My players are on a quite long way to a questgoal and the first act of the campaign IS them traveling (Part 3 being them traveling back). So I thought about giving them a gimmick to make the travel a bit more fun and not just a lot of hiking with a few ambushes on the way. One of the enemies/ambushes from one of the characters backstories will try to kidnap the player. For that I will need to give those enemies a "gataway car" (It's a bit early in the campaign for portable holes and the such). This magical coach will be stealable at the enemies cave when the party tries to rescue the character (They _will_ try to rescue him, won't they?). Aside from the description below I guess it will just get some kind of Disneyesque personality like the carpet in Aladin or the horse in Tangled (Disney will make anything into a friendly dog).
​
So: OP or not OP? Any suggestions/remarks/corrections?
Screenshot because I don't want to publish it, yet

In the American state of Virginia, just a few miles from the West Virginia-Virginian border sits a small little town called Asheville. In the beautiful town of Asheville sits a neighborhood, where a Dutch woman that goes by the name of Kira Klaver. Freshly graduated from school the woman has plans on enjoying her summer to the fullest before she’s off to college. But unfortunately for her, her best friend Scarlett has ideas of her own. Setting Kira up on a blind date just days into summer with your character. With no other option Kira attends the date. And surprisingly for her they hit it off nicely, a small little blind date slowly turns into a relationship going through thick and thin together.
Hey everyone! I’m Ashley, I can write 1-3 paragraphs and I can use either first or third person. The Roleplay will be filled with action and drama and of course romance. If you’re interested don’t be afraid to dm me!

Thinking of trying for the USB AR, will open a checking and apply after some time/getting the $300 SUB. Active cards are CFU and CSP. Really like the 3x on everything from USBAR and would use the CSP for dining and CFU for every other non digital wallet spend. Thoughts on this combo? Was interested in the Venture X but figured C1’s ecosystem is not right for me at this point in time (even though I want to chase that sub real bad). Would an Amex BCE + BBP/BBC be better? I like the cash back cards but would prefer m to start earning toward travel. MR is a bit better than C1 miles but also not interested in the gold/plat at this time. Pretty set on holding Chase cards for the foreseeable future.
Also, as the AR is pretty much just used via Apple Pay (or whatever other digital wallet), those of you who have the card, are there any reasons to even carry the card with you? What situations (aside from PP Restaurants I guess) would you even want to carry it, assuming you have another card with higher multiplier for non mobile wallet spend. I guess this is a major plus overall but kinda lame to leave the nice metal $400 AF Visa Infinite in the drawer when going out or deep in the stack of my wallet.
Also, might be a silly question but just want to make sure the $325 statement credit via dining can also be fulfilled with Apple Pay spend on dining correct?

I've been really struggling with this for a while, and I'm just wondering if anyone out there can shed some light on this?
I've always found myself to be a little superstitious. I believe the world is cursed and I've always had something to do with it. I'm also open to the possibility of being a witch or necromancer but I've always been skeptical. I mean, I do like to think about things, but sometimes I just worry that I'm just being bat shit crazy.
One thing that really got to me was the fact that I could go out and walk 5 miles to the grocery store and come back home and not have to worry about anything bad. I could sleep in the same bed as my family without fear. I could go to a restaurant and not worry about any food poisoning.
So I'm just wondering how you guys think, and if anyone has heard of any other similar experiences?
I've always had this feeling that there is something really bad out there, but I'm not very strong in this belief.

Hello! I am a tech Project Manager looking for a job within 40 miles of Asheville or remote.
The tech market is...rough right now to say the least, but my PM experience can fit into many different industries...for example construction if you give me a week or two to fully understand your business and its needs.
Please let me know if anything comes to mind!
Thank you!

Any & all are open to comment. I’m open to comments/constructive criticism. I consider if I was the one in the wrong. But here’s my story.

 So tonight after pulling a double shift at work, mind you I’m a hostess at a Restaurant chain in Arden. I have my boyfriend drop me off at the door, I make my way to the cosmetics department where a woman named LINDA watched me as I casually browsed the area. (I just came in for some lashes) Well I start looking at face wash and she makes it clear to me (the first time) that I am to address her before I leave the department so she can check me out, I nodded my head in affirmation thinking to myself “that’s odd, there’s self checkout directly across from this department?” well as aspected other women who are not of melanin royalty came into the cosmetics department grabbed a few items and walked out without having to address LINDA.. before I check out I remember that I needed cotton balls, that are on the other side of the department and LINDA decided that she needed to grab me by my arm and tell me that I am to checkout with her before I left the department.. I thank god that he gave me wisdom because if he gives me strength I’m gonna need bail money. I express to LINDA that I didn’t have a problem with doing that & that I am not done shopping yet and that she doesn’t need to hold me I’m not going to run & whenever I’m finished shopping I will do that. Mind you the women behind me made it to self check unscathed.. ✨Mind you, I am a hostess✨ which means I’m wearing all black. I proceeded to checkout without an argument, got her name & tried going to management about it which at the time of the shift the managers name was JAMIE, while asking other associates about the woman in the cosmetics department there were 2-3 employees who said & I can attest “oh my gosh, it’s LINDA again” i.e “she’s gotten so many complaints from a lot of people” moving forward I told the shift manager on duty of Walmart 01317 on Bleachery Blvd who’s name is JAMIE what happened & he tells me “She’s had multiple complaints but I can’t have her fired” I tell him “sir I do not want her fired, I work hard for my money just like everyone else does the last thing I want is her fired” so he asks me what can I do to make this right? (Seems pretty plausible right?) I say “I would like an apology.” Just apologize for physically assaulting me & straight up just racially profiling me as I was when i stepped foot in that door. Simple. As. That. He tells me he can’t “make” her do that. So I calmly stood there thinking about a peaceful resolution of the matter and JAMIE bangs his fist on the counter at customer service and screaming at the top of his lungs like an adolescent “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE!!” I calmly walk away. I tell my boyfriend of 4 years (not that it matters who is white) he goes in there and LINDA has “left” (in actuality the Wal-Mart Associates were hiding her basically) and everyone that I spoke to prior to my boyfriend walking in there didn’t know what happened had no clue what he was talking about he even went up to JAMIE & JAMIE tried to cover his name tag but my boyfriend saw his name & asked him if it was JAMIE & he confirmed his name, my boyfriend asked him what happened & JAMIE acted like he had no idea who or what he was talking about they didn’t know he was my boyfriend and I was not in there at the time he went in. (I was on the phone with corporate.) Not that any of you care nor do I expect you to but that was embarrassing for a 25 year old BLACK female my name is SCARLETT MONTAZA and I will never let one person no matter who they are define me whether it be my ethnicity, gender, &/or religion. What happened tonight Walmart will not get away with. I have filed a statement I have witnesses & I am suing Walmart on Bleachery blvd Asheville NC store number 01317 because JAMIE handed the situation unprofessionally, used profanity to a shopper & LINDA racially profiled me and it was obviously not just me because of all her recent complaints I heard everyone comment about whenever I went searching for a manager. Also because LINDA is a piece of shit. I hope this makes a difference & my story is heard. That is all. 

Xoxo, Scarlett M.
(Sorry for any misspelling &/or punctuation.)

So tonight after pulling a double shift at work, mind you I’m a hostess at a Restaurant chain in Arden. (25F) I have my boyfriend (28M) drop me off at the door, I make my way to the cosmetics department where a woman named LINDA (40-something F) watched me as I casually browsed the area. (I just came in for some lashes) Well I start looking at face wash and she makes it clear to me (the first time) that I am to address her before I leave the department so she can check me out, I nodded my head in affirmation thinking to myself “that’s odd, there’s self checkout directly across from this department?” well as aspected other women who are not of melanin royalty came into the cosmetics department grabbed a few items and walked out without having to address LINDA.. before I check out I remember that I needed cotton balls, that are on the other side of the department and LINDA decided that she needed to grab me by my arm and tell me that I am to checkout with her before I left the department.. I thank god that he gave me wisdom because if he gives me strength I’m gonna need bail money. I express to LINDA that I didn’t have a problem with doing that & that I am not done shopping yet and that she doesn’t need to hold me I’m not going to run & whenever I’m finished shopping I will do that. Mind you the women behind me made it to self check unscathed.. ✨Mind you, I am a hostess✨ which means I’m wearing all black. I proceeded to checkout without an argument, got her name & tried going to management about it which at the time of the shift the managers name was JAMIE, (40-something M) while asking other associates about the woman in the cosmetics department there were 2-3 employees who said & I can attest “oh my gosh, it’s LINDA again” i.e “she’s gotten so many complaints from a lot of people” moving forward I told the shift manager on duty of Walmart 01317 on Bleachery Blvd who’s name is JAMIE what happened & he tells me “She’s had multiple complaints but I can’t have her fired” I tell him “sir I do not want her fired, I work hard for my money just like everyone else does the last thing I want is her fired” so he asks me what can I do to make this right? (Seems pretty plausible right?) I say “I would like an apology.” Just apologize for physically assaulting me & straight up just racially profiling me as I was when i stepped foot in that door. Simple. As. That. He tells me he can’t “make” her do that. So I calmly stood there thinking about a peaceful resolution of the matter and JAMIE bangs his fist on the counter at customer service and screaming at the top of his lungs like an adolescent “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY STORE!!” I calmly walk away. I tell my boyfriend of 4 years (not that it matters who is white) he goes in there and LINDA has “left” (in actuality the Wal-Mart Associates were hiding her basically) and everyone that I spoke to prior to my boyfriend walking in there didn’t know what happened had no clue what he was talking about he even went up to JAMIE & JAMIE tried to cover his name tag but my boyfriend saw his name & asked him if it was JAMIE & he confirmed his name, my boyfriend asked him what happened & JAMIE acted like he had no idea who or what he was talking about they didn’t know he was my boyfriend and I was not in there at the time he went in. (I was on the phone with corporate.) Not that any of you care nor do I expect you to but that was embarrassing for a 25 year old BLACK female my name is SE’MYIA VANNOY and I will never let one person no matter who they are define me whether it be my ethnicity, gender, &/or religion. What happened tonight Walmart will not get away with. I have filed a statement I have witnesses & I am suing Walmart on Bleachery blvd Asheville NC store number 01317 because JAMIE handed the situation unprofessionally, used profanity to a shopper & LINDA racially profiled me and it was obviously not just me because of all her recent complaints I heard everyone comment about whenever I went searching for a manager. Also because LINDA is a piece of shit. I hope this makes a difference & my story is heard. That is all

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

Hi was anyone a fan of @ Pizza in Edinburgh?
I was surprised to see their Royal Mile restaurant has gone and when I looked up their website it says 'expired' and can't be accessed. https://www.atpizza.com/atpizzatogo
When their website worked I learnt they had 2 venues in Edinburgh and 1 in Birmingham. Does anyone know if their restaurant near Shandwick place is also no more? I'm assuming it won't be.
For those who never heard of the place it was a bit like subway for pizzas (but better quality in general).
I thought they were on to a winner but maybe I was wrong

Is this a real podcast?
I'm sorry I wasn't I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'm gonna tell you the truth. When I opened up the first store, I went to Staples and Office Max and all the places you buy back-to-school supplies and I bought them all out of flash drives and I would sell them to people at school. And they're like, "Oh, you're actually doing it, bro. "Like, this is a real deal." So what do you know, I sold out of everything in two weeks. Now what? I have to restock and I'm out of money. And I don't really, I'm like, "I don't really have $100,000 to buy more." So I was like, "Well, okay, I guess I need to go out "and find another investor." I went to a guy who owned a bunch of businesses and I got him to give me a loan for $20,000. So now I had $20,000. I went to a custom packaging company in Los Angeles called AJM Packaging and I said, "Look, I have $20,000 "and this vision to start a video store. "Can you give me a net 90?" And that's like an old business term that I learned years ago that basically means like, we're gonna send you a box of our products, you sell them, and then pay us back in 90 days. So they said, "Sure, we'll give you $20,000 worth of videos." I put together a big press release, and sent it out to like the news stations. (laughs) This was like in the early '90s, okay?
But how did you go from using your LinkedIn to sell a 60-year-old?
No, no, no, no, I didn't sell the videos on LinkedIn. I'm saying I would get orders for $1000, $2000, $3000, $4000, $5000.
So the method was you would identify potential prospects using LinkedIn and just send them an email or message or something.
Yeah, you see on LinkedIn, you'll see, like let's say you have 10 contacts or something like that. It'll say, it'll have in your thing, it'll say they were a third degree connection and you can see what groups they belong to. You can see if you share a lot of similar contacts. So I just email them and say, hey, listen, I've got this promotion. I work at a marketing company and I
think we can help you increase your web presence, grow your business. And people just started signing up and then it went from there.
What was the like, hey, you're not bad at this. Like I should look into this social media thing. (laughs)
Yeah, I mean, when I started my business, I really, I was all over the place. And I'm talking like 2009, like in 2009, I wasn't really doing much more than building social profiles and posting on them and some light engagement. That was really it. But then I realized it's not, just about like, the act of social media. It's not just like creating social media accounts for people. It's about building a brand and being able to reach people and creating an impact and using social media to do that. And so that was the start of that path. And then I just started to get more and more into it. And then I went through the whole like, Facebook page thing, which is a whole other journey. So I did that and then I think it was really 2015, I started investing a lot of money into Facebook ads. And when I first started, I had a lot of success in a very short amount of time. So then I started teaching people how to do that. I launched a product called Fan Page Domination. We did $6 million in sales in the first week, which was amazing. And then from there, my software started taking off. I launched a software called Social Ad Classroom, which was a webinar software for Facebook and YouTube Live. And we had thousands of people buying that at $997. We sold that one for $997. Then I launched Influencer Ignited. So I've got my own Facebook group. I started doing mastermind groups and coaching. I was able to replace my salary with speaking gigs, teaching people on webinars and selling high ticket items. So now we have a software business. I have a team of 11 people that work for me and I have a few other employees for other various things as well. And so all in all, it's been quite the journey to get to this point and it's been a lot of hard work and it's still a lot of hard work. I'm not sure what's gonna happen over the next few years or anything like that, but I'm enjoying the journey, enjoying helping people out. You asked me for a couple of tips and tricks that people can do. And I would say that one of the things that I've found to be really helpful when I'm trying to figure out how to learn something is actually not to jump online and start Googling, but instead to go to YouTube and watch tutorial videos. Because if you're like me and you can see it and hear it, then it clicks a lot better than reading a book. So I started watching YouTube videos. I learned how to code a little bit on YouTube. I learned a little bit of Photoshop on YouTube and a lot of things on YouTube. And then I started this membership, which I learned how to do on YouTube and from other people that were teaching me how to do it. I didn't invent it. I don't own the rights to it. I just started to apply it to a business idea that I had that made sense. And it grew really fast. And then I sold that company last year, December of 2020. And so now I have more free time on my hands. So I started YouTube channel and that's just kind of taken off and I'm really enjoying the podcast because I get to meet great people like you and just share some insights that I've learned along the way. And so yeah, that's kind of been my journey to
this point. That's awesome. So you got the taste of this kind of internet world, digital marketing. You had a passion for technology. You did some internships. You taught yourself some things on YouTube. You created some courses. You've built a big following and now you're monetizing with the podcast, correct?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, so what does the future hold for you and for your business?
Yeah, so I really want to double down on the podcast. I've been doing a lot of interviews and having a lot of fun with that, but I want to take it to the next level. I'm in the process of planning my next level. That is where it is headed right now.
Awesome. So we talked about a lot of things today. What's one thing that you want to leave the audience with? If they were to take away one thing from our conversation today, what would that be?
This is a little bit of a shift in direction of where we've been talking about, but when we were talking about doing a podcast, you asked me, "Why do you want to do a podcast?" And I said, "Well, I want to impact people. "I want to give people a new perspective on life. "I want people to know that they're not alone "and that other people have gone through some of the same things "and have figured it out "and can share their experiences with others "so they don't feel alone." And that's really what I want people to know about me is that you're not alone in this world. And if you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're feeling like, "You know what? "This sucks, this coronavirus, COVID stuff sucks," I want you to know that you're not alone. And there are people out there who've gone through the same thing, are going through the same thing, who can help you navigate through it. So if you're going through a difficult time, you're not alone. Reach out to me, I'm happy to talk to you, but also reach out to the people around you who love you and care about you, and just know that there are people out there who care. And if you're going through a good time and things are going great for you, also reach out to people who are struggling and lend a helping hand and help them out, because we're all in this together, and that's how we're going to get through this and make the world a better place.
That's such a powerful message, and I absolutely agree with you. One of the things I love about you is your positive energy. And that positive energy, I'm sure, resonates in everything that you do. So keep that up. And I guess my next question is, how do you stay so positive? What's your secret sauce?
Well, I just have this deep faith in God, and so I know that everything works out for a reason, and there's a bigger plan, and you know, the person who was the biggest failure is the person that gives up. And so I just refuse to give up, and I think of life, you know, like a marathon. I mean, if you're at mile one and you want to quit, how foolish is that? I mean, you don't know how long the race is, but it's not mile one. And so I look at that as my life. I mean, there's no point in quitting because I'm nowhere near the finish line yet. I got a long way to go, so I've got to keep going, and just having that faith in yourself and knowing that if you stick with it long enough, you'll find a way to succeed.
That's amazing. And
I think that positive mindset, and that persistence is one thing that separates you from other people, but also what you say there about your grandfather, it sounds like he was an amazing person.
He was an incredible person, and his name was Cecil Milton Chester. He died when he was 42 years old. And so I was like nine at the time. And so my son's middle name is Milton. It's a family tradition. So my son's name is Ian Milton Boyle. And I know I got him because my grandpa, he was amazing. He had all these stories and he always had a smile on his face. And I would say, you know, I would say, "How are you doing today, Papa?" And he'd say, "Better, better, better." And it didn't matter how he felt. He always said he was better, better, better. And I thought to myself, you know, that was pretty amazing. This guy could be in the worst possible pain ever, and he would still say he's better. And I thought, you know, I'm going to live my life that way. So I did. I decided I'm going to choose to be better, to have a better attitude, to have a better outlook on life, and always try to see the positive in things. And, you know, it's, it's, it's really helped me in my life. So that's, you know, I would say that's my biggest, my biggest learning. And I also say this, you know, I heard a pastor say this a while ago. He said, you know, a lot of times in life, we're looking for the green light. And, you know, we're trying to make sure everything's perfect. We're waiting for things to be perfect. And he says, well, you know, sometimes it's not about a green light, but it's just, you know, a yellow light. Sometimes you just have to get started. And, you know, you might be scared, but you just have to get started and do the work. And it's just like a very simple way of kind of looking at life. Like if we all wait for, you know, our perfect opportunity, we're never gonna get anything done. So I'm always a big believer in just starting. You know, you've gotta just get started.
That's awesome. That's a great way to finish. So what's your favorite entrepreneur story? Now it doesn't have to be the biggest success, but maybe just an entrepreneur that you love what they're doing or you love their business. So this could be someone, you know, it could be somebody local, it could be somebody big, whoever.
I know.
Your turn.
My turn. So, okay. There's a guy named Jeremy Cowart. You heard of Jeremy Cowart?
Yes.
He's a photographer. He's also one of the most successful photographers in the world. He does amazing portraits. I started following him on Instagram maybe five years ago, maybe six, and I was just like, this guy is amazing. And just watching how he transformed. And now he does hotel, motel design and art and stuff like that. But what he did is he set up like a 30 day series, well a 365 day series of photos. And each day he would do a different type of photography. So like one day he would do just shadows, another day he would do, I don't know, just patterns, whatever. He had all these different ideas. But what he was doing is he was posting his photos on Instagram every single day. So that's something that I wanna start doing as well. I actually start tonight
. And so, just to make myself a better photographer and just to challenge myself to look at things differently. And what's happened is now this guy, he's on YouTube, he does a podcast. And so if I do that every day, I'm also gonna get better at communicating with people and talking to people. So what I've found is this has helped me build my confidence to come on the live and do this because I've practiced a lot. I've done 57 of these now. And so, but it's just the practice. It's just the getting in there and doing it and learning from it. And I found that my guests are really grateful and appreciative for it. They really enjoy it. And they're able to get a taste of me as a speaker before they ever get on a call with me. So, I mean, there's just, it's just so valuable to get started. It doesn't have to be perfect. You don't have to have everything all together. But it's just the action, the taking the action, you know, and you'll just figure it out along the way. So, those are kind of my tips for people.
Fantastic. Well, we've got some questions from the attendees. So, let's kind of jump into those. I know we're starting to get a little bit short on time. We've got maybe five or 10 minutes left.
Yeah.
So, we'll jump into these. One of the questions that came up is, you know, how long should a course be? And are people willing to watch a long course versus something that's shorter?
You know, we've done it both ways. It really kind of depends. I feel like shorter courses are kind of like the current trend. People want information really quickly. They don't necessarily have a lot of time. They're busy. They're running a business. They've got kids. They've got a lot going on. So, I feel like a lot of people are favoring shorter courses. So, for instance, you know, like a course that's maybe like three to four weeks long. But I do still think that there is a place for longer courses. For instance, you know, with Power Editor, I actually found that people liked the more in-depth 12-week course because they could actually go back, you know, at their own pace and do it. But I would say, you know, 30 days is a great timeframe for a course.
Perfect. And the last question for you is, do you have a favorite Facebook advertising campaign that you've run for yourself or for a client? And if you can share a little bit about the results and why it was your favorite.
Ooh, that's a tough one. There's been so many good campaigns that I've had. I think one of my favorites was working with my husband's business and it was creating a quiz. I actually took my course topic, and we're not gonna talk about what that was, and we turned it into a quiz. And so, with a quiz, what you're able to do is take the top three to five pain points or objections that people have when it comes to purchasing your product or service, and you turn that into a quiz. So, you start the quiz by asking them some questions about their specific problem, what they're going through, what their biggest challenge is, and then you give them three different possible outcomes. And based on their answer, you kind of guide them through the quiz. So, you ask them, "Do you want to work on this problem, "or this problem, or this problem?" And then you can give them a result. And that result is not only valuable to
them because they're getting the solution they're looking for, but it's also very valuable to you because you can start to see what are some of the main reasons people are coming to me, or what are the main objections that they have, and you can take that and then tweak your marketing messaging. And that's a lot of what I did with my program was I would create new ads and I would have a different headline for every different pain point. And then we would run those ads and we would see which ones got the best engagement and then you have that data to go off of and you can say, "Okay, well people are responding better to this messaging or this problem that I can help solve." And then from there you can just dial in your targeting, dial in your messaging, and then that's when you really start to see the massive results. And that's how I was able to turn it into a seven-figure business, which, you know, within the first year and a half was pretty incredible. So that's definitely my favorite strategy. And I still use quizzes to this day. I think they're awesome.
Absolutely. And I really like quizzes. I'm glad you mentioned it because that's one of those things that not a lot of people are using right now, but it can be very effective if you do it right. Like you said, you want to give them a reason to want to engage with it. And by addressing pain points or questions or frustrations, it's a great way to get people to opt into your list as well because they're interested in that topic. So then you can nurture them and build a relationship with them and then make them a customer down the line. So that's a great strategy. Thanks for sharing that. All right, so last question for you. I know you're a super busy guy, but do you have time to listen to podcasts? And if so, are there any that you like to listen to on a regular basis?
I listen to a lot of audio books. I think that's kind of my thing. I've just finished actually an audio book called, "You're Not So Smart." And it's all about the cognitive biases that we have as humans. And it was very fascinating. I was actually thinking about using some of the content to talk about in the next episode of my podcast because I think it would be very helpful for people to hear the different biases that we have. And as humans, we have like 100 different cognitive biases that can really influence our decisions and the way we think about things. And so it was a really good book. So I highly recommend that one. It's called "You're Not So Smart." But yeah, I mean, I love listening to all different kinds of podcasts. I listen to, I don't know, some of the entrepreneurial ones, Amy Porterfield, Brendan Burchard. Sometimes I listen to Joe Rogan. He's not always the best person to listen to, but there are certain episodes that I like. Yeah, I listen to all kinds of podcasts.
Fantastic. You mentioned a few people there that I know of and I've heard some episodes of Joe Rogan. There's some really interesting people that he interviews.
Yeah, yeah.
He's got a great following and he seems like he's really enjoying it.
He does, and that's, I think, why he does it. He just loves to learn from people. So I think that's his main motivation.
Yeah, so is there anything else that you'd like to add before we finish up, Taki? Any other, you know, mistakes or issues that you see people make or things you just want to say before we go?
You know, I think one thing I
would say is that being a good marketer is really about being a good communicator. And it's all about building relationships and connections with people. And the way to do that is to really make sure you're being authentic. You know, there's so much noise on social media and people can spot a fake a mile away. So I think it's just important to be genuine, to be authentic, to show up as yourself and just be a real person. And, you know, people are going to be much more likely to connect with you and resonate with you if you do that.
Yes, it's so true. You know, I think a lot of people try and put up this facade of, you know, that they're perfect and they've got it all together, but people can see right through that. So it's just, it's really refreshing when you meet somebody who's like real and down to earth and just doing their thing. And they're okay with that. So I agree with that for sure. So Megan, where can people go to find you and learn more about your programs?
Yeah, so they can go to Facebook and look me up, Megan Anderson Consulting. My website is meganandersonconsulting.com. They can find me on LinkedIn. I'm on Instagram and Twitter and I'm pretty easy to find. So yeah.
Nice. And then I'll put all those links in the show notes too. But yeah, so definitely follow Megan. She puts out some really great content. So thank you so much for being on the show. It was really great to have you on today.
Thank you so much, Jillian. It was great being here. I really appreciate you inviting me on your show.
Yes, of course. Thank you so much. And I'll talk to you soon.
All right. Sounds good. Thank you.
Thank you. Bye. (upbeat music)
Hey guys, thanks so much for joining me on this episode of the Parent Entrepreneur Success Podcast. I hope you found it super valuable and it's inspired you to take some action to grow your business. If you want to find me on social media, you can find me at Jillian Sedoti at Instagram or jilliansedoti.com. And please, if you like this show, share it with others who you think will benefit and also rate and review so more people can find it. See you next time.

Anyone know of a restaurant in Asheville that makes congee? I'm sick and my source of congee is in another state!

i’ve worked in the service industry and understand the struggle, so i’ve always tried to tip well, if not generously. the suggested tips the doordash gives sometimes seem like not enough or way too much considering what the order is.
what’s an appropriate tip %? should i tip more depending on factors like fast food vs restaurant vs grocery store or distance or complicated items?
edit: just to give some context, i’m about 2 miles away from a busy highway that has most restaurants we order from - very occasionally we order a 5ish mile delivery. there’s plenty of street parking and i’d say our house is easy to find in a residential neighborhood.
also any input on Costco order is appreciated - i always feel the need to tip much more because it’s such a task

To: Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club Inc. This is a letter to describe my admiration, memories, and theories of your organization that I have been a fan of for about as long as I can recall. There’s been hard times but overall, I've enjoyed having an MLB team in my backyard. Even when the incompetent management of your organization yielded regular dismal seasons during the late 90s and into the mid-2000s I attended frequently and enjoyed the games. County Stadium had that old baseball charm and admittedly it was aged but beloved by the fans. Regardless of that, the team boldly went ahead and insisted they needed a new stadium for several reasons, but part of it was to make the Milwaukee Brewers a competitive team again. The thought of a winning team sold many people on the idea.
The new facility opened during that dark period, and the Brewers opted for the addition of several state-of-the-art features for that time including a highly touted roof that allowed games to be played during inclement weather. It could also be retracted within minutes for an outdoor baseball experience too. I remember several interesting moments involving the numerous leaks during rain showers and thunderstorms provided by the roof’s sieve-inspired construction which generally required some fans to move to other areas to avoid being deluged. In 2002 I lived on Milwaukee’s East Side, and I can still distinctly remember the synergy of excitement provided to the city from MLB and the Brewers organization from the flatulent ending of the MLB All-Star game in Milwaukee and the 100+ losses the Brewers accrued that season, it was all magic back then.
With respect to the positive features of the new stadium frequently advertised, some residents of Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, and Racine counties who were then a few years into living with a tax bestowed on them for 23 years to provide the funding for the stadium and the needed infrastructure couldn’t help but be caught up in the moment. We are all grateful to the Brewers for providing discounted tickets to 4 of the 81 home games held per season to residents of these counties as a demonstration of the gratitude for their involuntary funding their new corporate headquarters. I operate a sole-member LLC and admittedly am a layman with respect to operating a large organization like the Brewers. I’m sure there are good reasons that it has been decided that the 5-county discount promotions do not apply toward tickets in certain sections of the stadium, parking charges, food or beverages, or any other items such as clothing, hats, etc.
I think it is general common knowledge that utilizing an immense facility will inevitably present a need for occasional maintenance, renovation, and facility upgrade projects. We all understand these upgrades are necessary for the Brewers due to the nature of the business they are part of. These projects will allow the team to remain competitive on a mediocre level and increase annual net profits by sticking with a consistent business plan revolving around demanding that the facility upgrades are to be publicly subsidized. Like your strategy in the late 1990s, the Brewers have hinted that without the Milwaukee area providing all funding, there is a possibility they will then have to offer residents in a different United States metropolitan region discounts for 4.9% of the home games held there per season as a thank you for their funding of your new facility. This will then give the Brewers another opportunity to be provided with a new multi-million-dollar corporate headquarters virtually for free, and then insufficiently maintain that facility as well.
Many businesses set funds aside incrementally to cover the costs associated with facility needs and if the situation arises where they do not have the sufficient budget to pay for these projects, they will get a business loan and pay it back to the lender via the terms of the contract. It is now evident the Brewer’s plan was to send the residents of Wisconsin another invoice with hinted threats to leave Milwaukee if they don’t pay. To your credit, that tactic worked in the past with universal enthusiasm. It had been so long that many people had moved on and forgotten about that time, so I admire the clever way the team went about stirring up all that enthusiasm once again. Not having to apply or account for expenses associated with the initial construction and renovations associated with your business site to maximize net profits is innovative. As a business owner, I had never thought to gouge and bully my clients to increase my project margins so I appreciate the different perspective.
I sense that if negotiations regarding the funding come to an impasse, the Brewers will be left with no other options but to positively market the potential creation of low-paying part-time jobs without benefits as a spin to convince another city to build them a stadium that meets their specifications. Luckily, the Brewers and the MLB have great resources to mask how lopsided a stadium deal in a new community will be and the consequences associated with full public subsidizing of private entities. It will get everyone on board to provide the Brewers with a new site equipped with 300-foot double-sided 4K scoreboards, a 400-speaker audio system, and the requisite number of bistro restaurants, distilleries, brew pubs, swimming pools, upscale shopping options, champagne and wine bars, spa centers, farmers markets, and rock-climbing walls.
I do genuinely hope the club is not forced to move due to the overwhelming greed of local governments prioritizing the use of their limited budgets towards necessary municipal services instead of covering the Brewers and their lack of willingness to save and pay for conspicuous facility renovations. Should they leave though, I'm sure the current stadium will still hold a concert or monster truck rally here and there for about a five-year period until being abandoned, stripped of any copper materials, fully vandalized, and left to rot.
In summary, the Brewers have held a special place in my life for a long time. I realize that the current lease will be in place for several more years but it makes sad to know that I will likely still end up having to experience a momentary period of sorrow when a door hits your ass on their way out of town. But I also know everything will all be OK because the moving expenses will not be paid by the team, and that thought makes me feel much better.
On behalf of the State of Wisconsin,
We’re tired of your bullying tactics and your shitty overpriced product. Pack up - but before you leave, grab a bratwurst or hot dog or Polish or whatever….and shove it far up your ass. Enough is enough. Go charge $10+ for a beer from a major brewery located in plain sight not even mile from the stadium just because you can somewhere else.

Back in the summer of 2012,, I got the absolute pleasure of getting a call at 2 in the morning to pick my mother and step father up from the sheriff's office. I wasn't doing anything really, just playing xbox and looking forward to senior year, so you could imagine how shocked I was when I got the call and heard my mom sobbing, begging me to come pick her up. I came out and did so. I asked her when she got in what happened. She said an officer was watching the restaurant/bar she was at and followed her and dad for about half a mile before her tire touched the middle line in the road, then threw his lights on. She did their sobriety tests and she said she was charged for DUI. She did the court thing, got her jail time erased but she was ordered to go to drunk driving remediation classes or AA or whatever it was. That was the summer we actually got really close because I got to drive her around everywhere, which meant we got to do more. Talk more. It was nice.
Fast forward to the past few years. Now I've never drank and drove (I have smoked a dab pen and drove back because the sleeping arrangement at my friend's place changed and I was stuck in a room with a VERY horny couple and was not comfortable at all) and she has thrown that in my face ever since. The problem? Where I never did it again, she still does it. And my step dad does too, even though he was with her when she got arrested. I've resigned to the fact there was more to the case than they were/are willing to tell me. Really, it doesn't affect me whatsoever so I don't care. But the fact that they still actively do it while telling me to not do it bothers me. If I ever get even think intoxication will be a possibility, I have options (plural) lined up, or I don't participate at all, maybe I don't even go. But they do this weekly. What extra bothers me is I'm an EMT-A going to paramedic school so I not only would lose my livelihood if I did it, but if they caused problems then I have to live with it too. I may be the one who has to clean up the mess and they still do it, saying things like "we know what we're losing" and other absolutely ignorant lines they spew trying to distance themselves from responsibility. Now what they do is tell my friends and my girlfriend to not drink and drive, and some don't even drink!
It wasn't bad enough they had a close call last year when they were riding the motorcycle, had been drinking, and a deer rammed into the side of them, crushing my stepfather's leg and sending him to the hospital. They rode all the way home and had me get him to the hospital, and all the way there, they were making stories up to cover up what happened. I told them the hospital doesn't care, and they proceeded to yell at me because "you can't promise that". Whatever, you knew what you were doing, remember? 6 months of recovery... they started doing it again, but less often mostly because they work so much. But me, my friends, and my girlfriend will still get the "no drinking and driving" warning with whatever we're doing.
They don't teach you how stupid the adults around you are when you're a kid in school, and that's a shame because that's what causes the most issues in society, really.

On a 5 hour road trip home over memorial day, I was unfortunate enough to have the engine on my car essentially go kaput. While it's covered under a recall, getting it towed to a dealership near where it broke down and getting a loaner over a holiday weekend certainly won't be happening- and I just sent a rather uncomfortable email to my supervisor informing him of the situation and my likely inability to return by Tuesday.
I like both my hometown and the town where I now work. They are livable places with plenty of fun things to do: ample parkspace, restaurants, cultural venues, and more. Many of the historic main streets enveloped by both cities are great places to walk around and just sit- even if just by north American standards. Frankly, the cost of vehicle ownership is not a burden to me, and I don't find driving particularly unenjoyable- though I am keen to the fact that this isn't the case for everyone. When dealing with the stress of this incident, I wasn't fantasizing about living in Europe or Japan or anywhere else where I could get by in the mean time without a car. I was fantasizing about living in a very slightly different version of my city. One with the same homes with yards, same plentiful greenspace, same highway system, and same big box stores that people seem to love.
In order to get back, it would take 15 hours and require two connections by bus. And this isn't necesarily because we don't invest in the intercity transit we ought to, but because we have literally no reason to. Virtually no one traveling between the two cities is starting and ending in the downtown areas, because they only represent a small portion of the city's commerce and residents. So, of course they'd prefer to drive, no matter how good the service hypothetically was.
If it were not illegal to build anything but single family housing in areas located shockingly close to the city center, this may be different. If these downtowns had the "missing middle" housing that fits so many people's needs better than high rises or single family homes does, maybe this would be different. Even if we still pumped money into infrastructure supporting the type of stores that operate predominantly on an economy of scale and on the periphery of town, maybe someone would still open a corner store or two downtown and make it a more liveable place, if it weren't for the fact that they legally cannot. Maybe if downtown had some form of self policing brought on by lively mixed uses, it would be seen as safe enough for corporations like mine to put their office there, rather than in a suburban office park. Maybe downtown would be interesting enough that the location itself would attract employees better than a location with easy highway access would.
I live downtown- I may still need to buy groceries and commute to work by car, but the fact that I can go to the gym, go to church, and go to plenty of bars and restaraunts on foot was worth a pretty hefty premium in my book. These are nice things to have, but I hesitate to call the neighborhood "walkable" because a car is still the ante for participation in public life. Actually taking this 15 hour bus trip wouldn't just be inconvenient, it would be out of the question because I am single, have no other car in my household, and essentially have no choice but to stay with my parents for the time being who will either buy me groceries or allow me to use their cars to do so. Yet, if I could simply buy groceries within a half mile of my apartment, and if offices like mine were located downtown as they would be in a more traditional pattern of development, I would be in an infinitely better situation at the moment. Given the beautiful weather we're experiencing, I would simply plan to go without a car indefinitly, and be totally fine with that. My city could look 95% the same as it does now. The lot sizes, street design, and highway layout could remain unchanged. The suburban shopping mall and costco could even stay where they are. People could keep all of the things they seem to love about the North American development pattern, yet if I just had these 2 totally normal things, even with no additional infrastructure for cycling, busses, or trains, I would be fine. I love going for long walks, riding my bike, and even using running as a legitimate mode of transportation, and I would be significantly less stressed right now if I had the option of planning to do that for as long as I wanted to. It is absolutely criminal that we forbid mixed uses to an extent that one cannot buy groceries in a downtown of a metro with 250,000 people, and that the downtown is so unaesthetic and dull that corporations have more to gain by locating themselves near good highway access.

YAY! Chapter 4 already done and ready for posting! WOOO! I really hope that you enjoy it, dear readers!
I've Been Reincarnated as a Bunny Girl?! (Chapter 4)
by
ShadowDragon88
"I love when the merchant caravan comes to town!" Valay cheered from where he was sitting on Kiana's shoulders, making his soon-to-be sixteen-year-old big sister wince. At age nine, the twins were being accompanied by Kiana as they walked through main street in town. Twice a year the merchant caravan, often accompanied by adventurers or mercenaries as guards, came to Starlight Rose. Ever since the destruction of The Spire, the town had started to see more traffic as travelers no longer had to worry about traveling through the narrow gaps in the mountain range, past a source of evil. In the six years since its destruction, Starlight Rose had bloomed and doubled its population.
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Walking past the stalls and the games, Kiana smiled, feeling a festive atmosphere. She looked down at Malay, who was wearing a seafoam green dress, the young wolbet not caring that it had been a hand-me-down from Kiana, and clutching a giant blue stuffed fox almost as big as she was. Kiana was wearing a bright yellow sundress, having stated that on such a warm day, it was the best option to help keep from getting overheated. Her mother and sister had both smiled knowingly, not the least bit tricked by Kiana's professions. Kiana would often just not think about it.
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Valay, in contrast, was wearing a simple red shirt and brown shorts and some small stick-on bandages on his shins and knees. The young boy wolbet was holding a purple dragon plush. Kiana had won them from a game booth. It was the classic 'throw a ball at a stack of bottles to knock them over' game, and like a cliche, she had seen her little brother throw a ball, hit the stack in the dead center, and they didn't move an inch. That's when big sister had stepped in. Kiana looked back at the booth... or rather where it had been. The attendant was still standing there, staring in a daze, as only half of the structure still remained.
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"I'm glad you two like it," Kiana said, picking her brother up off her shoulders and setting him down next to his twin. Mirabelle rubbed up against his leg, making him giggle. The tiny snake, that had been small enough to sit coiled comfortably in the palm of a younger Kiana's hand, was now the size of a Saint Barnard, and just as affectionate as one. The blue-green snake had a tendency to try and sneak food, mainly cookies, when she thought she could get away with it, and had developed quite the set of sad puppy eyes when caught.
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"So Kiana," Malay asked, looking up with her forest green eyes, a twinkle in them, "gunna go meet with Davtio later?"
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Kiana smiled and rolled her eyes. Malay loved asking Kiana about her love life, or rather lack thereof. The older girl reached over and ruffled her little sister's headfur.
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"Davtio and I are just friends," she said, having the day before gone on a walk with the elf-boy from her graduating class, gently letting him down after he had made his courting intentions known. The day after Kiana's birthday, which would be two days after the biannual festival, she was going to be leaving Starlight Rose to become a traveling adventurer. Davtio, with his long and practically glowing golden locks and eyes the color of the deep blue sea, had been disappointed, but he understood.
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Jorba the goblin boy, however, had been far less formal as well as far less respectful with his own declaration. Said green-skinned bat-eared boy had walked over to where Kiana was retying her new forest green boots and given her bottom a swat, just below her cotton tail, puffing out his chest and informing Kiana that he had decided she was the finest female in their age group in the town and therefore, will be his woman. Slowly, Kiana had straightened herself and turned around, her eyes glowing with a blue light. With a swipe of her legs and a downward punch, that Kiana had been careful not to be too hard with, she effectively punched the disgusting goblin, literally, into the ground. Still alive and not crippled, but definitely in a lot of pain.
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"I know that he liiiiiikes you, though," Malay said, rocking back and forth on her heels, reaching down to stroke Mirabelle's head, making the large reptile loosely wrap herself around the young wolbet girl's ankles.
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"I don't feel the same way and I told him as much, so we've agreed to remain friends," Kiana said, making her sister let out an exasperated sigh.
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"GAH! That is so just like you, Kiki!" Malay said, using the name she and Valay had called Kiana shortly after they had first learned how to talk. "Someone likes you, but you're just happy being just friends!"
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"Hey, friends are awesome to have," Kiana said, picking Malay up and setting her on her shoulders, taking Valay's hand/paw into her own. Malay just rolled her eyes and continued to hug her fox.
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"So," Valay piped up, glad that the girls had quit talking about romance stuff, "whatcha gunna buy with the money you saved up?" Valay was speaking of the jingling pouch of coins on Kiana's hip. She had earned extra coin around town doing things like babysitting and helping Mr. Fresto build a new stone wall around his garden, and the like. Making deliveries for the new offta restaurant in town had been fun for the teen bunny, and not because offta was the name for what turned out to be pizza in this world either! Tapping into her powers, she was able to sprint all across town and even over to Lake Phantom and back, often in under a minute.
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"Well, I've already bought a bunch of supplies and a pack for my journey," Kiana said, taking note of Valay's ears drooping a bit, as well as sensing that Malay's ears were probably doing the same.
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"So... you really mean to leave?" Malay asked from Kiana's shoulders. Kiana smiled and rubbed her little sister's leg, before rubbing her little brother's head.
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"Yeah, I really do. But like I've told papa... repeatedly, actually, I'll come back to visit a whole bunch! And I'll be able to tell you all some cool stories about my travels!" Kiana said, brightening their moods.
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"Are you going to learn magic?" Malay asked. As the twins edged closer towards their tenth birthday, that meant that they were nearing when they'd be old enough to take an exam to determine their magical abilities. Malay had accidentally turned a handful of flowers to stone when she sneezed at age seven. She also accidentally set a patch of grass on fire just outside her bedroom window after a bad dream a couple months back. According to a very excited Felixin, these were signs that Malay had a high aptitude for magic, and might actually be a sorceress, someone born with raw magical power within them.
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Felixin went on to explain that anyone, with study and practice and skill, could eventually learn to use magic, but people like that fell under the category of a wizard. He went on to explain that witches were similar to wizards, but were more like hippies out dancing in the woods. Sorcerers and sorceresses were born with raw magical power already in them, that as they grew older, they needed to learn how to control, lest it become dangerous to them and those around them.
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Druids, he continued with his explanation, were similar to witches, but less studious and more concentrating on attuning themselves to the energies of the surrounding natural world. He also said they had a tendency to eat certain mushrooms and fungus that they claimed could open one's third eye, but her father dismissed that notion as them just being addled by the chemicals in said fungi. Clerics were also magical, but their magic derived from whichever god they'd devoted themselves to, much like paladins, but with more study and significantly less combat training.
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Finally, there were warlocks. Felixin was not shy about making his feelings regarding warlocks known. Instead of taking the time to learn and practice and concentrate and actually earn their magical power, they were rare people who instead bound themselves to an entity of great magical power, often something very sinister. In exchange for this power, they would do their new master's bidding, oftentimes not even fully understanding why such entities would want such requests done. He even recounted one warlock whose only task was to go out on the road and find a specific boulder, and then move it three inches south. Said warlock just shrugged when asked why, and stated that it was the only task his master ever asked of him.
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What Felixin apparently didn't know was that there was a final category. The monk. When the master dragon monk had come to evaluate Kiana, after he had recovered from his shock, he had explained that monks were ordinary people who trained both their minds and their bodies. They would learn to tap into their inner power, their ki, and harness it through their bodies. This was of course after years and years of training and meditation. Of the different kinds of monks, the dragon monks were the most powerful. Once they passed a certain threshold, they would become as powerful as a dragon; which kind of dragon depended on which advanced school of training they most identified with. According to the master, Kiana practically oozed the aura of a storm dragon, which was capable of moving as fast as lightning.
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"Kiki!" Valay called, tugging on Kiana's hand. She shook herself and smiled down at the wolbet boy. Kiana looked up in time to see Mirabelle stealthily reaching up at a nearby picnic table where those sitting weren't paying any attention and was trying to drag a plate with an entire rotisserie chicken on it nearer to the edge. She snapped her finger, making Mirabelle recoil and slither right back over to her legs, making the sad eyes at her. Kiana ignored the big orange orbs with the black slits and returned her attention to her brother.
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"Sorry, buddy, I guess I got lost in my memories there for a sec."
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The boy rolled his eyes and pointed to a large red and white tent that covered a wide area. There were no walls, and plenty of people were milling about inside, looking at the various goods. What had caught Valay's eye were the weapons. Already the boy had begged their mother to teach him swordfighting and, only recently, Pumala had agreed. She took note of how quickly Valay had taken to practicing the basics every day after school, always starting back to stance one. Kiana was certain that he was going to grow up to be quite the fighter.
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"Okay, let's take a look and see what they've got for sale," Kiana said, turning them to an opening, Mirabelle following close behind. Together they walked down the set up shelves and displays. Valay was entranced by the swords and daggers, especially the throwing knives and shurikens. Scratch that, Kiana thought to herself with a giggle as she set her little sister down to look at the magical staves, thinking about how much Valay loved hiding and planting stink bombs for pranks and using smoke bombs to make his escapes. He'll probably grow up to be a great ninja or something.
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Keeping her younger siblings and Mirabelle in sight, Kiana started to look through the different weapons. There were plenty made from low-quality materials that would probably break upon the first real usage, including an ornate-looking gold sword encrusted with jewels. She stopped just past the flails and nunchucks, spying several different tetsubos. The tetsubo was a weapon of the ancient samurai, at least that was the case for her home world. They were long, thick wooden clubs, in this case as tall as Kiana was, so around five feet in length. Going down the sides of the weapons, stopping only at the ends at the tops and just before the handles at the bottoms, were rounded or spiked metal rivets.
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She pushed past some ornately carved ones, and spotted what appeared to be a plain brown tetsubo. It was polished and its rivets were spiked and black. The handle was wrapped in a comfortable-feeling leather. Some instinct deep within her liked this weapon, it liked it very much. Carrying it with one hand, she approached a man wearing a lapis lazuli-colored turban, and some matching lapis with gold trim robes. His skin was a pitch-black, with a shock of long white hair, signifying that he was a dark elf.
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"How much for the tetsubo?" Kiana asked, hearing Valay and Malay hurrying to her side. She could practically feel their wide eyes staring in wonder at the weapon.
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The merchant smiled, his purple eyes twinkling. "So this is the weapon you have selected? Quite the interesting choice."
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"Uh, thanks?" Kiana said, now looking the tetsubo over and wondering if it was cursed, or if the guy before her was going to turn out to be a demon or something and that every item in the shop was cursed in some karmic way like the old cliche.
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"It is made from a healthy branch of steelwood. Note that I said made, and not carved. As exquisite as a weapon or armor made from carved steelwood is, it pales in comparison to one that is made with secret techniques to sing the form it was always supposed to be straight from the trees themselves. Doing so ensures that any weapon or armor crafted this way will never dull or break. And the price will, of course, reflect as much..."
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"Ah," Kiana said, understanding what the merchant before her was getting at.
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"That particular tetsubo I cannot part with for less than a platinum," he said.
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"Sold," Kiana said, pulling open her pouch and jangling it as her hand disappeared inside. After a moment of her rooting around and sifting coins aside, she found what she was looking for. Out she pulled a single platinum coin. Her brother and sister, as well as the merchant, looked at Kiana in shock.
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"Where'd you get a platinum piece?" Malay asked, watching transfixed as Kiana handed the coin over to the still stunned dark elf, who took it and slipped it into a pocket in his robes.
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"I found it just outside of town, when I beat down a giant shambling plant creature-thing. I think it ate a traveling merchant or something, 'cause I found a pouch with ten of them in it," Kiana whispered with a wink. She looked up to see that the merchant had the coin back in his hands and was examining it with a jeweler's loupe, nodding in approval as he pocketed both and gave Kiana an award-winning smile.
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"A happy transaction," he said, his voice much more jovial than it had been, "please, look around some more for any more weapons that might catch your eye. And please, remember to ask for F'nnickly the Weapon Merchant if ever you're in the cities of Thassles, Ghostflower, or Midnight Tree. I have shops in all of them!"
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"I certainly will," Kiana said, meaning it. She imagined she would be seeing more of this F'nnickly on her travels. She then turned to her brother and sister and knelt down, while the merchant turned to address another customer. "Alright, you two, did you guys find anything you wanted? I'll buy it for you."
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"But... your birthday money?" Valay asked, looking torn. Kiana gave him and then his twin a kiss on their foreheads.
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"You're my cute little brother and sister. If I want to spend money on you guys, I will," she said with a warm smile that only grew wider at the sight of the two now sporting excited grins. They both ran off and started to look more earnestly at things that had caught their eyes.
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"Papa probably won't be too happy with me buying them weapons, but I'm sure he and Mama will teach them how to be responsible with them," she thought. She was still crouched to the twins' level and was about to stand back up, when she spotted something else that caught her eye. It was a pair of seemingly plain polished brass knuckles lying inside a small glass display case on a shelf to her left. They looked to be made of a bright silvery metal. Opening the case and picking them up, they weighed next to nothing, but like the tetsubo, something about them called out to Kiana on a level she couldn't quite identify. Smiling, she stood up with them and tapped F'nnickly on his shoulder.
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After learning that they were a pair of master-crafted mithril brass knuckles, Kiana bought them for five hundred gold, which was just half of another platinum piece, so she got some change to fill her coin pouch with. Valay was the first to return, carrying a set of shuriken that were enchanted to return to the thrower's hand with a snap of their fingers, a steel dagger, and a chain and sickle that F'nnickly identified as a kusarigama. Kiana had to stop Valay from spinning the weighted end as well as the sickle. Malay returned with a corkscrew oak carved staff that ended with a glowing purple jewel at the top, floating just above the tip. Right below it were human faces carved in, all with sinister-looking grins. It was a swamp dragon staff, meaning that it was great with poison, disease, and paralysis-related spells. With some practice, a dedicated magic user could use it to help with healing very nasty injuries and infections. Together, their purchases ended up costing Kiana another platinum piece plus another fifty gold.
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Kiana smiled down at her beloved little brother and little sister, seeing their excitement as they marveled at their new equipment. Mirabelle, not understanding just why they were excited, was still wriggling happily nonetheless. Kiana looked around at her town, beyond the merchant booths and the games, looking at all the sights she had grown up again with, feeling a pang of sadness at knowing in two days, she was leaving. She saw all the familiar faces of her neighbors and friends and everyone else in this town she had grown to love. But it was time, and she knew it. And she had meant what she had said, she was going to visit often. Plus, she'd have Mirabelle with her, so she didn't expect she'd feel too homesick.
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Two Days Later...
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Kiana's travel pack was fully loaded with spare clothes, food, her mithril knuckles, a couple health potions (not that she was expecting to have to use them), a canteen of fresh water, some alchemical flameless torches, some books, other assorted supplies and, when she was certain no one was looking, Mr. Wolfy. She grabbed her tetsubo and looked at her bedroom, smiling at the bookshelf filled with all sorts of titles and books about faraway lands. Her bed was made, the soft pink comforter that made cold winter nights just so warm. Her closet that was closed, containing a bit fewer dresses than it did a couple days ago, with them safely packed away in her bag. Sighing, she exited.
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She was wearing her forest green boots with gold trim up the laces. They matched her green and gold hot pants and matching halter top. Kiana hadn't been too sure about leaving her midriff open like this, exposing her grey back and white tummy, but she had to admit that she had a pretty decent range of movement. And besides, compared to some other female, and some male, adventurers out there wearing what were basically bikinis or lingerie, this was much less revealing.
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Out in the living room, her family was waiting. Pumala stood there, holding Kiana's platinum star-shaped badge, signifying the girl was a registered adventurer. Valay had asked Kiana about the badge that had been hand-delivered by guildmaster Graval the day before, the human man wishing the new adventurer a happy birthday. Kiana had explained that she was now officially an adventurer, but a freelance adventurer. She then had to explain that the local guild was a branch of the international inter-adventurer guild association. For freelance adventurers, a platinum ranking was the highest ranking they could achieve. If they wished to rank higher, they needed to join an official guild, like Unicorn Riot or Phoenix Phist. Basically, the guild in their town was just for beginners. The bunny girl was considering joining a real guild, but wanted to first travel and do some missions, and then look in on the different guilds and find out which one she would be most comfortable with.
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"Go out there and have an awesome adventure!" Valay said, his voice choking up a bit. He looked away and wiped his eyes before hugging Kiana.
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"Yeah, and be sure to tell us all about the places you go and the things you do!" Malay said, her own eyes moist. Kiana felt the hot prickle of tears at the back of hers and furiously blinked them away as she returned their hugs.
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"Count on it," she said with a smile. The two letting go, Pumala stepped forward and pinned the badge on Kiana's halter top, her own eyes misty.
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"I'm so proud of you, honey-bunny," she said, now doing the hugging. Kiana hugged back, having to blink away some tears again.
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"I love you, Mama," she said, being kissed on her forehead.
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"I love you too, baby," Pumala said. The older bunny woman, who now had a slight baby bump again, stepped back as her large wolf-man husband strode forward. He tried to look stern, but the silent tears streaming down his face ruined the impression. He threw his arms around Kiana and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug.
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"Oh, my little princess is going awaaaaaaaaay!" he sobbed, much to everyone's collective embarrassment.
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"I'll be back to visit, Papa," Kiana said, trying to gently pry his arms off.
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"Be careful out there on the road, sweetie!" he sobbed again, his tail tucked between his legs.
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"I will, Papa, I promise." Kiana smiled as he let go, and walked to the door. She turned and waved to her family, before turning back and opening the door. Just after she took her first step, she felt a jolt and something wrap around her right leg. Looking down, she saw her father, clinging to her leg like a toddler.
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"Feli, let go of Kiana's leg right this instant!" Pumala called, while the twins, still saddened by their big sister's departure, shared a giggle at their father's antics.
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"Never!" he called back, tightening his grip. Kiana rolled her eyes and smiled back at her mom.
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"Don't worry, he'll fall off or I'll manage to shake him off before I get to the bridge," she said, starting to walk, albeit with an awkward gait. She whistled and Mirabelle, now sporting a new pink ribbon around her neck, came slithering after. Kiana's friends were near the gate for a send-off, which was made a little awkward by the still sobbing grown wolf clinging to the now mildly annoyed bunny girl's leg. She thanked them all and hugged each one, before stopping at the gate itself. She raised the leg her father was on, and began to shake. After a few moments, Felixin went flying and landed in the dirt with an 'OMPH!' Kiana waited as he got up and dusted himself off, wiping his face with the sleeve of his red robes, and walked over to her.
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"I love you, Princess," he said, looking Kiana in the eyes and forcing a smile, "from the very day you were born, you were always my little princess, and it's just so hard to see you go. But please, know that I love you, and that not only am I already proud of what you've managed to accomplish, but that I know I'll be proud of the things you do out in the world."
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Kiana, fresh tears of her own falling, pulled her Papa into one more hug, now the one making it a bone-crushing hug.
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"I love you, Papa. I'm so lucky that I got to have you and Mama for parents. I'll be back before you know it," she said, wiping her own eyes. Felixin stepped back and continued to smile at his little girl. Kiana smiled back and, snapping her fingers to pull Mirabelle away from a gate guard's unattended bag lunch, the two set off, with Kiana turning back once to wave goodbye, before they finally crossed the bridge, and were on their way out into the wide world.
Name: Kiana
Species: Beasta (Rabbit-Kin)
Age: 16
Skills: Sibling Wrangler, Babysitter, Puppy-Dog Eyes, Master Martial Arts, Brawling, Heavy Weapon Proficiency, Sarcasm Mastery, Eyerolling Mastery, Beast Taming Level 3.
Class: (Official) Master-Level Dragon Monk: Storm Dragon School
Str: 140
Int: 12
Dex: 139
Cha: 12
Wis: 10
Con: 170
Languages: Common
Equipment: Adventurer's Pack, Steelwood Tetsubo, Mastercraft Mithril Knuckles (x2), Rope (25 Ft.), Canteen (Full), Road Rations, Spare Clothes, Bedroll, Health Potion (x2), Books (x3)
Sniffle. And there you have it, folks! I loved writing about Starlight Rose, but now it's time for us, along with Kiana, to explore the wide world! Thanks for reading this new chapter, and be sure to consider leaving a comment or review.
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This one took a bit longer to write, mostly because it's longer and I was working a bit on chapter 13 as well. I hope you guys enjoy. Criticism and grammar corrections are appreciated.
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Chapter 12

Patrick stood in front of the large building that sat at the center of the compound. He guessed that it had to be at least three stories tall and had a large garage door that was wide enough to fit a small jet. Whatever sat inside was the biggest mystery about the Da’Kar, the question they had been asking since they were first found on Earth; How had these interlopers arrived here with seemingly century old technology? It was quite an amazing opportunity to be among the first humans to find out, so when he was given the opportunity he volunteered his squad.
The mission itself was fairly simple, accompany an envoy for a week in Da’Karen territory. Of course they weren’t alone, a squad of marines were assigned to the other diplomat plus a translator for each of them.
The twelve of them stood by in front of the large building, just waiting for the order to go in. Tanner especially seemed excited for what lay beyond, quite frankly they all were. Soon enough a familiar Da’Kar approached them, it was the one named Chilluukik; He was some kind of noble or scientist, Patrick didn’t really know which. “Goodmorning, it is a pleasure to meet all of you as well as see a few that I’ve previously met.” Chilluukkik said that last part while gesturing to Patrick and his squad.
Patrick's diplomat, a woman named Sophie shook Chilluukik’s hand softly and introduced herself. “Sophie Lacelle, and this gentleman right here is Edward Teach.” After Sophie, Edward also shook the Da’Kar’s hand. “And I am Chilluukik, I am the head scientist here at this outpost.”
The garage-like door proceeded to open and everyone was invited inside. The room seemed rather plain at first glance, typical storage-like barebones deal but Patrick noticed how the location was actually defended. Two fortified positions were built on each side where Da’Karan soldiers were entrenched. They seemed to have larger versions of the steam rifles usually seen with their other troops. These rifles were bolted down into the floor and attached to much larger tanks. With no cover possible, it would be like walking in front of a second world war German machine gun nest.
In between them, a reinforced metal door was the only other notable thing in the room. Chilluukik grabbed everyone's attention and made them all move to the side. The secondary metal door opened with a wince, metal grinding on metal, revealing an archway with an eerie blue glow emanating from it. Chilluukik stepped in front of the device and faced the group.
“Come, right this way.”
Without another word the Da’kar stepped through the archway, sinking into the blue hue and disappearing without a trace. A marine was the first to follow, leading his group through the archway. Patrick was close behind, he paused a moment before stepping into the haze. A strange sensation flowed over his body, as if he were submerged in water; instinctively he held his breath as he stepped through.
It took a moment or two for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting but soon it was clear that he was no longer in the same room he was in just a moment ago. Cautiously he took a breath, the air was thin and stale. The room they were standing in was some kind of workshop, strange tools were placed haphazardly around and there seemed to be machines all around with many intricate gears. Chilluukkik stood patiently as everyone passed through the arch, once everyone was through he addressed the group.
"Welcome to Charsier, the capital city of the Da’Kar. You are currently standing in my lab where I spent many years developing that portal you just walked through."
Now everything about their sudden appearance on earth made sense, for all intents and purposes the Da'Kar really did appear out of thin air. Patrick's mental list of strange things that have happened in the past month or so just kept growing. At this point the idea of a portal let alone actually going through one barely phased him. Tanner however, was awestruck as he usually was when it came to dealing with the Da'Kar. At least someone was enthusiastic about this whole ordeal. Edward stepped forward and spoke.
"Are we currently underground? It's somewhat hard to breathe, and the air seems stuffy."
"Yes, Charsier is almost entirely carved out of a mountain. Most of the city is underground, only military personnel are permitted to surface on a normal basis." Chilluukkik answered.
Edward thought on that for a moment, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but he hesitated. Instead he settled with a single word response. “Impressive.”
Chilluukkik clasped his hands together and spoke before any other questions could be asked. “We best not waste time, there are a lot of things to do today. Mainly you are all going to meet the matriarch and the council, but first I would like to go over a few things that you must abide by. First and foremost the proper greeting especially to those in power should be a bow, we are not accustomed to the physical greeting that is your ‘handshake’. Second, as you are strangers to our land it is best to avoid interacting with the general populace to avoid creating any unintended offense. If you must, it is best that you consult your guide that each group will be assigned before interacting. Lastly, it is not recommended to stray away from your guide as many of our cities can be labyrinth-like and it can be very easy to get lost even if you become familiar with an area. Are there any questions before we move forward?”
The room fell silent, Chilluukik waited a few moments before continuing but no one spoke up. He awkwardly cleared his throat and spoke again.
“Excellent, follow me so we can get you all situated.”
Chilluukkik led the group out of the tight lab and onto some kind of underground street. There were a number of Da'Karen guards on a perimeter, blocking and redirecting any civilians trying to pass through. Surprisingly very few actually stopped to ogle at the group of strange beings, most were just content with minding their own business and going on with their day. Though the occasional glance was fairly common.
Patrick took note of how gloomy the atmosphere of the city felt. Perhaps it was just this section but everything seemed to be built for more practicality than any kind of visually pleasing architecture. Though Patrick supposed that maybe this city was quite beautiful to the Da'Kar. Dim, damp, and tight must be all the rage in that case. It wasn’t really the best explanation he could’ve come up with.
A tram sat in the middle of the street awaiting to transport them to a different location in the city. The group gathered infront of the tram and a guard opened one of the side doors, allowing everyone to file in. The step onto the tram was larger than strictly comfortable, of course it hadn’t been designed with a human’s smaller stature in mind. That being said the tram was quite roomy and comfortably fit everyone inside.
The sudden acceleration of the tram surprised Patrick, a few of them who weren’t paying attention even stumbled a bit at the impromptu movement. Their ride was short lived however, only lasting a minute or two. The sight that met them once they stepped off the tram put the previous tunnels to shame. Designs and patterns were carved into the walls, neatly trimmed moss adorned the ceiling, and there was nearly double the space. Chilluukik grabbed the attention of the group and stuck a hand out to a grandiose doorway.
“Welcome to the imperial palace! It is the largest single structure in the entire city. The palace holds all the council members and the matriarch as they all have to be ready at a moment’s notice in the case of a national emergency. It is also where you all will be staying while you are in Charsier. Unfortunately I must ask that all soldiers surrender their weapons to the armory while on palace grounds as only the royal guard may be armed in the building.”
“What’s the point of an armed escort if they can’t even be armed?” Edward grumbled. Sophie leaned over to the American diplomat to comment. “I’m sure the royal guard will offer plenty of protection. Besides, cooperation shows trust between our governments, no matter how little.” Chilluukik glanced at the two, their conversation wasn’t exactly quiet. Nonetheless Chilluukkik continued the tour, seeming to ignore Edward’s comment.
They were led into the building and took a hard left to a hallway with several armed guards. At the end of the hallway was a reinforced steel door where an older Da’Karen soldier waited. Chilluukkik exchanged a few words with him in their tongue before turning to the group, specifically addressing Patrick’s squad and the marines.
“This is Quarter Master Arluirik, he will be in charge of storing your weapons. Don’t worry, once you leave they will all be returned to you.”
Arluirik took a bow as soon as Chilluukik was finished speaking and approached Patrick. Patrick sighed and turned to his squad. “Condition four, drop flaks as well, there’s no reason for us to be all armored up right now.” Patrick’s squad began unloading their rifles and taking off their combat gear; However the marines opted to just give up their rifles. Arlurik and another Da’Kar collected the weapons before bringing them behind the steel door. As soon as the steel door was sealed, Chillukik began walking back to the main entrance to which everyone followed.
“It is time that you meet the matriarch, as she does not speak your language, I will act as your translator for this meeting.”
Sophie spoke up. “We do have our own translators. While your assistance is appreciated, it’s a bit redundant.”
Chilluukkik sighed, though Patrick couldn’t tell if it was from annoyance or maybe something else. Da’Karen mannerisms would be something he’d have to pick up on and learn, especially considering the circumstances. “I would prefer that I be the translator. I’m sure your translators are plenty proficient, however I personally want to make sure that there is no confusion or misunderstandings. She is the single most important Da’Kar after all.”
“We’d rather not step on your toes then, we’ll proceed how you wish.” Edward responded.
Chillukik stopped the group in the middle of the entrance hall, for a few moments they stood in awe of the structure around them. Several ornate pillars lined the walls, five gold crests hung high above an archway that was guarded by tens of soldiers, the floors were of polished marble, and the lights shone brighter than anywhere else they had seen in the city. Chilluukik moved the diplomats to the front of the group while everyone else stood behind them shoulder to shoulder.
Once everyone was in position, Chilluukik nodded towards one of the guards. A moment later, said guard shouted something causing all of the Da’Kar in the room to snap to attention. Both Patrick’s squad and the marines took the que, going to attention themselves. A figure flanked by two guards appeared in the archway, they slowly walked across the hall to the two diplomats. Patrick could only assume that she was the matriarch, as she was dressed in an extravagant gown and sitting atop her head was a gold crown encrusted with a single blue gem.
As soon as the matriarch got about a meter away from Chilluukik, he took a bow and stepped to the side. The matriarch then approached the diplomats and they exchanged bows. She spoke in her alien tongue and a moment later Chilluukkik spoke up with the translation.
“Welcome to Charsier, we are happy to have you here. I am Shilluukkik, if there is anything you need during your time here let me know. You are our honored guests.”
Sophie was the first to speak. “Thank you, it is an honor to meet you madam. I am Sophie Lacelle, the representative from the nation of Canada.”
“And I am Edward Teach from the United States of America. It’s a pleasure ma'am.”
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Arluirik and his assistant placed the human weapons on the table. Most of them were similar to the ones obtained from the crashed flying machine, however one looked very different. It was considerably larger and even had a handlebar attached to the side of the barrel. Che’quea picked it up to inspect it, it was almost twice the weight of the other rifles. He noted that it shared a few similarities with the mounted gun they also had captured.
“Was there any trouble with them handing over their weapons, Arluirik?”
“No sir, a few of them even dropped off their armor.” Arluirik held up a helmet with the distinct human pattern on it. Che’quea placed down the weapon and grabbed the helmet. Despite its relatively small size, the helmet had some heft to it. Whatever strange material it was made of was very dense, though he doubted that it could stop very much in terms of projectiles. Che’quea ran his fingers across the fabric cover, it was unlike any cloth he had seen before and was very finely woven.
“I want a detailed sketch of this pattern, I believe it is some sort of camouflage. We won't be able to replicate the material but perhaps we can use this pattern.”
“Yes sir.”
Che’quea placed the helmet down and pointed to the large rifle. “I want that to be analyzed the best you can without damaging it, the humans should be busy for at least several hours so take your time and get every detail. Learn what you can about this equipment, I want a report before the day is over.”
“It will be done sir.” Arluirik saluted Che’quea then waved over several other officers and they got to work. No matter how the situation went with the humans they were going to get something out of it, even if it was a few drawings.
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Yesterday played through Patrick’s mind. While at first he was amazed by all the things he saw and the people he met, it started to get menial after the first few introductions. The whole day was just a bunch of formalities that he just didn’t really care for. Meeting the council was the worst of it, he couldn’t even remember a single name there if his life depended on it. Near the end of the day the Americans had split off from them and they went to meet their guides. The one his group was assigned was a young Da’Kar by the name of Sruri.
Apparently she worked under Chilluukik for a time but decided to pursue a different career around the time the portal opened. Patrick didn’t know the details but it did make him wonder why she left. It wasn’t really his business, perhaps she just didn’t like being a scientist or whatever she did. When they first met here she seemed to be very reserved, only speaking a few words at a time. Now that the initial meeting was over and it was a new day she had opened up a bit.
The tram lurched to a stop, dragging Patrick from his thoughts. Wolf, their translator from the US air force, spoke up. “Sruri says that we’ve arrived.” Everyone stood up and filed out of the tram. They were deep within Charsier, the tight tunnels were almost suffocating. Crowds of Da’Kar stood next to a train stop, barely heeding the group of humans any attention. It reminded Patrick of human cities where everyone just wanted to mind their own business and get on with their day.
In fact, the only one who seemed interested in them was a child who couldn’t stop staring. Patrick gave the child a soft wave and smiled. The kid shyly hid behind what Patrick assumed to be one of their parents. He must have been a strange sight to them, perhaps he had scared the child by mistake. The supposed parent took notice and looked over at Patrick, as soon as their eyes met his the Da’Kar quickly looked away. It was strange, all the civilians seemed very jumpy whenever they were around. Patrick thought back to what Chilluukik had said about not interacting with people who weren’t directly involved with diplomatic proceedings. David leaned over and whispered to Patrick.
"I can’t say I like the kind of looks we’re getting.”
“It’s best to just ignore it. People will be people, alien or not.”
David leaned back and looked forward as the train pulled in. The doors opened and people started flowing in. By the time Patrick’s group had made their way inside, the train was completely packed. If he didn’t feel claustrophobic before, he certainly did now. A loud yelp sounded out quickly followed by Martin speaking quickly.
“Ah shit, I think I stepped on someone’s tail. Wolf tell them I'm sorry, it was an accident.”
Just as the door closed, Patrick got forcibly squeezed between Tanner and some poor Da’Kar. Any attempt from the civilians to avoid the humans was now futile, it was an uncomfortable situation for everyone. Hopefully it wasn’t going to be a very long train ride, Patrick was getting hot and he could only imagine how the Da’Kar felt with all that fur. After a few minutes, Patrick felt something tugging on his shirt. He turned his head to see a familiar Da’Kar child trying to get his attention. Curiosity must have gotten the better of them, they spoke something.
Patrick felt somewhat bad about not being able to understand or even reply to the kid in any meaningful way. He thought for a moment before ruffling through his pockets for something that might interest the kid. Patrick pulled out a pen and a notebook. He opened the notebook and showed the kid how it worked. The kid’s eyes widened as he saw Patrick draw a few lines. What really seemed to excite the kid was when he handed the items over so the kid could try it themselves. Patrick watched the kid draw to their heart’s content, it was something to take both of their minds off of the train ride and pass the time.
Before Patrick knew it, the train had begun to slow as they neared their destination. The kid’s tail drooped and he wore a disappointed look. Timidly, they went to hand the notebook and pen back but Patrick stopped them. Patrick gently pushed the items back to the kid who now seemed confused. “Keep it kid, I think you’ll enjoy it a lot more than me.” The kid took a few moments to process Patrick’s intent, when it finally clicked the kid jumped with glee and hugged Patrick. He got a few looks from the Da’Kar in the train, however they seemed more surprised than the sour glances they had previously been giving him.
“What did you do to make him so happy?” Tanner asked.
“Hearts and minds, I gave ‘em a little gift.” Patrick smiled back. The doors opened and the pressure was finally released. Stepping out of the train, Patrick noticed that the air wasn’t nearly as stale as it had been in Chasier. Every breath was almost fresh and refreshing. They had only been on that train for maybe thirty minutes, perhaps now they were closer to the surface. The train station here seemed a lot less packed as well, Patrick was thankful for that much at least.
“Wolf, could you please ask Sruri where we are now?” Sophie asked. Wolf relayed the translated question to Sruri to which she answered with a brief response.
“This city is called Strulkurig, apparently it’s a very important city to them.”
Initially, the city seemed very similar to Charsier; Long tunnels stretched for seemingly miles. However, after just a few minutes of walking they arrived at an opening to a gargantuan cavity. It was in the shape of a dome, reaching nearly a mile across. At the top there was a large hole leading all the way to the surface, and at the bottom was a lake that took up most of the cavity. The vast majority of the city seemed to be built into the walls of the cavern, only slightly built onto the lake itself. Large metal supports lined the walls, assumedly to ensure the structural integrity of the walls. The amount of engineering that went into all of this must have been immense.
Sruri began speaking and a moment later Wolf started with his translation. “Most of the cavern is natural, the location was ideal to provide a central water source to the other cities. In fact, eighty percent of the water the Da’Kar uses is sourced from this spring.”
“And how many cities draw their water from here?” Sophie asked.
“Nine, including Strulkurig. The reservoir is extremely deep and is naturally replenished via surrounding groundwater.”
Patrick could see how important that this city remained protected. If that water supply was contaminated or poisoned it would be catastrophic for the Da’Kar. The fact that they were allowed into Strulkurig at all showed quite a bit of trust. Though Patrick couldn’t help but think that all this openness was an effort to draw their attention from something else. All this effort to build their cities underground, and for what? The Da’Kar were hiding something, or perhaps they were hiding from something.
Their first stop of the day was a ration center. It looked like any other cafeteria from earth. though instead of a wide selection, premade rations were handed out. The amount of food per meal seemed like the bare minimum, just enough to survive on. Sruri walked over and grabbed one before showing it to the group. Wolf was quick with the translation, he seemed to be getting better at the language. “She says that this is a standard civilian ration, about one thousand calories and each person gets two per day. Each ration is carefully constructed to sustain the nutritional needs of the average Da’Kar adult. However, there is rarely enough for everyone. It’s not uncommon for them to turn down many when the day’s rations are depleted.”
Patrick looked to the line that extended out of the building, there was a concerning amount of children in that line waiting to get their rations. It made him uneasy knowing that many of those children wouldn’t even get to eat, especially the ones farther back in the line. It was already clear to Patrick that whatever the Da’Kar were going through, they needed the support from humanity. Tanner began to pull out some of his MRE’s but Patrick stopped him.
“Put it away, you can’t feed all of them. After this mission the supplies from the US will come in, then there’ll be enough for everyone.”
“What if they don’t make it that long? Half of these people are practically skin and bone.”
“There’s nothing we can do at the moment and I need you to be on your top game for the rest of this mission. Save your food for yourself.” Patrick commanded sternly.
Tanner begrudgingly stuffed the food back into his backpack. They were there for only a few more minutes before departing to their next location. Throughout the day they went from place to place, each looked more sorrowful than the last. What really broke Patrick was when he saw kids working in factories, they couldn’t be much older than the kid he met on the train. Patrick couldn’t imagine what could have led to the Da’Kar using these methods. They were either really desperate or had some really messed up morality. The one saving grace about it was that they seemed to take the kid’s safety as priority, having an adult supervisor watching over them constantly. Though, that still didn’t excuse child labor. If it was up to him, Patrick would give all the resources his country could offer to get these kids out of the factories.
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Patrick laid in his bed, it had been almost an hour but he just couldn’t sleep. It was still pretty early in the morning but he figured that he wasn’t going to get much rest anyways. He slowly slipped out of the Da’Karen bed, it was large and square in shape. The one thing that made his stay in the Da’Kar world bearable, there was plenty of space to sleep. Patrick pulled on his uniform, making sure to be especially quiet as to not wake his squadmates.
The apartment building was just as quiet, it seemed like it was too early even for the Da’Kar. Patrick stepped outside, taking in the fresh morning air. Unlike most other Da’Karen cities, Khomtotm was mostly above ground. Patrick certainly wasn’t complaining, for almost a week they had been exclusively underground. He strolled down a street that had a thin layer of snow that had fallen throughout the night. The air was still and cold, if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine that he was back home. He walked until he arrived at an overlook that gave an amazing view of the relatively flat lands nestled by a massive mountain range.
Looking to the left, far in the distance, Patrick could just barely make out the structures Charsier. Panning right, he could see Strulkurig with its few surface buildings that surrounded the hole. Finally he looked over to the right towards Eathlond. Patrick had remembered that the Americans would be there today, as that was the last city they were going to visit. Patrick had to do a double take as he saw large black plumes of smoke emanating from the city.
He knew the Da’Kar relied heavily on steam but he had never seen steam engines produce that amount of exhaust. His heart began to pound as he thought he could identify several fires throughout the city. Patrick stepped away from the overlook and began walking back to the apartment building. Then as he thought more about what could be going on in Eathlond, he ran. It could be some kind of misinterpretation but he didn’t want to take that chance.
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Previous [Next]

My parents live 50 or so miles away, but my dad's office is much closer to my place than theirs. I currently rent and my dad primarily works from home, but sometimes my dad will stay overnight at my place so he has a shorter commute in the morning to work when he needs to be in the office. I just bought a place and am thinking of "renting" a room out to my dad. I'd ask him for $50 a month or something small and he could come over whenever he needed to stay the night when he needed to go to the office like we already do.
Obviously, I don't want to charge my parents for rent, I'd likely just give the money back as a nice paid for vacation or restaurant meal each year. I'm mostly interested in the tax write offs from having a property listed as a rental. It would be significant as I need to buy new furniture and do small remodels for the house the first year and I can write off a lot of that for at least 50% (I have 2 rooms).
Would there be any legal issues with this? My dad is physically living in the room, albeit rarely and my parents would probably come over to visit on some of the weekends too as we're pretty close, so I don't see any reason this could be considered fraud. I'm charging a monetary amount for him to live here as well and would write up a rental agreement too.

Hello, I am sorry if this isn’t the right place for this but I am struggling and I believe it’s due to BPD so maybe someone can relate. Not even a month ago I (23F) had a nice 9-5 job at a bank, it wasn’t perfect but it was probably the best i could do without a degree. for the most part i enjoyed it, but because i have mental health issues i’d wake up in the morning before work and feel debilitating anxiety and i would call out of work. it was affecting the way my management viewed me which made it an uncomfortable situation some days. i eventually got FMLA because i didn’t want to get fired but it still felt like I was being treated weird. so on a whim one day, i had convinced myself that maybe i’m just not able to hold a big girl job like this and if i find something part time, temporarily while i go to college, then maybe i won’t be so miserable all the time. my boyfriend says that i have a problem romanticizing things, he says i have a bad habit of constantly thinking that this one little thing is going to solve everything, and then when it doesn’t, i am devastated. he thought that this is what i was doing when i accepted a part time job waitressing but he told me he supported me. turns out that i think that is what i was doing, and i absolutely hate waitressing and i quit after only a few days. quitting was another impulsive decision too, i was dressed for work and everything but then i started panicking and i think i blacked out, so i just called the restaurant and said “i’m so sorry, this just isn’t a good fit and i won’t be back”. i still cannot believe i did that. so then i contacted my old 9-5 job after a week of being gone and they (obviously) said no. so now here i am, unemployed and sad. i started applying to jobs like crazy, because while i’ll be okay for a little while, i have enough money saved to cover this months bills, i obviously need a job! my last job was at a bank, so i think i’ve applied to every single bank within 50 miles of me, but it’s been a week and not a single one has gotten back to me. i don’t know how long it would usually take so i keep panicking and just assuming i’m never going to hear anything. and then randomly on indeed i was invited to apply to a florist. it is fulltime and they’re willing to train me, but it’s atleast a half hour drive and they say i would need to work christmas day. so now i don’t know what to do. i don’t really want to work at a florist, but truthfully i don’t know what i want! that’s not true, what i THINK i want is to work at a bank, just like my old job. but i keep telling myself that “beggars cannot be choosers” and if not a single other job i’ve applied to is getting back to me then i don’t really have much of a choice! but i’m nervous that if i accept this job, in another week or so maybe one of my more ideal jobs will finally answer but then what am i suppose to do? quit the florist after only a week?? or what if i accept this job at the florist and i am just as miserable because it’s not what i want and once i’ve convinced myself that it isn’t what i want then it’s basically impossible to change my mind! i feel like literal human garbage and a waste of space right now. also, my boyfriend is out of town this weekend so i am all alone with our dog, and i have not a single person to talk to and i just don’t know what to do. thank you for listening :(