The Anomaly was stable.
That's what the government called it, the magic field around the town that turned people into Kobolds. The rules we had ascertained at the beginning of this were still consistent, a Human could enter and leave as many times as they liked and they would remain Human, there was no known process to reverse this, except a spell called True Polymorph, but that would take years, perhaps even decades, of experimentation, innovation, and- possibly- killing, if the players were correct.
It was the realization that I wanted to remain a Kobold that had allowed me to realize I had been fixated only on my kind, our little village in the town. I distinctly remembered living as a Human- even though the memories caused me nothing but grief- knew how to navigate, how to speak with our Human neighbors, how to use technology.
My understanding of the world wasn't being overridden, it was just that, culturally, me and my people were regressing, and even understanding that, we couldn't stop because we didn't want to stop, it felt more comfortable.
The term 'medieval stasis' was tossed around, the idea of a setting remaining locked in a culturally and technologically medieval state. This didn't feel true to me, if I had a microwave that didn't take up a shit ton of space, I'd definitely use it over cooking over a fire. The flatscreen in my old house was practically like sitting in a theater, the bed was disproportionately huge, like going from a twin to a really long queen size.
I didn't see it as technological regression, so much as nothing was made for us, there was no way to accommodate us in a modern society. Even just going to the nearby city was distressing because we're really fucking small, and even scampering across a road on all fours was just asking for someone to get run over or stepped on.
Not to mention, the Humans were also distressed at our presence, even though it was explained what had happened. That said, there were people who came to our town, people who specifically wanted to become Kobolds. Even knowing that it was a very permanent and life-changing experience, even having us explain that there was nothing to accommodate them out in the wider world, they simply accepted that, yes, we were very much a minority in the world that couldn't possibly be accommodated because we were so rare.
But they were insistent, they were fully willing to abandon their prior lives for this, and reluctantly, they were allowed in.
The process was always painless, they just walked in, shrank, and turned into a Kobold, and could just walk over to us and fit right in. The people who wanted this just seemed to be more natural at it, or maybe they were just aware of what we were supposed to act like and knew how to do it, unlike me, who had been completely blindsided.
It was a month into the second year, when one of the Human kids to the Kobold parents turned into a Kobold. Of course, everyone freaked out because it was against the rules, this was an illegal action and changed everything.
Except, it didn't.
The kid simply didn't want his parents to be alone anymore, so he started trying to figure out how to become a Kobold. Well, we had already established anyone who wanted to become a Kobold, aside from that initial mass transformation, would become one, he wanted it, so he became a Kobold. His brother tried as well.
Simply saying he wanted it didn't work, but when he became distressed that he couldn't to it. Pop! Instant Kobold.
Throughout all of this, Brutus just stuck to my side as a very good boy and just did not seem to mind or care that people were changing into Kobolds around him.
I woke up one morning from a sudden surge of magic within myself. At first I was freaking out, thinking I was going to explode, but then I felt myself calming down as the power settled.
Everyone freaked out when I got onto the roof of the nearest tallest building. I mean, even I was a little freaked out because this was entirely new to me, but I ran and took a flying leap off, and with a big-add feather in hand, I spoke a word, and my rapid descent slowed until I touched the ground.
Of course, everyone was pissed at me, told me that I should never do something so recklessly stupid again. Seeing everyone's concern filled me with shame, and I explained that I knew it was stupid, but I felt I had to do it. That if I tried to tell anyone, they'd just lock me up in a room or something.
How do you rationally explain you want to throw yourself off a building so you can make yourself glide to the ground?
The anger turned into excitement as people realized that meant I knew another spell, that I had hit second level and that I should be able to restore the spell I just used, which I was able to.
This of course led people to give me a player's handbook for D&D and told me to read it because my sudden growth of power meant it was absolutely consistent with it and that I should be able to figure out what all I could do.
Which I did.
It certainly outlined a lot of stuff, but it wasn't particularly useful for me, and I had a feeling that at best it was an abstraction of what our reality was, and at worst, an unreliable guide into life. So I just kind of set it to the side, said "That's nice." and went about my life.
It was the third month of the first year that the mine collapsed.
It was a dull roar, a distant rumble.
We all knew what it was the moment it happened, and every single one of us ran to the mine. Human or Kobold, we all lived in constant fear of a collapse. Our family members were competent, this was a generations-long job that a large portion of us learned just to keep the economy going.
I remembered the sound of someone screaming, there was someone trapped under a large boulder, still alive, but unable to get himself out.
Now, I had never bothered to learn the trade, that was something my father did that I was too terrified to do. I remembered, at that moment, that even though a lot of the people who became Kobolds had been miners, they refused to go into the mine, saying they just didn't feel safe in it.
We'd all just passed it off as an understandable fear that a small creature like us could get easily lost in there. But as I looked at the pile of rubble, I knew how to get him out without causing the whole thing to bury him.
I didn't hesitate, I ran forward, throwing off my clothes because I felt they would get in the way, and grabbing hold of rocks I was absolutely certain were stable, I began to climb and began grabbing the rocks that were most likely to fall and potentially kill the man and got them out of the way.
I only registered there were other Kobolds with me when I handed the rock to one of them, who passed it on to another, and another. We cleared out the immediate danger first, while other Kobolds jerry rigged something to get the boulder off the man and drag him to safety.
It goes without saying, that if I could use magic as what the players called a Sorcerer, others could use magic as something called a Cleric, and well, if the man being healed wasn't a sign that there actually was some sort of divine force in the world, I didn't know what was.
We continued to clear out the entrance, not even one rock fell as we instinctively grabbed what would cause a rock slide and got it out of the way.
When I began to feel exhausted, another Kobold came up and told me to rest. I did, carefully climbing down and only passively realizing I'd been up there for a solid four hours just working my ass off to clear the rubble.
It only occurred to me then, as I drank some water and ate some meat, that my father was down there. Saving him hadn't even been on my mind, all that ran through my mind was that I had the knowledge to help, so I helped.
A tool used for smashing the larger rocks to pieces snapped, I barely registered I was running over to them, I just took the broken tool from them and fixed it.
It didn't even matter that I was fucking exhausted and sore, I was up and over there because I was the only one that could use magic to fix things.
Nobody stood idle, There was a group of Kobolds who were waiting, certainly, but they were watching intently, hopping up and running over to relieve someone who was getting exhausted, or running food and water to someone who needed it.
We saw the first hand poking out of the rubble six hours into clearing up the entrance, focus shifted to getting them out immediately, because they were still moving, Within minutes, they were being carried down the rocks to the ground, it was clear to me they were in critical condition, and if they weren't healed, they were going to die.
The spell used on him was called 'Spare the Dying' according to the players. He instantly stabilized, the worst of his wounds- while still bleeding- simply stopped oozing out blood.
I overheard one of the nurses from the nearby city's hospital remark that- by all rights- that man should be dead. It only occurred to me that people from the hospital had come the moment the news of the collapse reached them. None of them had turned into Kobolds, but I could see on their faces that it hadn't even been a concern.
I continued fixing any tools that broke, which allowed everyone to use them again when they did break.
I saw a rock suddenly break loose, I didn't even register the word I spoke, or my hand flying out. All I knew in the next moment was my Magic Missiles hitting the rock head-on. Once, to knock it off course, and the other two times to ensure it completely missed hitting anyone. A few Kobolds looked at me with surprise and gratitude.
I simply nodded, continuing to repair things as they broke.
We found more people, most of them still hanging on by a thread, the Clerics standing by to stabilize them before having them moved over to the doctors and nurses, who were doing their best to make sure they were in a position to be taken to the hospital, where their injuries could be more properly addressed.
The fact of the matter was, we didn't have enough spells to go around to heal everyone, even among the more naturally inclined Druids.
There were people who had died. Family, friends, every time we found them, there was a pause in our work before they were dug out and brought out. We kept working, bolstered by the wails of the bereaved.
We couldn't save everyone, but we'd be damned if we didn't try.
We heard the first muffled voices of the survivors who had managed to avoid being crushed under several tons of stone. We didn't work faster, we kept up the sustainable pace we had, because hurrying would just lead to injuries.
The first hand that reached out from the darkness was briefly grasped before drawing back in. The hole was gradually widened, those of us who could fit went in, working from the inside to safely widen the hole, to shore up the unstable mine enough to keep people safe.
One by one, the trapped miners were carried out, but it wasn't even half of them.
"The rest are still in there." One of them said. "The whole thing is unstable, there's no way we can safe them."
"There's no way you can save them." Kassa, one of the Kobolds who had been a miner, said. "But we're sure as hell going to try."
I could feel the weight of the earth above me as I entered the unstable mine. It terrified the shit out of me that at any moment, it could cave in and probably kill me instantly.
Still, they needed me to fix their tools, because they were sure as hell going to break again.
It was ten hours into the rescue, we had only just gotten maybe a fourth of the people out, and a further fourth of them were dead. We had instinctively known the mine was going to collapse, we avoided it like the plague, but we didn't realize it at the time.
The earth shifted above us, small stones raining down on us. I set to work repairing the cracked timbers, I could feel that weight lessening slightly, it bought us maybe minutes, maybe seconds, but it was enough to get support struts in place.
The plan was simple, we all knew it needed to be done. We would rescue the miners, and then we would collapse the mine.
The Humans argued that the mine was our lifeblood, that without it, the town would dry up, there would be nothing.
"We can always dig more mines." I said. "We can't waste more lives on one that's just going to collapse."
As hellish as it was to make our way down into progressively more dangerous tunnels, being out of the sunlight was doing wonders for my stress. We knew where it was the most unstable, the miners knew where to put the struts to be the most effective, and when we came to the first collapse, we worked our tails off to clear it out.
We silently passed the dead along, those unlucky few who had been crushed. but the survivors who managed to cling on to life were stabilized and taken out with yips and yaps of encouragement and comfort.
When we broke through and saw the wide, terrified, yet hopeful eyes of more of the miners, we immediately knew if we proceeded, their section of the mine was going to collapse, rendering all of our hard work moot.
"We need to pass them a strut." Kassa said. "Listen, and listen carefully. We need to pass a strut through this hole to you. You need to ensure on your end it does not hit the rocks, otherwise, the section you're in will collapse."
"Just pass it through."
It was easily the most stressful thing I'd ever taken part in. Dozens of small hands keeping the damn thing stable, while the miners on the other side tried their damnedest to keep it steady. Kassa directed them to where to put it, and once it was firmly in place, we cleared the rocks out, urging the miners to get out.
They looked back at us when we didn't follow.
"No, absolutely not. You are not going in there." One of the miners said.
"Kobolds don't abandon family." My brother, Tallyn, said firmly. "We'll all die before we consign them to death."
Even though our every instinct screamed at us to turn tail and run, we pressed onward, the struts only barely keeping the ceiling above stable.
I began to hyperventilate, requiring someone to help calm me down. I was welcome to go, but I needed to stay, I needed to be present to ensure our tools could be repaired.
As if to illustrate my point, one of the struts broke, the mine groaned, and I immediately leapt up to repair it.
We went deeper.
The next collapse was reasonably stable, for what it was worth, we were able to clear it out, and thankfully without any other casualties. I had to resist the urge to run over to my father and hug him, but I did grab his arm and gave it a squeeze.
I think that was the first time he'd ever looked at me with such pride in his eyes.
Eighteen hours into the rescue, we reached the end and got everybody out. The sudden jolt of terror that ran through my body told me we needed to leave immediately. We ushered the miners out, tried not to panic as we slowly ascended to the surface. Struts began to crack, it was all I could do to keep them whole while everyone got out.
I began to smell fresh air, and that's when the mine behind us began collapsing. There was no time to waste, we ran for the surface, my exhausted and hurting body screamed at me to move, but just as I was almost out, I felt something heavy hit me, and then I was buried.
I wasn't afraid anymore. I knew I was going to die, but the moment I realized that, all fear of dying just... went. I had stabilized the mine for as long as I could, I had worked my tail off to keep things going, and I was proud of what I had accomplished.
Still, I only had the merest trickle of air, and my brain was still in survival mode.
I fell unconscious at some point, I wasn't going anywhere, and I was too tired to fight it. But when I opened my eyes, it was to the faintest shaft of light peeking in, the sounds of rocks being moved.
It was just me in here, the chances of me being alive right now was completely slim, I would have forgiven them for leaving me to tend to the wounded, but they resolutely kept working.
They had to be exhausted, at the end of their rope, there was nobody capable of continuing.
There was nobody who could save me.
"I don't care if he's dead, I'm not leaving my boy in there!" The voice was muffled, but it brought tears to my eyes. I tried to call out, but all I could manage was a weak sound.
Still, I kept breathing, kept trying, even as the rocks shifted around me dangerously, threatening to finish me off.
There was a brief pause, an indistinct voice, and then silence.
I cried out, my voice barely a audible even to me, there was no way they could hear me.
Still, I cried out, I couldn't manage a single word, but I tried regardless.
"Did you hear that?"
I cried out as loudly as I could, and then I could hear the rocks moving again, I felt the weight around me shift, I could get more air in. I cried out, louder, straining to push myself out, and then, the finally gave way.
All I could manage was pushing my snout out into the fresh air and managing another sound, I felt a hand on it, smaller, a Kobold's hand. They were still trying to reach me.
I was pulled out, my breath rasping, my body in utter agony, I was blind in one eye, and against the hellish light of the bright morning sky, I saw a Kobold leaning over me.
"Family doesn't abandon family." He spoke with my father's voice.
I felt relief as my body was healed, but I was still absolutely weak from fighting to survive.
"You became... a Kobold..." I rasped.
"I kept thinking to myself, if only I knew how to get to you." He said. "If only I could find you. I could feel myself on the cusp of transforming, and I ran headlong into it because it was the only way to save you." He hugged me, crying, overwhelmed with relief.
Of roughly 2,000 Humans, 786 died.
The miners had found a new vein, silver, certainly more than enough to keep the town going.
But they dug too deep, they weren't careful enough.
There was no resentment from the Humans for us not realizing the mine was unsafe. We didn't know at the time what the aversion was, so it was just chalked up to fear due to being in an unfamiliar situation
With the mine utterly collapsed, there was no real way of salvaging it, it would probably cost more to excavate it and make it stable than that silver vein would be worth.
Incidentally, the moment everyone was out and safe, every single Kobold had 'gained a level', the players explained that we had solved a significant crisis, and that gaining a level was usually the result of such.
They then said, with the kind of manic grin I only saw from gamers who liked games with punishing gameplay, "It's only going to get harder to earn them from here."
Getting used to life with a blind eye was a bigger adjustment than learning how to live as a Kobold was. Still, it was a small price to pay for saving as many people as we could.
We started scoping out another location for a mine, somewhere close enough that we wouldn't have to go far.
When the Human miners heard that we had an instinctive sense of when a mine was safe or not, they all instantly transformed. Even the merest prospect of having that kind of ability had led to such a strong want for it, that they just flat out changed.
Of course, like my father, they had to adjust. Some of them were upset that it happened, but like me, they learned to accept it and appreciate it.
I threw myself into honing my spellcraft, every day I practiced, getting creative with my spellwork and just generally improving in my reaction times.
My fellow Kobolds all looked at me with respect and gratitude. We all knew that my dogged insistence on going with the rescue party to make sure our tools were in top condition had prevented a lot more deaths.
It wasn't that they thought I was the only reason we succeeded, but they understood my absence would have led to catastrophe.
Having achieved this third level of power, I had gained access to something called 'metamagic', as well as second level spells.
I didn't really have any control over which spells I gained insight into, but I could sense that any spells I knew prior I could change one of them into something else.
Thus, I gained an understanding of the spells 'Witch Bolt, Vortex Warp, and Enhance Ability'. Which meant I could conjure a steady stream of electricity, teleport someone to another spot near me, and enhance someone's physical and mental attributes, of which there were apparently six.
The 'metamagic' that I learned granted me the ability to cast certain spells near-instantaneously, and to extend the duration of an effect.
There was a hard limit on what I could do, but it was useful when applied correctly. If someone was going to be doing heavy lifting, I could bolster their strength for an hour- two, if I used metamagic- or bolster the intelligence of someone who just couldn't figure something out.
The scientists who had come to study us wanted to make exclusive use of this, but I very firmly told them, "Unless you're absolutely stuck on something, and nobody else needs it before I need to sleep, then I'll do it."
That being said, I did absolutely test the spell on myself so I had an idea as to what it did.
That all being said and done, we did have a town meeting.
The Players had something important to tell us, something we needed to be aware of, before we did anything with the dead.
"There are two spells we do not have access to yet, that can return the dead to life."
Resurrection, a 'Seventh Level' spell, and True Resurrection, a 'Ninth Level' spell.
"As a Cleric, I will be devoting my all to reaching Level 13, which is the earliest that Resurrection can be learned. It is entirely likely it will take more than a year to even learn this spell, let alone get to a point where I could cast it more than every long rest."
"Roughly eight hours of rest." Another Player helpfully clarified.
"I want you all to understand, it may be entire years until I can learn it. At that point, I will only be able to restore three people to life per day. It would then take a little over nine months of non-stop effort to bring them back."
"We did the math, three people per day with just one person, that's twenty-one per week, or eighty-four per month. Seven hundred and eighty-six people divided by eighty-four is- rounding up to the nearest tenth- nine-point four."
"This is with the understanding that there is no guarantee of bringing them back. If the soul is free and willing to return, then they will return to life. Otherwise..." The Cleric trailed off.
"Otherwise, they will remain dead." His aide spoke solemnly.
"I want everyone to weigh the choice I give. I can't say they'll be appreciative of being brought back, they'll more than likely be upset that they've missed years of their life, or even if they will get the missing years back."
He looked at everyone, who sat in silent shock. "Either make your peace with the dead and move on, or wait knowing that as long as I draw breath, I will bring them back." He paused. "I will be conducting a funeral at the end of the day. May the Platinum Dragon grant you comfort, and may any Gods you worship do the same."
With that, he bowed his head and left.
​
[Navigation for 'Dragon Rising'- [1] [2]]

DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING
Will give 10% off if purchase is over $150 and you get 3 or more things!
if my price is higher then price charting let me know and we can discuss
if you want pics just ask, most cart games are loose unless specified
willing to discount on big purchases
will ship for free if total is over 175 unless specified otherwise shipping starts around $7 boxed
accepting venmo & paypal f&f right now
will prioritize big purchases
always willing to negotiate, please ask

system	name	price
Sega Dreamcast	Dreamcast Broadband Adapter (CiB)	115
Switch	Wild Guns Reloaded (NiB)	20
Switch	Retro City Rampage DX [Collector's Edition] (NiB)	105
Switch	Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Steelbook + Game)	145
Switch	Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition (NiB + Ships at Cost)	65
Wii U	Pokken Tournament [Shadow Mewtwo Amiibo Card]	30
Wii U	Hello Kitty Kruisers (NiB)	50
Wii	Mario Party 8 (NiB)	50
Wii	Resident Evil 4 (NiB)	25
GameCube	Nintendo Black GameCube with PicoBoot (System Only)	100
GameCube	Super Smash Bros Melee - Factory Sealed (NiB)	290
Gameboy	NBA All-Star Challenge	4
Gameboy	King Of Fighters 95 (Faded Label)	9
Gameboy	Spiritual Warfare (No Sticker)	20
Gameboy	King Of Fighters 95	15
Gameboy	Battle Arena Toshinden	7
Gameboy Color	Mega Memory Card	30
GameBoy Advance	Blackthorne	25
GameBoy Advance	Super Mario Advance 2 (Ripped Label)	10
GameBoy Advance	Nintendo Game Boy Advance Funny Playing GBA Motherboard with Laminated 3.0 IPS Clear Shell (Red or Yellow PCB)	249
GameBoy Advance	Nintendo Game Boy Advance Funny Playing GBA Motherboard (Black PCB)	139
Super Nintendo	Samurai Shodown (Rear Label Damage)	8
NES	Nintendo NES Classic Edition Controller	28
Playstation 2	Silver Slim Playstation 2 (System Only)	76
Amiibo	Mega Man (NiB)	18
Amiibo	Sonic Amiibo (NiB)	50
Amiibo	Nintendo Animal Crossing Isabelle Shizue CP Card	50

Hello,
I wanted to share what I'm really struggling with currently - I'm in a clinic and getting tested for bipolar 2 and borderline. I've had the borderline diagnosis since 2019 but my new psych thought it could be bipolar because I've always struggled with depression - ranging from mild to severe, episodic - but last year in fall i mentioned the classical out of behaviour episode in summer where i smoked weed everyday (untypical for me as i was a big hater of weed at the time for personal reasons) even got high at school sometimes. I became very social and confident (untypical), sometimes i felt so attractive, sexy and beautiful that i was flirting with many guys - whether they were taken, single, really ugly or mid or hot (which is very untypical for me tbh), i started a friend's with benefits situation with my neighbour who is.. well, a drug user, has a very filthy apartment, missing teeth and is just.. ew. I thought it was a good idea. I did feel shame and disgust after the first time but needless to say i did think it was a good idea to keep going to him and smoking weed and doing the deed. Extremely untypical of me, i was quoted to say "even if he was the last man on earth, I'd never sleep with him" neither have I ever had one night stands before or after this. 2 months later i was in a severe depression because a friend broke our friendship off. Left me devastated until December. It was a 180, i couldn't bear seeing myself in the mirror and always found myself ugly, felt like i lost my sense of identity, felt worthless, self harmed, even had thoughts of ending it all. Then i got started on venlafaxine, smallest dose. I was also undergoing a lot of stress. On day 2 of taking the medication i was sleeping 3-5h everyday and being fine, having a lot of energy, headaches, being restless, huge pupils, good mood, talking fast, stopped eating and started starving myself and feeling beautiful again. In January my dose was slightly increased and 3 days later i immediately crashed. I was so depressed i slept 16 hours a day, woke up but didn't get out of bed - watched anything just to kill time and distract myself, take my med and go to sleep again. After a week i hit the rock bottom and i sobbed uncontrollably the whole day, felt like i want to die so badly, i lost all physical strength and was literally praying to any god out there to please take this suffering away. I sat down under the shower and sobbed, didn't even have the strength to get out. I think i crawled out of there. Needless to say, i stopped taking it automatically right there. I became less depressed, maybe mildly? Continued being under strong stress though. I started being unable to handle any mild stress and exploding with anger, once with uncontrollable rage, or just tears over the smallest of things. Then it was a switch again, i suddenly experienced a period of 3 days where my affect was normal to good but i had zeroooo ability to concentrate. I wasn't able to think, i wasnt able to say complex stuff just simple stuff, i couldn't count, i struggled with recognizing roman cifers, playing a simple card game. It wasn't impossible just very challenging and difficult. Which it normally never was or is right now. My bf says when i would talk i would often lose the point without noticing but i was happy and upbeat talking so he didn't bother. I was otherwise later in a stable mood but two separate times i had an episode lasting a day each time where i suddenly felt super fast - like, under electricity - where i suddenly wanted to do 10 things at once - have sex, go for a walk, learn how to dance, make a playlist for learning dancing, read a book, talk, learn Latin, browse TikTok. At first i tried just doing 3 of these at once but it didn't feel intense enough. I ran to my room tried studying latin but couldn't even start because it felt so underwhelming to sit and not be able to grasp a whole language in an instant. So i went to the kitchen, took Methylphenidat, tequila shots cuz it felt like a good idea. I listened to music i normally don't listen to and remember every song was great and i was vibing hard to each one - saved a few of them but after the episode i didn't vibe to them again, they are ok but just ok. I didn't sleep the whole night because I felt like i still am pretty awake. So i browsed TikTok the whole night and was so unbelievably horny. I continued sleeping little the next week but didn't feel so wired anymore. After some days my body was too tired to be physically active so, anyway. Anyways this wasn't the first time I felt this " wired and under electricity ". I've had a few of separate episodes, each lasting around a day. Everything felt faster, i felt like i need to do so many things at once and doing one is so overwhelmingly underwhelming. Once I struggled to speak correctly because I spoke too fast and couldn't control it. Or laughed like a maniac when it wasn't funny. But these episodes were very rare, first one occuring in 2017, the next one in late 2019, the next one hard to tell but i know that it sped up in how öften it occurs.
Anyhow i am in the clinic as i said. And i just constantly feel like a fraud. I feel like i am a secret hypochondriac who's faking an illness. If i feel normal and calm for a day or two i tend to think i was never sick to begin with and j exaggerated all depressions, all flashbacks, all panic attacks and all feelings I've ever had. I feel like, what if i don't know what hypomania is REALLY like and once i felt anxious and mistook it for something else, exaggerated my description of it and through that i am fooling my doctors? I did Google the symptoms. Could it mean i unknowingly overtook them and process them as my own experiences? I had a fucking nervous breakdown about it a few days ago. I couldn't take the anxiety, it was eating me alive. Whenever i struggle i know it's real and i know I'm ill. It's just the good days where i feel like I'm hysterical and attention seeking. I'm so scared of a misdiagnosis. Of fooling myself and doctors.
Anyone relates? :(

Game title: Midnight
The games story follows a group of teenagers who dare eachother to evoke the main antagonist Mr. Midnight whom is more of a local folk tale than anything else in an abandoned house on the outskirts of their town.
The Antagonist: Mr. Midnight is a combination of the legend of the Midnight Man and Hat Man. His appearance is seemingly a tall man in a black robe with a large black hat.
Gameplay: 6 survivors must survive from 12:00AM until 7:00AM, in the old house without any electricity. The survivors must rely on lighting matches as a limited light source to see through the darkness however they can also find candles in the house as well which work the same as matches but last longer and can be relit up to 3 times.
Mr Midnight Gameplay: While the survivors vision is obscured by darkness you have night vision, your movement is completely quiet and you have 0 terror radius but you are weak to light. If you get in the way of a survivors light source you will immediately disappear, getting teleported to the furthest end of the map. Instead of hitting victims you grab them, if they get grabbed you will pull them into your cloak killing them. Upon dying survivors become one of your shadow minions which just appear as shadow figures, these guys can snatch light sources and briefly highlight survivors for Mr.Midnight by hitting them.
Counterplay: Survivors can find salt shakers to create salt lines or circles on the ground which act as temporary barriers to block Mr. Midnight from them. Mr. Midnight has the special ability to blow out light sources to prevent getting destroyed by players with lights, however this ability has a significant cooldown. Mr. Midnight can disable his minions if they are griefing by being able to kick them into spectator mode.
Notable details: First person, match lighting has a skillcheck MiniGame.

Synopsis:

Nine years following the execution of the old Sovereign, the four dukedoms of Augustein teeter on the brink of combustion.
Excess magic ore mining has resulted in unstable regions of shifting trees, violent storms, and a creeping plague of stillness that leaves everything frozen in time. Watchmen struggle to fend off the relentless attacks of Aberrations, while strict regulations on magic ore force aspiring magicians to sacrifice their own finite reserves at the cost of their health and, ultimately, their lives.
Amara is the sole survivor of a series of magic experiments ordered by the old Sovereign. Left with a reduced lifespan and an unnatural magic with the unique ability to progress, Amara is determined to live out the rest of her life to its fullest.
She’s going out like an explosion, and she’ll make sure that no one can look away.
—
This is a character focused, slow-burn high fantasy story with progression and light LitRPG elements that become prominent after the introductory arc, which spans through chapter 20.
It features flawed and morally ambiguous characters, unreliable narrators, and some darker elements, but there are plenty of lighter moments as well!

​
Prologue - End of an Era
Rosenfell Palace, Helisturn, Arcvale Dukedom of Augustein, Year 986
The palace halls glowed in the evening light. The last rays of sunlight filtered through cracked and broken windows, outlining piles of debris in gold. Clouds of dust rose from broken pillars and walls, shimmering as they drifted over cold, limp figures strewn about like fallen leaves. The plush red carpet, once bright and soft as snow, had been torn and shredded beyond recognition. Dark splotches littered its surface, many areas now beginning to dry and crack while still others remained moist to the touch.
A few hours ago, when the sun had still hung suspended in the clear blue sky, the palace walls had been trapped in a flurry of motion. The ringing of metal against metal, the pounding of heavy footsteps, and the shrill sounds of screams had echoed throughout the space as an invading wave of violence swept the pristine halls. Now, in the aftermath, an unnatural stillness had come to replace the rush.
A young man turned the corner, whistling an old folk song to himself as he walked. He wore an electric blue uniform that was crumpled and ripped around its edges. The color was mirrored by the single glove he wore on his left hand. His right hand was bare, and a lingering ultramarine light outlined a string of letters and numbers across his skin.
One particularly large stain covered nearly the entire stomach region of his uniform, a dark rust red that crumbled slightly whenever the man moved. A few stray splotches of the same color dotted his messy hair and tan skin, but the man made no motion to wipe the droplets off. Nor did he move to clean the equally bloodied spear strapped behind his back, the metal glinting in the sunlight. He simply strode forward with the laxness of a casual stroll, his eyes drifting about the ruined hallway and still corpses.
Finally, after he’d passed by shattered portraits and kicked aside a few bodies blocking the way with his boots, the man came to a halt.
“Oh, there it is.”
Crouching down, the man picked up a single glove lying in a dark pool of viscous liquid. He shook it a few times, and the fabric made a squelching noise. He frowned. The glove was so stained that barely any of the original blue color remained, but on closer inspection, the cloth itself seemed to be holding up well enough. Shrugging, the man slid it on, hiding the glowing numbers that were only just beginning to fade from the back of his hand.
​
ALLEN
Magic Reserves: 101,897 / 122,043
Maximum Output: 13
Variability: 6
​
AFFINITIES
Energy: 50% Minor
Motion: 100% Major
Form: 50% Minor
Perception: 25% Basic
Emotions: 50% Minor
Mind: 25% Basic
Time: 0% None
Probability: 0% None
​
1 ACTIVE ATTUNEMENT
​
“Allen!”
The man in question turned at the sound of his name being called. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of a similarly dressed soldier running forward, who halted when he saw the wreckage within the hallway. Henry’s eyes swept across the scattered bodies, and after a moment of hesitation, he continued forward with careful steps.
The two of them had been watchmen in the same area before Allen had been promoted to Duke Valister’s personal guard, and they’d reunited during the coup’s planning stages. The man was rather friendly, even excessively so at times, and he’d always treated Allen with a somewhat uncomfortable degree of reverence despite being older. But then again, magical prowess always trumped age when it came to respect.
Henry came to a stop a few feet away. In comparison to Allen, his uniform, while still stained and rumpled, was in significantly better condition, and his two gloves were a plain brown rather than blue. He frowned when his eyes fell on Allen’s very bloody glove, shuddering slightly.
“Isn’t that uncomfortable?”
Allen stretched his fingers in response, and the gloves made a squishy sound. “Eh, it still works fine.” He took a moment to assess the other man, cocking his head to the side and grinning at Henry’s poorly concealed disgust. “What, you squeamish?”
“I’m not,” Henry insisted, not meeting his eyes. Allen took a step forward. The other man’s fidgeting was even more obvious up close, and now that he paid more attention, his pale skin had taken on a greenish hue. Allen’s eyes briefly swept over the scattered bodies before returning again. He raised an eyebrow.
“Need me to use emotion magic?”
That made Henry’s head snap up, eyes widening in alarm. “I didn’t know you had an affinity—no wait, that’s not the point.” He shook his head and cleared his throat. “I’m fine, I swear! I’m just, uh, more used to fighting Aberrations.” Not humans.
“It’s just a minor affinity, but I’ve gotten pretty good with it.” Allen shrugged. “Fair enough. Anyway, what’re you doing here?”
“We’re supposed to report to the throne room,” Henry explained. “I came to get you.”
Allen hummed in response. He turned and began to slowly head back down the hallway, Henry following at his heels. “So Raymoth’s dead, right?”
Henry’s eyes darted around nervously, as if he was worried a ghost would appear at the mere utterance of the name. He nodded and cleared his throat. “Yeah, uh, I heard Duke Valister and Duchess Rosevale both did it.”
Allen whistled. “Oh really? Figured it’d just be the Duchess.” Then again, Duke Valister’s disdain for the former Sovereign was well known among his guards. Hell, Allen was half convinced the main reason the Duke had joined the alliance at all was to be part of the Raymoth family’s demise.
Turning the corner, Allen continued down a wider hallway that was in significantly better condition than the one they’d just been in. Not as much direct fighting had taken place there, and any that did had been over fast enough to minimize the mess. Allen glanced around as they walked, but he couldn’t see any other soldiers around. He guessed most didn’t want to risk disrespecting the new Sovereign. He didn’t know her very well, but from the few times he’d seen Duchess Rosevale before and during the coup, he’d understood why her soldiers were so convinced of her victory. She moved with a silent, unyielding assuredness, as if she already was the Sovereign.
For a few minutes neither of the two spoke as they continued to weave their way through the admittedly large palace. Allen didn’t even know what half the rooms were for; he’d probably go crazy if he had to live somewhere like this.
Allen could feel Henry’s eyes watching him, and he turned his head back, eyebrow raised. “What?”
The other man coughed and looked away. “Sorry, it’s just…” his voice trailed. “Did you hear about the notes?”
Allen frowned and slowed his pace. “What notes?”
Henry stared at the ground ahead of them uncomfortably. “When they ransacked Sove—Duke Raymoth’s,” he corrected, “—notes, they found some really…disturbing stuff. Something about magic experiments going on in northern Vanstead, kidnapping kids, stuff like that.” He swallowed, voice quieting to barely above a whisper. “But the thing is, they showed the notes to the Duke and Duchess, but they said it didn’t concern them. I heard—I heard Duke Valister even said it’d be interesting to keep an eye on them.”
That sounded exactly like something the Duke would say. The two of them turned another corner. Allen also didn’t doubt for a second that the Raymoths would’ve been involved in something like that. Aldridge Raymoth had gone a bit off the deep end in the past decade, and continued magic experiments on children sounded exactly like the sort of thing he would resort to.
“Do you really think they’re gonna let them continue?” Henry asked, voice visibly distressed. Surely the new regime will be better than that, was the unspoken thought.
Before Allen could respond, however, a third voice interrupted them.
“You’re late.”
The two came to a halt as a new figure stepped forward from behind a pillar. Allen frowned in recognition.
Desmond Reinford was one of the commanding officers of the Rosevales’ troops. He was around the same age as Allen, but the similarities stopped there. His uniform, as opposed to blue, was a deep red color that contrasted against his dark skin and hair. The man stood slightly shorter than average, but had such impeccable posture that he often seemed taller, unlike Allen who perpetually slouched. His uniform was crisp and without a single stain or tear in sight, and the sheathed rapier at his waist looked equally pristine. If Allen hadn’t seen the man during the coup, he would’ve thought that he hadn’t fought at all.
What most stood out, however, were the man’s gloves. They were a pure, stark white that almost seemed to glow in the quickly dimming hallway. Allen stared at them.
“Looks like someone got promoted.”
Henry nudged his elbow, but Allen didn’t stop staring. His friend laughed nervously. “Sorry sir, we, uh, got lost in the hallways?”
“I dropped my glove,” Allen said bluntly. He pointed at the stained glove in question. It was beginning to dry now, and the fabric was a little stiff.
Desmond met his gaze, eyes cold and sharp. Allen heard Henry swallow beside him.
“I see,” the man said. He gestured down the hallway, where the large, heavy throne room doors stood in the distance. Their deep mahogany surface shone, the light highlighting the intricate carvings detailing Augustein’s myths. All three of the major houses’ crests were carved into the wood, though where the banner of the ruling house would normally hang was empty, soon to be replaced with a new dynasty. Allen couldn’t help but wonder if they’d get a new door, one with the Valister’s crest replacing the Raymoths. Coups had happened plenty of times in their history, but never had one of the three major houses been completely decimated like this.
“The Sovereign is giving promotions and rewards to those of us who fought in the coup,” Desmond said. “I suggest you go before all the ore is taken.” Without another word, the man turned and strode away, likely to check the rest of the palace for stragglers, Allen guessed.
Beside him, Henry’s eyes lit up at the mention of magic ore, only to immediately deflate when the rest of Desmond’s words settled. Allen slapped him on the back.
“Don’t worry, they’ve probably got specific ore rations set aside for everyone. No way they’d just let us take them in a free for all.” Allen was frankly impressed that they were giving away ore at all, considering how stingy the nobility was with it.
Henry looked hopeful at that. “You think?”
Allen nodded. “Yeah, don’t worry. He’s just being an asshole.”
The other man winced slightly. His eyes darted around. “Uh, maybe you shouldn’t say that out loud? Especially, especially if he’s a Rose now.”
“Oh he definitely is.” No one wore white gloves but the Roses, the elite soldiers who served the Sovereign directly and were the most effective at combating Aberrations. All of them were certified as court magicians, and they were handpicked by the Sovereign. Considering the old Sovereign was now dead and a significant chunk of the former Roses had gone down with him, Allen guessed Duchess Rosevale was combing through her personal guard for people to promote. As far as he knew, Desmond had already passed the court magician test, so he would’ve been an easy pick.
He cracked his shoulder and sighed. The adrenaline rush from the coup had been fading for a while now, but now that the sun had nearly set fully and the shadows of the hallway had grown to engulf a majority of its surface, a new wave of exhaustion was settling into his bones.
“Come on, let’s hurry up,” he said. Henry nodded and hurried behind him.
As they passed by a tall window, Allen took a moment to glance outside. A few sprays of stars were visible in the darkening sky, and he could see city lights glowing in the distance as the lamplighters made their rounds. It was, by all accounts, a peaceful night, one that continued completely divorced from the happenings in the palace.
Surely the whole city would’ve heard about the coup. Allen wondered if even now, citizens were huddled together in their homes, or if they stood outside straining their necks to see what was happening in the palace. Waiting to learn the fate of the country.
Allen peeled his eyes away, facing forward and continuing down the hallway towards the throne room.
—
Penrith, Vanstead Dukedom of Augustein Year 995
High up in the watchtower, the villagers looked like a dark stream flowing between the buildings and flooding down the dirt road, some running south, others crossing streets for final traveling preparations and goodbyes.
Two nights ago, the forest had swallowed the village north of them. The watchman had seen it happen, had witnessed the ground tremble and the branches snake out, enveloping the homes, growing and then shrinking, twisting and dancing among the perfectly still buildings. He was almost glad no one had been outside, because that way he didn’t have to see the victims. But then, if the residents of those homes were outdoors, perhaps they would’ve managed to escape.
Or maybe he had seen the bodies and simply hadn’t recognized them, hadn’t managed to distinguish them from the twisted trunks and undulating ground. The warping of the forest was no more merciful to any living creatures who stumbled upon it, and the watchman, for all his years observing the shifting trees, couldn’t say with confidence that he’d be able to tell a corpse apart.
The man leaned forward against the wooden railing, peering down at the commotion. Given the speed the forest had moved at, he estimated they had a week at most before this town, too, was consumed. His own single bag lay packed near the front door of his home, ready to be picked up at a moment’s notice. Though he estimated most would be gone within the next three days, maybe excluding some particularly stubborn folks, the watchman didn’t plan on escaping until everyone else was gone first. Useless sentiment though it may be, he still had his pride.
The waves of people finally began to thin down as the current crowd left, leaving behind the remaining villagers. About twice as many people had left that day than the day before, the watchman estimated.
He sighed and shook his head. Now that the chaos had died down, those lingering on the streets continued with their business. His eyes glanced down at his watch, and he realized his shift had ended three minutes ago.
The watchman stepped back from the railing and stretched his arms. Maybe he’d stop by the tavern. Wallace, the owner, was adamant about keeping it open until “the last damn day we got,” which he appreciated. Just as he turned to go, however, a flash of orange caught his eye. He frowned and leaned over the wooden railing to peer further down the streets.
There, entering from the southern gates, a figure moved opposite to the direction the fleeing stream had taken.
A young woman was walking leisurely forward, her short wavy hair glinting as it caught the rays of sunlight. The lack of panic, hurry, or fear in her eyes made the watchman blink. There was only casual curiosity, as though she had simply been on a stroll and ran across an interesting plant. Her medium brown complexion was somewhat rare in northern Vanstead; perhaps she was from the south and hadn’t heard about the forest creeping closer? The watchman didn’t know how else to make sense of someone deliberately choosing to enter the town at such a time.
The closer the woman approached, the more details became evident. The watchman’s eyes widened.
The woman’s bare arms were covered in scars. Long, jagged lines and thin, thread-like marks. Raised bursts and patches of wrinkled and pulled skin. Some scars had an almost systematic pattern to them, neat and intentioned, while others were so chaotically scattered that it was impossible to differentiate where one began and another one ended.
For several moments the watchman simply stared at her, unable to peel his eyes away, when a sudden movement broke him out of his trance. The woman was waving enthusiastically in his direction.
Brow furrowed, the watchman watched as the woman ran up to the base of the tower, moving deceptively fast. She grinned up at him, beaming and utterly uncaring of the twisting forest approaching in the distance or of the half empty village and the stares she was already receiving.
Head tilted back, her green eyes seemed to glow in the light.
“Hey, can you give me some directions?”
​
First Previous Next
Royal Road Patreon
​
Author's Note:

Hello, I hope you're enjoying the story so far! I decided to finally post here after lurking for a while now. I'm planning on slowly posting all the chapters I've already published on Royal Road, one per day so I don't spam the sub.
Fair warning, I absolutely suck at formatting things on Reddit (trying to format this chapter was a struggle), so sorry in advance for any formatting issues.
Thanks for reading!

Hello! Consolidating past posts into one final lot, a lot of stuff purchased dating back the past decade. Continental US shipping $5, shipping using new BagsUnlimited mailers with records outside sleeves/proper shipping methods. PayPal only, no Friends & Family. Grading is conservative. Message if interested. Records that are $5 and under I'll do 3-for-$15 w/ free shipping.
Obliteration - Nekropsalms (Yellow) VG+ - $10
Shining - IX Everyone, Everything, Everywhere, Ends (First Pressing Black) VG+ - $10
Toxik Death - Happy Fukking Holocaust (VG+) - $10
Mayhem - Live in Leipzig (Purple) VG, creasing on corner - $15
Cattle Decapitation - The Harvest Floor (2014 Reissue - Silver w/ Red Splattter) VG+, cover wear -- $15
Today is the Day - Animal Mother (VG) -$5
Excel - The Jokes On You (Southern Lord 2016 Reissue) VG edge wear - $8
Hells Headbangers Compilation Vol. 6 2xLP (VG) - $4
The Funeral Orchestra - Feeding the Abyss Reissue (G, Corner major bending) - $4
Statiqbloom - Mask Visions Poison (Clear) VG+ -- $8
Cloud Mouth - That Ghost is Always With Me (Chron Cloud) VG+ - $4
Rodeo Idiot Engine - Consequences (White with Black Haze, VG w/ corners that have creasing -- $4
WarHorse - As Heaven Turns To Ash (Black, VG+) -- $7
Aura Noir - Black Thrash Attack (Black - Neseblod Reissue VG+) -- $12
Bleak - We Deserve Our Failures (Blue, VG+) -- $4
Karma to Burn - S/T (2014 Metal Blade, VG+) -- $9
Thrones - Day Late, Dollar Short (Grey 2005 Southern Lord, VG+) -- $9
Class of Nuke 'em High - Soundtrack (2014 180G, VG+) -- $13
The Music of Cosmos (Japan, VG+) -- $5
The Soft Pink Truth -- Why Do The Heathen Rage? (Pink, VG+) -- $8
BIT.TRIP's Greatest Chips (Multicolored Picture Disc, VG+) -- $8
The Mothers -- Over-Nite Sensation, MS 2149 1973 Gatefold – Fair Plus (Disc playable, has some wear, gatefold is in tact but heavy wear on corners and edges) – $4
Berlin - Pleasure Victim – 1983 Reissue – Good (price stickers on bottom line, wear on edges) – $4
Michael Jackson - Thriller – 1982 Stereo – Poor (Album has severe damage on bottom of cover) – $4
Michael Jackson - Black or White Single 1991 – Good (sticker wear on front and back cover) – $4
Iron Butterly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida -- ATCO SD 33-250 -- Fair Plus (cover weabends) -- $4
John Lennon/Yoko Ono -- Double Fantasy -- 1980 Geffen -- G (slight creases along edge of cover) -- $4
The Jam -- All Mod Cons --1978 -- G (slight creases along edge of cover) -- $4
The United States of America -- S/T 2008 Reissue -- VG (some wear on cover, comes with original envelope sleeve) -- $12
Wes Montgomery -- Tequila -- Japan Import -- G (some wear on cover) -- $12
Wake Up You! The Rise and Fall of Nigerian Rock 1972-1977 Vol. 1 - (2016) - VG (Originally came with a paperback book separate, that's not included) - $9
Songs and Dance of Syria - G (shelf wear along edges) - $4
Land of Africa - 1985 12" 45rpm - G (weabends on corners/edges) - $4
National Wake - Walk in Africa 1979-81 (if unfamiliar, kind of like a South African Clash or Minutemen) - 2013 Light in the Attic Records - VG - $6
Shugo Tokumaru - L.S.T. (White w/ Black Marble) VG+ -- $12
Washed Out - Paracosm (Black) VG+ -- $15
Violent Sons - Nothing As It Seems (Smoke) VG - $7
Jaguar Love - Hologram Jams, VG - $8
Native - Wrestling Moves (Repress Clear Red w/ Black Smoke) VG+ - $12
Dyse - Das Nation (White VG - $15
Yngwie Malmsteen - Rising Force - 1984 Black - Good Plus (some wear around edges) - $10
I Don't Want To Be A Part Of Your So Called Punk - Compilation (Norway punk compilation) VG - $10Entrance - Prayer of Death , VG+ - $10
Carpathian - Isolation (No cover) - $4
Ramming Speed/ANS 12" Split, VG+ -- $7
Electric Eel Shock - Transworld Ultra Rock -- Blue -- Good plus (some general wear; cover is autographed by band member) -- $10
Man or Astro-man? - Experiment Zero -- 2010 reissue, VG -- $10
The Misfits - WCBN Michigan Live (Blue Translucent 1989 Vinyl Not On Label), Good (some wear and creasing along jacket) https://www.discogs.com/release/2128191-The-Misfits-Michigan-WCBN -- Please only reach out if serious and have previous trades for this one, open to discussing it as there's just not a ton out there on it and bootlegs aren't on Discogs -- $65
Velvet Underground - S/T (Either 2005 or 2012 pressing, can't discern and purchased in early 2010s so hard to say, any advice appreciated) -- Good Plus (some cover dents on corners) - $15
Additionally, a lot of three Rough Guide records ($15). These were ordered a few years ago from Music Rough Guides and they shipped them poorly, so each has noticeable sleeve dings on the corners. With that said, the records themselves are in VG+ condition. Included are:
Rough Guide to African Blues
Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia
Rough Guide to African Rare Groove Volume 1

Hi ecommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry pretty closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: 70% of e-commerce shoppers experienced shipping delays without any reason provided by the business for the delay. Faced with that experience, 90% of respondents said they are less likely to buy from a brand again after a poor online shopping experience, while 29% say they are increasingly willing to share a negative review online. – According to Koerber .
2. If some of Temu's deals appear too good to be true — it's because they are! An analysis of the company's supply chain costs by WIRED shows that Temu is losing an average of $30 per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American market. Most of Temu's subsidies are in the form of free international shipping, with even a small package costing the company around $14 to ship to the US (although it offers the shipping for free). When adding in the additional product discounts and cash coupons that Temu gives to customers, the average loss per order jumps to $30. .
3. The FTC has proposed new rules in the US called “click to cancel” that will impact e-commerce subscriptions — but in a good way for consumers! The rules would require any business selling subscriptions to add a simple cancel mechanism on the same website as the initial transaction, and include the same number of steps. In other words, a “one click subscription” would require a “one click cancelation.” This “click to cancel” rule is part of the FTC's proposed changes to its 1973 Negative Option Rule, which establishes how subscription sellers must communicate offers, ensure consent, manage billing, and simplify cancellation. .
4. BigCommerce announced new leadership including the appointment of Daniel Lentz as the company's CFO, Chuck Cassidy as its General Counsel, and Hubert Ban as its Chief Accounting Officer. .
5. Google is launching Product Studio, a new tool that allows Shopping merchants to quickly edit and customize their product images for free using generative AI. According to Google's data, product listings with more than one image typically see a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks compared to listings with a single image. With the new generative AI tool, text prompts can be used within Product Studio to quickly make visual adjustments to product images, such as generating new backgrounds for seasonal campaigns. The tool also allows sellers to instantly remove the existing background of an image if they need a blank backdrop, and increase the quality of small or low resolution images. .
6. Morning Consult published their annual report of Most Trusted Brands for 2023. The survey ranks roughly 1,500 brands in the US, most of which were dominated by big, well-established names including: #1 Band-Aid, #2 UPS, #3 Amazon, #4 Lysol, #5 Kleenex, #6 Cheerios, #7 Visa, #8 Dove, #9 The Weather Channel, and #10 FedEx .
7. Axios, in collaboration with market research firm Harris Poll, also ran a recent survey to determine the Most Reputable Brands in the US. The results were very different from Morning Consult's most trusted brands. Only one company overlapped in the top ten which included: #1 Patagonia, #2 Costco, #3 John Deere, #4 Trader Joe's, #5 Chick-fil-A, #6 Toyota, #7 Samsung, #8 Amazon, #9 USAA, and #10 Apple . Bottom of the list included: #90 Family Dollar, #91 Balenciaga, #92 BP, #93 Bitcoin, #94 TikTok, #95 Spirit Airlines, #96 Meta, #97 Twitter, #98 Fox, #99 FTX, and #100 The Trump Organization .
8. The latest data from PYMNTS shows that high earners are feeling the pinch of credit card debt and that their wages aren't keeping up with inflation. This is resulting in higher-end retailers who depend on wealthier households feeling the pinch as well. The data shows a number of correlations including that for bouseholds earning more than $100k annually, 42% were living paycheck-to-paycheck in April 2022. That number has crept up to over 49% this past year. .
9. Netflix must have forgotten what love is since 2017 when it made its famous tweet that “Love is sharing a password.” The company has finally launched its ill-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the US and the UK. The new rules state that subscribers are permitted to share their account with members of their own household, which Netflix defines as “you and the people you live with.” Netflix will begin using a variety of tools, such as IP checking, to spot when people are using another household’s account and prevent them from doing so, or give them the option of adding a household for $7.99/month. The company expects cancellations, but optimistically (or idiotically) predicts that those same people will come back again, which will overall lead to more people paying for subscriptions. .
10. Laws are changing in Australia to treat BNPL as a credit product. Finally! When was it NOT a form of credit? BNPL should have been recognized as a credit product the day the first BNPL company put up a coming soon landing page. Australia’s Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said that a litany of issues reported to the Australia Securities and Investments Commission have added up to “unacceptable levels of unaffordable lending occurring, largely concentrated amongst low-income borrowers.” He added that “BNPL looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risks of credit.” Jones promised draft legislation in the coming months and the introduction of a final bill to the Australian Parliament by the end of the year, which will include the need for BNPL firms to hold Australian Credit Licenses and comply with Resonspible Lending Obligations. .
11. Bill Gates said that AI could kill Google Search and Amazon as we know them, and that the technology could radically alter user behaviors, resulting in people never needing to visit a search website again or use certain productivity or shopping tools. Gates remarked that the first company to develop it will have a leg up on competitors. .
12. A recent study conducted by Lloyds Banking Group revealed that a UK consumer falls victim to a purchasing scam that originates on Facebook or Instagram every seven minutes, resulting in a cost of over £500k per week. (That man is Michael Scott.) The banking group is now urging Meta and other tech giants to take responsibility and contribute to refunding innocent victims of scams. .
13. Analysts at Bernstein project that Reliance Industries is poised to outpace Amazon and Flipkart in the race for India's $150M e-commerce market, citing the conglomerate's robust retail network, mobile network, and home field advantage as its biggest assets. Reliance already operates the country's largest retail chain with over 18k stores and is leveraging its presence to form partnerships with Meta, Shein, and other companies as a strategic advantage against its competitors. .
14. Shopify is introducing its POS hardware to the Canadian market. Its mobile selling device, the POS Go, which is built to run Shopify’s POS software, was first rolled out to retailers in the US in 2022. .
15. Meta announced that ads in Instagram search results will now be available through the Instagram Marketing API, allowing third-party social-management platforms to offer a new Instagram ad-placement type in their apps. Meta began testing the placement in March and are now opening it up to all brands. .
16. Shein is exploring plans to build a factory in Mexico as one of its manufacturing hubs outside China, which could shorten shipping time and cut distribution costs for customers in Latin America and USA. Earlier this month I reported that Shein is creating a hub in Brazil. .
17. Amazon opened the first phase of its Metropolitan Park on Monday, its long-awaited second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia that can hold up to 8k employees. However not all Amazon employees are excited about the new office location (or any office location). At least 1,000 office workers are planning a walkout this Wednesday to take a stand against the company's return-to-office mandate. .
18. The Vietnamese government is putting pressure on TikTok to police its content and remove videos that fall short of the state’s standards, or risk a ban. Eight government departments are targeting toxic content deemed “to pose a threat to the country’s youth, culture and tradition” — including videos that simply criticize college degrees. .
19. eBay unveiled generative AI on its mobile app to help sellers list new items for sale, however the company forgot to inform sellers and didn't label the icon. When clicked, the icon replaced sellers' entire product descriptions with AI generated text, with no way to recover the original description. .
20. Boozt AB, a Sweden-based online fashion retailer, blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items, calling their actions too costly for the company and the environment. The company said that these particular customers represented less than 2% of their 3M customers, but around 25% of the total return volume. .
21. Twitter withdrew from an agreement with the EU to cut down misinformation on its social network, which the company joined alongside other tech companies in 2018. Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner, noted that fighting disinformation will be a legal obligation from August 25th, due to the EU's Digital Services Act, so the agreement would become irrelevant. .
22. Jeff Bezos is ripped now! The Amazon founder started working with personal trainer, Wes Okerson, who's also trained Tom Cruise and Gerard Butler, and now he's gotten super buff. This is about the least e-commerce specific news you'll ever see me share in this newsletter, but the Jeff Bezos before / after photo is kind of wild! .
23. Amazon will close its official Amazon app store in China on July 17, which launched in 2011 as an alternative to the Google Play Store. Amazon noted that its marketplaces and AWS services will remain operational in China. However while it may be leaving China, the Amazon App Store will soon be bringing more Android apps to the Windows ecosystem. The expanded partnership will allow Windows users to access a wider range of Android apps seamlessly. .
24. Google updated the badges some merchants display for their product listings in Google Search to say “Top Quality Store” instead of the original “Trusted Store” badge. Google said this is just a name and title change and won't have any impact on search rank or performance. .
25. Auctane, an e-commerce shipping specialist that operates brands such as Metapack, ShipStation, Packlink, ShipEngine, Stamps.com, and others, appointed Albert Ko as its new CEO, who previously served as CEO of EWS, which is best known for the Zelle payments network. Current CEO Nathan Jones will join the company's Board of Directors. .
26. eCampus.com, a website that sells textbooks and course materials, announced that it would keep offering textbook rentals, even though its retail partner Amazon was exiting the business. The company had been powering the program behind the scenes for Amazon since 2012, and plans to keep it going through its own website. .
27. Walmart is partnering with Pawp, a veterinary telehealth provider, to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual veterinarians for a year, starting this week. Currently Pawp charges $99 for an annual membership. .
28. Alibaba Group said that it aims to hire 15,000 people this year, dismissing rumors circulating that the company planned to cut 20% of its staff. They also mentioned that more than 3,000 of those hires would be newly-graduated students. .
29. Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including a $12M Series A round by Laced to grow its resale marketplace for authenticated sneakers.

I hope you find this news recap helpful. See you next week!
-PAUL

Hi ShopifyeCommerce - I'm Paul and I follow the e-commerce industry closely for my Shopifreaks E-commerce Newsletter. Each week I post a summary recap of this week's top stories, which I cover in depth in the newsletter. .

1. STAT OF THE WEEK: 70% of e-commerce shoppers experienced shipping delays without any reason provided by the business for the delay. Faced with that experience, 90% of respondents said they are less likely to buy from a brand again after a poor online shopping experience, while 29% say they are increasingly willing to share a negative review online. – According to Koerber .
2. If some of Temu's deals appear too good to be true — it's because they are! An analysis of the company's supply chain costs by WIRED shows that Temu is losing an average of $30 per order as it throws money at trying to break into the American market. Most of Temu's subsidies are in the form of free international shipping, with even a small package costing the company around $14 to ship to the US (although it offers the shipping for free). When adding in the additional product discounts and cash coupons that Temu gives to customers, the average loss per order jumps to $30. .
3. The FTC has proposed new rules in the US called “click to cancel” that will impact e-commerce subscriptions — but in a good way for consumers! The rules would require any business selling subscriptions to add a simple cancel mechanism on the same website as the initial transaction, and include the same number of steps. In other words, a “one click subscription” would require a “one click cancelation.” This “click to cancel” rule is part of the FTC's proposed changes to its 1973 Negative Option Rule, which establishes how subscription sellers must communicate offers, ensure consent, manage billing, and simplify cancellation. .
4. BigCommerce announced new leadership including the appointment of Daniel Lentz as the company's CFO, Chuck Cassidy as its General Counsel, and Hubert Ban as its Chief Accounting Officer. .
5. Google is launching Product Studio, a new tool that allows Shopping merchants to quickly edit and customize their product images for free using generative AI. According to Google's data, product listings with more than one image typically see a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks compared to listings with a single image. With the new generative AI tool, text prompts can be used within Product Studio to quickly make visual adjustments to product images, such as generating new backgrounds for seasonal campaigns. The tool also allows sellers to instantly remove the existing background of an image if they need a blank backdrop, and increase the quality of small or low resolution images. .
6. Morning Consult published their annual report of Most Trusted Brands for 2023. The survey ranks roughly 1,500 brands in the US, most of which were dominated by big, well-established names including: #1 Band-Aid, #2 UPS, #3 Amazon, #4 Lysol, #5 Kleenex, #6 Cheerios, #7 Visa, #8 Dove, #9 The Weather Channel, and #10 FedEx .
7. Axios, in collaboration with market research firm Harris Poll, also ran a recent survey to determine the Most Reputable Brands in the US. The results were very different from Morning Consult's most trusted brands. Only one company overlapped in the top ten which included: #1 Patagonia, #2 Costco, #3 John Deere, #4 Trader Joe's, #5 Chick-fil-A, #6 Toyota, #7 Samsung, #8 Amazon, #9 USAA, and #10 Apple . Bottom of the list included: #90 Family Dollar, #91 Balenciaga, #92 BP, #93 Bitcoin, #94 TikTok, #95 Spirit Airlines, #96 Meta, #97 Twitter, #98 Fox, #99 FTX, and #100 The Trump Organization .
8. The latest data from PYMNTS shows that high earners are feeling the pinch of credit card debt and that their wages aren't keeping up with inflation. This is resulting in higher-end retailers who depend on wealthier households feeling the pinch as well. The data shows a number of correlations including that for bouseholds earning more than $100k annually, 42% were living paycheck-to-paycheck in April 2022. That number has crept up to over 49% this past year. .
9. Netflix must have forgotten what love is since 2017 when it made its famous tweet that “Love is sharing a password.” The company has finally launched its ill-awaited crackdown on password sharing in the US and the UK. The new rules state that subscribers are permitted to share their account with members of their own household, which Netflix defines as “you and the people you live with.” Netflix will begin using a variety of tools, such as IP checking, to spot when people are using another household’s account and prevent them from doing so, or give them the option of adding a household for $7.99/month. The company expects cancellations, but optimistically (or idiotically) predicts that those same people will come back again, which will overall lead to more people paying for subscriptions. .
10. Laws are changing in Australia to treat BNPL as a credit product. Finally! When was it NOT a form of credit? BNPL should have been recognized as a credit product the day the first BNPL company put up a coming soon landing page. Australia’s Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Stephen Jones said that a litany of issues reported to the Australia Securities and Investments Commission have added up to “unacceptable levels of unaffordable lending occurring, largely concentrated amongst low-income borrowers.” He added that “BNPL looks like credit, it acts like credit, it carries the risks of credit.” Jones promised draft legislation in the coming months and the introduction of a final bill to the Australian Parliament by the end of the year, which will include the need for BNPL firms to hold Australian Credit Licenses and comply with Resonspible Lending Obligations. .
11. Bill Gates said that AI could kill Google Search and Amazon as we know them, and that the technology could radically alter user behaviors, resulting in people never needing to visit a search website again or use certain productivity or shopping tools. Gates remarked that the first company to develop it will have a leg up on competitors. .
12. A recent study conducted by Lloyds Banking Group revealed that a UK consumer falls victim to a purchasing scam that originates on Facebook or Instagram every seven minutes, resulting in a cost of over £500k per week. (That man is Michael Scott.) The banking group is now urging Meta and other tech giants to take responsibility and contribute to refunding innocent victims of scams. .
13. Analysts at Bernstein project that Reliance Industries is poised to outpace Amazon and Flipkart in the race for India's $150M e-commerce market, citing the conglomerate's robust retail network, mobile network, and home field advantage as its biggest assets. Reliance already operates the country's largest retail chain with over 18k stores and is leveraging its presence to form partnerships with Meta, Shein, and other companies as a strategic advantage against its competitors. .
14. Shopify is introducing its POS hardware to the Canadian market. Its mobile selling device, the POS Go, which is built to run Shopify’s POS software, was first rolled out to retailers in the US in 2022. .
15. Meta announced that ads in Instagram search results will now be available through the Instagram Marketing API, allowing third-party social-management platforms to offer a new Instagram ad-placement type in their apps. Meta began testing the placement in March and are now opening it up to all brands. .
16. Shein is exploring plans to build a factory in Mexico as one of its manufacturing hubs outside China, which could shorten shipping time and cut distribution costs for customers in Latin America and USA. Earlier this month I reported that Shein is creating a hub in Brazil. .
17. Amazon opened the first phase of its Metropolitan Park on Monday, its long-awaited second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia that can hold up to 8k employees. However not all Amazon employees are excited about the new office location (or any office location). At least 1,000 office workers are planning a walkout this Wednesday to take a stand against the company's return-to-office mandate. .
18. The Vietnamese government is putting pressure on TikTok to police its content and remove videos that fall short of the state’s standards, or risk a ban. Eight government departments are targeting toxic content deemed “to pose a threat to the country’s youth, culture and tradition” — including videos that simply criticize college degrees. .
19. eBay unveiled generative AI on its mobile app to help sellers list new items for sale, however the company forgot to inform sellers and didn't label the icon. When clicked, the icon replaced sellers' entire product descriptions with AI generated text, with no way to recover the original description. .
20. Boozt AB, a Sweden-based online fashion retailer, blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items, calling their actions too costly for the company and the environment. The company said that these particular customers represented less than 2% of their 3M customers, but around 25% of the total return volume. .
21. Twitter withdrew from an agreement with the EU to cut down misinformation on its social network, which the company joined alongside other tech companies in 2018. Thierry Breton, the EU internal market commissioner, noted that fighting disinformation will be a legal obligation from August 25th, due to the EU's Digital Services Act, so the agreement would become irrelevant. .
22. Jeff Bezos is ripped now! The Amazon founder started working with personal trainer, Wes Okerson, who's also trained Tom Cruise and Gerard Butler, and now he's gotten super buff. This is about the least e-commerce specific news you'll ever see me share in this newsletter, but the Jeff Bezos before / after photo is kind of wild! .
23. Amazon will close its official Amazon app store in China on July 17, which launched in 2011 as an alternative to the Google Play Store. Amazon noted that its marketplaces and AWS services will remain operational in China. However while it may be leaving China, the Amazon App Store will soon be bringing more Android apps to the Windows ecosystem. The expanded partnership will allow Windows users to access a wider range of Android apps seamlessly. .
24. Google updated the badges some merchants display for their product listings in Google Search to say “Top Quality Store” instead of the original “Trusted Store” badge. Google said this is just a name and title change and won't have any impact on search rank or performance. .
25. Auctane, an e-commerce shipping specialist that operates brands such as Metapack, ShipStation, Packlink, ShipEngine, Stamps.com, and others, appointed Albert Ko as its new CEO, who previously served as CEO of EWS, which is best known for the Zelle payments network. Current CEO Nathan Jones will join the company's Board of Directors. .
26. eCampus.com, a website that sells textbooks and course materials, announced that it would keep offering textbook rentals, even though its retail partner Amazon was exiting the business. The company had been powering the program behind the scenes for Amazon since 2012, and plans to keep it going through its own website. .
27. Walmart is partnering with Pawp, a veterinary telehealth provider, to offer Walmart+ subscribers free access to virtual veterinarians for a year, starting this week. Currently Pawp charges $99 for an annual membership. .
28. Alibaba Group said that it aims to hire 15,000 people this year, dismissing rumors circulating that the company planned to cut 20% of its staff. They also mentioned that more than 3,000 of those hires would be newly-graduated students. .
29. Plus 7 seed rounds, IPOs, and acquisitions of interest including a $12M Series A round by Laced to grow its resale marketplace for authenticated sneakers.

For more details on each story, see the full edition: https://www.shopifreaks.com/how-much-money-does-temu-lose-per-orde
What else is new in e-commerce? Share stories of interesting in the comments below (including in your own business) or on shopifreaks.
See you next week.
-PAUL

Everything in my inventory is up for trade. The most valuable items are listed here, the rest you can find in My Inventory

Feel free to Add Me or even better send a Trade Offer. Open for any suggestions: upgrades, downgrades / knives, gloves, skins / stickers, patterns, floats.

All Buyouts are listed in cash value.

KNIVES

★ Butterfly Knife Freehand FN #1, B/O: $2500

★ Butterfly Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $822

★ Butterfly Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $616

⎯

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW #1, B/O: $1300

★ Bayonet Autotronic FN, B/O: $1050

★ Bayonet Tiger Tooth MW, B/O: $629

★ Bayonet Bright Water FT, B/O: $326

★ Bayonet Safari Mesh BS, B/O: $233

⎯

★ Karambit Lore FT, B/O: $1110

★ Karambit Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $840

★ Karambit Freehand MW, B/O: $784

★ Karambit Bright Water MW, B/O: $759

⎯

★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Fade FN, B/O: $1801

★ M9 Bayonet Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $751

⎯

★ Nomad Knife Fade FN, B/O: $1156

★ Nomad Knife Slaughter MW, B/O: $544

★ Nomad Knife Blue Steel WW, B/O: $318

⎯

★ Flip Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $646

★ Flip Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $574

★ Flip Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) MW, B/O: $552

★ Flip Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $257

★ Flip Knife Freehand FT, B/O: $255

★ StatTrak™ Flip Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $287

⎯

★ Huntsman Knife Lore FN, B/O: $461

★ Huntsman Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $436

★ Huntsman Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $353

★ Huntsman Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $212

★ Huntsman Knife Bright Water FT, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT MW, B/O: $129

★ Huntsman Knife Forest DDPAT BS, B/O: $123

★ StatTrak™ Huntsman Knife Rust Coat BS, B/O: $127

⎯

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $375

★ Bowie Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $363

★ Bowie Knife Tiger Tooth FN, B/O: $269

★ Bowie Knife Crimson Web WW, B/O: $192

★ Bowie Knife Bright Water FN, B/O: $159

★ Bowie Knife Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $126

⎯

★ Stiletto Knife Slaughter FN, B/O: $616

★ Stiletto Knife Crimson Web FT, B/O: $412

★ StatTrak™ Stiletto Knife Night Stripe FT, B/O: $227

⎯

★ Falchion Knife Lore FT, B/O: $214

★ Falchion Knife Autotronic FT, B/O: $192

★ Falchion Knife Scorched WW, B/O: $105

⎯

★ Survival Knife Crimson Web BS, B/O: $216

★ Survival Knife Case Hardened FT, B/O: $198

★ Survival Knife Scorched FT, B/O: $111

⎯

★ Shadow Daggers Fade FN, B/O: $368

★ Shadow Daggers Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $228

★ Shadow Daggers, B/O: $201

★ Shadow Daggers Damascus Steel FT, B/O: $108

★ Shadow Daggers Ultraviolet FT, B/O: $105

★ Shadow Daggers Black Laminate FT, B/O: $99

★ Shadow Daggers Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $85

⎯

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Sapphire) MW #1, B/O: $1700

★ Gut Knife Gamma Doppler (Phase 1) FN, B/O: $223

★ Gut Knife Marble Fade FN, B/O: $203

★ Gut Knife Doppler (Phase 2) FN, B/O: $191

★ Gut Knife Case Hardened BS, B/O: $127

⎯

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife Doppler (Phase 4) FN, B/O: $199

★ Navaja Knife, B/O: $138

★ Navaja Knife Damascus Steel FN, B/O: $111

⎯

★ Classic Knife Urban Masked FT, B/O: $146

★ StatTrak™ Classic Knife Stained BS, B/O: $168

⎯

★ Ursus Knife Doppler (Phase 3) FN, B/O: $476

★ Ursus Knife, B/O: $375

⎯

★ Skeleton Knife, B/O: $1137

★ Talon Knife, B/O: $608

★ Paracord Knife, B/O: $305

★ Survival Knife Forest DDPAT FT, B/O: $97

GLOVES

★ Moto Gloves Transport MW, B/O: $204

★ Moto Gloves Polygon BS, B/O: $142

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves Blood Pressure BS, B/O: $84

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

★ Moto Gloves 3rd Commando Company BS, B/O: $63

⎯

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Kimono WW, B/O: $1215

★ Specialist Gloves Tiger Strike FT, B/O: $672

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander FT, B/O: $305

★ Specialist Gloves Lt. Commander BS, B/O: $140

★ Specialist Gloves Crimson Web BS, B/O: $137

★ Specialist Gloves Buckshot FT, B/O: $75

⎯

★ Driver Gloves Crimson Weave FT, B/O: $359

★ Driver Gloves Imperial Plaid BS, B/O: $229

★ Driver Gloves Overtake BS, B/O: $77

★ Driver Gloves Racing Green FT, B/O: $48

⎯

★ Sport Gloves Omega FT, B/O: $739

★ Sport Gloves Amphibious BS #2, B/O: $733

★ Sport Gloves Arid BS, B/O: $292

⎯

★ Hand Wraps Giraffe MW, B/O: $212

★ Hand Wraps Leather FT, B/O: $160

★ Hand Wraps Desert Shamagh MW, B/O: $101

⎯

★ Broken Fang Gloves Yellow-banded MW, B/O: $185

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point FT, B/O: $67

★ Broken Fang Gloves Needle Point WW, B/O: $59

⎯

★ Hydra Gloves Case Hardened BS, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald FT, B/O: $65

★ Hydra Gloves Emerald BS, B/O: $62

WEAPONS

AK-47 Case Hardened BS, B/O: $130

AK-47 Bloodsport MW, B/O: $79

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Fuel Injector BS, B/O: $76

AK-47 Bloodsport FT, B/O: $70

AK-47 Neon Rider MW, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AK-47 Aquamarine Revenge FT, B/O: $72

⎯

AWP Fade FN, B/O: $1039

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Asiimov FT, B/O: $139

AWP Wildfire MW, B/O: $95

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP BOOM MW, B/O: $93

AWP Duality FN, B/O: $81

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Asiimov BS, B/O: $79

AWP Chromatic Aberration FN, B/O: $60

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Hyper Beast FT, B/O: $68

StatTrak™ AWP Electric Hive FT, B/O: $55

⎯

Desert Eagle Blaze FN, B/O: $623

Desert Eagle Emerald Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $241

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Cobalt Disruption FN, B/O: $81

Desert Eagle Printstream FT, B/O: $54

⎯

M4A1-S Blue Phosphor FN, B/O: $434

StatTrak™ M4A1-S Bright Water MW, B/O: $55

⎯

M4A4 Poseidon FN, B/O: $1465

M4A4 Asiimov BS, B/O: $55

M4A4 Hellfire MW, B/O: $50

⎯

USP-S Kill Confirmed MW, B/O: $72

USP-S Printstream FT, B/O: $69

StatTrak™ USP-S Kill Confirmed FT, B/O: $139

⎯

AUG Flame Jörmungandr FN, B/O: $234

P90 Run and Hide FT, B/O: $147

Five-SeveN Candy Apple FN, B/O: $61

Trade Offer Link - Steam Profile Link - My Inventory

Knives - Bowie Knife, Butterfly Knife, Falchion Knife, Flip Knife, Gut Knife, Huntsman Knife, M9 Bayonet, Bayonet, Karambit, Shadow Daggers, Stiletto Knife, Ursus Knife, Navaja Knife, Talon Knife, Classic Knife, Paracord Knife, Survival Knife, Nomad Knife, Skeleton Knife, Patterns - Gamma Doppler, Doppler (Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, Phase 4, Black Pearl, Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald), Crimson Web, Lore, Fade, Ultraviolet, Night, Marble Fade (Fire & Ice, Fake FI), Case Hardened (Blue Gem), Autotronic, Slaughter, Black Laminate, Tiger Tooth, Boreal Forest, Scorched, Blue Steel, Vanilla, Damascus Steel, Forest DDPAT, Urban Masked, Freehand, Stained, Bright Water, Safari Mesh, Rust Coat, Gloves - Bloodhound Gloves (Charred, Snakebite, Guerrilla, Bronzed), Driver Gloves (Snow Leopard, King Snake, Crimson Weave, Imperial Plaid, Black Tie, Lunar Weave, Diamondback, Rezan the Red, Overtake, Queen Jaguar, Convoy, Racing Green), Hand Wraps (Cobalt Skulls, CAUTION!, Overprint, Slaughter, Leather, Giraffe, Badlands, Spruce DDPAT, Arboreal, Constrictor, Desert Shamagh, Duct Tape), Moto Gloves (Spearmint, POW!, Cool Mint, Smoke Out, Finish Line, Polygon, Blood Pressure, Turtle, Boom!, Eclipse, 3rd Commando Company, Transport), Specialist Gloves (Crimson Kimono, Tiger Strike, Emerald Web, Field Agent, Marble Fade, Fade, Foundation, Lt. Commander, Crimson Web, Mogul, Forest DDPAT, Buckshot), Sport Gloves (Pandora's Box, Superconductor, Hedge Maze, Vice, Amphibious, Slingshot, Omega, Arid, Big Game, Nocts, Scarlet Shamagh, Bronze Morph), Hydra Gloves (Case Hardened, Emerald, Rattler, Mangrove), Broken Fang Gloves (Jade, Yellow-banded, Unhinged, Needle Point), Pistols - P2000 (Wicked Sick, Ocean Foam, Fire Element, Amber Fade, Corticera, Chainmail, Imperial Dragon, Obsidian, Scorpion, Handgun, Acid Etched), USP-S (Printstream, Kill Confirmed, Whiteout, Road Rash, Owergrowth, The Traitor, Neo-Noir, Dark Water, Orion, Blueprint, Stainless, Caiman, Serum, Monster Mashup, Royal Blue, Ancient Visions, Cortex, Orange Anolis, Ticket To Hell, Black Lotus, Cyrex, Check Engine, Guardian, Purple DDPAT, Torque, Blood Tiger, Flashback, Business Class, Pathfinder, Para Green), Lead Conduit, Glock-18 (Umbral Rabbit, Fade, Candy Apple, Bullet Queen, Synth Leaf, Neo-Noir, Nuclear Garden, Dragon Tatto, Reactor, Pink DDPAT, Twilight Galaxy, Sand Dune, Groundwater, Blue Fissure, Snack Attack, Water Elemental, Brass, Wasteland Rebel, Vogue, Franklin, Royal Legion, Gamma Doppler, Weasel, Steel Disruption, Ironwork, Grinder, High Beam, Moonrise, Oxide Blaze, Bunsen Burner, Clear Polymer, Bunsen Burner, Night), P250 (Re.built, Nuclear Threat, Modern Hunter, Splash, Whiteout, Vino Primo, Mehndi, Asiimov, Visions, Undertow, Cartel, See Ya Later, Gunsmoke, Splash, Digital Architect, Muertos, Red Rock, Bengal Tiger, Crimson Kimono, Wingshot, Metallic DDPAT, Hive, Dark Filigree, Mint Kimono), Five-Seven (Neon Kimono, Berries And Cherries, Fall Hazard, Crimson Blossom, Hyper Beast, Nitro, Fairy Tale, Case Hardened, Copper Galaxy, Angry Mob, Monkey Business, Fowl Play, Anodized Gunmetal, Hot Shot, Retrobution, Boost Protocol), CZ75-Auto (Chalice, Crimson Web, Emerald Quartz, The Fuschia is Now, Nitro, Xiangliu, Yellow Jacket, Victoria, Poison Dart, Syndicate, Eco, Hexane, Pole, Tigris), Tec-9 (Rebel, Terrace, Nuclear Threat, Hades, Rust Leaf, Decimator, Blast From, Orange Murano, Toxic, Fuel Injector, Remote Control, Bamboo Forest, Isaac, Avalanche, Brother, Re-Entry, Blue Titanium, Bamboozle), R8 Revolver (Banana Cannon, Fade, Blaze, Crimson Web, Liama Cannon, Crazy 8, Reboot, Canal Spray, Night, Amber Fade), Desert Eagle (Blaze, Hand Cannon, Fennec Fox, Sunset Storm, Emerald Jörmungandr, Pilot, Hypnotic, Golden Koi, Printstream, Cobalt Disruption, Code Red, Ocean Drive, Midnight Storm, Kumicho Dragon, Crimson Web, Heirloom, Night Heist, Mecha Industries, Night, Conspiracy, Trigger Discipline, Naga, Directive, Light Rail), Dual Berettas (Flora Carnivora, Duelist, Cobra Strike, Black Limba, Emerald, Hemoglobin, Twin Turbo, Marina, Melondrama, Pyre, Retribution, Briar, Dezastre, Royal Consorts, Urban Shock, Dualing Dragons, Panther, Balance), Rifles - Galil (Aqua Terrace, Winter Forest, Chatterbox, Sugar Rush, Pheonix Blacklight, CAUTION!, Orange DDPAT, Cerberus, Dusk Ruins, Eco, Chromatic Aberration, Stone Cold, Tuxedo, Sandstorm, Shattered, Urban Rubble, Rocket Pop, Kami, Crimson Tsunami, Connexion), SCAR-20 (Fragments, Brass, Cyrex, Palm, Splash Jam, Cardiac, Emerald, Crimson Web, Magna Carta, Stone Mosaico, Bloodsport, Enforcer), AWP (Duality, Gungnir, Dragon Lore, Prince, Medusa, Desert Hydra, Fade, Lightning Strike, Oni Taiji, Silk Tiger, Graphite, Chromatic Aberration, Asiimov, Snake Camo, Boom, Containment Breach, Wildfire, Redline, Electric Hive, Hyper Beast, Neo-Noir, Man-o'-war, Pink DDPAT, Corticera, Sun in Leo, Elite Build, Fever Dream, Atheris, Mortis, PAW, Exoskeleton, Worm God, POP AWP, Phobos, Acheron, Pit Viper, Capillary, Safari Mesh), AK-47 (Head Shot, Wild Lotus, Gold Arabesque, X-Ray, Fire Serpent, Hydroponic, Panthera Onca, Case Hardened, Vulcan, Jet Set, Fuel Injector, Bloodsport, Nightwish, First Class, Neon Rider, Asiimov, Red Laminate, Aquamarine Revenge, The Empress, Wasteland Rebel, Jaguar, Black Laminate, Leet Museo, Neon Revolution, Redline, Frontside Misty, Predator, Legion of Anubis, Point Disarray, Orbit Mk01, Blue Laminate, Green Laminate, Emerald Pinstripe, Cartel, Phantom Disruptor, Jungle Spray, Safety Net, Rat Rod, Baroque Purple, Slate, Elite Build, Uncharted, Safari Mesh), FAMAS (Sundown, Prime Conspiracy, Afterimage, Commemoration, Dark Water, Spitfire, Pulse, Eye of Athena, Meltdown, Rapid Eye Move, Roll Cage, Styx, Mecha Industrie, Djinn, ZX Spectron, Valence, Neural Net, Night Borre, Hexne), M4A4 (Temukau, Howl, Poseidon, Asiimov, Daybreak, Hellfire, Zirka, Red DDPAT, Radiation Hazard, Modern Hunter, The Emperor, The Coalition, Bullet Rain, Cyber Security, X-Ray, Dark Blossom, Buzz Kill, In Living Color, Neo-Noir, Desolate Space, 龍王 (Dragon King), Royal Paladin, The Battlestar, Global Offensive, Tooth Fairy, Desert-Strike, Griffin, Evil Daimyo, Spider Lily, Converter), M4A1-S (Emphorosaur-S, Welcome to the Jungle, Imminent Danger, Knight, Hot Rod, Icarus Fell, Blue Phosphor, Printstream, Master Piece, Dark Water, Golden Coil, Bright Water, Player Two, Atomic Alloy, Guardian, Chantico's Fire, Hyper Beast, Mecha Industries, Cyrex, Control Panel, Moss Quartz, Nightmare, Decimator, Leaded Glass, Basilisk, Blood Tiger, Briefing, Night Terror, Nitro, VariCamo, Flashback), SG 553 (Cyberforce, Hazard Pay, Bulldozer, Integrale, Dragon Tech, Ultraviolet, Colony IV, Hypnotic, Cyrex, Candy Apple, Barricade, Pulse), SSG 08 (Death Strike, Sea Calico, Blood in the Water, Orange Filigree, Dragonfire, Big Iron, Bloodshot, Detour, Turbo Peek, Red Stone), AUG (Akihabara Accept, Flame Jörmungandr, Hot Rod, Midnight Lily, Sand Storm, Carved Jade, Wings, Anodized Navy, Death by Puppy, Torque, Bengal Tiger, Chameleon, Fleet Flock, Random Access, Momentum, Syd Mead, Stymphalian, Arctic Wolf, Aristocrat, Navy Murano), G3SG1 (Chronos, Violet Murano, Flux, Demeter, Orange Kimono, The Executioner, Green Apple, Arctic Polar Camo, Contractor), SMGs - P90 (Neoqueen, Astral Jörmungandr, Run and Hide, Emerald Dragon, Cold Blooded, Death by Kitty, Baroque Red, Vent Rush, Blind Spot, Asiimov, Trigon, Sunset Lily, Death Grip, Leather, Nostalgia, Fallout Warning, Tiger Pit, Schermatic, Virus, Shapewood, Glacier Mesh, Shallow Grave, Chopper, Desert Warfare), MAC-10 (Sakkaku, Hot Snakes, Copper Borre, Red Filigree, Gold Brick, Graven, Case Hardened, Stalker, Amber Fade, Neon Rider, Tatter, Curse, Propaganda, Nuclear Garden, Disco Tech, Toybox, Heat, Indigo), UMP-45 (Wild Child, Fade, Blaze, Day Lily, Minotaur's Labyrinth, Crime Scene, Caramel, Bone Pile, Momentum, Primal Saber), MP7 (Teal Blossom, Fade, Nemesis, Whiteout, Asterion, Bloosport, Abyssal Apparition, Full Stop, Special Delivery, Neon Ply, Asterion, Ocean Foam, Powercore, Scorched, Impire), PP-Bizon (Modern Hunter, Rust Coat, Forest Leaves, Antique, High Roller, Blue Streak, Seabird, Judgement of Anubis, Bamboo Print, Embargo, Chemical Green, Coblat Halftone, Fuel Rod, Photic Zone, Irradiated Alert, Carbon Fiber), MP9 (Featherweight, Wild Lily, Pandora's Box, Stained Glass, Bulldozer, Dark Age, Hot Rod, Hypnotic, Hydra, Rose Iron, Music Box, Setting Sun, Food Chain, Airlock, Mount Fuji, Starlight Protector, Ruby Poison Dart, Deadly Poison), MP5-SD (Liquidation, Oxide Oasis, Phosphor, Nitro, Agent, Autumn Twilly), Shotguns, Machineguns - Sawed-Off (Kiss♥Love, First Class, Orange DDPAT, Rust Coat, The Kraken, Devourer, Mosaico, Wasteland Princess, Bamboo Shadow, Copper, Serenity, Limelight, Apocalypto), XM1014 (Frost Borre, Ancient Lore, Red Leather, Elegant Vines, Banana Leaf, Jungle, Urban Perforated, Grassland, Blaze Orange, Heaven Guard, VariCamo Blue, Entombed, XOXO, Seasons, Tranquility, Bone Machine, Incinegator, Teclu Burner, Black Tie, Zombie Offensive, Watchdog), Nova (Baroque Orange, Hyper Beast, Green Apple, Antique, Modern Hunter, Walnut, Forest Leaves, Graphite, Blaze Orange, Rising Skull, Tempest, Bloomstick, Interlock, Quick Sand, Moon in Libra, Clean Polymer, Red Quartz, Toy Soldier), MAG-7 (Insomnia, Cinqueda, Counter Terrace, Prism Terrace, Memento, Chainmail, Hazard, Justice, Bulldozer, Silver, Core Breach, Firestarter, Praetorian, Heat, Hard Water, Monster Call, BI83 Spectrum, SWAG-7), M249 (Humidor, Shipping Forecast, Blizzard Marbleized, Downtown, Jungle DDPAT, Nebula Crusader, Impact Drill, Emerald Poison Dart), Negev (Mjölnir, Anodized Navy, Palm, Power Loader, Bratatat, CaliCamo, Phoenix Stencil, Infrastructure, Boroque Sand), Wear - Factory New (FN), Minimal Wear (MW), Field-Tested (FT), Well-Worn (WW), Battle-Scarred (BS), Stickers Holo/Foil/Gold - Katowice 2014, Krakow 2017, Howling Dawn, Katowice 2015, Crown, London 2018, Cologne 2014, Boston 2018, Atlanta 2017, Cluj-Napoca 2015, DreamHack 2014, King on the Field, Harp of War, Winged Difuser, Cologne 2016, Cologne 2015, MLG Columbus 2016, Katowice 2019, Berlin 2019, RMR 2020, Stockholm 2021, Antwerp 2022, Swag Foil, Flammable foil, Others - Souvenirs, Agents, Pins, Passes, Gifts, Music Kits, Cases, Keys, Capsules, Packages, Patches

Some items on the list may no longer be available or are still locked, visit My Inventory for more details.

Send a Trade Offer for fastest response. I consider all offers.

Add me for discuss if there is a serious offer that needs to be discussed.

I am not a doctor, but I am an engineer and collected as much data as possible.
am the recipient of successful surgery to handle the neuropathy I had on my left phrenic nerve due to compression at the C4, as well as involvement lower down potentially due to childhood trauma of the clavical.
I was suffering from left-hemisphere unilateral paralysis of the diaphragm, which was recognized and diagnosed in 2021. After a two year period to confirm that it would not self-resolve, we scheduled the surgery, which was completed on 5/13/2023 without incident.
Numerous X-rays confirmed continuing paralysis, and underlying CT scans support the findings over time.
The procedure consisted of using conductivity testing during surgery to locate the proximal area of interference, and mitigate compression.
Prior to surgery, preliminary (ouch) conductivity testing was done to confirm that in fact interference was present. While SNIF tests and other diagnostics showed clearly that I had no control over my left diaphragm, the conductivity review showed that I had nominal “signal” to the muscle; this was explained to me as a promising sign that I would be able to recover more rapidly because the motor nerve had not lost all information which would require re-learning.
Additionally the presence of a nominal signal had kept the muscle in a state of electrical potential that seemed a positive as well.
Prior to surgery, I was ambulatory, had “regular life function” (no wheelchairs, etc.) but was unable to pull more than 2200 ccs into my lungs as a large man.
The procedure included the removal of a nerve in my left leg which was placed as a secondary path for growth around the compression. A cadaver nerve was used at the leg donor site to facilitate recovery there.
Dr. Kaufman and his team have performed over 600 procedures for patients coming in from around the world, including NFL players and other professional athletes.
My current intake volume is “this spirometer is too small” at 2500cc +
Ask me anything

Berdol and the electric dire rat square off for a few moments, each measuring the other up. I’m pretty confident the catkin will win without too much trouble, but I still pay attention to see if I can learn anything about how he fights and how his affinity works.
 
The rat isn’t going to just give him the victory, though, and charges and releases a strong bolt of lightning! As soon as it starts to move, Berdol swiftly changes the position of his floating blades.
 
“Chain Link!” The lightning flies and catches the tip of one floating blade, flows down and arcs to the second, before arcing to the ground. The lightning makes a bit of a messy circle, but it’s still more than enough to ensure the energy can’t reach him. He’s already moving before the lightshow is even finished, and gives the rat two slashes with the blades he holds, before following up with two slashes from the still-hot floating ones.
 
“Flashing Steel!”
 
After a barrage like that, the rat can only slump, defeated, and Berdol checks to see if there’s anything he’d like before he sheathes his blades. He looks around for a few moments before spotting Nova some distance away, watching him and waiting for him to follow her.
 
As he does, I consider how he handled the electricity. While I didn’t exactly have any fancy tools to measure the magnetic fields, my gut says his metal affinity isn’t magnetic… or if it is, he can’t use it to influence the electricity. If he could, he probably would have only needed one blade to direct the current. Instead, it looked to me like he simply gave the lightning a better path of least resistance to ground out.
 
I watch him fight a few other of my denizens, and I get the feeling he’s just an experienced fighter, rather than someone who knows how electricity and magnetism work together. His whole style is about flowing motions and subtle setups. It’s not much of a stretch to assume he’s dealt with a few lightning attacks before and knows it likes metal better than just about anything.
 
Nova also watches him fight, and the bond is practically glowing with inspiration as she sees how he wields his affinity. Even a widow is no match for him, though he does treat the fight with care. He even pulls out two more blades to dance with, and I have trouble keeping track of all of them. So does the widow, who finds her webs sheared through before she can use them, and herself constantly harassed by flickering whispers of sharpness.
 
She manages to land a solid kick with two legs, sending him back and his held weapons flying. As she lunges forward, I almost tell her to stand down before Berdol smiles.
 
“Irising End!”
 
All six blades swoop in on separate arcs, like a brutal mix of a camera lens and a guillotine, and the widow falls with two thuds. Berdol exhales as he stands and wipes his blades clean. “Hard to keep all those eyes looking where I want…” he mutters to himself. He considers the corpse for a few moments before continuing on. I don’t know if he has any of the… whatsit skill. What Fredie’s still picking up. Butchery? Field dressing! Yeah, I don’t think he has that. I bet he knows how to mine, it’d probably be a cakewalk for him with his affinity.
 
I poke Nova to lead him towards Violet before heading to the lava tubes, figuring he could be a good first test for her fighting scions. I don’t think Nose is really up for fighting, but Onyx definitely is. It looks like she has a sharp-fingered gauntlet now, and it also looks like Legs has gained the simple title of Smith.
 
Man, I need to see if I can trade her some rooms or something. My forge and smelters aren’t bad, but Violet’s metalworks is so much better equipped to make quality stuff. Berdol is a bit confused when Nova leads him outside my territory, and looks a bit more confused once he sees Violet’s mining nodes.
 
“Is that Thedeim’s expansion? It doesn’t look like anything for a dwarf to be particularly interested in…” he trails off, glancing around before looking to Nova, who shakes her head. He continues to look at her, confused, before she nods towards where Onyx is slipping from a crack in the wall.
 
“A gremlin… gremlin scion? What… oh.” He chuckles as he seems to put it together. “Right, I had heard Thedeim had a protege. I thought she was more of a toybox, though?” he asks, eyeing Onyx. The gremlin is smiling wide, looking eager to fight, but also not looking too threatening.
 
Berdol seems to study her for a few moments, before shrugging. “Well, she doesn’t seem like she actually wants to hurt me. She looks like a new adventurer, eager to learn. Is that right? You want to fight to learn?”
 
Onyx’s smile widens and she nods, and does her best to take a fighting stance. The catkin looks amused and draws his more normal daggers. “Alright, I can do that. You don’t mind if I finish the lesson properly when we’re done?” he asks, and Onyx continues to smile, eager to learn. A bit of time respawning is worth the knowledge. Besides, she’ll probably earn a fair bit of mana for Violet from it, too.
 
He nods at that, and takes a few seconds to try to figure out where to start. He shakes his head and sheathes one of his daggers as he steps forward, and motions for her to mimic his stance. “This is why I don’t teach much at the guild. My style is pretty unique, but I think I can help you with some of the basics. Gremlins are shadow affinity, right?”
 
When she nods, he continues, moving to adjust her stance a little. He keeps her in a pretty low stance, the gauntlet forward and hand loose and slightly open. “You’ll probably want a second gauntlet when you can. Close-in work is better with the ability for both hands to do work.”
 
He guides her through a few basic swipes and grabs, before standing and speaking again. “So, shadow affinity. I don’t have any of it, but my style would work really well with it. The whole point is to keep your opponent guessing. If they know where an attack is coming from, they can react to it. So, use some misdirection. Here, try this.”
 
He curls and flourishes his fingers like a magician, and Onyx does her best to mimic the complex motion, catching some of the light in a display that just naturally draws the eyes. Berdol smiles at that and nods.
 
“That’s the idea, you’ve got it. Now, if you do that in a fight, you can try to keep a foe’s attention on that hand while the other gets into position for a proper strike.”
 
Onyx is nodding and already practicing the motion, not noticing as the catkin steps back a few paces and draws both his daggers once more.
 
“Alright, let’s do a spar. Make sure you pay attention to how I move. Daggers are a bit different from gauntlets, but you can probably fill in the gaps on your own. Ready?”
 
The gremlin scion nods and takes her low stance, and Berdol smiles at his swift learner as he takes his own. From the start, I can see him holding back, moving much slower than against the widow. He scores several shallow cuts on Onyx’s arm as he slips through her guard, teaching her where to tighten it up with the pain of experience.
 
While the transfer is a lot more muted than with my own scions, I can feel her having fun even with the pain, and Violet is having some conflicting emotions about it, too. She’s happy for her scion, though not very happy to see her hurt. As she slows from the wounds, Berdol speaks up once more.
 
“I think that’s enough practice for now. I hope we can practice some more later.” One quick stab and Onyx dissipates like smoke in the wind. Violet is conflicted about that, too, but I think the countdown timer for Onyx’s respawn helps ease her concern. Yeah, it was weird for me the first time Tiny ate it. Onyx will be fine. In fact, she’ll probably be itching to do it again, heh.
 
Teaching done, Nova leads the catkin to the lava tubes. He looks around in surprise as they get there. “Huh, you really can tell when an area is a work in progress with him, can’t you? It just feels like there’s… more to be done in here. Niches he hasn’t filled yet.”
 
Nova nods at that, then kinda awkwardly sits there, uncertain what to do next. Bardol looks a bit confused for a few seconds as well, before smiling in realization. “Ah, right. We’re here. Well… can you show me around? The Seaside Forge thinks there’s new metals to be had here.”
 
Nova is uncertain if she should, or if she’s even allowed to, so I pat the bond with some reassurances. Delvers are technically why I made the nodes, so there’s no problem with her guiding him to at least a few of them, if she doesn’t mind.
 
It seems she doesn’t mind at all, and she eagerly shows him around. The crucible ants get an odd look from him, as do their nests. His interest is definitely piqued when he sees the special nodes. He uses his affinity to get a good chunk each of mythril and orichalcum ores to bring back, and I get a good chunk of mana from him finishing his quest.
 
“Looks like his hunch was right. You’re going to be up to your ears in miners,” he says with a chuckle, and laughs as Nova tilts her head in confusion. “Or whatever you use to hear with, hah! I’ll probably be down here more, too, once Hrunter explains the kind of things he can make with this stuff.”
 
His quest complete, he bids her goodbye and makes his way back to the surface. Nova, rather than follow, decides to practice her own affinity. She makes a nice mess of the tunnel as she lobs bits of magma around, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she can manage. I don’t know if what Berdol was doing would be more or less dangerous with magma instead of steel, but I wouldn’t want to be the target either way.
 
 
< [Next>]
 
 
Cover art Want moar? Discord is a thing! I now have a Patreon for monthly donations, and I have a Ko-fi for one-off donations. Patreons can read up to three chapters ahead, and also get a few other special perks as well. Thank you again to everyone who is reading!

Item	Price	MSRP	% Off	History*
Funko Pop! Artist Series: Marvel Infinity Saga - Avengers With Base (6 Pack) Amazon Exclusive Multicolor 57619	$48.60	$65	25% off	Lowest price $43.7 on 2023-4-3
Funko Pop! Disney: Minnie Mouse 5 Pack, Amazon Exclusive Multicolor 58084	$38.20	$50	23% off	Lowest price $28.86 on 2022-12-16
Funko Pop! Games: Cuphead - Chef Saltbaker With Chase (styles May Vary)	$9.48	$15	36% off	Matches low
Funko Pop! Games: Miles Morales - Miles Winter	$20.50	$30	31% off	Lowest price $17.19 on 2021-3-13
Funko Pop! Games: Pokemon - Piplup, Multicolor, 62264	$16.99	$20	15% off	Lowest price $9.48 on 2023-4-18
Funko Pop! Games: Pokemon S8 - Caterpie Multicolor Pop Games: Pokemon S8- Pop 3	$14.96	$17	11% off	Matches low
Funko Pop! Marvel: Captain America: Civil War Build A Scene - Vision, Amazon Exclusive, Figure 1 Of 12	$27.85	$30	7% off	Lowest price $24.54 on 2023-2-2
Funko Pop! Marvel: Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3 - Nebula	$14.67	$15	2% off	Lowest price $14.26 on 2023-4-28
Funko Pop! Marvel: Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3 - Rocket	$14.66	$15	2% off	Lowest price $14.65 on 2023-5-18
Funko Pop! Movie Poster: Jurassic Park, Multicolor	$46.98	$60	21% off	Matches low
Funko Pop! Movies: Godzilla Vs Kong - Godzilla, Multicolor (50956)	$18.43	$25	26% off	Lowest price $11.97 on 2021-10-26
Funko Pop! Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Child In Bag	$17.84	$18	0% off	Lowest price $16.59 on 2022-9-10
Funko Pop! Star Wars: The Mandalorian - The Child Vinyl Bobblehead, Multicolor, 3.75 Inches (48740)	$17.96	$23	21% off	Lowest price $14.33 on 2023-5-8
Funko Pop! Vinyl: Star Wars - Darth Vader, Stormtrooper, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia And Chewbacca - 5 Pack (shared Galactic Convention, Amazon Exclusive)	$74.76	$75	0% off	Lowest price $49 on 2022-12-16
Good Smile Silent Hill 3: Robbie The Rabbit (pink Ver.) Nendoroid Action Figure, Multicolor	$94.53	$105	9% off	New Lowest
Lego Creator Expert Nasa Apollo 11 Lunar Lander 10266 Model Building Kit With Astronaut Minifigures, Collectible Home Décor Idea	$99.99	$120	16% off	Matches low
Lego Ideas Tree House 21318, Model Construction Set For 16 Plus Year Olds With 3 Cabins, Interchangeable Leaves, Minifigures And A Bird Figure	$269.99	$270	0% off	Lowest price $200.3 on 2022-11-16
Lego Indiana Jones Temple Of The Golden Idol 77015 Building Project For Adults, Iconic Raiders Of The Lost Ark Movie Scene, Includes 4 Minifigures: Indiana Jones, Satipo, Belloq And A Hovitos Warrior	$199.94	$200	0% off	Lowest price $169.99 on 2023-4-2
Lego Star Wars Imperial Tie Fighter 75300 Building Toy With Stormtrooper And Pilot Minifigures From The Skywalker Saga	$47.98	$55	12% off	Matches low
Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon 75257 Starship Construction Set, With Finn, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, Boolio, C-3po, R2-d2 And D-o, The Rise Of Skywalker Collection	$179.98	$185	2% off	Lowest price $137.67 on 2021-11-27
Marvel Legends Series Spider-man Iron Spider Electronic Helmet	$110.70	$140	20% off	Lowest price $105.5 on 2023-4-3
Nanoblock - Kirby (box Of 6) Nbmc_29s	$40.11	$50	19% off	New Lowest
Pokemon Crown Zenith Pin Collection	$22.38	$23	2% off	Lowest price $22.19 on 2023-5-23
Pokemon Go Collection	$25.00	$30	16% off	Lowest price $19.75 on 2022-11-17
Pokemon Official Ultimate Battle Figure 10-pack - 2" Pikachu, 2" Charmander, 2" Squirtle, 2" Bulbasaur, 2" Eevee, 2" Jigglypuff, 3" Magikarp, 3" Haunter, 3" Jolteon, 4.5” Charizard (amazon Exclusive)	$47.49	$57	16% off	Lowest price $42.98 on 2023-3-20
Pop Up Parade Street Fighter Series Shunrei Non-scale Plastic Pre-painted Complete Figure	$80.56	$81	0% off	Lowest price $62.36 on 2023-5-20
Pop! Comics Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Donatello Previews Exclusive Vinyl Figure	$17.56	$20	12% off	Lowest price $15.41 on 2023-5-17
Squishmallows - Medium Plush - 10" - Style 1	$19.98	$40	50% off	Matches low
Star Wars The Child Animatronic Edition 7.2-inch-tall Toy By Hasbro With Over 25 Sound & Motion Combinations, Toys For Kids Ages 4 & Up , Green, F1119	$43.89	$60	26% off	Lowest price $37.33 on 2021-11-13

*History is a beta feature, only goes back as far as I've been tracking this item, and may not be 100% accurate

Item	Price	MSRP	% Off	History*
Ant-man And The Wasp: Quantumania (feature) [blu-ray] (bilingual)	$35.77	$40	10% off	New Lowest
Attack On Titan: Final Season - Part 2 - Limited Edition Blu-ray + Dvd	$76.13	$80	4% off	Lowest price $75.81 on 2023-5-20
Avengers: Endgame [blu-ray + Digital] (bilingual)	$14.50	$32	54% off	Lowest price $9.99 on 2021-11-14
Batman 80th Anniversary Collection (blu-ray)	$67.99	$100	32% off	Lowest price $58.99 on 2022-8-17
Batman: Year One - Commemorative Edition (4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray + Digital)	$29.19	$32	8% off	Lowest price $24.99 on 2022-11-24
Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series - 25th Anniversary Limited Edition [blu-ray]	$76.89	$80	3% off	Lowest price $66.32 on 2023-5-7
Creed Iii (bil/4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray)	$32.99	$35	5% off	Matches low
F9: The Fast Saga [blu-ray]	$10.99	$20	45% off	Lowest price $8.99 on 2022-11-14
F9: The Fast Saga [blu-ray]	$17.99	$33	45% off	Matches low
Final Fantasy Vii: Advent Children Complete - 4k Uhd/blu-ray Combo (bilingual)	$19.99	$20	0% off	Lowest price $16.99 on 2022-1-18
Frozen 2 [4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray + Digital] (bilingual)	$26.12	$30	12% off	Lowest price $17.99 on 2021-11-15
Frozen 2 [blu-ray + Dvd + Digital] (bilingual)	$15.50	$25	38% off	Lowest price $12.99 on 2021-11-14
G.i. Joe: Retaliation[4k Uhd + Blu-ray + Digital Copy]	$22.97	$25	8% off	Lowest price $9.99 on 2021-12-30
Ghostbusters: Afterlife - Bilingual - Uhd/bd Combo + Digital [blu-ray]	$29.94	$33	9% off	Lowest price $19.99 on 2022-12-23
Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers - Collector's Edition 4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray	$32.99	$35	5% off	Lowest price $28.23 on 2021-9-16
Halloween Ii (1981) - Collector's Edition 4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray + Dvd	$32.99	$35	5% off	Lowest price $28.11 on 2021-10-5
Jurassic Park - 4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray + Digital	$29.97	$30	0% off	Lowest price $19.96 on 2022-6-28
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - 4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray + Digital	$27.84	$30	7% off	Lowest price $22.8 on 2022-8-13
New Mutants, The (feature) [blu-ray] (bilingual)	$25.60	$33	22% off	Lowest price $19.99 on 2021-12-22
Sherlock Holmes (4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray)	$25.49	$27	5% off	Lowest price $21.99 on 2022-11-5
Space Jam (4k Ultra Hd + Blu-ray)	$25.50	$27	5% off	Lowest price $19.67 on 2023-3-16
Spider-man: 4 Movie Multi-verse Collection Steelbook (homecoming / Far From Home / Into The Spider-verse / Venom) [blu-ray] (bilingual)	$31.21	$55	43% off	Lowest price $25.99 on 2022-1-9
Spider-man: No Way Home (original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (vinyl)	$23.94	$35	31% off	Lowest price $20.48 on 2023-4-13
Super 8 [blu-ray]	$28.42	$30	5% off	Lowest price $21.99 on 2021-12-7
Terminator: Dark Fate [blu-ray + Dvd]	$20.06	$23	12% off	Lowest price $5.99 on 2021-12-26
Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4k Uhd Steelbook Limited Edition [blu-ray]	$47.10	$65	27% off	New Lowest
The Last Duel [blu-ray] (bilingual)	$19.99	$40	50% off	New Lowest
Top Gun: Maverick [4k Uhd Steelbook+ Blu-ray + Digital Copy] (bilingual)	$37.99	$48	20% off	Matches low

*History is a beta feature, only goes back as far as I've been tracking this item, and may not be 100% accurate

Well. Here’s a story I want the rest of the people to hear and weigh in on, because I can’t get the clarity or closure myself from this.
I’m a 24 year old single British man, who has had friends in America since I was a kid. Those friends let me stay and live with them for 6 months in 2020 & 2022. Since first visiting, the idea/notion has been in my head, that I want an American girlfriend. I don’t know why I have this preference as a Brit who lives in England, but I just love the accent, the aspects of their lives, and I seemed to have more luck with them because of my accent.
Up until this point as well, I’d never had a relationship in England, not even made it past a first date really. It was in feb of 2022 when I was living out on Long Island, I matched with a girl on Hinge ( Let’s call her Bell) who ticked all my boxes looks wise (as I believe dating apps lean more on looks first) and so we matched and started the conversation.
Like I said, I’d never had a relationship up until this point. There was one girl in England who I became really heavily into ( I won’t call it love) and she never liked me back, and so a lot of my interactions with girls have been either blunt on their side, or a feeling of nothing is going to happen talking to that one that didn’t like me. Along came Bell, and within the first 2 weeks of talking I experienced what I thought were the first signs of falling in love truly. When we met for the first date, it was something I’d dreamed of before, it couldn’t have gone any better. I had this giddy feeling inside, like I’d known Bell forever, she was everything I was looking for.
We saw each other for only 3 months. As it progressed, soon came the point of some adult stuff, I ended up taking her virginity. I’d said I wasn’t comfortable doing it unless she was okay with the idea that possibly it won’t work between us in the end, but we agreed to do it anyway as she kinda felt like it was the right time and losing it to a British guy was a little better than a classic douche bag from her area. We kept seeing each other but the pivotal part here is, she lived 2 hours away by train, a journey out to her costing me $50 each time and I wasn’t allowed to work in the US at the time. Of course we met in the city sometimes and she came out to me once, but even the fact it was a 2 hour journey on 2 different trains made it tough.
It was around the end of April that she texted me saying she wanted to me to spend more time around her friends and family, as it had just been us two going out on dates and stuff. As much as I thought I was ready in that moment to start committing more to her, with travelling more to see her family friends etc, I chose not too and end it with her. My fears of running out of money, her seeing me as a begger and other thoughts got the better of me, and we pretty much just stopped texting by the end of April. I tried to reach out again by the end of may into June and July, but from what I could tell, she already started seeing someone, and didn’t wanna talk to me at all.
In those months of not talking to her, I fell more in love, and realised more what a big fucking mistake I’d made literally throwing the girl of my dreams away because of a 2 hour train ride. As it got to about the end of august I sort of made a last attempt to message her on insta, only to be messaged by her boyfriend telling me I had a chance and lost it. I think I then further pissed her off by trying to get in contact again towards the end of 2022, and I tried asking to talk or get clarity or answers in April of this year, but she just opened the messages ( I have a new and old sc account I messaged her on) and she blocked me on both.
It’s now May of 2023, a whole year after this event happened to me, and I can still feel myself falling deeper in love with her. I wonder how much longer it’s gonna take me to get over Bell, I hope not long, but because she was everything I wanted and I was the one that screwed it up, my brain is gonna keep bringing it up, and won’t let it go because I just don’t have the answers I want.
I hope she’ll reach out in the future, for now I’m just waiting around hoping she unblockes me and wants to talk about what happened. What do other people think? Should I give it time before I reach out again? I would like to try and apologise if anything for some of my actions after we stopped seeing each other. Or maybe it’s just time to put the nail in the coffin for good.

Before getting into their stats: I want to talk about one of the key things that led to Wonder Woman's victory, in her episode: The Sword of Hephaestus. This sword, is sharp enough to split atoms. However, in my opinion Thor should resist this. Thor's molecules (and atoms) work differently than mortals. This is something very consistent with Thor, and other Gods. Thor survived an increased blast, from Kang's dissolution beam, which could split atoms across time. Thor was immune, to having his subatomic particles hardened. He has survived, being blasted by anti matter. Thor, has also survived being blasted by Power Cosmic, from Galactus, and the Silver Surfer. The Power Cosmic, has shown the ability to not only control atoms, but straight up atomize stuff. Thor, has also outright, survived a blast that would atomize, anyone other than a God. Even if you don't buy his immunity, this ability should be countered by Thor, but I'll talk about that more later. This isn't to say however, that the blade couldn't hurt Thor, as he has a history , of being hurt by mythical blades. He however, is always able to patch it up, with his healing factor.

Thor's stats:

Thor has shattered a root of Yggdrasil. As a baby, he shook The World Tree, with his cries. Thor has defeated a Celestial. This is consistent, because Knull noted he had felt a power like Thor's, and he goes around killing Celestials. And Celestials, created the Multiverse in Marvel. Thor is considered, a threat to a large portion, of all that resides in Eternity, and Infinity. Two weaker Thor's , spewed shockwaves across the Multiverse. Keep in mind, one of them barely has a tenth, of the actual, Thor's power.
With the Godblast, Thor can fend off Galactus. And with 3 other Thor's, he was able to bolster the Super flow , and prevent the Multiverse from collapsing. As already established, Thor was also doing most of the heavy lifting here.
For speed, Thor has outsped the Silver Surfer. Who was stated by the cosmic abstract Infinity, to have incalculable speed. Mjolnir, has outright, traveled immeasurable distances. Thor, has spun his hammer, so fast it transcended space and time. Thor has flown to Asgard, which is a realm, beyond time and space.

Wonder Woman's stats:

Wonder Woman has redirected a blast , from the entire Greek pantheon. She shattered, the Cronus sceptre, which houses the God Wave. Wonder Woman has defeated, the Phantom Stranger, who is able to fight the Spectre. In a fight with Superman, they both shook the Heavens. Wonder Woman, has also been able to, harm Darkseid , with her blows. This is impressive because, Darkseid took a punch powered by the whole Multiverse casually. This should be consistent as well, since the Hellbat, is powered by her punches. And the Hellbat, can also harm Darkseid.
For speed, Wonder Woman is almost as fast as the Flash. This should be consistent because, she did pretty well in The Great Race. Wonder Woman is considered faster than Superman in combat. Wonder Woman has the speed of Hermes. Which means she should be comparable to Shazam, who has the speed of Mercury. Shazam has flown , to the Rock of Eternity, which is beyond time and space.
So in terms of AP and Speed they should be pretty comparable. But Thor should have an edge in AP, while Wonder Woman should have an edge in speed.

Thor's experience and skill:

Thor is very old. Thor, has been seen in hieroglyphics. He remembers humanity, back when we were in the stone age. He also says, he is older than our entire race. For skill, he has centuries, worth of training in the arts of war. He kept up with Man-Beast, who's combat is millions of years more advanced than ours. Thor also matches Shang-Chi. Who is comparable to Iron Fist, who has access to infinite combat techniques.

Wonder Woman's experience and skill:

For Wonder Woman is a little harder to gauge her age. We know her mother, Queen Hippolyta was a teen during the Trojan War, which took place 3000+ years ago, so Wonder Woman should be around that age. For skill, Wonder Woman was able to Zod, who was bred to be a warrior from birth. She is considered the greatest melee fighter, on Earth, by Batman, and no one argues with Batman. She should also scale to Ares, who has tactics and strategies throughout the ages.
So, for skill, they should be pretty even. However, for experience Thor should completely blow hers out of the water, which in my opinion is going to be a huge advantage as he'll have more experience fighting opponents like her.
I will only talk about Hax that is applicable in combat.

Thor's hax:

Matter Manipulation: Thor can fuse an opponent's molecules. Thor can manipulate subatomic particles. He hits so hard he can atomize objects. He can also manipulate anti matter. Wonder Woman herself, has shown limited resistance to this, however this did result in her being weakened. Her equipment however, hasn't shown any resistance to this at all. This ability is huge because it allows Thor to weaken her, and strip her of her equipment.
Life Absorption: Thor has shown the ability to drain a person's life force. Wonder Woman should resist this however, as she was barely effected by Parasite.
Power Absorption/ Nullification: Thor has stolen the Power Cosmic , from Galactus. He has also separated the Juggernaut , from Cytorrak. Wonder Woman should partially resist this because of Parasite, but not on the scale that this ability operates at. Wonder Woman does have ways of getting her powers back, but not before Thor should finish her off.
Storm Creation: As the God of Thunder, Thor can create storms larger than entire universes. Or isolate them, inside of a person. This ability would grant him complete control of the battlefield, and Wonder Woman has no way of stopping him from creating one inside of her.
Regeneration: Thor has a potent regeneration, being able to regenerate a incinerated arm in 30 minutes. His regen, has also patched up wounds from the All Black, Twilight Sword, and Odin Sword.
Super Smooch: This ability can't be countered and one shots any target.

Wonder Woman's hax:

Zeus's Lightning: Wonder Woman has the ability to control Zeus's Lightning. This however wouldn't work on Thor. Thor is completely immune lightning, and electricity. Thor is also the elemental archetype , and is the extradimensional abstract concept of the storm. So not only is this ability useless in harming Thor, it also runs the risk of being used against her.
Soul Manipulation: The Lasso of Truth has shown the ability to target souls. Thor should resist this though, as he was unaffected by hellfire from the Ghost Rider.
Regeneration:Wonder Woman was able to heal from severe head trauma, broken bones, and organ failure, within 3 hours.
So, Thor in my opinion is a more versatile fighter, and his Hax could definitely tip the scales in his favor.

Onto Amps:

I will only be talking about amps that they can naturally access. Not one time power ups, or amps that they eventually lost, or can't access.

Thor's amps:

Warrior's Madness: Is an ability that is a 10× multiplier. It does have a drawback though, the madness part.
Meginjord: Is a belt that multiplies his strength by two. It does have the drawback of severely draining the users stamina For Thor though, it's not as bad as it seems, because this guy can fight for over, 2 years!
Odin Force: If, you feel, he should get it. It's power shook an embassy created by the Living Tribunal, that exists above infinite dimensions. It grants omniscience, telepathy, existence erasure, and reality warping. However using too much of it, will cause the user to fall into the Odin Sleep.
Gaea's Power: By praying to his mother, she grants him some of her power. She is responsible for the creation of all gods in Marvel. When Thor had a smaller portion he was able to harm the Chaos King. It grants him control of the earth, and an even higher scale of power nullification .
Phoenix Force: A latent ability he has just recently unlocked, because of his interactions with the Phoenix at a early age. It grants him the flames of the Phoenix.
Power Cosmic: Thor was once a herald of Galactus. He has still kept the Power Cosmic. He felt the call from Galactus to all of his heralds. And he used the power cosmic in his fight against Knull.

Wonder Woman's amps:

Gauntlets of Atlas: These gauntlets give her a 10× multiplier.
Superform: by removing her bracelets she gets a huge boost in power.
Godwave: by praying to her pantheon she is granted a portion of the Godwave. It's power created all deities in DC along with the Superheroes. It grants a boost in power, and omniscience. Using it too long however, puts strain on the user and, runs the risk of the user dying.
So for amps, I feel Thor should also take the advantage here. He has a less risky (none could kill him), more versatile, and just straight up more amps to fall back on. With Gaea's Power, he could also just nullify Wonder Woman's Godwave amp.

Wonder Woman's worthiness?

This is a topic I find quite interesting. Is Wonder Woman worthy of Mjolnir? It's something that both companies think is a possibility. However even if she can pick it up, it is always going to obey Thor over her. And if it didn't, it would cause Thor to use Jarnbjorn. An enchanted axe that can kill Celestials. Which would also exploit her weakness to piercing weapons.

Verdict:

In my opinion I think Thor, should win pretty solidly. They both are comparable in stats, and skills, but when it comes to hax, experience, and amps, Wonder Woman is outclassed. With probably his biggest advantage being experience because, that's gonna cause him to use his hax, once he realizes that just hammer smashes isn't going to work.

https://pokepast.es/7648057ff530ada5
Some notes:
Would Prefer to tweak instead of remove these Pokemon - as they seem to be a core part of my wins, even when I only bring 2/3 (Usually all 3 but would leave Scizor or Houndstone depending on matchups)

• Scizor (252/188+/0/0-/68/0):
  • With life orb, EV'd to one-shot the bulkiest of flutter mane's. I have messed around with clear amulet and choice band. But I missed the power boost when I had clear amulet and the flexibility when I ran choice band. Also tried pounce instead of U-Turn, felt a little underwhelming but was nice to drop the speed of the enemy.
• Tyranitar (252/68+/188/0-/0/0):
  • AV makes him the backbone of this team, super reliable and consistent. Damage was a little underwhelming at times, but in the few games I tried choice band it felt he didn't have the speed to make the most of it and died too soon.
• Houndstone (252/100+/0/0-/0/156):
  • Wide lens to land WoW and Play Roughs at a very high rate. EV'd to outpace any non-tailwind/booster energy SPE Pokemon. Fairy tera play rough is strong and even more so if you can get a Howl off. Haven't tried it but a couple of games definitely felt the lack of Protect.

My main problems seem to be with Iron Hands, DOZO, MousApe, Tera Grass and Tera Water Volcarona has also given me trouble and things like tera Water Gholdengo, and tera Baxcalibur tend to be tough to beat.

• Gyarados (252/0+/188/0-/4/28):
  • Gave him tera ground and earthquake to turn him into a liability against Iron Hands into a strength, hasn't really worked out like I've wanted. Mirror Herb was to counter defiant Kinggambit, and was pretty good, but not as good into Annilape.
• Wo-Chein (252/0-/76/4/172/4+):
  • His purpose was to help counter DOZO, did a decent job but tended to need to make a few right guesses to win. Pollen Puff was surprisingly strong in countering amoongus and helping keep teammate alive. But felt the downside of Tablets of Ruin a few too many times when next to the core 3.
• Dragonite (140/0-/0/252+/0/116):
  • Max 252+ SPA and electric tera for some strong thunderbolts. Was supposed to help with the DOZO match up - with Heat Wave covering for tera steel/grass. Didn't feel as impactful as it should have. Usually just clicked tailwind anyways.

Further Notes
Pre Wo-Chein I used Ting-Lu. Felt good but also felt like it was stepping on Tyranitar's toes. When I wanted to get sand up I felt like I couldn't bring Ting-Lu, just too many shared weaknesses. Would be interested in swapping Ttar with Ting-Lu, but then I lose sand and at that point I need to remake the team.
Had Thunderwave on Gyarados at one point, but felt the need to burn things more often than paralyzing. Dragon Dance has come in clutch a few times but I've also been burnt by too many times by haze or burn. Also, the match-up with opposing Gyarados has been bad without Thunderwave/lum berry. Also had safety goggles at one point but with Wo-Chein being immune to spore it seemed redundant.
​
Thank you for reading this far! I am pretty new to VGC so any advice you can give helps!

Main hub thread with the full 131 rankings
I’m not sure how many people know this, but South Florida is still one of the newest programs in football, having played their first season in 1997. They quickly moved up to Division 1 in 2000, and have enjoyed solid results until the program tanked under Charlie Strong and Jeff Scott recently.

Best Seasons and Highlights

1. 2007: 18. South Florida: 9-4 (21.403) 2. 2016: 18. South Florida: 11-2 (20.264) 3. 2002: 23. South Florida: 9-2 (18.097) 4. 2017: 27. South Florida: 11-2 (14.048) 5. 2006: 31. South Florida: 9-4 (11.641) 6. 2008: 41. South Florida: 8-5 (5.130) 7. 2009: 45. South Florida: 8-5 (3.687) 8. 2001: 44. South Florida: 8-3 (2.101) 9. 2010: 45. South Florida: 8-5 (1.096) 10. 2015: 56. South Florida: 8-5 (-0.167) 11. 2003: 53. South Florida: 7-4 (-2.213) 12. 2005: 44. South Florida: 6-6 (-2.247) 13. 2011: 71. South Florida: 5-7 (-11.987) 14. 2018: 86. South Florida: 7-6 (-16.665) 15. 2000: 73. South Florida: 7-4 (-19.194) 16. 2004: 88. South Florida: 4-7 (-30.918) 17. 2019: 106. South Florida: 4-8 (-32.112) 18. 2014: 100. South Florida: 4-8 (-33.728) 19. 2012: 102. South Florida: 3-9 (-37.577) 20. 2013: 110. South Florida: 2-10 (-48.131) 21. 2021: 121. South Florida: 2-10 (-50.018) 22. 2020: 126. South Florida: 1-8 (-50.872) 23. 2022: 130. South Florida: 1-11 (-59.645) Overall Score: 8403 (88th) 

• 142-135 record
• 0 conference titles
• 6-4 bowl record
• 2 consensus All-Americans
• 30 NFL players drafted

It’s actually pretty amazing that South Florida has a winning record in the FBS. They’ve gone just 8-37 over the last 4 years (134-98 if we don’t include them). Nearly 50% of their seasons have had 8 or more wins, and they produce about 3 NFL players every 2 years. Very solid program who’s having a rough patch, but could return to sleeping giant status soon. Notable NFL players include Jason Pierre-Paul, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and Marlon Mack. Consensus All-Americans were DL George Selvie in 2007 and all-purpose Brian Battie in 2021, who returned 3 kicks for TDs, on just 20 returns.

Top 5 Seasons

Worst Season: 2022 (1-11 overall, 0-8 American)
Man, they’ve fallen far. On the bright side, they can’t fall much further than this. Head coach Jeff Scott was in his 3rd season, and ended up going just 4-26 in his (almost) 3 years with the Bulls. It wasn’t totally his fault, he had to clean up the mess Charlie Strong left behind, and while there were signs of improvements, but they weren’t winning close games, usually an indicator of poor coaching. USF lost 28-31 to #18 Florida, 24-28 to #24 Cincinnati, and 39-46 to #22 UCF, so it wasn’t like the Bulls were totally destitute. Former Baylor QB Gerry Bohanon, who led the Bears to a 12-2 record in 2021, started the first 7 games, throwing for 1070 yards 6 TD 6 INT with 386 rushing yards and 3 TD on 6.4 YPC. Backup Byrum Brown flashed potential, throwing for 5 TD 1 INT with 5.8 YPC on the ground. This team didn’t win a game against an FBS opponent, as they beat Howard 42-20. They were the 2nd worst defense in the nation giving up 41.2 PPG, but scored a respectable 28.0 PPG.
5. 2006 (9-4 overall, 4-3 Big East)
Remember QB Matt Grothe? That’s a throwback name. The freshman QB took over in 2006, in USF’s 2nd year in the Big East. USF played fine throughout the year, the season going about as expected after a 7-4 start. A game at #7 West Virginia to play Pat White and Steve Slaton seemed like a guaranteed loss, but at least USF was going bowling. On the contrary, the Bulls shut down the WVU spread offense, winning 24-19 in a huge upset. This would start a few years where the Bulls consistently terrorized West Virginia, beating them 3 times over the next 4 years. USF dominated the bowl as well, beating East Carolina 24-7. The season was an announcement that the Bulls were coming, with a young talented QB, plenty of potential being in a BCS AQ conference, and being located right in the middle of a recruiting hotbed. Grothe completed 64% of passes for 2576 yards 15 TD 14 INT, and ran for another 622 and 9 TD. The defense was very good as well, giving up just 16.9 PPG. Momentum was building for 2007.
4. 2017 (10-2 overall, 6-2 American)
When the Big East broke up in 2013, USF ended up in the American, a non-Power 5 conference. They made the most of it, at least initially. 2017 USF entered the year at #19, coming off an 11-2 year, and looked to compete for a New Years 6 bowl with new coach Charlie Strong. This team featured senior QB Quinton Flowers, arguably the most electric player in college football. But despite all the talent and expectations—the team’s performance on the field was underwhelming. They started 7-0, but only moved up 2 spots to #17 because of their play. In week 2 they were tied 17-17 with Stony Brook in the 4th quarter, and beat up on mostly weaker competition, with their toughest opponent having been Temple. They did get their first ever win over a Big Ten school though, beating Illinois 47-23. With a 34-28 win over Tulane, USF set the AP era record for most consecutive 30+ point games, with 24 straight, beating 2011-12 Oregon. Fast forward to the end of the season and USF was 9-1 and #22, facing #13 UCF in the War on I-4. Despite everyone overlooking USF (9.5 point underdogs), Quinton Flowers did EVERYTHING he could, throwing for 500+ yards and rushing for 100+ yards and 5 total TD. Still, UCF won 49-42 on a last minute kickoff return TD. USF still finished the year with a respectable 38-34 win over Texas Tech to finish 10-2 and #21 in the AP Poll.
Flowers threw for 2911 yards 25 TD 6 INT, with 1078 rushing yards and 11 TD on 5.5 YPC. He finished his career as USF’s all time leader in total yardage (11,796). There was talent around him as well—RBs Darius Tice and future NFLer D’Ernest Johnson split time, combining for 1739 rushing yards and 18 TD. Marquez Valdes-Scantling was the leading receiver with 879 receiving yards as well as 108 rushing yards.
3. 2002 (9-2 overall, Independent)
This was USF’s 2nd full year in the FBS, and they definitely came ready to play. They opened with 30+ point wins over both FAU and NIU. After getting blown out by Arkansas, they held #2 Oklahoma to just 239 yards in a 14-31 loss, maybe the Bulls’ most impressive defensive performance of the season. They wouldn’t lose a game afterwards, winning one-possession games against North Texas, Southern Miss, and Memphis. Despite a 9-2 record with wins over Urban Meyer’s 9-3 record Bowling Green, Sun Belt champion North Texas, and one of the top C-USA teams in Southern Miss, USF was not selected for a bowl because of their Independent status. Pretty insane, as I had them as the 23rd best team that year. QB Marquel Blackwell had a great senior season, throwing for 2590 yards 18 TD with just 3 INT, and ran for 5 more TD. The defense gave up just 18.5 PPG and featured future NFL players LB Kawika Mitchell (2nd round pick), DE Shurron Pierson (4th round), and DB J.R. Reed (4th round).
2. 2016 (11-2 overall, 7-1 American)
QB Quinton Flowers and coach Willie Taggart announced themselves to a national audience in 2016. Picked to win the AAC East, USF came in with offensive firepower, beating Syracuse 45-20 in week 3 and losing 35-55 to #13 Florida State a week later. An 11-2 season included wins over #22 Navy, 8-5 Memphis, and South Carolina in the bowl. USF had the best Group of 5 offense in the country, averaging 43.8 PPG with a stacked backfield of Flowers and RBs Marlon Mack and D’Ernest Johnson. Flowers won AAC POTY, throwing for 2812 yards 24 TD 7 INT, with 1530 rushing yards and 18 TD on 7.7 YPC!! Mack put up a 1st Team All-AAC season, rushing for 1187 yards and 15 TD on 6.8 YPC, while Johnson added 836 yards and 13 TD from scrimmage. Even the receiver room was stacked, with future NFL draft picks Rodney Adams and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. Taggart turned the great season into a job at Oregon, and the rest is history.
1. 2007 (9-4 overall, 4-3 Big East)
Every die-hard college football fan knows the 2007 Bulls. In just their 11th year of existence, they were #2 in the country. In fact, 5 of the 6 computers that made up the BCS ranking had USF at #1. So how did it happen? People thought USF would be good heading into 2007, but not this good. After beating Elon in week 1, they headed to Auburn to face the 17th-ranked Tigers. LB Ben Moffitt recalled the experience and how USF wasn’t perceived as a threat to fans: “It’s a weird experience. You ride the bus in, and they’re all waving at ya, and they’re all, ‘Good luck, good luck.’ I was like this is different, but OK.” Later in the night, down 20-23 in OT, QB Matt Grothe fired a game winning TD on 2nd and 9 to walk out of Jordan-Hare with one of the upsets of the season thus far. Now ranked #23, USF disposed of another Power 6 school in North Carolina, 37-10. That set up a home game against #5 West Virginia, with the Mountaineers looking to get revenge for last year on their way to a national title. Media members recall the crowd being so loud that night that the ground shook underneath their feet, in a 21-13 USF upset victory, to beat a top 10 Mountaineer team for the second straight season.
Suddenly, USF was thrust near the top with college football royalty, moving 12 spots up to #6. After spanking weaker opponents FAU and UCF, they had made it all the way to #2. In the country. A frusturating Thursday night game against Rutgers saw the Bulls squander a 7 point lead toward the end of the 1st half, and commit 10 penalties in a 27-30 loss. USF would fall off a cliff afterwards, losing consecutive games to UConn and Cincinnati to fall out of the Top 25. They finished strong though, averaging 48 PPG in their last 3 wins against Syracuse, Louisville, and Pitt to finish 9-3. There were rumors that the USF players were hungover for the Sun Bowl against Oregon, but the rumors turned out to be unfounded, the truth lying in the talent of first year Oregon OC Chip Kelly, who changed up his game plan to avoid USF Consensus All-American DE George Selvie. The Ducks won 56-21, and RB Jonathan Stewart ran for a Sun Bowl record 253 yards.
USF finished the year 9-4 and 4th place in the Big East. While they finished unranked in the AP Top 25, I had them at 18th for impressive wins over West Virginia and Auburn. Matt Grothe had another fine year, throwing for 2670 yards 14 TD 14 INT, with 872 rushing yards and 10 TD, and would go on to be USF’s all time total yardage leader. DE George Selvie put up a 1st Team All-American season with a whopping 14.5 sacks and 17 TFL. Overall, this was a pretty stacked team. 8 players were drafted, including 5 picks in the first 3 rounds.

5th Quarter

15 years after being ranked #2 in the nation, USF is now in a weaker conference, has gone 4-26 the previous 3 years, and rival UCF has been invited to the Big 12. Where did it all go wrong for USF? And do you remember some of their players such as Matt Grothe, BJ Daniels, and Quinton Flowers? What do you remember about that #2 ranked Bulls team and the 2007 season?
If you appreciate the effort, please consider subscribing on substack!