/12/23):
In a backstage segment early in the show, the camera shows Nikki Cross backstage, alone and looking down, drowning in her own crazed thoughts…until Eric Young enters the shot. Cross raises her head, looking expressionless while a smile slowly creeps across the face of Young. He asks her…
“Won’t you join us?”
However, before Nikki can answer…HERE COMES JOHNNY GARGANO! He dives at Eric, looking to get revenge on one of the men who decimated him the week prior. He’s successful initially, but soon enough, Wolfe and Dain rush in, prying Johnny off Young and starting to beat him down. Luckily for Gargano, he came prepared, as he too has backup in the form of Dexter Lumis! SAnitY backs off as Dexter comes in with a steel chair, but not before Young mouths the words…This isn’t over…
Monday Night Raw (6/19/23): Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis vs. Eric Young and Killian Dain
With the tensions continuing to rise between the Way and SAnitY, it was inevitable they’d have to square off at some point, and Adam Pearce decides to see if a tag match can resolve this. The match starts off with Gargano and Young, Johnny Wrestling anxious to annihilate him while Young is more amused than scared. Johnny is able to get the upper hand initially, a superkick giving him the brief opportunity to then apply a Garga-No Escape. However, Killian Dain breaks up the hold by just hitting a Senton on Gargano’s back, a tactical maneuver to give Young the chance to gain control. However, Lumis enters the ring as well, grabbing Dain and trying to set him up for a side slam. However, Killian avoids it, and the pair move to the outside of the ring to brawl. By the end of the match, Gargano is weakened, but he’s still got the power of adrenaline on his side. He’s able to tag in for Lumis, getting in a flurry of offense against the big man Dain, including a pair of superkicks to knock him off his feet. However, as he goes for the One Final Beat, Young grabs his foot by the ring apron, preventing him from springboarding into the ring. Gargano’s able to kick him away, but when Johnny does go for the maneuver, Dain catches him, planting him in the center of the ring. He follows up on it with a splash from the top rope, with Young tagging in as he does so. And with Killian shoving Lumis off the apron, Young is able to hit the Wheelbarrow Neckbreaker to finish the match.
SAnitY def. Johnny Gargano and Dexter Lumis
After the match, Asuka makes her way to the ring, standing alongside SAnitY once again. She looks at the downed Gargano, now with a disgusted look on her face rather than an evil grin. She turns to Young, who nods and motions for Dain and Wolfe to pick Johnny up. But right before Asuka can seemingly hit him with the Mist…Here comes Nikki Cross! She rushes to the ring, sliding in and looking right at Asuka as she does so. Young walks up to her, asking her the question…
“Are you with us, Nikki?”
Cross stares at Young for a moment…then to Wolfe…then to Dain…then to Asuka. It’s to the Raw Women’s Champion that she gives the longest stare, Nikki’s eyes slowly growing wider and her expression becoming more intense. And with that, she mutters just a few words…
“You hurt my friends…she hurt my best friend… now she will pay.”
And with that, Cross dives onto Asuka, unleashing a flurry of strikes and catching everyone in the ring by surprise. However, Young pries Nikki off of the Empress, to which Cross responds by starting to attack him! However, it’s short lived, as Asuka runs up behind Nikki and drops her with a roundhouse kick. She quickly gets her locked in a crossface chickenwing as well, Nikki unable to escape and ultimately passing out. Before she fades, she’s left to only see the disappointed looks on the face of the SAnitY members…”You made the wrong choice Nikki”. But the attention soon shifts back to Gargano and Lumis now. They’ve slowly risen to their feet, and Gargano, looking directly at Young, demands another fight! Young sighs, seemingly bored at the prospect of SAnitY having to dismantle those two again…but it shall be done. However, before they can move in for the kill, we suddenly hear crashes echo throughout the arena. They happen for a few seconds, before the lights dim slightly. An unfamiliar melodic theme starts playing, sounding slightly reminiscent of that of a final boss, but as the lights turn back on, it changes back into the more recognizable song…
…NO ONE WILL SURVIVE! IT’S TOMMASO CIAMPA! After being on the shelf for months, he’s finally back, and as he gets into the ring, he looks at Johnny Gargano…there’s no shortage of history here. And while there’s a momentary tension as to what he’s gonna do, he sides with his former DIY partner, making it a more fair fight! Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the chance to lay into any of SAnitY, as they decide to make their exit, already having made a statement with the victory and assault on Asuka, nothing more needed to be done…tonight, at least.
Monday Night Raw (6/26/23): Indi Hartwell vs. Asuka - Non-Title Match
In her first match since beating Bianca at Night of Champions, Asuka looks to prove why she’s the champion. She starts off the match well, not letting Indi get any momentum by just rocking her with a series of kicks to the chest. After dragging Hartwell to the outside, Asuka begins going after the arm, slamming it several times into the ring post before deciding to inflict some pain to the skull with a tiger suplex. This momentarily causes the ref to check on her, potentially looking to end the match…but Asuka isn’t willing to let that happen. She gets Indi back in the ring, lining her up for a running hip attack…BUT HARTWELL TRANSITIONS IT INTO A GERMAN SUPLEX! Despite having just been on the ropes, Indi managed to use what she had left in the tank to take down Asuka, and as she gets to her feet, she feels the crowd surging behind her. She starts taking it to the Empress, getting her backed into the corner and landing a few solid chops. However, she gets a bit overzealous, trying to get Asuka on the top rope for a potential suplex attempt, only for the former Kana to kick her away and land a knee directly to the back of Indi’s neck. And with that, Asuka remains in the power position, eventually locking on the same Armbar that injured Candice LeRae and forcing Hartwell to tap or get snapped.
Asuka def. Indi Hartwell via submission
But before Asuka really has a chance to even get up…HERE COMES NIKKI CROSS! She runs out with a kendo stick, furious as to what transpired the week prior, and gets in a few shots on Asuka before Alexander Wolfe attempts to pry the weapon away. In response, Nikki shoves it into his gut, before hitting him with a swinging neckbreaker and sending a message to Asuka that she’s just as much of a force to be reckoned with. And it’s later announced that this match has been declared official for Money In the Bank: let’s see if these two dangerous competitors can live up to their classic from NXT…
Money In The Bank (7/1/23): Nikki Cross vs. Asuka (c) - Raw Women’s Championship
Despite not having a stipulation like their Last Woman Standing Match in 2017, the match is still intense from start-to-finish. Cross runs at Asuka immediately, getting in some shots with the elbow to the side of the face. Asuka is forced to a sitting position, allowing Nikki to gather some steam from running along the ropes before landing a kick to Asuka’s jaw! Unfortunately for Cross, her frenzied nature ends up backfiring, as when the action shifts to the outside, Asuka dodges a running attack and sends Nikki nearly head first into the barricade! With Nikki instinctively grabbing her head after the missed maneuver, Asuka sees what to target, dragging Cross to the ring apron and repeatedly crushing her skull into the ring post. And as the action shifts back into the ring, it’s just more of the same, Asuka being momentarily hit by mini-bursts of offense, but the damage inflicted on the skull clearly affecting her. This is evidenced when Cross has Asuka lined up for the swinging neckbreaker, potentially able to get her the win…only to collapse before she can properly hit it. With that, Asuka is able to apply the Asuka Lock, and as happened a couple of weeks ago, Cross passes out in the hold.
Asuka def. Nikki Cross via submission pass-out to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
On the Raw after Money in the Bank, Candice LeRae would make her return from injury, calling out Asuka for a match…only to learn she isn’t in the building. But she decides to still issue a challenge, saying that while she wanted the Raw Women’s Title initially…now it’s about more than that. Asuka took out Candice’s friends and family, and left her away from the ring for too long…now, she wants to beat Asuka for vengeance first, gold later. And later on, it’s confirmed that the match will be taking place when Asuka returns…except it’ll be for the title as well! Pearce claims that the decision is due to Asuka’s recent actions, as after all, letting someone try to break someone’s limb after a match with no repercussions is a pretty bad look. But while this choice of action would normally upset some superstars…it might just put a smile on Asuka’s face…
Monday Night Raw (7/10/23): Candice LeRae vs. Asuka
Before making her entrance, Candice LeRae gets herself prepared with the rest of the Way, with Nikki Cross sitting in a corner nearby as well. Indi tells her to be cautious…Asuka’s a very dangerous competitor. LeRae of course knows this, but she’s caught off-guard by some words of wisdom from Nikki several feet away:
“Destroy her.”
Candice looks at Nikki, who’s staring back at her with something in her eyes…A look of needing something… wanting Candice to kill the Empress. LeRae nods, and she heads out to the ring, more confident than ever…And she truly gives it her all. LeRae’s strategy is simple: prevent Asuka from using her signature kicks. And for most of the match, she executes on her plan, moving herself back whenever she senses a roundhouse coming and catching Asuka off-balance. However, this was never going to last, and once Asuka lands a kick to the gut, she’s able to gather steam. And while this doesn’t finish LeRae, the “Poison Pixie” even managing to hit a springboard moonsault AND lock in a Garga-No Escape at various points, Asuka eventually locks in an Armbar on the previously-injured limb that Candice can’t overcome.
Asuka def. Candice LeRae via submission to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
After the match, the rest of the Way comes out, helping Candice to her feet. As they do so, Asuka stares at them, and then begins…counting them? The Way and the commentary team are confused, but as Asuka only counts four people…a maniacal expression overtakes her. She starts walking quickly to the back, and a few moments later, it becomes clear what her intentions were…
As the Way walks backstage, they’re horrified to discover a brutalized Nikki Cross! They rush over to her, asking who did this…and to no one’s surprise, she says it was Asuka. However, it soon becomes clear to Gargano…Ciampa might be next! While Indi and Candice stay with Nikki, Johnny (and Dexter to a lesser extent) start rushing through the halls, trying to get to the right locker room…but it’s too late, as SAnitY and Asuka are seen moving away from it! While Lumis stands guard, Gargano rushes inside, and finds Ciampa not just taken out…but also sprayed by Asuka’s mist! Johnny rushes over, giving Tommaso a towel, but as Tommaso wipes the mist off his face…there appears to be a dark look in his eyes, something not seen in him since when he destroyed DIY…
Remaining Build To SummerSlam:
While Ciampa, Gargano, and Lumis keep their attention towards SAnitY for a bit, Asuka shifts away from LeRae, Hartwell, and Cross, having beaten all three after all. With an open mic, she begins giving one of her standard energetic promos, seemingly wanting to know who her next challenger is gonna be…even though no one is ready for Asuka. It’s not long before someone interrupts though…and it’s someone who Asuka has grown familiar with in 2023…It’s Bianca Belair! The EST remained off television for several weeks following Night of Champions, but now, she’s back and angrier than ever. Bianca grabs the mic straight out of Asuka’s hand, and cuts a quick promo:
“Asuka… you say no one’s ready for you. But you’re wrong… because I’ve ALWAYS been ready for you. I proved that at WrestleMania 39, when I beat you clean in the center of this ring. And what did you do? You had to use that mist, that cursed, blinding mist. And you know what? Congratulations, it got you the title, but not for long. Because I say we have ONE MORE MATCH. But I think it’s time to have a match where no excuses can be made, and there are no rules to be broken. Asuka… At SummerSlam…I challenge you to HELL… IN A CELL!”
The crowd are clearly in favor of this stipulation…And it appears Asuka is too! She starts nodding repeatedly, and Bianca just stares on with a prepared look, perhaps fazed in the past by Asuka’s personality traits but now just ready to finally vanquish her and get the Raw Women’s Title back in her possession. In the remaining weeks, Bianca competes multiple times, getting the ring rust off with multiple victories, while Asuka is content with sitting at ringside for both contests…studying her competition…
SummerSlam (8/5/23): Bianca Belair vs. Asuka (c) - Hell in a Cell Match for the Raw Women’s Championship
We’ve finally made it to the Biggest Party of the Summer, and what better of a place to host it than in Detroit at Ford Field (definitely no bias as a Lions fan)! Once both Asuka and Belair are locked in the cage, the match starts at a feverish place, Bianca hitting a strong shoulder tackle only for Asuka to respond with a spinning backfist a few moments later! As the dust settles on the first fifteen seconds, the competitors look at each other, giving a momentary smirk and scoff apiece before continuing with the action. Bianca showcases her power, getting the Empress lifted in the Gorilla Press position and just hurling her at the cell wall! The several-foot fall to the floor certainly adds to the blow, and Bianca continues the assault outside the ring, slamming Asuka’s head repeatedly into the cage! However, she decides to look under the ring for a weapon, a table quickly catching her eye. She pushes it into the ring, but makes the mistake of turning her back to Asuka while doing so, the former Kana grabbing her from behind and hitting a Tiger Suplex onto the floor!
With Asuka now the lone woman standing, she follows up Bianca’s decision to look under the ring, pulling out a kendo stick. She feels it around in her grasp, getting a good feel for the damage she’s about to inflict. Once Bianca groggily gets to her feet, Asuka just decimates her back, hitting the stick ten times in immediate succession! However, Bianca’s able to dodge an eleventh shot targeted towards the throat, pulling the kendo stick to her and snapping it in half! Asuka looks briefly stunned, but not before she gives a condescending set of claps. In response, Belair grabs her, picking her up for a powerbomb and sending Asuka’s back to connect with the ring apron! Bianca then drags Asuka into the ring, proceeding to set up a table and initially primed to hit a K.O.D. through it. However, Asuka grabs Bianca’s hair, weakening her grip momentarily and presenting an opportunity to escape. Upon doing so, Asuka roundhouse kicks Belair, before getting her positioned on the table, climbing to the top rope…AND HITS A SPLASH ON BIANCA RIGHT THROUGH IT! 1-2-KICKOUT!
Despite the table spot being unable to put away Bianca, Asuka appears unfazed. She exits the ring, bringing a pair of steel steps back into the squared circle. Asuka picks Belair up, seemingly trying to hit a brainbuster on it…But Belair dodges, landing backwards on the steps before turning around and hitting a mini-elevated Spear! This leaves both women down for a few moments, but Bianca rises to her feet first. She gets in some of her signature offense, including a spinebuster on the steel steps! However, her attempt at a K.O.D. on the steps doesn’t work in her favor, with Asuka once again avoiding it. And unfortunately for Belair, Asuka is able to hit her with a suplex on the steps, this being the key factor for the rest of the match-up. With Bianca’s power lessened a bit AND Asuka’s submission hold targeting the back, she faces a tall task, and is ultimately unable to overcome it, the Asuka Lock resulting in a pass-out.
Asuka def. Bianca Belair via submission pass-out to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
After an impressive victory at SummerSlam, Asuka has definitely proven that she’s going to be difficult to beat. But soon enough, she finds herself confronted by a potentially harmful numbers game…
Monday Night Raw (8/7/23): Damage CTRL Promo
Despite recent events not going so well for Damage CTRL, with Dakota Kai tearing her ACL and neither Iyo Sky nor Bayley able to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase, they’re still determined to get momentum back on their side. Bayley makes the bold decision to call out Asuka, saying that if she were actually a fighting champion, she’d consider accepting a match for the title. Asuka comes out, grinning at Bayley trying to goad her into a title opportunity. Asuka looks at Bayley as just another poor soul to be destroyed, but Iyo…Iyo has potential. Asuka even tells Sky…”Bayley isn’t your friend…but I am…”
This seems to get in Iyo’s head, as she begins looking questioningly at Bayley, who attempts to diffuse the situation by just pointing out Asuka being a freak who gets in people’s heads. In response, Asuka kicks Bayley square in the gut, and when Iyo instinctively goes to fight, Asuka shakes her head…I don’t want to fight you… You don’t need to be part of this…
Remaining Build To Extreme Rules:
Over the coming weeks, Bayley becomes a little more sympathetic, her intentions appearing less out of pure arrogance and more about striving to win championship gold back and improve her honor. She goes on a winning streak, but when confronting Adam Pearce about getting a confirmed title shot, he says there’s one more person she has to beat…Iyo Sky.
At this same time, Iyo looks perturbed whenever she’s on television, still at Bayley’s side but signs pointing to her being less convinced than when Damage CTRL began. And after Bayley does defeat Iyo to earn the #1 Contendership, Sky is just left sitting in the ring, staring down at the mat whilst utterly disappointed. Bayley offers her a handshake, but Asuka stands at ringside, motioning her to come roll out of the ring and stand tall with her. In response, Iyo moves in neither woman’s direction, rolling out to the entrance ramp and walking away alone, uncertain of what her future holds.
But with Extreme Rules approaching, there must also be a stipulation, and after a set of assaults from Asuka leave Bayley staring at the lights, Bayley decides it’s in both of their best interest to settle on…A Last Woman Standing Match! Asuka can try to keep putting her down, but she’s gotten back up each time, and come the PPV…The reign of the Empress will be history.
Extreme Rules: Bayley vs. Asuka (c) - Last Woman Standing Match for the Raw Women’s Championship
In a rematch of their TakeOver: Dallas encounter, the feel of the match is similar to what it was several years ago. Bayley, despite having been around in WWE longer, is the underdog, looking to prove herself against a terrorizing monster who we’re unsure can truly be beaten. The action quickly spills out of the ring, with Bayley even managing to hit a quick Bayley-To-Belly Suplex. Unfortunately, Asuka gets up before even a count of 5, disturbing Bayley. The action spills into the crowd for a while, with Asuka suplexing Bayley on the staircase and the former “Hugger” sent tumbling down for a solid five seconds. But eventually, Bayley recaptures the momentum, finding a trash can with weapons and using a kendo stick to start wailing on Asuka. And as the action approaches a set-up table, Bayley is able to not just prop her up on it, but successfully hit an Elbow Drop from a ledge through it as well! Bayley gets up at a count of three, and while Asuka is left stunned by the move, she recovers at a count of 8, continuing the match-up.
From there, the match spills back closer to the ring, with Bayley putting Asuka in the ring before grabbing a table. She sets it up, but Asuka manages to recover in time to avoid a Bayley-To-Belly through it, instead tossing Bayley to the side momentarily before going at her with a running hip attack. Asuka keeps control for a bit, but as she looks to put Bayley through the table…Here comes Iyo Sky! She slowly walks to the ring, not attacking Asuka initially, but giving Bayley enough time to send Asuka off the top rope and to the floor. However, with the action back on the outside, Asuka looks to be a bit desperate, using her signature Mist to blind Bayley! After this happens, Iyo rushes over to Bayley to try and help…But Bayley shoves her down hard to the floor, thinking it was Asuka! Meanwhile, the real Asuka appears behind Bayley, dragging her back into the ring. Asuka decides to lock on the crossface chickenwing, attempting to pass out Bayley, but this seems to only increase the fire in her spirit, Bayley able to back her into a corner to break the hold. Bayley rubs her eyes, improving her vision, and she drags Asuka to the table, seemingly able to hit the Bayley-To-Belly through the table this time…
…BUT IYO HITS BAYLEY IN THE BACK WITH A STEEL CHAIR FROM OUT OF NOWHERE! Bayley falls to her knees, slowly turning around with a look of heartbreak and pain on her face. Iyo returns the look with an icy cold stare, before Asuka pops-up behind Bayley, applying the Asuka Lock to pass the former “Role Model” out. But given this requires a ten count for Bayley to be down, and Asuka wanting to see what Iyo can do…she motions to the table. Iyo nods, getting Bayley set-up, climbing to the top rope, and hitting a Moonsault, crushing Bayley’s ribs, her friendship, and her hopes of winning the match in one fell swoop.
Asuka def. Bayley via KO to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
After the match, Sky raises Asuka’s hand, signifying the start of an absolutely lethal new duo in WWE…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
With Iyo Sky now having made her allegiance clear, Asuka would appear set-up to remain dominating moving forward. However, the enemies she’s made over the past several months aren’t so quick to forget what transpired, which could potentially create problems…
Build To Survivor Series:
Despite having already made an impact to this point, Asuka and Iyo Sky aren’t just going to put away challengers…it’s time to take out everyone. After a singles win on Raw, Becky Lynch would be blindsided by Iyo, being laid out with several shots of the Steel Chair before a Moonsault to cap things off. The following week, Bayley expresses her dismay at being left alone, to which Asuka and Iyo interrupt, immediately kickstarting a brawl that would seem to favor them once again…Until out comes Becky Lynch! Despite having been bitter rivals earlier in the year, Becky makes the save for Bayley, the pair nodding at each other afterwards to signify a slight respect…We don’t have to like each other… but there’s a bigger threat to be stopped…
But soon enough, this action spills past just being a two-on-two situation. Zoey Stark, the former tag team partner of Iyo Sky in NXT, decides that Becky didn’t suffer enough during their rivalry after helping Trish at Night of Champions, and that it’s worth it for these veterans like her and Bayley to be ousted. Along with that, Asuka’s power and general craziness draws the interest of the Unholy Union known as Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, the pair pledging loyalty to The Empress and perfectly willing to destroy Becky and Bayley. However, there are several other competitors backstage sick of seeing Asuka gaining an army, with Bianca Belair and the Way coming to the save to help even the odds. And of course, after a brawl featuring all of these competitors, William Regal comes out briefly to make his patented announcement:
“WAR GAMES!”
To determine which team gets the advantage leading into Survivor Series, we get ourselves a strong match in Iyo Sky vs. Becky Lynch, really the catalyst of what’s led into a two-on-one situation into an upcoming 5v5 match inside a destructive steel structure. Becky more than holds their own, but Iyo Sky shines even brighter, a cheap shot by Stark eventually allowing Iyo to hit the Moonsault and give the “heels” the advantage.
Survivor Series: Bianca Belair, Bayley, Becky Lynch, Nikki Cross, and Candice LeRae vs. Asuka, Iyo Sky, Zoey Stark, Alba Fyre, and Isla Dawn - War Games Match
Kicking off the match is Zoey Stark and Becky Lynch, with Becky initially successful in getting Zoey downed, but Isla Dawn coming in presents a problem. She’s initially able to hold her off, but a chop block by Zoey Stark and a subsequent attack of the leg leaves Becky in a rough spot. She’s able to get some assistance, with Nikki Cross coming in with a trash can lid and just whacking Zoey and Isla around with ease. However, Alba Fyre is next to come out, and upon seeing Cross staring her down from inside the cage, she grabs a kendo stick, ready to defend herself. While Nikki initially gets the advantage, Stark and Dawn are able to pull Nikki back, sending her into the steel cage repeatedly. Bianca coming in next is a game changer however, the EST taking control of the match-up and getting a slight breather while awaiting the fourth competitor…which is Asuka!
But as the rest of the field comes in, with Asuka being the last entrant for her team and Bayley for the opposite side, the action starts to get more and more intense. With all of the competitors brawling in one ring, Iyo sees the chance to hit a Moonsault from the top of the cage, wiping out everybody (including herself)! However, a table being brought into the mix benefits the bayfaces, Bayley hitting Fyre with a Bayley-To-Belly through it (she finally got to hit it… just not on Asuka). However, the ending sequence comes down to Asuka and Iyo on their feet against Bayley and Becky, back where it essentially first started…AND IT ENDS WITH IO HITTING A MOONSAULT ON BAYLEY! 1-2-3!
Team Asuka def. Team Becky via pinfall
Just like that, Iyo Sky has once again proved her worth, defeating her former stablemate to win the match for her team and cementing herself as a force to be moving forward. And though a fairly small shot, we can see Asuka glance over at Iyo, a slight frown on her face for a moment before moving back to stand with the rest of her team. What could that mean…
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Build To Royal Rumble:
Despite the result of the War Games Match, Becky Lynch isn’t through with either Asuka nor Iyo by a long shot. She fights off both of them over the coming weeks, along with picking up several singles victory, establishing herself as the next #1 Contender. And as Lynch points out, she and Asuka have history at Royal Rumble. Asuka beat her in singles action in 2019…before Lynch went on to win the Royal Rumble and headline Mania. But this isn’t about the Rumble match now…it’s time to put away the Empress.
As for Iyo, she also has a run of singles success, carrying a lot of momentum heading into the Royal Rumble Match. And soon, we learn that she requested training from one of the most respected female competitors in the locker room, a former NXT UK Champion…Meiko Satomura! While Satomura doesn’t intend to compete right away, she’s more than willing to help Iyo, with vignettes being shown of them together and Satomura even being at ringside for her matches. However, as this keeps happening, Asuka’s looks towards Iyo become more and more strained. Sky is abandoning me… after all I did for her… something’s going to change soon enough…
Royal Rumble: Becky Lynch vs. Asuka (c) - Raw Women’s Championship
Earlier in the night, Iyo Sky does indeed win the Royal Rumble match, punching her ticket to WrestleMania. This doesn’t seem to affect Asuka’s thoughts however, the Empress looking as ruthless and as calculated as ever en route to using an Armbar to submit Becky after a pretty back-and-forth encounter. And while Asuka proved herself the master of the Armbar between the pairing, Iyo Sky coming out with Meiko Satomura to acknowledge the title win seems to aggravate something in Asuka. Her grin has become a definite frown, and she stares an icy dagger through the pairing. Something isn’t right here…
Asuka def. Becky Lynch via submission to retain the Raw Women’s Title
Build To WrestleMania:
In a conversation between Meiko Satomura and Iyo Sky on an episode of Raw, Satomura asks if Sky would be willing to use her Rumble Victory position to challenge Asuka. Sky doesn’t look too convinced about doing that, which Satomura says is fine, but it’s advisable to weigh all her options. However, in the background, Asuka can be seen, carefully listening to the conversation.
A week later, Satomura addresses the WWE Universe. She’s made the announcement that she wants to have one last run before she retires, and wants to face some of the best names this women’s division has to offer…which is why she’s challenging Asuka for Elimination Chamber! Asuka comes out, her face paint being more red than usual…but while it looks like she’s having to contain herself, she shakes Satomura’s hand, seemingly paying respect to a legend.
Elimination Chamber: Meiko Satomura vs. Asuka (c) - Raw Women’s Championship
Unfortunately for Satomura, this retirement run of sorts looked to hit the ground before it could even get going. While she catches the Empress off guard at the beginning of the encounter, as time moves on, Asuka appears to be getting more and more angry. This comes to a boiling point when after one Tiger Suplex, Asuka hits another…then another…then another…then another! The ref pleads for Asuka to quit the assault, which she does…only to pull a Bryan Danielson and just start repeatedly kicking Satomura in the face! This goes on for disturbingly long, and when it’s become clear that Satomura is passed out, the ref calls for the bell, him having made the discretion for the match to end.
Asuka def. Meiko Satomura via ref stoppage
After the match, Iyo Sky rushes to the ring, checking on the woman who’s helped her out tremendously over the past couple of months. Asuka looks down at Iyo, a look of disgust on her face, before demanding to know who Sky is facing at WrestleMania. And it better be a specific answer…
Iyo Sky: “I… CHALLENGE… YOU!”
The crowd roar in approval, Asuka somehow shocked initially…until a smile comes across her face. I’m not surprised you made that choice…but unfortunately, it’s the wrong one...it’s a shame this has to happen Iyo…so much potential…
WrestleMania 40: Iyo Sky vs. Asuka (c) - Raw Women’s Championship
Despite that inner monologue running through Asuka’s head at Elimination Chamber, Sky proves why she’s not to be taken lightly. On the Grandest Stage of them All, Iyo just looks…better. Having been around Asuka for several months, she knows the mechanics of her offense, doing a good job at avoiding those signature kicks while also having the speed advantage. And at the end of the match, Sky proves herself superior over The Empress of Tomorrow, hitting the second Moonsault of the match to pin Asuka, and end a spectacular title run while opening a new chapter for another one.
Iyo Sky def. Asuka via pinfall to win the Raw Women’s Championship

Hey guys.
I used to live near Denver about ten years ago before life took me in another direction. Now I"m coming back after securing a remote job (which happens to be in Durango). But,I can basically live anywhere in Colorado.
I had never been to Durango before, so I'm wondering if moving there would be a good idea or not. For context, personally, I really like road and mountain biking, as well as other outdoors activities, but cycling takes the top.
My wife is Chinese and in finance; not sure if Durango is a good place for her regarding career prospects, but we both have expressed interest in at least considering it as a place to live for the next few years. I'm guessing prospects would be better in Boulder / Denver area.
She's not as outdoorsy as me, but does play badminton and likes going on hikes.

I'm pretty sure that the majority of Barovian content creators have already seen some version of this list. I actually went back to update my original post of the list to discover that I never made my own post of it! I put together the first version of this list a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure this is the most complete list of its kind anywhere: Alternate areas of Barovia that are commonly needed, besides the commonly published CoS specific battlemaps:
0) The (Dark) Carnival - nobody ever makes maps / assets for this, even though gobs of people always throw it in to their campaign, even though it's old as crap. I understand that there's a Carnival Realm in the new VRGtR book.. I'll probably never use the realm-carnival, but that's a second place the Dark Carnival maps/assets could be used. There are also a trio of third party Ravenloft carnival modules as well that they could be used in.
1) Battlemap sized maps of the towns. At LEAST a 5 foot per square / hex map for the tiger chase. (Obviously modern VTT platforms don't actually need the grid on the map. ;) )
2) Random shops, stables, blacksmiths and generic places the party is likely to go anyway.
3) Generic encounter locations.. country roads / rivers / bridges and combinations of the three. It sounds dumb because you can get generic encounter maps like that anywhere.. but it would be AWESOME to have matching Barovian roads and Svalitch woods on all of your encounter maps. Don't forget the specific crossroads with the gallows from CoS.. I don't recall if there were hanging cages mentioned, but you could throw in some PNG options for them.
4) A covered bridge, including the roof, deck and under views. (To tack on to the Headless Horseman add-in.) The Woodcutters hut as well.
5) Besides the Carnival, there are a few other old school modules that people like to bolt on to CoS (Adam, etc. etc.).
6) DragnaCarta, MandysMod and Pyram King have all developed alternate encounters and a handful of setting that might be able to use an alternate map here and there. (Orphanage.) In particular, I recall battles in/near the bogs, on mountain sides with/without roads and watch towers. Military and outfitter style tent interiors and exteriors and camps placed.. you know what? Make those camps be PNG assets that could be dropped in a bog, next to a river or on a mountain side as needed. ;) I recall Lunch Break Heroes making an encounter for Borgia/Borca, but I don't recall if they made any scenarios / encounters for Barovia. I got a special request for Beneath the Abbey.
7) The Interactive Tome of Strahd sends the party back in time and would be a PHENOMENAL set of maps to expand Barovia. Seriously, you could drop those on DMsGuild and make some bank. Some additionally pre-Strahd bright and shiny versions of the village of Barovia and other basic maps might be nice for some throw-back adventures.
8) Retro Castle Ravenloft.. Castle Ravenloft fully restored to its former glory! (Castle Barovia? I picture it as more of a walled garrison, looking like a giant stone bubble from a distance, but it did have at least one tower overlooking the cliff.) We know that the old pre-Strahd castle had multiple floors located in roughly the same place as Castle Ravenloft, but with significantly different floor plans, as the ghosts walk staircases and pass through doorways that don't exist anymore. :D (Important side-note: Strahd did not grow up in Castle Ravenloft. I believe that there is one (1) painting of him looking out over Yesterhill, through the mists at a vision of the castle he grew up in, but I don't think anyone has ever tackled it.)
9) The caverns and the alter area in and under the Pillarstone of Ravenloft (from Expedition to Ravenloft) are frequently added in to CoS. I've never seen a map of a hidden cavern entrance in the Svalitch woods, let alone a set of creepy Barovian caverns.. or the Castle side of the entrance, for that matter.
10) Around a decade ago, some weirdo drew an artistic image of Castle Ravenloft with the foundation bedrock rotted away under it. I'd like to see a detailed elevation map of the curtain wall and gatehouse with the bedrock still under the curtain wall, because that irritates me to no end. NOBODY would build a massive curtain wall on a questionable foundation. Reference Vlads actual castle (which is admittedly ten times smaller than Ravenloft) for a rather specific example of a (THE) castle built on the side of a cliff. As I recall, if looking at the gatehouse, the left side and back left corner of Vlads actual castle are protected by a cliff, and that's where the inspiration for Castle Ravenloft came from.
11)Speaking of elevation, at the other end of Castle Ravenloft are balconies and windows jutting out over the cliff. I'd love to see detailed maps of those areas, an 'ant sized' map of the Svalitch woods and Barovia as seen from the castle, and an elevation map of the cliff-side reaching from the Svalitch woods up past the windows and balconies to the Curtain wall. Parties occasionally decide to attempt to scale the cliff. Having a cliff and curtain wall that actually matches would be awesome.
12) Odd ball areas we never see. The druids must have huts or a village somewhere. The Roc must have a nest somewhere. The Mad Mage in Barovia has one of either a tower / cavern / pocket dimension somewhere. We could use Barovian flavored versions of all three. Oh, and the woods and encounters with said mage on the backside of the lake.. so a lake / forested area with spread out trees for players to run in terror or attempt to attack at range.. or whatever.
13) UNDER Lake Zarovich, there are a handful of generic encounters. There are also a few river monster encounters, generally near the Berez Swamp, could use a lair map and an underwater river encounter map, Barovia flavored. Speaking of Berez, I've never seen a detailed large scale swamp map for the Berez Swamp.. let alone the whole town being overrun by the swamp.
14) A proper Berez Swamp. A full sized swamp, with river banks, fields of cattail and reeds, murky backwaters, underwater groves of trees, and a couple of dozen oddly shaped islets and sandbanks.. a few dead logs.. not to mention a proper full sized assortment of Berez town ruins.
15) What's the village in the Adventurer's Guild Supplements?? Orasnou! There's a tiny village there (the size most people depict Berez as, because the CoS book doesn't describe the whole town of Berez properly). So that map is needed, along with.. 4 interior maps, if I recall? (Probably more, + a manor.) As well as an alternate werewolf lair and a few others, like a Barovian bluff, again if I recall off of the top of my head. I've had requests for the Gundarak villages Teufeldorf, Zeidenburg and Renika, as well as the other minor villages and..
16) The complete map of Barovia, post Grand Conjunction (done in standard modern style/graphics).
17) Various encounters have been depicted on Mount Baratok. Which would be a stark stone mountain, snowy and generally above the treeline, not like the hilly tree covered mountains where Argynvostholt and the Roc and etc. are located. I think a largish rocky encounter map of the mountainside would be the first needed. I (seem to) recall a three tiered monastery built on the side of a cliff, with a freshwater spring enclosed that would require an elevation map along with three small interioexterior maps showing the wooden stairs going up and down the cliff-side. I recall one encounter involving a lai small cave sized area.
18) Lots of people want Van Richtens magic shop and other stuff described in his escapades. We could also use a handful of Vistani Vardos and Camps. If I recall, there are only two described in the CoS book, but there are many more tribes of Vistani than that, and we're told that they move around frequently. If might be easier to provide PNG files for the vardos, outfitter tents and assets for a large scale camp. Come to think of it, there aren't a whole lot of tokens for those smallish horses they use either, so someone might whip up 10-12 smallish shaggy horses with unique patterns to show off. They don't care one ounce for a horses pedigree, and are more than happy to keep unique looking mongrel horses as their personal caravan animals. They use mountain horse stock when breeding their horses, so they would be a bit hairier and stockier then say an Arabian.. just scaled closer to a pony size. Donkey size! They're donkey sized horses. :D ..real donkey size, if I recall 5e has some weirdness going on with their official donkey/wagon sizes that makes no sense at all for Vardos sized horses and wagons like the Vistani would have.
19) The valley where the village of Barovia is located is described as a massive fertile farming area, yet we never see any medieval farms, ranches, graineries or farmers markets for Barovia. Definitely need a few of those. Barovian farmers and ranchers would SPECIFICALLY all have the buildings that (in the real world) later became fortifications, Thick werewolf proof walls and heavily barricaded doors everywhere. No window on the ground floor. Livestock was housed indoors, in enclosed courtyards with family areas wrapped around them, or with the animals on the ground floor and the family living above on the second floor. Horse stalls and farrowing areas would be fenced off within the area. Graineries would be large round wooden buildings with barricaded doors and sturdy out-buildings. 10 foot tall max, today's 4-5 story tall graineries are a modern invention. There would probably be a large stone community grainery far on the other side of the valley from the Village of Barovia. for that matter, there ought to be a functioning grainery or warehouse somewhere between the Village of Barovia and Bonegrinder. ALSO, if Bonegrinder is no longer being used as a mill, there would HAVE to be another windmill or waterwheel driven mill somewhere else in Barovia. Many artists have envisioned a water-wheel grainery on the River Ivlis near the Village of Barovia. Corn cribs would be on the second floor of a barn for drying grain, doubling up to dry bales of hay, not primarily as a hay loft. PNGs for 2-3 styles of fencing and gates, water troughs, and some medieval horse drawn plows and rakes would be nice. Dog kennels!! Every farm would probably have it's own horse pasture or rink with a training post, and a dog kennel or run for dogs to run during the day. You know those giant mastiffs that the Barovian nobles are so fond of? Yeah, the farmers in the fertile valley near Barovia would be the only ones rich enough to be able to afford to raise those pups for the nobles. Somewhere out here would be a medieval rancher set up to raise mastiff puppies with an assortment of full grown mastiffs. Mongrel pups or runts would be sold off to neighboring farms at a discount. Roaming wolves would stay FAR away from them, and werewolf packs would likely attack them for any reason at all (if they could find a way in to the basin). I picture a LARGE farmers market and stockyards just inside the River Ivlis bridge of the Valley of Barovia. We know that Barovia is a trade center.. so there MUST be one. The bridge would offer protection if needed, and it would be the closest place farmers and ranchers could set up to provide commerce with the other villages and domains and still have the protection of being inside the gates. Hmm.. they might have a dirt race track there for showing off horses going up for sale. Make that very probably, The Vistani/Romani are famous for defending their mountain horses at the drop of a hat. This would be the main place of commerce for farmers goods in Barovia. This is (the main area) where Vistani Caravans would import and export farm goods in to and out of Barovia.
20) There would absolutely be homestead (small) sized farms and ranches carved out up in mountain valleys or even on mountain sides facing south. In fact, a south facing mountain side might get enough sunlight to raise delicate crops, spices and herbs, whereas most of Barovia can't, due to the mists blocking the sunlight. Also, a couple of mountain pastures with matching rocks / trees bordering them would be nice. Honestly though, if you pass out some rock and tree assets that match the ones you already use, anybody could throw together their own mountain pastures, or even their own valley pastures. Rows of crops are hard to find though! You could easily have scenarios of wolves/werewolves hunting the party in a cornfield.. but there are no Barovian cornfield battlemaps. ACTUALLY, I don't think I have any battlemap sized crop assets, and I probably have the largest collection of map assets around. You could probably sell these farming assets/maps on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild as well, I've never seen them anywhere. ..OR you might ask Forgotten Adventures or Tom Cartos to throw some together, whatever seems clever. :) I've been asked specifically to try to get Yaedrag (barbarian-esque village in the mountains that Dragna wrote up) made up.
21) Jenny Greenteeth's Hut.. perhaps a grove of her untainted trees from the Quivering Forest? (Also the Glumpen Swamp and Vanishing Hills, various locations within these.) I picture the Quivering Forest loaded with fruit and nut trees and songbirds fighting for real estate (the text mentions angry squirrels).. surrounded by classic Svalitch Woods half-dead spooky trees. ;) I recall seeing a couple of versions that roughly followed the description given in DDAL04, but they're just a hut, not the whole barrow surrounding her hut as described. Additionally, many artists have upscaled her hut to be a small trading post, and put it on wooden poles, swamp style (never seen a battlemap of it, though). Lots of room for creative renditions there. :)
22) Another thing that I haven't seen ANYBODY making is small abbeys. The hills and mountains of Barovia are said to be littered with small abbeys. ..some of them abandoned, some not.
23) Abandoned mansions and manors. Strahd massacred the noble families of Barovia for their involvement in his father's murder. There is one legend of a nobleman possessed by a demon that Strahd left alive, as a curse 'worse than death'. At any rate, there ought to be a handful of abandoned / haunted mansions and manors dotting the Barovian countryside for the party to stumble in to (or check out due to a hook dropped by an informative villager).
24) There are currently NO mines in the CoS version of Barovia.. bizarre for a mountain country. It would suit that some of those decimated noble families ran some mines that have since been abandoned. Of course, it wouldn't do to host your standard monsters in a Barovian mine. I'm thinking Lair of the White Worm. Something more horrifying than dungeoneering.
25) It's been mentioned that instead of murdering the losers from the werewolf trials, they might be shipped off to be slaves in a mine, or to a plantation in the swamp. The plantation would be stick construction, as you would expect in a swamp, they would collect tubers and reeds that grow in the swamp, not traditional plantation type crops.
26) The various Barovian villages NOT included on Schleys map of (Central) Barovia usually have a town sized map plotted out and published somewhere, but no really decent overview maps or battlemap sized maps of them exist. (This need might easily be filled by a couple of handfuls of generic Barovian village buildings, field-stone and dirt street assets, and sundry village constructions.
27) Besides the Gates of Barovia, there are supposed to be watch-towers dotting the landscape as well. An operational watchtower and a couple of partially ruined ones would be awesome.
​
Assets nobody has made like the Dark Carnival and lake/river encounters and the Mad Mages various lair options would be the most needed. I simply don't understand why EVERY CoS map developer doesn't provide matching roads, forests, rivers and generic shops with matching Barovian assets. The maps I mentioned which you could make money selling on DriveThruRPG and DMsGuild (to me) would just be silly NOT to make. ...Van Richtens magic shop is requested a LOT. When the party first enters Barovia, I can picture them being chased in to a fortified farm by a pack of dire wolves / werewolves at dusk (perhaps the first couple of farms won't unbarricade their doors). I'm sure you can see the utility of the rest. Will everybody need a Roc nest on a cliff above the forest? No. Will DMs derail their campaign for a minute just for the opportunity to make the party loot a Roc nest? Yes. :
Finally, I would note that since I wrote this list, a few cartographers have added some of the above locations to their Library, but the vast majority of these are as of yet, untouched. :)

I lost all faith in him. I love him so much, yet I cannot let this go. He revealed to me that during our year together he cheated on me 3 times (not full on sex, but you know...).
We cried over it. He bagged me not to go. I decided to stay. But my mind keeps on racing.
There is not a time where we are separate (him going to friends, me going to visit my mom) that I can hold my self from falling into a spiral of negative thoughts and another cheating scenario.
Also, he's been on drugs (weed) for a long time (over 10 years) and together we came to the conclusion that the affect of the drugs on him led him to losing control and cheating. That's why he promised me that he won't touch drugs in the near future (We wish it could be forever, but he cannot promise me that)
This only adds to my anxiety. Especially when I know he is going out with his smoking friends.
Fear is taking a strong hold of me. Fear of him falling into drugs again, fear of him hiding this from me. I'm suffering so much, almost never in the present moment.
Now, as I'm writing this, a dark cloud got over me again. I feel so weak.
I love him, I want to stay with him. He is my best friend. We've been through so much together (including him going through psychosis and treatment; He's bi-polar) yet the darkness takes over the light of love and I feel so disconnected.
The hardest thing is that I know there is noting he can do in the present moment to help me. We already talked about it so many times and I know at this point it is all on my head. I'm the problem, it's me.
How do I surrender to pure awerness and step into the present moment?
Thank you.

So, I’m writing this on my phone because I figured I should share my experiences. I’ve shared one already but I figured I should share more as I have had quite the run-ins with some odd things in the woods of the Pacific Northwest.
I live in Oregon, but I do tend to travel on my off time in the wilderness, despite my run ins I love the forest, nature, and all I just tend to be much more careful now.
This first story takes place in my home state. I have a buddy who is a park ranger and he shared me a story of his own. He works at Crater Lake National Park and was patrolling one of the trails that was reported by hikers who said they heard a bear in the area. He went out with a tranquilizer to move the bear out of an area that was close to a campground. He was walking as usual when he felt eyes on him…he began to hear movement in the woods, and he shouted out “anybody out there?”
No response.
He got his tranquilizer ready and proceeded toward the noise. But as he approached, he heard another noise behind him.
Now he was thinking, “Oh no there’s more than one out here.”
Not sure what to do he prepared for the worst but then to his relief it was two deer. He sighed in relief thanking God that he wasn’t going to be mauled that day. But suddenly he noticed blood on one of the deer’s antlers and next to it behind the bushes it came out of was the carcass of a black bear. The two deer just stared at him and returned to feasting on the bear. He wasn’t sure what to do, tranquilize them or risk being a victim? He decided it was best to take the shot and hit both. They didn’t even budge and just walked off into the forest.
He reported the dead carcass of the bear and just had a team remove the remains. Still gives him the Chills thinking back to that day.
The next story was when I went on a fishing trip with a friend in Washington.
We had set out to fish along this river that was calm that day.
We caught a few fish and even some crawdads. I love seafood so I wanted us to stay out longer to catch a few more fish. My friend ended up taking a nap while I continued to fish. All was well but I suddenly noticed something in the distance, something dark moving along the river. I thought it was some sort of log that was stuck and got free and was floating along the river, but its movements didn’t appear normal. It would move back and forth getting closer and closer. I began to get nervous; I can’t really explain why it just felt like I needed to get away from whatever this thing was.
I turned to my friend who was still asleep and heard a splash.
I looked back and the thing was just gone. I looked around wondering where it went, and I saw it. Perched on top of a tree, I thought it was a cougar, I grabbed my binoculars for a closer look, and it was crouched but was tall, lanky and had milky white eyes but covered in black feathers and wearing some sort of animal pelt. I felt a sudden sense of dread and fear I never felt before. I looked back to my friend to wake him but before I could I heard another splash and saw it was back in the water now headed to the boat. I said “F this “and then turned on the motor and hauled ass out of there. My friend woke up yelling at me and asked, “What the hell are you doing?” but I didn’t respond. When we got to the loading dock, I anchored the boat and told him to get in the truck and he protested about leaving the boat and I said, “We will get it later get in now!”
The car ride back I explained everything, and I saw how pale he got. He’s part Native American and explained to me that what I saw was a Skinwalker.
This next story takes place in the Canadian Wilderness. I was on a hunting trip with my buddy who has a cabin in Canada deep in the wilderness, off-grid type of deal. It was the beginning of winter so the snow wasn’t so bad to where you just couldn’t move. He had this goal to get a mountain lion. So, we headed out to a ridge where you could see out to a clearing where he said he saw this specific mountain lion every year. It always came to the same spot, maybe its home was nearby I don’t know. So, its nighttime, and we had a small fire going, I went to go take a piss when I noticed something or somethings… 3 humanoid figures were in the clearing, I quickly put the fire out, and my friend told me “Dude why did you do that?” I told him to shush, and we observed the 3 beings. The thing was this was way out in the middle of the wilderness, there’s absolutely no way that anybody else knew about this spot. Also, the 3 figures looked human, but I could tell they were much taller than normal and their arms, skinny and just moved unnaturally. They were circling something, but I couldn’t tell what exactly. Then one of the figures stopped and looked directly at us. We rushed to cover and didn’t really know what to do. So, we decided to not sleep that night and have our rifles ready just in case. The following morning, we went down to the clearing to see what those figures were circling and sure enough we saw footprints much larger than a normal human and the beheaded mountain lion that my friend wanted mounted in his cabin so badly but now not so much…
This story still comes across my mind to this day. Me and my buddy from our hiking club were going on a hike one day, it was a beautiful hike along a river, and we were looking for places to set up camp. We saw a campground with food and trash everywhere and at first, I was upset that someone just left this much of a mess here. But the longer I looked around the weirder things got…Their trash bag was still hoisted up on a tree branch but ripped open, the food was still there and if a bear or another animal got to the food, they would of ate everything. Also, there tents were still set up, but ripped as if from the inside, clothes still around and even 2 pairs of boots. The whole campground looked as if whoever was there was immediately in a rush to get out of there and just left all their belongings, not even bothering to take their shoes. The hairs on my neck stood up and both my buddy and I decided that we should call it a day and just hike back to the car. I reported the incident to the forest rangers, but they said they weren’t aware of anybody camping in the area and did not receive any reports from the area. Still freaks me out thinking what could have spooked these people so bad they left their tents, not even bothering to use the zipper and leaving their clothes and shoes behind.
This next one comes from a solo hike. I was doing a 3-day solo trip somewhere in Washington near the Canadian border. I was literally way out there no facilities or normal campground. I was just hiking along, and dusk was approaching, my campsite was already set but I just went for a stroll when I thought I heard a child’s voice calling for help. I thought it was my imagination, but I heard it again. I began to follow it and then I saw the child. He looked dirty; clothes still intact but his back was facing me. I called out to this kid, and he turned around but before he could speak, he was pulled by someone or something down on the other side of this hill. Then I heard a loud crash as if a metal down shut. I ran to where I saw the kid and saw nothing but the same clothes, he was wearing neatly folded and his shoes right next to them. After a few minutes to no avail, I made my way back to the campsite gathered all my things and headed back. I went to the forest ranger station and told them about what I saw. Never found out if they found that kid or not.
Now this story comes from my close friend in Oregon, but this happened in Washington. So, I was hanging out with my friend who has pretty much grew up in the outdoors all his life and I asked him what his most creepy experience in the woods was. He told me he didn’t have a lot of experiences like that aside from hearing weird things at night when he went camping. But, this one time he was out hiking with his dog, they usually are a pair for hiking with friends but this time he was out hiking with just his dog in the deep woods of Washington on a trail that had very little traffic, like you wouldn’t expect to run into anybody. So, his dog is off leash, roaming a little in front of him and as they come to a corner the dog just stopped and his hair stood on the back of his neck, did a single bark moved up one step and then just ran behind my friend, not behind his legs but down the trail behind my friend, about 25 yards behind him. My friend pulled out his firearm and aimed forward, considering this was an area where black bears are he thought maybe his dog saw a bear but after a few minutes he didn’t find anything, no animals, nothing. His dog refused to go near him even after he kept calling for his dog. He eventually left the trail with his dog and got back home in one piece. But he said he never saw his dog act like that, his dog and he have hiked plenty, and his dog has been spooked before, but he never acted that way and he would always come back to my friend even when spooked.
This last story I have for now occurred when I was hunting with my buddy in Washington. The area still had trees but was on the dryer side with us being closer to the desert.
We had a deer blind set up near a clearing and scanned the area for some deer when we noticed a big elk with a couple of doe. They were grazing and we just watched since we didn’t want this deer.
What was odd though was the weather began to get rainy and fog rolled in as evening was approaching. We noticed that the elk began to showcase defensive behavior, going back and forth making grunting noises and huffing as it began to set up a defensive area around the doe who were now cowering in a small area. Kind of like “Back up these are mine” This elk was staring at the tree line, and we thought, “oh shit maybe it’s a bear”. But to our surprise it wasn’t, it was another elk. We got a little excited thinking we were about to see these two elk go at it to see who gets to take the herd of doe home, but I stopped once I put it together. Why did the doe seem so afraid then?
Then I saw another elk and another and another all just staring at the protective elk.
But then to our shock all the elks began to stand. On two legs.
Now sometimes deer will do this as a protective or displaying behavior of superiority, but these elk were not.
The protective elk began to show more aggression attempting to scare them off.
My friend whispered to me. “What the hell is this, I’ve never seen this before in my life.”
My friend has been hunting for over 15 years from Alaska all the way to Colorado and parts in the East coast. A seasoned man who didn’t scare easily but I could tell this freaked him out.
The group of bipedal elk just stood there and then they all bolted towards the Elk and the elk charged them at the same time. Managing to impale two of the elks but he was outnumbered, and the elks didn’t use their antlers but began to bite the elk with what looked like jagged sharp fangs.
It was horrible. They then they circled the elk and just looked up to the moon and made these god-awful gurgling noises
It looked like some sort of F’d up ritual.
We decided that we should leave and began to grab our things to leave. I’m positive that we were too far for anyone to hear but I sweat as soon as we moved one of the deer stopped and looked right at us.
And that’s when we nopped out of there, we ran all the way to the truck hoping we didn’t run into those elks or whatever the hell those things were. I have seen deer display hostile behavior but never like that.
We were rushing to throw our stuff and sped out onto the dirt road. We got about 1/4 a mile away when we noticed a giant log blocking our path that wasn’t there before.
My friend said: “dammit we have to move it”
Luckily, we had a chainsaw in the back, and he cut some of the log away so we could move it. But God those logs were heavy, when we got to the last of the log my friend said, “help me move it!” I joined in, and we both lifted the last of the log out of the way out we noticed something on the road. It was one of those deer. Just standing looking at us. We backed up towards the truck my friend not even caring to grab the chainsaw and I swear it opened its mouth and said “hhe hhe-hel-help me moo-move iiiit”
It was distorted but sounded exactly like my friend.
We just ran to the truck from there and we hit the gas and this deer just ran towards the truck and hopped on the front and then the top of the truck and I’m just shitting bricks at this point and attempt to grab the shotgun from under the seat when my friend says “hang on” and just hits the brakes hard and this deer just goes flying off the truck and he quickly speeds around it .
We stayed at a hotel after driving 2 hours straight back to civilization.
Honestly, I believe deer just have some messed up ways, but I really don’t know what they were but I’m positive they weren’t deer, I don’t know what they were.
Part 2
I figured I’d mention this since I didn’t add it to my previous post.
These experiences I had forever changed my perspective on the woods and I questioned whether I should ever step foot in the woods again. I don’t know why I attract these experiences but part of it motivates me to keep going to share what I see.
This other story was a time I went out with a friend to explore. We were in the backcountry just exploring and I suddenly saw this weird structure. My friend decided we should check it out and we saw this stone-like structure covered in moss and it must have been there for decades. What was weird though it had this rectangular structure that had a door, the door was perfectly preserved as if someone just installed it. No rust on the door handle or any weather damage, it’s like it came fresh out of the store.
I went to get a closer look and I was about to try to open the door when my internal gut feeling was screaming to me that something was wrong and we should not be here, and extreme sense of fear flooded my entire being and my hair on the back of my neck stood up.
My friend told me “What’s wrong?”
I told him “Maybe we should just go”
And he said “we can’t just leave now let’s at least see what’s inside”
Just as I fought my fear off and went for the handle the door began to creak open and I felt something was just VERY wrong, and I think my friend just instinctively knew we had to run, and we just got the hell out of dodge.
We returned with more people and armed to the teeth to try the door again.
But we couldn’t find the structure anywhere despite me marking this area on my map before we even attempted the door.
I always wondered what would have happened had I opened that door….
This next one I was camping with my old roommate, and we were enjoying the night and headed to bed soon after our fire was put out.
Around 3 am I had to piss so I went to the tree at the edge of our campsite
I heard movement after I finished and thought it was my friend having to do the same as me. A few feet away I gave him the okay hand sign and he gave it back
But the way his fingers moved just looked …wrong
I thought maybe I was just tired and headed back to my tent.
The following morning, we made breakfast and I mentioned to him how I drank too much the night before and don’t like having to piss at night but at least I wasn’t the only one who had to go.
My friend looked confused by that last part and said “what do you mean only one? “
I told him: “you don’t remember? We went to pee at the same time.” Then I showed him the okay gesture that I gave him last night to jog his memory and he just told me: “dude I didn’t get up at all last night…”
A chill ran up my spine and I just played it off that I was dreaming.
I don’t know who or what that was last night, we never saw anybody out there and I checked around the campsite after breakfast for footprints, saw mine but nobody’s where I thought I saw my friend the night before.
This next one is like the previous one, but I was camping with my girlfriend at the time. We had a great night doing you know couple of things and then in the middle of the night I had to piss. Did my business at a nearby tree, and then I heard my girlfriend calling my name, in the woods. I figured she had to go to and just wanted to have some privacy. Maybe she needed toilet paper and forgot, as I went to the tent to grab a roll, I heard her call my name again then said help me.
I thought about going over to her but went to grab the roll anyway because I didn’t want to go out there then she tells me she needs the toilet paper. As I opened the tent, I just stood there surprised, my girlfriend was sound asleep still. So, who was calling my name?... I heard my name again but louder and my girlfriend's voice saying “COME HERE NOW”
I just decided to go in the tent, and just laid there silent, not sure what to do. I didn’t hear anything for the rest of the night and passed out after the surge of adrenaline just put me out.
I didn’t tell my girlfriend about it, and just told her we had to cut the trip short because I forgot I have a paper to write.
This Last one happened in 2019. I took a drive on a forest road about 45 mins in. Parked near this trailhead and took off to the trail.
I was admiring the flora and fauna and just going on a normal hike when I noticed my vision completely changed as if I was looking through prescription glasses that weren’t mine. The vegetation changed and it was daylight when I was hiking but now it was dark as if sunset just passed.
This happens almost instantly. It was like I was in a completely new environment.
I then felt something graze my shoulder, it was a hairy arm, like the one you’d see from an ape or Bigfoot, and it was about to grab me, but I managed to take a step back, and I just see the hand grab where my neck would have been. I felt this sudden sense of dread and just began to backpedal and after a couple of steps, my vision went back to normal. The sunlight returned as well as the flora and fauna. I just saw a fuzzy-like outline in a circular shape in front of me from where I just stepped out of, and it eventually disappeared the more steps back I took.
I just stood there completely shocked about what just happened and came to my senses as my internal red flags were going off and I just turned around and ran to my truck and got out of the area. I never had this happen to me before and it thankfully hasn’t happened since. Since this happened, I have never gone hiking alone again.
To end this off, I just want to add that I enjoy the woods and nature it is full of beauty and wonder. But there are things out there…things even the natives knew to stay away from. There are things out there, that don’t care about you, or that you have families, or loved ones. I still go out to the woods, but after that last experience, it took me a long time to get the courage to go out there again. I never go out for solo hikes anymore, and if I can’t go with someone, I always take my dog. Thanks for hearing my stories and I’ll be sure to share any future experiences I have.

Hey guys.
I used to live near Denver about ten years ago before life took me in another direction. Now I"m coming back after securing a remote job (which happens to be in Durango).But,I can basically live anywhere in Denver.
I had never been to Durango before, so I'm wondering if moving there would be a good idea or not. For context, personally, I really like road and mountain biking, as well as other outdoors activities, but cycling takes the top.
My wife is Chinese and in finance; not sure if Durango is a good place for her regarding career prospects, but we both have expressed interest in at least considering it as a place to live for the next few years.
She's not as outdoorsy as me, but does play badminton and likes going on hikes.
Thoughts? Or do you want me to go away and never set foot there? XD

So, after waiting around 30 years to finally play Spelljammer, I got pretty excited about creating a character! I love Ravenloft and wanted to make a dhampir because Iam a huge Angel fan and a dhampir detective would be pretty cool to play. I started the background for my character but somehow I couldnt stop writing, lol. I wanted to make her a deep character, blend elements of Angel, Buffy, Frighteners, and Sixth Sense into her Dhampir College of Spirits Bard but also find a way to get to Wildspace from Bararovia, no easy task,some say impossible. I wrote this story and hoping for any feedback, I really like it and I hope you do too, tell me what you think!
ZAPADA At a very young age Francheska, was a music prodigy. The music that came from her violin was uncannily haunting and tranquil at the same time. As she got older, Francheska played her music at The Blood On The Vine Tavern, In Barovia. One night, a handsome admirer came up to her after her set and had her truly mesmerized. Francheska never felt like that before with anyone but something about him made her soon become enthralled in his presence. After talking for a few minutes, Francheska followed the man outside and continued to the back of the tavern. There they passionately embraced, totally consuming each other’s bodies. As their love making commenced, the admirelover of Francheska protruded his large fangs that glistened off the night’s blood moon, and tried desperately to gain sustenance from her exposed neck. Suddenly, vampire hunters led by Erasmus Van Richten intervened and attacked the monster. After fighting for most of the evening under the moonlight, the fanged foe was finally vanquished. The vampire hunter leader drove a wooden stake through the undead creature’s heart and watched it turn to ash. A few months had passed and Francheska started not feeling like her usual self. She would quit gigs early and head home to rest, she knew something was wrong and terrified about what it might be. In the coming months she became a recluse as her stomach started to grow. Francheska was pregnant and the father was the undead fiend that tried to end her life. She contemplated every day about what to do? Finally, she decided to put the baby up for adoption. She prayed the priests at the church would know what to do with it, perhaps even drive whatever “demons” it may have, out! Francheska wanted the baby to live a full life, something she knew she could never give it. On the evening baby Zapada was born, Francheska loved her from the very first minute she looked at her. She was amazed by Zapada’s beauty even though she was a dhampir, a child of a vampire. Francheska was deeply ashamed of how easily she was took control of by that monster and the guilt of having to let little Zapada go. The decision was very much a struggle for Francheska but ultimately she knew it was right. The church was located just outside of town near Tser Pool, not far from a Vistani Camp. The next morning she brought Zapada to the priests at the church and told them her story. They accepted the dhampir and promised to watch over her. Francheska wept as she left the church, leaving the most important thing in her life. She took a few steps back and handed the priests the second most important thing she ever had, her violin. She told them, “One day, please give this to her and tell her that this is all I can give, and that I’m sorry I couldn’t give more.” Francheska left the church and never returned. Many years had passed, and though dhampirs do age, it’s at a very slow pace. Zapada outlived all The Priests that took her in and the ones that replaced them. She looked around 25 years old but in reality she was over 200 years old. She grew up a wild child who loved casting illusionary magic. She knew about that night under the blood moon when she was conceived, and why she ended up at the church. She also knew, she was neither a true child of the night or the prey they fed on, she was something different. Though Zapada didn’t have the constant bloodlust as her sire, she did have a dhampir hunger that would occasionally occur. The first time she felt it was twelve years ago. She had an odd, visceral hunger; even though she just finished a big meal. Not sure what to do or why she felt that way; she decided to try to sleep it off. While asleep, the hunger had revamped itself into a vivid, horrific, and intense dream. In that dream, violent and murderous acts were committed, all through the bloodthirsty eyes of a vampire. Zapada watched him attack and gain sustenance from unsuspecting victims all throughout Barovia. One of his victims was a woman, who Zapada believed to be her mother, due to her similar looks and having her same violin being held in the vampire’s hand. Other victims included: Frightened women, men who desperately begged for mercy, and children with unheard cries. When Zapada awoke the next morning the hunger was gone, but all the sadness that her dream brought stayed with her. Deep down she knew, evil things walking around like that vampire had no place in Barovia and needed to be stopped! Zapada spent the next dozen years hunting the undead and other creatures of the night. She had some close calls but in her heart she knew it had to be done and never regretted risking her life to protect the innocent. After walking home to her cottage one night, a ghost passed by and asked for her help. He had a faint blue glow that outlined his body. He introduced himself as Stockwell and said “ Two weeks after I met my demise and became whatever I am now, I stumbled upon you staking a vampire with one hand and using your other hand to cast a Fire Bolt Spell on another. I thought wow; she could be the one that could help my family! So I followed you every day and saw you doing what you do best, slaying bad guys! I have to say, I’m very impressed!” Somewhat disturbed by the fact that he was watching her for weeks, Zapada nevertheless heard him out. Stockwell explained that his corpse had been stolen by a necromancer and he is controlling it to do many evil things while under the guise of him. “This framing has caused a lot of danger to my family and it has to stop! Everyone is trying to kill my family for revenge and justice but they are innocent!” Stockwell exclaimed. “The Necromancer is getting away with all of this and my family is suffering, please help!” Stockwell continued. Zapada wanted to do something and knew that she had the skills to do so. Stockwell was a major political official before he was assassinated by the necromancer while coming home in his carriage two weeks ago. There were no witnesses or any evidence that a crime even happened. Many of the villagers just assumed that Stockwell was alive and murdered townsfolk because he wanted revenge for losing the election. That evening, Stockwell brought her to the temple where the necromancer and his corpse were. Zapada stealthily crawled through the half open window at the temple and proceeded to the basement. There in the darkness, with the slight glow of ritual candles, the necromancer stood over Stockwell’s corpse and spoke unintelligible. As the necromancer finished speaking, the once still corpse started to move! Zapada moved quickly to the necromancer and made her first strike count! She pulled out her violin from its holster on her back and strummed a Thunderwave Spell. The necromancer flew back around 10 feet from the burst of thunder that was laid upon him and smashed his head against the wall. The ritual the necromancer conducted no longer was active and Stockwell’s corpse stopped being animated. Zapada then casted a Charm Person Spell on the necromancer as he laid injured on the ground against the wall. While under the spell, she told the necromancer that it would mean a lot to her if he walked to the jail and turned himself in; he did just that. Zapada went to Town Hall to speak to The Burgomaster and explained to him all the facts of the case. The Burgomaster was very close to Zapada for many years. He was one of the few people outside of the church, who knew Zapada’s true lineage. Many of the villagers would be willing to kill her if they knew she was a spawn of a vampire. Upon hearing the necromancer’s scheme, The Burgomaster informed the village of the ruse that was played on them. He also reclaimed Stockwell’s corpse and gave him a proper burial. Stockwell’s family came out of hiding and started to live a normal life again. The necromancer awakened from being under control of the Charm Person Spell while in jail, and vowed for revenge! Over the next few months, word got around about Zapada and how she helped Stockwell clear his name, posthumously. Ghosts throughout Barovia sought out Zapada’s help for their unjust deaths or other situations from their past lives that could use her assistance. With all the new cases, Zapada along with her weasel familiar she named Chicklay opened up an investigation agency and became gumshoes. Zapada spent lots of time with her ghost clients and solved many cases for them. She became very fascinated about the reasons for why and how they stayed on this plane after their death. She also wondered who or what made that decision? She spent months studying the subject, learning as much as she could. As she got further into her studies she felt it would be just a matter of time until she had a major breakthrough in her research. Then early one morning, she was awoken by a humming sound coming from the living room. Zapada walked into living room and there she would be visited by someone who would change her life forever! An orange mist appeared as a man walked through it wearing a top hat and shuffling a deck of cards that spewed energy from them. A portal that shared the same shade of orange stood directly behind him as we walked closer. “Zapada, the dhampir detective, I see that you are doing well for yourself these days!” The slender looking man said. I’ve been watching you through my home amongst the mists and noticed all the research you’ve been doing lately. I thought; why not give you a hand with your studies! With all the vermin and vile fiends you’ve been eradicating from this plane, it’s the least I could do; very good job by the way Zapada!” He added with a less than sincere tone. “First off, who are you and what are you doing in my home?” Zapada asked with a confused look on her face. “I am with The Powers Of Ravenloft. In this domain, we see all, we control all; well we find a way to control all, sometimes we get some help. That’s where you come in Zapada! With all your demon slaying, you’ve made our job so much easier! The evil has been eradicated in record numbers, and Barovia is a nice place to live once again. To thank for all that you’ve done, The Powers of Ravenloft want to offer you a Gift!” “What kind of Gift?” Zapada asked. The man reached in his pocket and handed her a piece of paper. “This paper shows you what you need to do and what you need to find the answers you are looking for with your ghosts. This Gift is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, do you accept it?” “What if I say yes, what will happen?” “Like I said, you will learn more about the afterlife and the planes, more than you ever thought. The Powers Of Ravenloft won’t cause you any harm, we want to award you!” “Well, if that’s the case, I might have to take you up on that offer.” Zapada replied with a smile. “Is that a yes, then?” The man asked. “Yes, I accept! I mean, why not, you promised no harm.” “Great, that is wonderful! “Though, I only said that The Powers Of Ravenloft wouldn’t harm you, not that you wouldn’t be harmed!” The man grinned as he tipped his top hat and vanished into the portal. As the portal closed up, the paper Zapada was holding soon disappeared; it was merely an illusion! At that very moment Zapada started hearing voices! Little did she know, by accepting that “Gift”, doors to the many spiritual planes were opened! She seemingly became a magnet for thousands of unseen Whispering Spirits making their way through those doors in search of peace and/or answers. Pleads for help entered Zapada’s ears throughout the day. They came as faint whispers only to be heard by her! Months had past and Zapada eventually learned how to drown out the Whispering Spirts’s “white noise” while she worked on a case or went to sleep. When she had the time, she would look into some of the most urgent requests that came her way. Most of the Whispering Spirits were thoughtful of Zapada and were very patient about being heard. A lot of them helped her with her cases by providing spells along with other abilities. Occasionally, there were some Whispering Spirits that were loud, demanding, and very impatient with Zapada. They would cause harm to her if she didn’t help them right away! From extremely loud screeching that deafened her for a short while, to an intense fear that completely overtook her, some spirits had no bounds to be heard. Zapada understood that the “Gift” she accepted brought upon hardships that she wasn’t quite ready for. Through balance, mental strength, and determination, she got stronger and overcame those hardships. The ruse that The Powers Of Ravenloft pulled to distract her frrom keeping Barovia safe and to help the helpless, failed! One night at the detective agency was a very personal night. A case was brought to Zapada by a young girl. She explained that she was with her mother walking near the Svalich Woods when a man appeared about 30 feet away. Her mother walked away from her and to the man. They held hands and vanished deeper into the woods together. She mentioned that she tried yelling for her mother, but she didn’t answer back. Zapada knew she had to take this case, it felt deeply personal to her. While roaming the woods where the young girl’s mother disappeared, Zapada heard some talking. As she walked a little further she saw a male vampire kneeling on the ground about 10 feet away. A woman who matched the mother’s description was lying on a sheet, appearing to be asleep or dead. “Sorry to interrupt your fun there guy, but I think it’s time to for you to go bye-bye! Besides, you’re not the prettiest thing and I’m sure when she wakes up she’s gonna have some major morning after regret!” Zapada Viciously Mocked the vampire. The insult intertwined with a spell, sent psychic damage to the vampire and he fell to the ground. Knowing she didn’t have much time before he got back up, she had to think fast! Zapada quickly reached in her bag and grabbed a card from her Tarokka Deck that was given to her by a Vistani friend from long ago. Zapada used the fortune telling card as a Spiritual Focus Item and proceeded to warm up her vocal chords. She then belted out an intense Shatter Spell as the vampire was slowly getting back to his feet. Thunderous waves of sound bested the vampire’s fortitude as he tried desperately to flee. Zapada grabbed another card from the Tarokka Deck. This time she channeled a Spirit Tale and combined it with her bardic studies, becoming “The Tale Of The Runaway”! That tale transported Zapada to the vampire’s location. Now in close range, Zapada unsheathed her sharpened longsword and decapitated the fleeing vampire, turning him to ash. At that same time, a deafening sound crippled Zapada. The wrath of a Whispering Spirit had caused temporary deafness. Suddenly, Zapada felt someone grab her back; it was the child’s mother! She had become a vampiress, sired by the foe Zapada just slayed. With the vampiress’s exceptional strength, it was hard for Zapada to swing around her sword; she was in lots of trouble! Around that same moment, a voice came from the woods, “Mother stop! What are you doing?” The vampiress turned to see a young girl. Zapada did not hear the child’s voice and was slightly confused about why the vampiress left her. One thing Zapada knew though was she was now free to make an attack on the vampiress. Zapada turned around casted a Shocking Grasp Spell on her. That spell spawned a powerful electrical shock, which burned half of the undead fiend’s body to a crisp! She then grabbed her wooden stake and stuck it through the vampiress’s charred heart. As Zapada looked up, she saw the young girl who came to her office staring at the pile of ash that was once her mother. She said in a very emotional tone, “Momma why did you go with him, and why did you leave me?” Zapada understood her pain in many ways; for she too thought those questions about her own mother. Rain drops fell from the sky, and blended into the tears that ran down both of their faces. Soon after, they walked to the one place Zapada knew would take care of the young girl. As they arrived at a large wooden door, a priest with a concerned look on his face opened it. Zapada spoke as she held back tears. “Good evening father, I have someone that can use your help very much.” “Of course young lady, please come inside, out of the rain!” the priest replied. Zapada promised the young girl that she would check on her from time to time and apologized for what transpired earlier in the evening. Zapada turned around and walked home under a bright full moon, as her sadness reflected in the puddles as she passed them by. The next morning, The Burgomaster was on his way to Zapada’s agency to tell her some urgent news. Around the same time a man dressed in all black and carried a silver cane, walked in the door and presented a case to Zapada. She desperately wanted to forget the night before and this was her chance to do that, she thought to herself. The man explained to her that he saw a group of kids being taken by vampires and were heading towards the mists near the Vistani Camps. Normally, Zapada would do a thorough assessment on all her clients. She would usually cast a Detect Thoughts Spell to stop frauds, or possible ill intentions of clients. Due to her intense need of making amends from the night prior, she bypassed everything and left with the man in search of the missing kids. The man in black drove her in his carriage to the area where he said he saw the incident happen. It was a somewhat nice carriage; though there were some red stains near the driver’s seat. It smelled very much like blood but Zapada didn’t think too much of it. She got out of the carriage with Chicklay in her back pocket, and told the man to stay at the carriage. As she wandered through the high grass and heavy fog, The Mists Of Ravenloft got thicker and thicker. All she could think about was to save the kids before their fate would be the same as the poor mother from the night before. As she walked further, she eventually came upon a familiar orange mist and a portal. Suddenly, she felt a hard blow to her back and it made her fall against the portal. The man in black was there and delivered the hard blow with his cane; though he wasn’t the same person as before. A Disguise Self Spell must have been used to hide his true identity; it was the necromancer! Zapada used all her strength not to get sucked into the portal but the might of it kept pulling her closer. The necromancer looked at her and said, “The Dark Powers Of Ravenloft haven’t been too happy with you. They told me they tried shutting you down a while back. Somehow though, you’re still here! They came to me in jail and made me an offer, more like a “Gift” actually. All I need to do is help get rid of you, once and for all! In return, I’d get power unimaginable! Of course I agreed, because honestly I’m not too fond of you and I always get my revenge!” The necromancer let out a sinister laugh and followed that by saying, “With you out of the picture, this town will bleed, and the dead shall rise!” He then casted a Lightning Bolt Spell at Zapada, hitting her in the chest. The force from that sent her completely through the portal. The portal vanished, and The necromancer walked back to the carriage. As he opened the trunk to put his cane in it, legal pages with name Stockwell flew out and littered the road. Back at Zapada’s Investigation agency, The Burgomaster arrived and frantically looked for Zapada but she was nowhere to be seen. He left her a note that said “Somehow, the necromancer escaped from his cell this morning and could be out to get you! Your help is urgently needed to stop him! We believe he will destroy all of Barovia! Please when you read this, meet me at Town Hall and we’ll discuss what we can do to save Barovia from this menace!” As Zapada fell through the other end of the portal she landed on a wet, hard floor in a very crowded and loud place. The people inside looked very different form the people in Barovia. Zapada knew she was not in her domain anymore! She winced from the burn on her chest that the necromancer’s spell gave her, and looked around. She then gazed up in the air and saw this huge flying eye staring at her with a mischievous grin. Not knowing who or what this monstrosity was, she attempted to draw her long sword. The huge eye in the sky looked at her and said “Ha ha, no need for that young lady, we’re good people here. The name is Luigi and this is my tavern. By falling out of a porthole and face planting yourself on my floor instead of just using the front door, makes me think, you are new here?” Luigi said laughing. At the same time a cold beer was making its way through the air towards Zapada by a telepathic beam that originated from Luigi’s eye. “Welcome to the Rock of Bral, your “somewhat” friendly oasis in Wildspace. I’m sure you’re going to have a heck of a time here!”

Scene: A ruined city in the future, where machines have taken over. Sisyphus Prime, a glowing humanoid with a sun-like head, emerges from a giant metal tower. He looks around and sees Izuku Midoriya, a green-haired boy wearing a blue and white hero costume, standing on a rooftop.
Sisyphus Prime: So you are the one who has been causing trouble for my brethren. You have some nerve to challenge me, weapon.
Izuku Midoriya: I'm not a weapon, I'm a hero! And I'm here to stop you from destroying this world!
Sisyphus Prime: A hero? Ha! You are nothing but a weak and foolish human. You have no idea what you are up against. I am Sisyphus Prime, the ultimate fusion of flesh and metal. I have the power of the sun in my hands. And I will use it to burn you to ashes!
Izuku Midoriya: Don't underestimate me! I have the power of One For All, the quirk that was passed down to me by All Might, the greatest hero of all time! And I will use it to protect this world!
Sisyphus Prime: Enough talk. Let's see what you can do.
The fight begins. Sisyphus Prime teleports behind Izuku and tries to punch him, but Izuku dodges and kicks him in the chest. Sisyphus Prime staggers back and summons an explosion near Izuku, but Izuku jumps away and fires a Delaware Smash at him. Sisyphus Prime blocks it with his arm and teleports again, this time above Izuku. He stomps on the ground, creating a shockwave that knocks Izuku off balance. Sisyphus Prime then grabs Izuku by the neck and lifts him up.
Sisyphus Prime: You are pathetic. You can't even scratch me. Is this the best you can do?
Izuku Midoriya: N-no... I can do more... I can do much more!
Izuku activates his Full Cowl mode, increasing his strength and speed. He breaks free from Sisyphus Prime's grip and punches him in the face. Sisyphus Prime reels back and drops Izuku. Izuku then uses his Blackwhip quirk to grab Sisyphus Prime's leg and pull him down. He then runs towards him and unleashes a St. Louis Smash on his head. Sisyphus Prime falls to the ground, bleeding from his nose and mouth.
Izuku Midoriya: How do you like that? That's the power of One For All!
Sisyphus Prime: Grrr... You... You made me bleed... You made me feel pain... How dare you...
Sisyphus Prime gets up and glares at Izuku with rage in his eyes. He then activates his second phase, growing long hair and a beard and becoming more bloodstained. He also becomes faster and stronger than before.
Sisyphus Prime: You have awakened my true form. You have sealed your fate. Now you will face my wrath!
Sisyphus Prime charges at Izuku with incredible speed and fury. He unleashes a barrage of punches and kicks that Izuku barely manages to block or dodge. He then grabs Izuku by the arm and throws him into a building. He follows him and slams him into a wall. He then raises his fist and prepares to deliver the final blow.
Sisyphus Prime: This is the end for you, weapon. Say goodbye to this world!
Izuku Midoriya: No... This is not the end... I won't give up... I won't let you win...
Izuku activates his 100% mode, using all of his power at once. He pushes Sisyphus Prime away and punches him in the stomach with all his might. Sisyphus Prime coughs up blood and flies back into the tower he came from. The tower explodes in a huge blast of light that engulfs both of them.
The scene fades to black.
The end

Overall, had a really fantastic experience at the San Diego leg of the Re:SET concert series.
Cons/Things that could be improved:
1) there were plenty of Porto-potties but they were all in one area. I mean, the space itself isn’t that big so I guess this wasn’t that big of a deal but having bathrooms on the west side as well would have been nice.
2) more food options please. The food to bar ratio was like 1:7. There were 5 different food vendors and a plethora of bars.
3) the stage could have benefited from having some side screens like the Mojave Tent but this is more of a “would be nice to have” as I had a really good view. boygenius used the available production really well meanwhile Clairo started with the some visuals but then they kind fizzled towards the end. Would have like to see a tiny bit more effort with the visual production.
Pros/Things I Loved:
1) im not a major audiophile and maybe someone who is would disagree but I thought the sound and acoustics were great. Could hear all the vocals and all the instruments. I was about 30 feet to the right of the sound booth and could see and hear clearly. I don’t think there was really a bad spot in the crowd.
2) getting in and out was super easy. I took a Lyft in and was dropped off around 6:30. Security was chill and no line to get in. I didn’t have a bag or anything and didn’t get a pat down. Just standard metal detectors. Today, I wore sterling silver jewelry and if that didn’t set on the metal detectors, I don’t think a vape pen will either (didn’t have one on me and I’m sure that’s what others are most concerned with). Left a little early to beat the crowd and I was pretty hungry. Took the trolley out to Mission Valley, got food, then lyfted home. If you’re driving, I highly recommend the trolley. Park at a nearby station that has park and ride and trolley in. Super convenient, save yourself the stadium parking rate
3) the overall vibe and atmosphere today was pretty fantastic. A lot of that may have to do with boygenius being today’s headliner and I think tomorrow will be way busier and more crowded but all in all, the crowd was great. I skipped boygenius at Coachella because I already had tickets for this and even though I’m not a huge fan (i like them for sure but I wouldn’t say I’m a stan by any means) I loved hearing their fans sing along to every word. It was really special. I didn’t encounter one rude person whatsoever. Everyone was super polite and used their words when navigating the crowd. Didn’t encounter excessive talking.
4) the stage being in the south side, facing north, made for a truly picturesque scene with the nearly full moon rising overhead. Truly was a breathtaking view.
Overall rating: 4/5. And really the only reason it’s not a 5 is that it still feels like the price is steep for what we got. A 3 day pass should have been about $200-$250 not $300. But I think they did a really good job overall with the set up and sound. And I really hope Re:SET continues in the future past this month. I think it really is a great concept and I hope people continue to support these endeavors
Other tip: it got a little chilly in the valley there. I didn’t find myself shivering or anything but I wouldn’t have minded a jacket or flannel. And I wasn’t paying $70+tax for the Re:SET jacket.
If you’re in or near SD and don’t have plans tomorrow, definitely recommend coming out for tomorrow’s lineup.

she's nearing 90 and doing well, considering. in the last decade her only real symptoms had been forgetting the oven on a few times and telling the same stories daily to anyone who'd listen. but in the last couple of years she's taken a hard turn into getting obsessively hateful, and every day we cycle through the same handful of rants (sometimes 2 or 3 times a day each) about trans people or "the alphabet people" or illegal immigrants ruining the country or mixed race couples in adverts. and it's not just offhand comments it's long, long speeches, sometimes an hour or more, it's so exhausting. and nothing in particular sets her off so it's not just a case of avoiding contentious topics, she'll be talking about gardening one second and ranting furiously about trans people the next with 0 segue. i have absolutely failed to find a way to get her to change track when she gets started and would appreciate any advice you have, because while i am aware i have precious little time left with her and want to see her as often as i can, spending the day with her is getting extremely stressful and crushingly depressing. i find myself anxiously avoiding calling and visiting for longer and longer stretches, because every time is worse. it feels horrible to think it but i find myself wishing she had forgot who i am but stayed the sweet lady who's kind to everyone than remember who i am but insist on spending half of every visit saying the most terrible hateful things. it has me even doubting if my sweet kind grandma was ever real or was it just a front, and who she was behind closed doors is now in the open unfiltered? dementia sucks, please advise me how to navigate the next few years

I’m pretty good with accents. And Osiris has had me curious for a while. I don’t know if it’s the voice actor’s accent coming through, or if it’s intended, but I hear influences from North Central Eurasian, Middle Eastern, Northeast African, and some Mediterranean, even what would be called “Mongolian” but more regional. It’s the most diverse dialect in the game to me. And I’m wondering where Osiris is supposed to be from?

Hello local Redditors,
I am looking for a bakery with good bread. I (we all) love Graubrot, Kommissbrot from the Wippler bakery. But any rye- or rye-heavy sourdough bread is good. Location: Neustadt or Radeberger Vorstadt or near Körnerplatz. So please tell me your secret bread source 😎

Hi,
I apologise beforehand for this long post but I feel like I have been ignorant/ in denial for a very long time and I want to make things right this time.
Back in 2017, during a routine check up my doctor noticed swelling on my neck and recommended a thyroid test. She mentioned that the swelling looked like goiter. My initial reaction was- "Not possible!! I have seen images of people with goiter and the neck is swollen too much" Anyway, got the tests done and turns out I have hypothyroid with TSH 21. The doctor did prescribe me thyroxine but also recommended to go for walks and exercise. I did take the medication for a month but being in my 20s and realising that this medication is going to be a life long thing.......I stopped taking the medication(probably a stupid decision but at that time it seemed right to get it under control with exercise). I did however, started going for walks and started swimming.
Fast forward to 2019, I moved to another country and due to some other reason visited a doctor and they recommended to get thyroid test done and an ultrasound of my neck. The ultrasound was a nightmare in itself- the person doing my ultrasound asked me if they could invite a couple of medical students as they dont really get a lot of thyroid cases. I said yes, thinking there will be only 2-3 more people. But hell no, there were about 15 more people all nerdily looking at my ultrasound while I'm lying there and freaking out. Thinking this is it- this is how you'll die. The thyroid test results came back. TSH 11. I never followed it up with the doctor as I thought I'll become their lab rat. You have to understand, I was freaked out.
Let's move forward in time, 2023. Work has been stressful. I started noticing hairfall to such an extend that I could see my scalp. My friends didnt notice any difference but I knew if i didnt do anything about it, I'll go bald in the near future. Met a doctor, got the thyroid test done. TSH 65 with a high TPO. The doctor says that I have Hashimoto's disease. I've started taking thyroxine again, realising that it could have been controlled had I just not stopped taking the medicine in 2017. Clearly, I was an idiot brat in my 20s- too proud to accept that I needed medication.
If you've read so far, thank you. I just wanted to rant somewhere as I can't really freak out my family with this.
TLDR An idiot who decided to not take her hypothyroid medication until it got too worse. I have been trying to look for diet improvements online for people with Hashimoto's but no success so far. Some sites say to remove gluten from diet while some say to remove sugar. Could someone please help me with the same?
Thanks in advance.

So I was spamming as fast as I could on the premiere, but when I checked the newest comments I didn’t see nearly as many as I made. This makes me ask the question, is there a comment limit or is it just something on my end?

i have chronic pain and it’s only getting worse and i’m nowhere near answers and i’m so sick of it. i’ve already attempted twice in the past year and been to the hospital,
the thoughts go away sometimes but i just can’t stop thinking about how i was pain free 3-4 years ago. i used to be able to go to school, concerts, have friends, do normal tasks. i can’t do anything now. i just want the constant pain to go away.
id do it so fast if it wasn’t for my mom and cat. my cats with me right now she’s so cute and just looking at her makes me feel better. i’ll be 18 soon and i have no idea what i’m doing with my life, i couldn’t even graduate normally bc i was in too much pain to go through a normal school day
what keeps me going rn is the thought that i get to meet my favorite youtuber in september. i’ve been a fan of them for 3 years. i have gifts planned out and everything, i think i need to keep focusing on that to get through this but idk what i’m gonna do after i meet him?